These credit cards are reward cards with free insurances. Platinum card has five insurances while Signature has six. Minimum income apply. These are the best fee free credit cards I can find to date: no annual fee + 0% BT offer + reward points(1.25/1.5 per $) + comprehensive insurances. Enjoy.
Edit: this has been extended to the end of March or July 2014.
I think the problem is the "to be canceld" part.
I know some banks take "to be canceled" credit cards as "i will keep" credit cards, then add that into the calculations.
Since technically speaking they cannot enforce you to cancel a credit card just because you told them that you "might" be canceling it.
Its just tough luck really, its mostly because there is people out there who solely live off credit cards and never pay them back.
i got declined for a signature (just under the income limit with base and they couldnt confirm my allowances) but they approved me a platinum for 15k…
if you have a credit limit of 15k on a citibank cc simply call up the credit approval dept and ask that they upgrade your card to the signature for free for life offer, let me know how it goes?
Fickle, Did you actually have to re-apply (for the platinum) or did they proceed to that decision automatically once they had decided that they would knock you back for the signature?? I have been conditionally approved for weeks but that has not progressed. My son and also a friend were fully approved within 48 hours, and had their cards 1 week later!
I got approved on Tuesday and was hoping to receive my card today. Nada.
Got my signature card, just no pin yet.
This card no good for overseas purchases?
Yes and no - 4 points per (2.66 Krisflyer/Velocity points) per $1, but 3% conversion fee. OK, not great (like the conversion fee free 28 degrees/Bankwest platinum/Citinank Plus debit card).
Received the signature card on Friday and activated today. No pin received yet. But advised I can start using the card now.
Received the welcome pack but no card or pin yet.
Did anyone else receive their signature card separately to the welcome letter? I thought that was a bit odd..
Had my card in the pack. Check again amongst it
Me too.
You get 2 letters -
1. main letter containing the welcome pack with card, credit limit letter etc
2. a separate welcome letter containing information about their Global rewards.
So I think you have received letter 2 but not letter 1 yet. Should arrive in next 2-3 days.
I got one letter with everything
I got three letters
After resisting for almost 12 long days I lost and the inner ozbargainer won !! Just applied for the signature card..got conditionally approved and have sent the required documents through email..
Is sending the documents through email getting quicker response from citi or is it same as sending through fax?
reading the comments here I am assuming it will take 5-7 days before they respond..is it correct?
After faxing the documentation they responded to me by next day.
Thanks rickb.. did they contact by phone or email ?
By email. It's a very inconsistent process so be prepared for the unexpected.
i have citi platinum for 5 years, applied for signature on 20 Nov and still conditionally approved
Approved :) Normally don't comment just to say thanks but seeing as this is a lifetime of fee free points I will say thanks OP
Just saw my online status and it says application has been approved .. I had submitted my application last night and submitted my docs over email .. No phone or email received from citi .. Is this normal ? I thought they will send approval email ..
After about two weeks of mucking about, I finally received the email that says I'm approved… woohoo! :) Thanks OP. This is a good deal, I especially love the free included insurances. The free bottle of wine at participating restaurants and lounge passes are a bonus.
Has anyone who upgraded from the platinum card to the signature card been able to transfer their points across? I tried today and was told because it was a new application they couldn't do it. They said the points transfer is only available for upgraded cards. I tried telling them about the combined account thing mentioned earlier in the thread but they said they couldn't do anything.
Possibly to do with the lower conversion value of a Platinum point to a Signature point.
Just had my signature card application approved as well, thanks OP, been waiting for this ever since the gold card offer few years ago :)
Just got approval email for the platinum card, but can't remember what I put down for the balance transfer. I left the credit limit box blank. Am I able to change the BT amount up to 80% of the limit they give me or am I stuck with what I originally put in the application? How do I request them to send a cheque to self, or do they automatically balance transfer to my 28 degrees?Thanks.
Yes it's not too late. When you call up to activate your card, tell them you want to do a balance transfer for your application (before activating your card) and they can take care of it at their end by updating the system (max is 80% of your credit limit). Next thing you need to know, is that they will ask which credit card/store card/personal loan account you want the balance transferred to. Just give them your bsb and account number. They will accept this as they can do balance transfer to a home loan account. But they won't know if the account number is a home loan account or not.
If you do this though, you will not get 55 days interest free anymore on your purchases for as long as you have an outstanding balance transfer amount on your account. Remember that all credit card payments are firstly allocated to the balance transfer amount before purchases (except for NAB I think) so you can never pay off your outstanding purchases in time within 55 days if you want to carry over the balance transfer amount. Still a good deal I think, especially if your balance transfer amount is high and can be placed in your home loan offset account to save on mortgage interest.
Delfredo.
Normally i pay my CC balance in full monthly.
So if my limit is 15K, and i request for 10K balance transfer with 0% interest for 6 months, are you saying if i spend the remainder available fund (which is 5K) i need to pay interest even i pay all purchasing balance monthly by due date on the statement?
Thanks
I just read the credit card information just now and it mentioned that
"Interest free period: Up to 55 days for Retail Purchases, fees and charges other than Cash Advances, Balance Transfers and Special Promotions"
So it means if my 5K remaining available fund can be use for retail purchases and still have 55 days interest free period if we payoff monthly as they treat balance transfers separately even thought from the same account?
Can anyone confirm?
'If you carry a balance on your credit card from month to month, the 55 days interest free period does not apply and you are charged interest once you make a purchase.'
This is T&C #10 at http://www.citibank.com.au/aus/credit_cards/cards_signature.…
Has anyone successfully done this?
I just checked my Credit Limit online and it says 22K. The paper work says 15K. I wasn't considering a Balance Transfer to the Offset Account before, but after looking at 'delfredo' comment, I seriously considering it. 80% of 22K = 17.6K onto the offset account. That would defiantly make a difference.
Any risk involved that I might be overlooking.
a) Don't use the card for anything while the BT is in affect
b) Transfer the funds back in full before the 6 months is up.
Seems to easy… too good to be true.
Keep in mind that the 0% balance transfer offer for 6 months applies only if you request for this at time of application (ie. at anytime prior to activation of the card). Yes you're right, to avoid paying interests, don't use the card until you have fully repaid the balance transfer amount. It's worth it, in my opinion.
Yes, well I didn't put in on the application, however the card just arrived today, and I'm yet to activate it.
Think Ill call them tomorrow and confirm what the actual limit is. I'm more inclined to believe what I see when I'm logging onto the website.
delfredo - have you actually done the steps that you outlined above? And what kind of account should I say it is if they specifically ask? I'm sure its not wise to say its my offset account.
Hmm - I called citibank asking for this - BT to my offset account; (same deal like most here, new customer, new signature blah blah). CSR tried (apparently, put me on hold for a while) and came back saying the system isn't accepting the bsb and a/c number I gave her possibly becuase it doesn't allow BT to such accounts. Now, I tried to push saying its been done in the past, other banks I have accounts with do this etc, etc. But, nah - no luck.
Now, is this scenario possible? I also have a CC with the bank where my account is - can I transfer the 80% whatever to this card (which will pay it off WAAAY over its limit) meaning I have my own funds in the CC and THEN transfer that to my offset? Will this work as a roundabout way to get the BT into my offset?
Thanks…. G
That's a pity but I guess we are all too familiar with situations like these, where you get an answer speaking to one person and a different answer speaking to another. When I did mine, she firstly asked me for my bsb number and then she checked in her system if it's OK before asking for my account number. I told her it's for my home loan account. Unless the account is with Citi, I don't think they can determine if the account number is for home loan, for an offset account or for a personal loan account. I believe they all have the same bsb account number format. Is your's with a big 4 bank or is it an online savings account?
Becareful with balance transfer to an existing credit card account with a view to withdraw it later. Some companies will require you to show evidence of payment going in. I interpret that to mean that they want you to prove that you make the payment. If they find out that it's a balance transfer from another company, they may not allow the withdrawal/transfer out. This is just my view from experience, not 100% sure.
Should have asked for a cheque to self. I requested one on the weekend, but the operator went through the process and asked me to confirm the BT cheque to self. As it takes 10 business days, I haven't received it yet though.
I requested it one week after my initial activation.
Dammmn.. Called a few times yesterday and today asking for cheque to self, and bloody every possiblilty under the sun - no ffing luck.
You mean no luck getting the 80% balance transferred. I havent called yet, might try tonight. But It doesn't sound like to many people have succeeded.
Just spoke with them, but when asked if it was a Savings I stuttered and said it was, after putting me on hold for a bit came back and said that it couldn't go to Savings or Offset, only directly to a mortgage account. I don't particulary want to dump it onto my mortgage cause I have no idea about the re-draw later.
Said I call back to confirm, does anyone know for sure if they can tell if its Offset account or mortgage? My conscious always gets the better of me when they ask a direct, like they are setting me up for a sting!!
I just did mine tonight. I wasn't going to bother without a cheque to self, but given I quite coincidentally want to clear my HECS debt (5% saving ends 31 Dec), the ability to dump this money onto my credit card, clear the amount, pay .42% (or something like that), get frequent flyer points on it all, and not have to pay a cent for 6 months - too good an offer to pass up, even if i didn't string out the interest free period of my credit card.
I going to transfer the balance transfer directly to to the Mortgage account and then re-draw it straight out into the offset.
Confirmed with my bank that this wouldnt be a problem or incur any fees.
Has anyone gotten the damn pin yet?
Cant even view my balance etc…
Got my pin today finally.
Got one each for the credit and debit card.
Anyone able to let me know how to link both the debit and credit card to the one online login?
I don't want to create a separate login for each.
register/create your new online id using the debit card's number and account number.
Thanks, I realised the procedure after I already registered the credit card first.. damn.
I'll give them a call.
Ok I gave them a call, the lady said I needed to start the online registration process again and create a new User ID and password for the debit card. She said that I had to disregard the one I created for the credit card.
When I created the new online login with the debit card, it showed both accounts in there.
But the User ID and password I created earlier still exists, and when I login with that it only shows the credit card still. So I guess I really just have to disregard it.
I asked if I could keep the first User ID that I created since that's the one I wanted initially but it doesn't seem possible.
you can rename it, then rename the second one to the original first name.
The way it works is:
-debit card login shows all accounts, but can't do credit card functions like pin change on your credit card.
-credit card login only shows credit card, and is the only account through which you can change your credit pin.
It's retarded for sure, but keep your credit card login just incase you need to change your credit card pin
Thanks sidesh0w and caprimulgus, that definitely helped.
I had trouble finding the change user ID function but got there in the end.
I'll definitely keep both logins handy.
You need to call them
Seriously weird process.
27/11 - applied for Signature late at night. Got email saying conditionally approved and to send through documentation etc… Checked status online and it says approved. At this stage, not sure which is which.
28/11 - unbeknownst to me, Citibank has already drafted an acceptance letter and sends the welcome pack.
29/11 (13.10) - welcome pack gets to post office according to the post mark.
29/11 (17:00) - finally get round to faxing through my documentation to Citibank and put in a form for my HR to allow for personal details to be released to Citibank.
2/12 - welcome pack and rewards letter arrived.
So basically, I got approved without any documentation. What the? Kinda wasted effort on my part :)
Not to mention the obscene credit limit they gave me - I shouldn't have left the limit field blank but as I'm slightly above the minimum salary requirement, I thought they'd only give me the minimum credit.
Regardless, grateful to the OP for pointing out this deal anyhow :)
I am about to take the plunge on this given they extended this deal until end of the month. Hey Moi if you have a moment can you PM or email me, I have a private question about your experience if you are willing?
With the platinum card, the supplementary card is normally $90. I think I read somewhere that it is waived for this offer. If I add more supplementary cards in the future, will they be free too?
"I think I read somewhere that it is waived for this offer."
what, like in the comments to this deal…multiple times?
-"It's free for both the primary and supplementary cards for this promotion"
-"additional card fee is Zero"
-"they don't actually charge the additional card fee if you have annual fee free for life."
-"my friend has 3 additional cards on his, and i have previous inquired about it and they confirmed additional cards are free."
-"I looked into it myself, because I was going to get an additional card for my (now ex) girlfriend, and they confirmed that I could get an additional card for free on my platinum."
-the fee free for life applies to additional cards.
-they do not charge for additional cards if you have fee free for life.
-if you are fee free for life, they do not charge the $90 fee for additional cards.
-additional cards cost $0 if you are fee free for life.
-if you ask them, citibank will like totally send you out another piece of plastic, with like totally someone else's name on it…and like they won't even charge you anything for sending it out!
yes. additional cards are free. now, later, whenever you want. ask again in a week, and they'll still be free. ;)
Is the minimum salary Gross or Nett?
(Sorry if this has been asked before)
It's minimum income (not salary) and its gross.
If you click on the apply link for either card, all the application criteria is on the first page with a submit button on the bottom. so you can read it without submitting
Applied 19/11.
Still awaiting approval. Godamnit.
Same here, but one day after - 20/11
Have sent in all the requested details and even received a phone call to confirm income details, but nada.
Anyone else not receiving their OTP (one-time PIN) via SMS?
Is it because you've registered for the app, and therefore it's expecting you to generate it from there instead?
It requires the OTP before you can register for the app though.
U mean via the app right? Are you using android phone?
I too cant get otp using my android phone …
Thanks! Applied on 22/11 Fri, got full approval on Monday 25/11. Got the rewards pack 3 days later, then the card another 3 days later.
Stuffed around for days trying to prove I could easily pay off the signature card. In the end the reassessment was declined, so I cancelled the card.
Not much love for Citibank now……
cancelling it after already taking a Veda hit is pretty silly, especially given how many people seemingly got upgraded from Gold to Signature over the past few years.
Card received. Six days after approval. No pin.
Did anyone else get transferred to an operator when activating the card who then tried to sell credit card insurance?
Not transferred but the girl who activated it tried the upsells on me. I had trouble understanding her so took a while to register what she was talking about.
agree to the insurance; on deciding you're not going to claim on the insurance at the end of the month pay the balance the day before your statement date each month (don't wait until the due date); balance=$0 therefore insuranse cost for the month cost=$0; FREE INSURANCE!
well, not really free…the cost of the insurance (comparatively) is the 55 days interest free (well, the days between statement date and due date).
The opportunity cost, true. Trust a bird to be so nit picking lol
Edit: weird double post somehow
Got two emails today timestamped at the same minute, one saying we need more documentation, and the second saying I'd been approved for a Classic card (didn't mention Platinum) and the kaboodle would be with me soon. I seriously worry about their competence. I'm concerned they've put me on a card with a yearly fee, they way they are going. We'll see.
Grrr, sure enough I received the Classic, which is a different card and has an annual fee of $44 in the first year and $89 thereafter. When I talked to the rep over the phone, I was assured that I was applying for a no fee card. I'm going to have a word with them over the phone. If they don't fix this up, I'm not going to activate it.
Long story so I'll write in point form:
I hope that's the end of it for now. Bottom line is I feel they shouldn't have sent me the Classic, a different product, if they didn't approve me for the Platinum. I think that's a dodgy tactic and a waste of their time and mine.
Applied for Signature a couple weeks ago, conditionally approved.
Checked my application status online - declined
Checked my email - approved for Platinum?!
Guessing it meant that the Signature card is declined, but the online status page didn't say anything about being approved for Platinum instead… weird…
I'm guessing Citibank have had to pony up a rather large sum of money from all these people taking advantage of the 0% BT - and figuring that they're not likely to be getting a whole lot of benefit from it…
Any thoughts as to whether this is the reason why some of our applications are delayed? Is anybody still waiting that hasn't put in a figure for BT?
Citibank gets the 1% balance transfer fee so there is a benefit for them in that regard. How much of a benefit or not it is to them is debatable.
I think the 1% fee is only for standard applications (i.e. not fee free for life), but that givers you a whopping 15 months interest free.
6 months interest free will cost them a packet just for the Ozbargainers alone.
Still waiting as well. Spoke to someone over the phone and said it was with their accessing team and just have to wait..
Me! No BT and been conditionally approved for weeks. When I rang I was told that my application is with their credit department.
Bugger. Oh well, so much for that theory. Good luck anyway.
15 days after applying, and 8 days after approval I finally have all mailout items - rewards info pack, credit card and, finally, a PIN.
Thanks for the offer OP!
How about debit card? Apparently this application is for borh cards. Citibank rep just called me about this, and will send out in 5 days
No transacton, annual and foreign transaction fees,
Didn't receive any debit card because citibank cs just upgrade my platinum to signature.
And I already have citibank plus account in the same account.
Is the debit card mentioned here is the same with citibank plus account ?
wth… when i called they said you have to apply for new and then cancel the old one!
oh comeon this is such a simple case how come they are sucks
Probably enough people complained about how ridiculous it was and Citi realised how much more admin it would cost them to enforce this.
I called up and requested fee free for life on my current Platinum which was approved, also requested a reversal on my annual fee that I paid back in April, also approved! Just waiting to see if I'm eligible for an upgrade to fee free Signature…
Yes it is Citibank plus account, I just dont remember applying for it in the application
citibank plus transaction account + debit card is great. use it for international ATM withdrawls (in place of 28 degrees, which will no longer have free ATM withdrawls).
it's free all the time though.
Anyone know if I am still eligible for the Starter Package(bonus $120 after $3k monthly deposit for a year) after signing up for this Platinum card..
Wouldn't mind getting "extra" 4% interest on my $3k just by recycling it and the no overseas transaction/atm/transfer fee is appealing.
No idea. I will also like to know this. Got the platinum card and opened saving account as well.
Does anyone know - If you get knocked back for the Signature card do they automatically consider you for the platinum or do you have to make a new application?
I applied for signature but got approved with a platinum card automatically. Now I'm still trying to apply for reassessment to get a signature card.
Thanks. Good to know that there is a default position. I am concerned about the deadline, as I am overseas a lot of December and will be uncontactable if they need more info/documents. Emails and contact messages asking if they need more docs go unanswered. Having several accounts with Citibank I have noticed that customer service and efficiency are not their strong points!!
I'm in the same boat as sora, I've had to get my reassessment to be forward to their Complaints Department. So if you really want the Signature and you do fit their criteria keep pushing.
OK, so latest update on the saga: just got a call from Citibank to ask whether they can merge the credit limit on my existing Platinum card with a new limit to make up the $15k required. Gave them the go-ahead, and apparently I'll have a decision(!) within the next 3-5 business days.
Fingers crossed.
Yeh, it's nuts, eh.
I got a Signature straight up. Called up to cancel my old Emirates platinum ($10.5k limit). They offered to shift the limit to my Signature, and balance transfer the lot, and waive the next year's fee on the Emirates. Was very tempting, but given I don't have need for a $20k balance transfer to a credit card, had to decline.
I'm in the same boat. Have requested quite a few reassessments. They've been in touch with my accountant numerous times that satisfies the minimum income and they even know I have a NAB and Westpac card with $18k limits on both which are to be cancelled for the Signature. Very weird process.
Funny thing is that a few weeks ago I was cold called being offered a Signature which I said I'd think about it and a week later I see this offer and can't get it Signature only Platinum. Very weird.