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.
That crossed my mind, but it's been a long time since I've flown Emirates (apart from award redemptions). I'm done with Emirates points (ever since Qantas effectively made us pay Qantas rates and taxes to use thme).
Gonna enjoy having six months to pay off the amount on a card I'm paying nothing for.
Well timed. I just got a letter from Citi re Emirates Platinum. From 1/5/2014 $1 spent in Aust. will earn 1 skywards mile. formerly 1.5
I got the same spiel early last week… approved on Monday. Think you're likely to get approved.
I got that call last week as well, but the person who spoke to me didn't sound like he was having a very good day and I didn't know what the hell he was talking about.
I kept telling him I was going to cancel my Platinum card if the Signature card was successful, but I don't think he understood me either…
Good news for me though!
Just got an email saying my application has been approved! FINALLY!
Edit: And as I just finished typing that, just got another duplicate email.. Wonder if that means they'll end up sending me 2 cards lol
I'm just at about the $70,000 mark, spoke to the lady at citibank and she isn't sure whether it will be approved or not, said to just go ahead and apply anyway?
Is there a point in applying or will it most likely get rejected?
Don't have any outstanding loans or debts whatsoever. Have one credit card with 28degrees which I never use.
You'll still get Platinum - a $200 card - free for life. When you get to $75k, ask them to upgrade you.
But will it still be free in future? Or will I have to pay the fee on the Signature Card following a future upgrade?
You'd be surprised how much leeway Citi CSRs have when you're equivocating about cancelling your card. Get your platinum, get to $75k, ask for a Signature free for life. If they say no, just say you'd like to cancel.
Can all but guarantee this will work.
Hehe, thanks for the info :)
Mate… reported income was 15k last year as I took a gap year/career break. Got the signature card so I have no if idea its a random approval process vetting your income.
Maybe they thought you made a typo and put a 1 there instead of 7 and approved you anyway lol or maybe they read your 1 as a 7.
Either way, well done!
Hmmmmmm
"Thank you for taking the time to apply for a Citibank SIGNATURE CARD. We are pleased to advise that your recent application for a Citibank SIGNATURE CARD has been conditionally approved. Your application is currently being processed and your Application Reference Number is XXXXXXXXXXXX"
I need to fax in supporting documents now but don't have the time to at the moment.
Anyone end up getting their application finalised before they were able to send them in?
Call them and ask what you need to do. Will probably help speed it up. They ask for a whole bunch of stuff they don't actually end up demanding.
Oh ok! So I should speed it up by just faxing them all in ASAP otherwise they will just leave my conditionally approved application remain on a pending status indefinitely?
They'll probably get round to you eventually. They did to me, but I was an existing customer, so they just called tog get a payslip. Faxing it in will speed it up, no doubt. :)
Finally had time and got around to downloading my payslips and scanning my license, medicare and mobile bill for them today. Not sure where I got my 70K mark from, but according to my payslips my taxable weekly gross income adds up to more than 75K per year >.< Then there is my interest earned with my ING for "other" income. I had to note in the email… That I had incorrectly estimated my income and "other" interest and for them to adjust and verify accordingly because I actually earn more!
Looking forward to my signature cards now :)
Provided they don't get mad at me for entering a lower income…
My Citibank Signature card was approved in just over an hour. Didn't need to send in anything, Citibank just called my work to confirm income and job title.
One of the lucky ones due to their inconsistency. :(
I was in the same boat - did not have a chance to send them straight away. Good thing, too: don't waste your time - just wait for a day or two. I got full confirmation two days after applying, and never sent in a thing. I wasn't even an existing customer.
Existing Citibank Emirates platinum - applied on 22/Nov for Citibank Signature - approved this morning.
Sounds like a lot of us are getting their approvals this morning.
Just now received my signature card..
one question regarding the priority pass if someone can please help.For the membership does the 1 year time frame is annual year Jan-Dec or 12 months from the day of activating the membership ? I was planning to activate the membership next year as I have few trips planned out next year.
Thanks
Yeh, pretty sure it's from activation date. Still, not much to lose activating now: it gets rolled over year-on-year, the only advantage would be if you knew you'd be travelling say in Jan 15 and Mar 15, you could time it to roll over in Feb 15, then you'd have two sets of free passes.
12 months from activation.
Got my card today….
Applied 4.30pm Monday. Phone call an hour later from them asking for other income support and job title after sending through my payslips. Twenty minutes later, approval email received.
Received card and welcome pack today with a 20k limit. Thanks OP - great deal.
Re: Priority Pass
It said it could only be used at Melbourne Airport and Cairns Airport ( within Australia)… Has anyone used it before? It also looked like it was not open 24 hours, but only when Unites Airlines had flights leaving the airport.
That's not terribly useful, I think.
No. More useful in every other part of the world. Presumably Qantas and Virgin asked for too high a fee.
Sigh. OK. Thanks for confirming my thoughts.
I use it a lot in Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok & Saigon. So the 2 free passes per year can be useful. The PLAZA PREMIUM LOUNGE lounge at KLIA is very nice. If you fly Airasia and transit at Kuala Lumpur, the LCCT airport has 2 PLAZA PREMIUM LOUNGES & you can use it there (not great lounges at LCCT though)The landside lounge is best. The new LCCT (KLIA2) soon to open will have a PLAZA PREMIUM LOUNGE (I expect that it will be a PP accessible lounge too) After you have used your 2 free passes, you will be able to pay $US27 per entry for the rest of the membership year, and $US27 per entry for guests.
OK. Think I might be able to use one pass then! Going to KL early next year.
Is there any merit to using the PP if I were flying Business Class on SQ SYD-IST return? Or are the 2 passes mostly be used if and when flying economy?
Do any airlines not provide lounge access for business class passengers?
Better saved for economy flights.
I got my BT cheque to self this week in the mail today. Initially, I was excited about the cheque amount, but quickly became appalled as I read the corresponding letter. The letter stated that I would start accruing interest from the transaction date of the BT! I rang Citibank as soon as possible. Turns out the letter was wrong and it was 0% for 6 months BT. I requested a corrected letter to be sent out.
There’s no way I’m paying 20% interest ever!
My wife has just activated her 20k limit with 80% BT … and confirmed 0% interest for 6 months - OK to be sent cheque to self.
Did a calculation, with 1% BT fee costing $160; and in offset at 4.88% - for 6 months … overall save about $230 (in reality should be lesser as need to pay off minimum every month).
But saving of $200 or so is better than nothing !
No 1% BT fee for 6 months transfer. That only applies to the 15 month option.
Thanks for clearing this up - more savings then.
Have you got the amended letter? I have just received the cheque and letter and with the same contents as yours.
wife has platinum card and emailed them to see if they can convert account to this no fee for life offer without having to reapply. they replied yes you can but you wont qualify for the 0% b/t. however she currently has a 0% bt offer for 6months in my offfers tab. i wonder if she does the bt first then confirms the go ahead with the account conversion if it will be ok? or do the conversion first and hope that the b/t offer will still be there? do BT or account product transfers count for 6 months wait rule before another application or credit limit increase is permitted?
check your balance transfers!
they screwed mine up :(
How so?
What happened? Mine took a week after they debited my credit card account to reach my offset account. Hence I lost a week of potentially lower interest amount on my mortgage. But can't really complain here when I have 6 months of savings to look forward to.
I applied for the balance transfer and they applied it to the wrong account… (replaced a 7 instead of a 1 in my card number…) - 2 weeks after my card activated didn't see the transfer come across so called up
I rechecked my pdf'ed application and everything was good and well there..
That's quite incompetent… (of Citibank)
I asked for mine a week ago, have yet to see it. Am fearing the same has happened….
Might be worth calling up.
As posted above (https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/123330?page=8#comment-1734…) they stuffed up the letter that came with my cheque. I'm effectively treating the transfer as 5 months, rather than 6 months.
The BT came out of my account on the 2nd Dec. Got the chq late that week, so couldn't deposit until Monday 9. Who knows when that cheque will clear!
They've stuffed mine up too. I originally applied for a $800 BT. When I was approved, I gotta higher credit limit so when activating the card, I had it changed to the maximum amount to be sent as acheque to self. Yesterday I received a letter saying they had done the BT of the $8000 but when I called they said to disregard the letter and the new amount was being sent out as a cheque to self. Today, the $8000 has been BT'ed to my 28 degrees but in my citibank online banking, they have deducted the higher amount from my cc.
Anyone still having issues with approvals? I've been sitting on conditionally approved since Nov 20th and I've called them three times to look into the situation…
Can I please ask some questions to summarise a couple of things? I'm only seriously considering this card for the Priority Pass membership. I want one for myself and one for my partner.
-Do I need to get a supplementary card as well and register both for Priority pass in order for both of us to enter the lounges? If so is the income test only on the primary holder?
-If you don't use your priority passes in one year do they roll over and accumulate?
Thanks all.
I don't think a supplementary card holder will get to register for Priority Pass.
I think the passes expire if you don't use them.
I don't think a supplementary card holder will get to register for Priority Pass.
not necessarily :)
https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/123330?page=9#comment-1793…
^yeah, as above.
if you want passes for both, your partner will need to sign up for their own card, and therefore will have to meet the income requirement (income requirement applies to primary cardholder only).
Yeah as above, I got my partner as a secondary card holder only, as she is between jobs right now. Spewing as we travel a lot and have a Pass each would be great.
You are only getting 2 free passes every year. Won't benefit much if you travel a lot.
Well here I was thinking that twice a year was a lot. I guess I don't travel that much, more then most I know. So 2 each would have been an ideal number.
Approved for signature today. I applied on 30 nov. Salary a grand or so under minimum, but income put me just over minimum. was called twice, had to submit proof of other income. That was about a week ago. I checked status this morning, conditionally approved. Got approval email an hour or so later.
Cool story bro
Yeah my friend is also applying, her salary is about 1grand'ish under minimum. She has enough ING interest to put her over, but when they called her to send in more data regarding her interest, for "other" income, she basically couldn't be bothered and told the lady to just process it without then. Not sure whether they will approve her being 1grand'ish under? Are they strict on that 75k minimum income policy? I believe she has a perfect credit rating also and no outstanding debts or loans. Anyone able to get one being 1-2k under?
Are they strict on that 75k minimum income policy?
yes
note that all they wanted was a screenshot of the "My Finances" -> "Interest Details" page in the ING internet banking.
Lol I will tell her to send that in tomorrow.
Hey, can anyone clarify if you get the card and have a balance transfer in place, does this effectively mean you can't use the card for other purchases for six months until you pay off the balance transfer or risk incurring higher interest rates?
Correct. Put it in the draw until you've paid off the balance transfer.
This was discussed further up the thread. I think it was said that It can be used, and any payments will come off the new purchases not the balance transfer BUT you get no interest free days on purchases.
I thought I read any payments made will come off the balance transfer first, meaning you'll pay interest on purchases until you've paid the BT off in full.
The regulation is supposed to be that any money paid will be put towards whatever results in the highest interest charges, which would presumably be the interest-bearing component of your card, but you'd still lose the interest-free days, making it pointless to use this card unless you intend to pay it back on the same day of purchase.
EDIT: oh, and of course depending on how much you've BT'd, you'll always be skimming close to the limit.
Does this mean that the final payment will need to be paid on the 5th statement or the 6 statement? After the 5th statement, it will be around 6 months already.
Called them up, told them about this offer, got the fee free for life thing on the spot but took a bit of arguing to get the annual fee credited back to my account.
Noticed that the 55 days interest fee had a condition to it on the Platinum credit card website. Is this condition normal for other credit cards? I've never seen this on my CBA awards card but then again, i pay off my credit card in full every month.
Condition
"The maximum 55 days interest free period applies when you pay your balance off in full for two consecutive months. 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. No interest free period is available on Cash Advances or Balance Transfers."
That's standard. Just a different way of wording it.
Anyone having trouble finding the link to change your PIN code online?
Click on 'Edit Profile & Preferences' in the top right hand corner just above the sign out button.
This works only if this is your first citibank card. If you have a citibank plus savings account for example you can only change that PIN online UNLESS you register for a new account and link this signature card with it. Yes it's bizzare but I confirmed it with a Customer Service rep and it is the only way you'll be able to change your PIN.
Note: This change is only applicable to the card you used to register for Citibank Online. Please ensure you are aware of which card you used during the registration process. If you require a new PIN number to be issued call us on 13 24 84.
I am finding trouble as well changing pin for Credit card.
Change ATM pin, changes it for the debit card only. No matter which account I set, it does not change the credit card one.
create a new online user account using your credit card detail.
login using that account and change the pin.
ok.I will give it a shot.
Thanks. It worked fine. I dont know why the website is designed this way. But now I have two online accounts.
one with saving accounts and Credit card
and other with credit card only.
Does anyone know if citibank gives points for bills/ Bpays/ ATO payments? (platinum card)
Bill & BPay = Yes. ATO = No.
Can anyone please comment on the price protection benefit on the signature card. I was going through the PDS and it says 59 cents for every $100 on the credit card balance. Is my understanding correct ? Do we need to activate it for using it or by default its activated?
You have to activate it.. they were trying to sell me the product on the phone when I activated my card.
So i have consolidated the rewards point from my classic card to the signatures card and it's completed ….
I can transfer it to KF when required … pretty happy.
Do the rewards points have an expiry. And once trasferred to KF miles, do they have an expiry? Thanks
can someone help. im ready to call up to activate. and request a cheque to self for the BT. im not too familiar with cheques - what does this actually mean? that the cheque will be made out to "self" or made out to "John Smith" presuming my name is John Smith. i presume its the latter.
Very happy +1.. took 5 days for BT
Is it possible to get this card whilst not having a job and receiving youth allowance for study?
or is it possible to get any cards that would give free travel insurance/other worthwhile benefits?
I was told that they are strict about the minimum income part…
Finally got round to applying for this at the weekend. Getting 2x signature cards. But they don't seem to be reading the multi page PDFs with our documents I emailed, they only look at the first page and then ask you for the other docs again grrr.
Got my signature card approved this morning, it took about a week after I had submitted the files they requested. Should get them in the mail by Friday otherwise, Monday! Waiting for the cards to arrive before I add my partner as an additional card holder, don't want to swamp citibank with too many things to do in one go in case they mess things up…
Well I applied for Signature credit card. My sal is above the limit so thought that will be ok.
Submitted 2 salary slips and other documents as asked.
Got an email today that my Platinum card application is successful. I never applied for platinum and want signature card just because of priority pass. I checked online and found that my signature application is declined.
PS: I already have a free platinum card from my home loan bank.
what are my options. I tried to call but the centre is closed for today.
My salary is above what they want.. what could be the other reason for the decline ? Lottery ??
Same happened to me. Let me know what happens. I applied on 20 November so have been waiting quite a while to be told it's declined!
could possibly be your credit history? i started a new job so i didnt even have payslips to send them but i still got approved and a card received within space of three days.
do you have any other cards? i have other cards which i always pay full balance on time.
Yay I finally received mine today after something like 2-3 weeks! Happiness.
Still waiting for mine… It's nearly 5 weeks now, and they won't tell me anything except its with provisioning and that they have all they need…
EDIT: Disregard! They finally sent through the approval email!
Congrats! I applied for mine on the 6th of December, received the approval email on Wednesday morning. I'm expecting the card to be in the mail around Monday? I need to add an additional card holder, forgot to do so during the application… What's the process like?
Thought I'd pop in to the Collins St store to ask for my current Platinum card to be put on $0 annual fee for life but nope, they couldn't even understand what I was asking for (Since Australia uses English, businesses should at least ensure you can understand it before employing someone!). May give their call centre a go instead, see what they say.
I believe that the ZERO Platinum mastercard from Bankwest is a superior product to both these cards.
This is for the following reasons:
http://www.bankwest.com.au/personal/credit-cards/compare-cre…
From personal experience, I can attest that the Citibank credit card reward program (and rewards programs in general) are poor value.
If you are just after the 0% balance transfer, there are better offers out there as they give you a longer balance transfer period (you can get up to a year I believe)
What if you pay the $49 free to join Citibank Qantas Rewards and the points go to your QFF account?
"From personal experience, I can attest that the Citibank credit card reward program (and rewards programs in general) are poor value."
That's your opinion and you're entitled to it. Others, myself included, feel differently in that "poor value" is better than "no value" all else being equal.
I think points are worth roughly 0.8% of your spend in Australia (which you get no benefit from Bankwest ZERO), or 2.1% of your spend overseas (which BankWest Zero waives a roughly 3% fee).
So definitely better for spending in Australia. BankWest Zero might be better only for overseas?
I would have taken them up on the offer and kept the Emirates for one year for free, and use the free limo to and from the airport, and 2 free lounge access. No good unless you are flying Emirates though.