Citi Dividend Platinum Select Card Conversions?
Tip It!The other day I received an automated call from Citibank saying that they are planning on ‘upgrading’ my Citi Dividend Platinum Select card to a Dividend World MasterCard. They went on to say that, pursuant to a post card that they sent me sometime in the past few weeks, they would be automatically converting my card and issuing a new number in the next few weeks if I didn’t call 1-800-950-5114 to opt out.
Oddly enough, this news comes on the heels of a new Citi Dividend Platinum Select rewards promotion, so it seems unlikely that they’re phasing the card out. My knee-jerk reaction is that this “upgrade” wouldn’t be an opt-out thing if it didn’t serve Citi’s best interests. And more often than not, a credit card issuer’s best interests are not in line with your own. Since I didn’t recall receiving notification, I started digging through our recent mail. And sure enough, there it was…
Here’s a snippet of the text:
You excellent account history deserves and exceptional Citi Card.
Congratulations! Due to your noteworthy card history, your account is being upgraded. Your current Citi Dividend Card is being replaced with the new Citi Dividend World MasterCard, which will arrive in the mail soon, as long as you do not default under any cardmember agreement you have with us.
While they’re very upbeat about the change, I can’t help but wonder what’s in it for them. The card features make it seem like a pretty standard reward credit card, with the biggest changes being that the new card will be PayPass enabled (no need to swipe, just tap the card on the PayPass reader), have no pre-set spending limit (this can actually be a bad thing for your credit score as it changes the lack of defined limit changes the % utilization calculation), and also come with a personal concierge service (apparently for a fee).
All in all, I’m not too impressed, and will likely call them to opt out of the change (I hesitate to call it an upgrade) and stick with my Dividend Platinum Select card.
Published on May 25th, 2007 - 19 Comments
Filed under: Credit Cards
About the author: Nickel is the founder and editor-in-chief of this site. He's a thirty-something family man who has been writing about personal finance since 2005, and guess what? He's on Twitter!
Related articles...
» Followup: Citi Dividend Platinum Select Card Conversions» New Citi Dividend Platinum Rewards Promotion
» Citi Dividend Platinum Select Card
» The Best of May 2007
» Citi Dividend Platinum Adopts Rotating Reward Categories
» Citi Bonus Cash Back Reward Categories for Winter 2012 – Plus a $100 Bonus
» Citi Thank You Rewards Just Got Worse
» 0% Balance Transfers: 18 Months from Citi Platinum Select
Was this article useful? Please sign up to receive our content via e-mail:
19 Responses to “Citi Dividend Platinum Select Card Conversions?”
Leave a Reply
Top Cards by Category
Earn $200 Bonus Cash Back after you make $500 in purchases in your first 3 months. 5% Cash Back on up to $1,500 spent in bonus categories each quarter.
Earn 25,000 Membership Rewards(R) bonus points when you spend $1,000 in your first three months of Card membership.
Receive 10,000 Membership Rewards bonus points when you spend $500 in your first three months of card membership. Redeem bonus points for gift cards valued at $100. This is a charge card with no pre-set spending limit.
Enjoy a 0% introductory rate for 18 months on Balance Transfers and 6 months on Purchases. Earn up to 5% cash back in categories that change.
Enjoy no balance transfer fee for a limited time. 0% introductory rate on Balance Transfers and Purchases. Earn up to 5% Cashback Bonus in categories that change like gas, restaurants, department stores and more. Limitations apply*
Enjoy no balance transfer fee for a limited time. 0% introductory rate on Balance Transfers and Purchases. Earn up to 5% Cashback Bonus in categories that change like gas, restaurants, department stores and more. Limitations apply*
Enjoy amenities for you and your business, like: complimentary airport club access, including American Airlines Admirals Club(R) lounges.
5% Cashback Bonus in categories that change like gas, restaurants, department stores and more. Limitations apply*. Up to 1% unlimited Cashback Bonus on everything else. No annual fee
Earn 3X points on airfare, 2X points on gas and groceries, and 1X points on everything else.
Reports to 3 major credit bureaus monthly and acceptance at millions of locations worldwide, including website purchases and reservations.
- How to Become a Millionaire
- How to Get Out of Debt
- The Best Dollars I've Ever Spent
- How Our Estate Plan is Structured
- How We Paid Our Mortgage In Less than 10 Years
- Money Making Ideas
- How to Manage Your Asset Allocation with Multiple Accounts
- Consumption Smoothing - Save While the Saving's Good
- How to Save on Groceries
- How Much Life Insurance Do You Need?
- Eleven Great Books About Money
- Dave Ramsey is Bad at Math
- Dish Network Customer Service SUCKS
- $8,000 Homebuyer Tax Credit
- Pay Off Mortgage Early or Invest?
- How to Claim the First-Time Homebuyer Tax Credit
- Reduced Credit Limits? Share Your Experience
- $15,000 Homebuyer Tax Credit
- Ethanol Blended Gas = Lower Mileage?
- Termite Control: Sentricon vs. Termidor
- How Much Should You Pay a Babysitter?
- Federal Income Tax Rates Went Down but Your Federal Tax Withholding Increased. Here's Why...
- Would the "Fair Tax" Gut the Economy?
How to save money on insurance
- Double-Check Your Ally CDs
- Stocks are Not Bonds, CDs, or Savings Accounts
- The Best Values in Colleges - 2012 Edition
- Five Myths About Renter's Insurance
- Own Your Investments, Rent Your Fun
- Citibank to Issue Credit Cards in China
- Heartstrings and Pursestrings
- Saving Money at the Grocery Store: Store Brand Pricing on the Rise
- Missing Tax Paperwork?
- Is Your Investment Allocation Right?
May 25th, 2007 at 8:41 pm
I am interested with what you will be doing too. I also received the same email and was thinking just to let it go since I don’t really want to take the effort to call them. However, now that you mentioned it, I think I will have to reconsider it.
May 25th, 2007 at 11:17 pm
Be careful about “opting out.” It may mean canceling your card, not keeping your card. Check to be sure…
May 26th, 2007 at 7:27 am
Rich, good point. However, in this case opting out means keeping your card as it is, as opposed to cancelling it. That was clear from the information that they sent.
May 26th, 2007 at 11:44 am
…until it expires, I’m guessing. Or do they promise to renew it for you?
May 26th, 2007 at 10:57 pm
I wrote about this same thing the other day. I found some good discussion about the pros and cons on Fat Wallet, and I decided to decline the upgrade.
It was a simple 1 minute phone call, and everything will stay the same with the current card.
May 27th, 2007 at 8:12 am
Hi,
I had a strange encounter with my Citibank Platinum Credit Card when I tried cancel it. It wasn’t an upgrade like you got offer, or maybe it was depending on how you look at it. They basically offered me a $20K interest free loan for 9 months so that I don’t cancel it.
I post it as an article on my blog at
http://cheap-as-chips.blogspot.....onths.html
May 27th, 2007 at 4:57 pm
Well, one annoying thing is having to change your credit card number. Then all the places that know your old number will know only about a card that’s no longer valid.
May 28th, 2007 at 6:56 am
I have decided to opt out. Dividend World Mastercard bring little to me and I prefer to have the same credit card number in addition to having set spending limit for credit report purpose.
July 13th, 2007 at 11:15 am
I found out about this today – logged in online, and look at that! I have a new account. They haven’t called me since I don’t have an answering machine, and if they sent me notification in the mail I most definitelly did not read it since I receive tons of spam from them promoting all kinds of cards (in fact, I only open my statement). Unbelievable! I called them and requested that this ‘upgrade’ is reversed immediately, and they did reverse it.
I also asked for a mail address where to send a written complaint about this.
July 21st, 2007 at 2:59 pm
I received a new Citi® Dividend World MasterCard®, too.
The primary difference compared to the Citi® Platinum Select® MasterCard® is the new RFID chip a.k.a. MasterCard® PayPass®.
As of today, Citibank isn’t publishing any information about it on their website. Although, their press releases explain they are targeting technology professionals…
I declined mine.
July 26th, 2007 at 1:08 pm
Interesting for those who were automatically converted to the new Dividend World MasterCard – Citi claims they sent me a mailer but I know I did not get it, so I could not decline.
Now I can’t go back to the Platinum card since Citi says a vendor database was compromised and my card number along with thousands of others were “compromised”. News to me.
Citi says we had to change the card number and expiration due to this “compromise”. However, Mastercard is not releasing the name of this vendor as the issue is being investigated.
I have to take the new World card or shop for a new card.
Does anyone else have anything on the database compromise?
July 27th, 2007 at 9:12 am
I talked with a rep from Citi earlier this week. I was calling to sign up for a Citi Dividend Platinum Select, but she said they wouldn’t give me one because they are all being transfered to a Dividend World MasterCard. I think they are phasing it out.
August 6th, 2007 at 11:25 pm
Update: i dont know about all of you; but, as of today, anyone can still apply for any of citi’s cards; such as Platinum Select MC, Dividend Plat Select MC, Diamond Preferred Rewards, or others. I dont know about it being phased out?
August 25th, 2007 at 1:04 am
Hmm, this sucks for people who traveled outside the country while this “upgrade” occurred. Any ideas for travelers like me to reverse back to my trusty Dividend Platinum Select when I come back home?
August 25th, 2007 at 7:54 am
Jeff, your best bet is to call them.
September 1st, 2007 at 10:51 am
I was also recently given the “priviledge” of an upgrade to a World card. My experience however, was not positive, in that I told the customer service professional that I did not want the upgrade. Even though I HAD NOT ACTIVATED THE NEW CARD, the cold voice on the other end stated I did not have a choice. I then went up the ladder so to speak, finally getting a supervisor who stated the same.
A few weeks later, I received a notice in the mail stating my request for “downgrade” was denied. When I called and asked why, the CSR told me that because I had activated the card, I could not downgrade. I told her that I had activated the World card because I’d previously been told I had no choice.
I’m one of those people who don’t carry cash, and pay everything with one card. Yes, it’s a hefty bill, but that includes house, utilities, groceries, gas, etc., so it’s a real benefit.
After the way I was treated, I called corporate office, and sent two emails asking why this program was in the place and complaining about the way I was treated. Of course, no response.
Now, I’m going to cancel the card, because while it’s nice to receive benefits, none of us like to be treated like a number. Or ignored.
On a positive note, my AMEX platnium has been great to work with, and if you spend enough and call, they will waive the annual fees. Plus, you get to speak to people in the States. You can actually understand their CSRs! Pass it along – World card sucks.
May 26th, 2010 at 5:48 pm
These responses are all from 2007 when we received the notice of the “upgrade.” Back in 2007 we had the option of opting out. This past weekend (5/22/10) I received notice that the 2% cash back on gasoline/groceries/drugstores/utilities is changing to 1%. Further down on the letter it states that my account is being “upgraded” to World. There is no option to opt out of this.
The reason for the “upgrade” to World? Because it is the highest level of MasterCard (similar to Signature for Visa). The higher level the card (standard, gold, platinum, world) the higher fee Citibank collects from the merchants that we use our cards at.
Citibank does not report a credit line or a high balance on their World and Signature cards, so that will effect our credit scores. Additionally, the account number changes and it is a hassle! I think I will be closing my account after 10 years. Citibank has really become rotten.
June 22nd, 2010 at 8:56 pm
Just did the same John. After 10 years as well. Good riddance. Time to find a new card.
July 26th, 2010 at 9:05 pm
I have also received calls and mailing regarding upgrading our Dividend Select card to a Dividend World Card. I ignored the first few times and got annoyed that they kept using up our minutes, so called back India and informed them that I had no interest and quit harassing me. In the next month called a couple more times to India and was told that the conversion was “in progress”, yet my online account number was changed. Today, received new cards and a congrats from Citi that if I do not activate the card, my old card will be closed. This is absolute harassment to the consumers and should be regulated