Shell-Citibank Credit Card - Cash Rebate Question Rebuke
The earlier post on Shell-Citibank cash rebate credit card generated the most comment ever received by this blog, but I am not happy at all!
Most of the comments mistakenly point out that the post made a mistake - that one still enjoys cash rebate even WITHOUT ANY OUTSTANDING BALANCE! Some of the comments even quoted the Citibank website caculator to illustrate the point and conveniently forgot that the main function of the bank’s calculator is just another selling tool.
The comments also reflect how poorly we are in terms of “Financial Savvy” and how easy we take things on the face value.
Let’s go straight to the heart of the debate : “Does the cash rebate only valid with outstanding balance?”
Below is the statement copied directly from Citibank website. Please read it carefully!
“Your cash rebate is calculated based on your outstanding balance from the previous month; less payment in current statement and total spend for the subsequent month.”
First, this statment was not mentioned at all from 10 over calls I made to Citibank while researching for the earlier post. Secondly, not only the call center (mainly a 3rd party sales force engage by Citibank) does not mentioned this statement, it appeared that it did not knows that this statement exists! Question, why the call center is poorly trained?
Back to the statement, it is clear that the rebate is only “given” when your card carries any outstanding balance. So the outstanding balance is a pre-requisite for any cash rebate. Only then come with the rebate tier - the higher your outstanding balance, the higher ‘rebate’ you are getting. And of course you already know that your are paying 18% p.a for the outstanding balance.
Shell-citibank cash rebate card, anyone?
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Indeed…I’ve canceled all my Silly-Bank credit cards 3 years back and never looked back.
I can only sympathize with the people who are “misled” by these sweet-talking-petrol-attendants-in-disguise who are constantly bugging me when I am fueling up in Shell petrol kiosks throughout Klang Valley.
My policy with banking officers has always been “When in doubt, ask until I understand what it REALLY means”. Then again, how many of these officers actually know their own products inside out?
So I thought I should ask Ciitbank customer service to find out once and for all whether whatever has been posted in the initial email was any correct. Of course I should cause I had applied for the card. Really, when in doubt ‘ ASK’! But have to ask the right person of course. I wonder if the actual writer even have the card to share ’smart’ knowledge.
The info I got was pretty direct and fruitful. But I myself is a bargain hunter and I don’t owe any cards. Unless zero ineterst payment plan is called owing. But, that’s a different story. Here goes:
1. My owing amount will decide my rebate amount. If I have less than RM4000 I get 2.5%, and if more I get 5%.
2. My rebate is given on the amount I swipe. Make sense, its called rebate. Y wud any ’smart’ bank give rebate based on amount I owe. So I understood the concept. I owe more, my rebate gets higher. But, I get rebate based on whatever I spend on that month.
3. So what about people like me? Swipe and pay in full every month? I get the lower rate which is 2.5%. Voila!!! So, my previous understanding was correct. I always thought that when I have zero balance, means I have less than RM 4000 balance as in their brochure. So I qualify to get the lower rate. 2.5% on using a card which I treat as my payment tool vis-a-vis gets nothing when I pay cash. I think its a good deal. I asked the customer service over and over again and she confirmed that it’s correct. Yes sir, if you don’t carry any balance, you will get Tier 1 rate. Enough said, I made the smart choice to cut the other cards of mine. Who needs reward points anyway.
I think Citibank realized that some customers got confused with some of these claims, I surf their website and noticed that the rebate table clearly mentioned that under tier 1, carry forward balance is RM 0 - RM 4000. Hmmm…i think my brochure said
I like your website, it’s very informative. But since this is a hot debate, I would like to ask a couple of questions…
May I know where did you get this pic?: http://smartconsumerbanking.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/11/citibank.PNG
The Citibank website shows a different table: http://www.citibank.com.my/APPS/portal/genericLoadPage.do?tabNo=3&htmlPageName=/prod/det/credit_cards_shell.htm
So, with the Citibank website updated, does this finally answer your question, “would I enjoy the rebate if I have zero outstanding balance?”
The graphic (rate table) was taken directly from Citibank website somewhere around November when the card was first launched. I have revisited the site & understood that the table was changed, or in this case, updated. The review was written based on the ‘original’ site content as well as personal calls.
In that case, will you update your article or create a new one? We know the Citibank shell credit card scheme is a little confusing but now that it is cleared up, perhaps you can help to re-review the whole thing again?
In this case, would I say that with the updated information on Citibank, we can now enjoy cash rebate even if we have 0 outstanding balance as shown in the table from Citibank website?
to zack of 21 dec:-
did u factor in the Rm90 annual fee that u’re paying, assuming that u r applying 4 the classic card? would the 2.5% rebate be enough to offset this fee?
why not have different cards from all the credit card issuers in m’sia and make sure that they are all FREE?
I have 13+2 cards from various issuers and they are all FREE! Why the “+2″ cards you may ask? Well I have yet to activate these 2 cards which were pre-approved.
These cards are handy when certain sellers require certain cards for rebates, discounts or zero % purchases.
So there’s no harm in having different cards as long as there are FREE! My earlier application for the shell card was rejected as I’m having 2 citibank visa cards & they can’t issue me a 3rd visa card. Was intending to get the notebook for rm799 but heard that there may be problems in installing certain drivers.
Zack:
Either your are the super genius or super crazy!!! 13+2 cards - it simply blows my mind away. But do remember, your credit scores will be likely affected by the number of credit cards you have. To what extend, I am not sure. Also It only make sense if you can use those cards for business/working related purposes where you can easily and quickly racked up those points/rewards. If you mainly use them for personal consumption purpose, I doubt you can go very far. Pls keep us updated on the number of credit cards you owned
Heard of that “credit score” thingy before & also dunno how it works - think u can gather some info on it which will give me a reason to cancel a lot of cards? An estimated total credit limit for all my cards is almost RM200K!
Tried to cancel 2 cards last year when they imposed their annual fees but, alas, they waived the fees!
The 1st issuer offered me a lucky pick where I can win from RM80 to RM320, and seeing that the fee was RM225, I was tempted (by the RM320!) but I said “NO”, and guess what, they agreed to waive the fee but said I must spend RM300 p.m. I then said if they are going to impose conditions on my card, then do cancel my card. To this they then agree that NO condition is imposed on my card. A few months later, I was able to save RM70 when buying an outdoor water filter using this very card. So, like I wrote earlier, it may come in handy if the card is FREE!
The 2nd issuer’s agent who answered my call agreed to cancel my 2 cards (Master & Visa) due to my disagreement on the fee charged. But guess what? The next day their officer called me to say that the agent was misinformed and said that my cards are FREE until the next renewal time and that no spending limit has been imposed.
So u see, trying to cancel cards is also a hassle when they agree to what the customer wants! So the next time, I should be asking for some premiums, etc & see if they still want my business…
Now I found a new way to “cancel” my credit cards. When the renewal’s up, the issuer will send the new card/s with an instruction that I called them 1st to activate the card/s. So, I don’t call them and that’s a couple of cards lesser!
And finally, you referred to me as “zack” which is incorrect, it’s “giko”.
Tata & Happy New Year.
dont trust citibank introduce a friend program. they are not genuine with their rewards. i introduce 18 friends. and only 8 got approved. even the one with platinum card got rejected. must be if 10 approved they have to give me notebook. look at the damn reply as below. they dont even review the situation.
Dear Mr Shiro,
Thank you for your e-mail dated 3/16/08 regarding card application.
We are sorry for the rejection of the application. However, as part of
our confidentiality policy that we are unable to reveal the reasons for
rejection. The approval is determined by our credit committee.
In general, the criterias are based on the documents that you submitted
to us such as your EA form or EPF statement, your previous statements
of
accounts and proof of employment, etc. There are specific guidelines
that governs the approval but we are unable to disclose them.
We hope the above clarifies.
Thank you for using Citibank Online and have a nice day.
Regards,
Gopinath Goval (Mr)
Internet Service Support
Citibank Berhad
Important:
Please do not send any account instructions and confidential details
such as credit card numbers, changes of address, PIN numbers,
passwords,
or other important information through regular emails.
For Citibank customers, please send your account instructions and
confidential details by logging in to Citibank Online
(http://www.citibank.com.my) with your Credit Card or ATM Card Number
and I-PIN and use your Mail Box to compose a message.
Original Message Follows:
————————
Form Message
subject:Contact Us (Pre-Login)
Handphone:0124098163
Email:shirockw@yahoo.com
Address:Puchong Selangor
Your message for Citibank:To the complain department.
I am very upset with Citibank as promised in the last year promotion on
the “introduce a friend rewards”. Me and my friend Lim Kim XXX work
hard
and supposed to get a notebook after introducing 18 person to this
program but only 8 person are approved. The rest are rejected for no
reason? Even the one with Platinum card? Is this just to attract people
to introduce friends but limit the rewards.
We even deliver all the forms ourselves to the Citibank HQ and
requested
for chop sign receive.
Hope there is an explaination on why we are not getting the notebook
and
why the other 10 person was rejected. Maybe Citibank isn’t genuine with
their rewards though.
ReferenceNum:00396346