Citi has really been improving their products this year, by adding new transfer partners, offering increased sign up bonuses and a host of other things. The biggest complaint most people seem to have about their premium cards is that the magnetic strip that you put into payment terminals is on the front of the card rather than the back. This is confusing for cashiers and almost always slows down the whole payment process.
It’s by no means a big deal, but it is annoying. myFICO reader pritomd updated his Citi app recently and noticed that the card designs had been slightly tweaked:
- EMV chip moved to the front (rather than the back previously)
- Magnetic strip moved to the back (rather than front previously)
- Card member name is now on the front (rather than the back previously)
It’s entirely possible that a designer did a mock up and put the strip and chip in the wrong place, but I think it’s far more likely that Citi has listened to cardholder complaints and decided it best to revert to a traditional card layout. What is a bit surprising is that Citi only recent changed the card design to try and make these magnetic strips clearer, that obviously hasn’t worked as well as expected.
