Numerous reports indicate that Citi is on a temporary break from allowing product changes on their credit cards as they go through some sort of internal changes. Some suggest that this is the result of Citi’s recent deal with Mastercard to convert most of their consumer cards over from Visa onto the Mastercard network.
Most people who call in are told that they’ll need to wait until October or November before they can do any sort of product change. (See milesforfamily’s experience here.)
Oddly, some people have been having success getting a product change done. When I called in about my Dividend card, the rep initially had a knee-jerk reaction that product changes are temporarily unavailable. When I pressed him for exact dates when it would become available, I was put on hold and ultimately he came back and said that I can do a product change.
Possibly, since my Dividend is a Mastercard, it won’t be undergoing any network changes and thus is allowed to be product changes. Most people are not having success with Mastercard product changes either, but it could be that this is just a misunderstanding on the part of the reps.
I’ve been holding off on posting this for the past few weeks since we were supposed to hear back from Citi with more exact details on what’s going on. We’ll let you know if we find out more, but for now it’s important to keep this in mind when evaluating your options with Citi credit cards, particularly with regards to annual fees coming due.
Bear in mind that you have at least 30 days after the annual fee hits to receive a refund on the annual fee; if you can hold out until October-November and product-changing to a no-annual-fee card at the time it could be worth doing so. Also, with most Citi cards you should be able to get a prorated refund when you cancel or product change the card.
Update 11/2/15: A report indicates that they are now saying to wait until January.
