If a recent notice in your bank statement from Citigroup has you fretting that you won’t get your money out when you need it, the bank has a message for you: Don’t sweat it.
Citi recently sent notices to a large majority of its checking account customers informing them – in no uncertain terms – that the bank has the right to require account holders to provide advanced notice before withdrawing money. The notice had some customers buzzing over whether the cryptic language meant Citi was preparing for an onslaught of customer withdrawals – an old-fashioned, “It’s a Wonderful Life” kind of bank run.
“Effective April 1, 2010, we reserve the right to require (7) days advance notice before permitting a withdrawal from all checking accounts. While we do not currently exercise this right and have not exercised it in the past, we are required by law to notify you of this change,” the notice read.
But according to Citi officials there is nothing nefarious behind the notification, which they say amounts to nothing more than a technical requirement for all banks that offer interest on checking account balances. Citi says that when the FDIC began offering unlimited account protection in 2009, the bank converted all of its interest- and promotion-eligible accounts that did not currently pay an interest payment into what is known in bank circles as a Demand Deposit Account to take advantage of the FDIC change.
When the bank moved back to standard FDIC coveragethis year, it converted the accounts back to interest-eligible accounts – known as NOW accounts – triggering the account notification. According to a spokeswoman for Citi, all banks that offer NOW accounts are required to reserve the right to require advanced notice of withdrawals.
“However, we have never exercised this right and have no plans to do so in the future,” according to a statement from the bank explaining the notice.
It was unclear if the notice caused Citi customers to attempt to withdraw funds at a higher rate than normal. However, a person familiar with the notice pointed out that customers would have been notified by their branches that it was a technical matter.
Spokespeople for Bank of America (BAC: 16.21, n.a., n.a.%) and JPMorgan Chase (JPM: 40.87, n.a., n.a.%) did not immediately return calls for comment.
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These dimwitts sent me a letter about my AT&T card, from Citi, said I had to spend at least 2400 a year on it or get charged 60 bucks annual fee now, for a card that only had 2500 limit anyway and was free to hold.
So screw that, I closed the thing, My credit score was 805 last time I checked, so if it drops some screw it.
This will go for the other 2 I still have, but hardly need to use.