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Citibank N A Complaint - NEVER let your son or daughter take a student loan from Citibank. - Student Loans
Student Loans - Complaint
NEVER let your son or daughter take a student loan from Citibank. They are a highly disreputable company with questionable business practices. They have borderline legal practices for repayment of the loans. THEY HARASS PEOPLE! If you try to pay by paper check via USPS, they play a shell game of sending the check through multiple states for processing delaying the actual process to increase revenues by then collecting late fees. If you pay electronically they still delay posting the payments for days, long after the money has been drawn from the payee's bank account. Then they phone multiple times a day, claiming the payment is late! Despite the fact that they are in possession of the funds, they continue the harassing phone calls, sometimes as many as 5 times a day.
If you talk to them they admit you have made the payments but continue the calls until they "post it to the account". When you ask them what the did with the funds that they already drew from your account they have some ridiculous answer that the money is still being moved around, whatever the heck that means. I regret the day my daughter's college ever arranged for her Stafford loan to be funded by Citibank!
Originally, I started paying my daughter's loan early, before it came due. The loans had a 6 month grace period after she graduated. To this day I never received an acceptable explanation as to what they did with that money! They claimed they applied it to "back-end" interest. Basically the first year they applied over 50% of my payments to "interest" on a loan that had less than 5% interest rate! After that, I never tried to make an advance payment, I always pay between the due date and the grace period. Even if you make an electronic payment ON THE DUE DATE, they call the payment late because it "takes a couple of days for their computers to process the transaction". BTW I am in IT, I know that is a whole lot of "who shot John". They are just playing a shell game with the money to take advantage of the interest float. That is, the money is in their bank for their use, probably earning them interest. At the same time, they did not post it against my daughter's loan, so her loan accrues interest for those days that they then charge her. While it may not seem like a lot on our individual loan, it can really add up on the millions of loans they process.
While they may be acting within the "letter of the law" based on laws that the whole country now knows are so corrupted that we had to have a "bail out" of the banking industry. In fact, since they bought out the Travelers, they have run that company into the ground too! Personally, I think they are thieves. Too bad they have such lobbying power, our legislature should really pass some laws that better protect the consumer! I am so frustrated, I actually feel like defaulting on the loans. At least then they would be harassing me for just cause.
All I can say is, if you have the option to do business with another company when funding your child's education, use the other company!
If you talk to them they admit you have made the payments but continue the calls until they "post it to the account". When you ask them what the did with the funds that they already drew from your account they have some ridiculous answer that the money is still being moved around, whatever the heck that means. I regret the day my daughter's college ever arranged for her Stafford loan to be funded by Citibank!
Originally, I started paying my daughter's loan early, before it came due. The loans had a 6 month grace period after she graduated. To this day I never received an acceptable explanation as to what they did with that money! They claimed they applied it to "back-end" interest. Basically the first year they applied over 50% of my payments to "interest" on a loan that had less than 5% interest rate! After that, I never tried to make an advance payment, I always pay between the due date and the grace period. Even if you make an electronic payment ON THE DUE DATE, they call the payment late because it "takes a couple of days for their computers to process the transaction". BTW I am in IT, I know that is a whole lot of "who shot John". They are just playing a shell game with the money to take advantage of the interest float. That is, the money is in their bank for their use, probably earning them interest. At the same time, they did not post it against my daughter's loan, so her loan accrues interest for those days that they then charge her. While it may not seem like a lot on our individual loan, it can really add up on the millions of loans they process.
While they may be acting within the "letter of the law" based on laws that the whole country now knows are so corrupted that we had to have a "bail out" of the banking industry. In fact, since they bought out the Travelers, they have run that company into the ground too! Personally, I think they are thieves. Too bad they have such lobbying power, our legislature should really pass some laws that better protect the consumer! I am so frustrated, I actually feel like defaulting on the loans. At least then they would be harassing me for just cause.
All I can say is, if you have the option to do business with another company when funding your child's education, use the other company!
Comments:
Posted by trmn8r on 2011-03-23:
It sounds like your main complaint is that payments are not being credited in a timely manner. While you state that you attempted to pay after the due date and prior to the end of the grace period, you also state that you tried to pay on the due date electronically, and the payment was considered late.
This is where you lost me. I can't schedule an electronic payment on the due date with my credit cards - it has to be set up at least a day AHEAD of time, but it can be paid ON the due date. Therefore I question exactly what has been happening.
It sounds like originally you were paying too soon and it was considered a month EARLY. There must be a way of scheduling payments so you don't have late charges.
This is where you lost me. I can't schedule an electronic payment on the due date with my credit cards - it has to be set up at least a day AHEAD of time, but it can be paid ON the due date. Therefore I question exactly what has been happening.
It sounds like originally you were paying too soon and it was considered a month EARLY. There must be a way of scheduling payments so you don't have late charges.
Posted by tnchuck100 on 2011-03-23:
"..., I always pay between the due date and the grace period."
That statement all by itself explains the late fees and the phone calls.
Most of the time the only comfort a grace period has is they won't report it as late to the credit bureaus.
That statement all by itself explains the late fees and the phone calls.
Most of the time the only comfort a grace period has is they won't report it as late to the credit bureaus.
Posted by trmn8r on 2011-03-23:
tnchuck -> I think you're right. Now I see that statement implies the OP was routinely paying late and hoping the grace period would take care of it, like paying rent a few days late. If so, very dangerous. All they have to do is pay about a week earlier than this, it seems.
Posted by olie on 2011-03-23:
I have another take on this. OP seems to be miffed that the first payments went almost entirely toward "back-end interest".
That's how almost ALL consumer loans work. Your first (huge) bunch of payments goes mostly toward interest, with just a tad going toward principal. The farther along you get into the loan payments, the larger the percentage going toward principal.
Look at car loans, home loans, almost any other secured loan. Look at the amortization schedule. You'd be surprised at how much of your payment might be going toward interest, and not toward eating away at your principal.
That's how almost ALL consumer loans work. Your first (huge) bunch of payments goes mostly toward interest, with just a tad going toward principal. The farther along you get into the loan payments, the larger the percentage going toward principal.
Look at car loans, home loans, almost any other secured loan. Look at the amortization schedule. You'd be surprised at how much of your payment might be going toward interest, and not toward eating away at your principal.
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