Citibank Prepaid Card - Is there an Account Maintenance Fee?

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jazzy
jazzy Posts: 1,077 Forumite
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in Credit cards
I recently received a Citibank Prepaid Card through the Nikon cash back scheme, card was topped up with £35 which I have now spent.

Checked the Terms and Conditions on the card and it appears that the card may be subject to an Account Maintenance Fee? Am I right in my assumption? If so Nikon have been very naughty in not making it clear about these annual maintenance fees.

citibankcard.jpg

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  • Chourreau
    Chourreau Posts: 4 Newbie
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    Hi,

    The account maintenance fees apply after 6 months if the card hasn't been used and no transaction is showing on the card. They are £2 and will be deducted from your £35 balance on a monthly basis until the card is used.
    Once a transaction is done with the card you then have 3 months to perform another one otherwise the fees start again.
    But for instance, if your balance is £0, the fees won't apply.

    Source:

    I am a customer support representative for the Citi Bank Prepaid services.

    Any more questions? :)
  • Orsika
    Orsika Posts: 1 Newbie
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    Hi,
    I did spent £22 from my £35 balance shortly after I have got the card. After 6 months I still had £13 on my account when citi has started to charge me with £2 every month . I just found out about the charges because just forgot about my card and to spend the remaining amount on it. My balance now is £1.
    On citi website there is no proper information about how to cancel the card, or make a complaint.
    I thing the whole cashback is a scam and it was only ment to sell people credit cards.
    Hate citi and now lost almost all my money left from my "cash back".
    Please tell me how to cancel my account, it would be a reliefe to me to know its deleted for ever....
    Thanks. :cool:
  • SnowTiger
    SnowTiger Posts: 4,461 Forumite
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    Orsika wrote: »
    I thing the whole cashback is a scam and it was only ment to sell people credit cards.
    Hate citi and now lost almost all my money left from my "cash back".
    Please tell me how to cancel my account, it would be a reliefe to me to know its deleted for ever....
    Thanks. :cool:

    I won a couple of these cards a while ago.

    They aren't credit cards. You won't receive a bill if you spend more than the balance on the card, because you can't, or when the maintenance fee causes the balance to fall below 1p.

    No need to cancel. Just throw the card away.
  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Posts: 2,175 Forumite
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    As far as I can tell, the only point of those fees is to strip any unspent money away from the cards, so that there's no "dormant money" to be collected later, and so that old un-used cards can then be killed off.

    Example: You get a card with £35 on. You buy something for £34.99. You bin the card. To close the account, they need to zero it, so they charge a £0.01 "maintenance fee" to "maintain" the account, then close it due to non-use.
  • hard_done_by_3
    hard_done_by_3 Posts: 2 Newbie
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    I also had a £35 CitiBank "cashback" card from Nikon, and only saw the smallprint when I came to spend it, just before it expired, to find that £12 had vanished.
    I would guess that using such cards is cheaper for Nikon than using cheques and, with people being hit by such charges or even letting cards expire, CitiBank may even be paying Nikon.
    I will be writing to Nikon, and trading standards if necessary, on the following grounds:
    The product was advertised with cashback.
    Cash does not expire
    Cash does not have small-print
    Cash does not evaporate from your wallet (unless you're married:))
  • SuperHan
    SuperHan Posts: 2,269 Forumite
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    hard_done_by wrote: »
    to spend it, just before it expired,

    It's cash back with T&Cs... Which you were fully aware of as you knew it was going to expire...
  • hard_done_by_3
    hard_done_by_3 Posts: 2 Newbie
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    I knew it was going to expire because the date is printed in big letters on the card, like any visa card.
    Fair enough - cheques expire too (although you can usually get them re-validated).
    They were careful to bury the "management" fees in the small print which came with the card -
    the fees are not mentioned at all in the Nikon cashback T&Cs, which I did read before I bought the camera.
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