Wait… is there a problem with Citibank credit cards in general?
As for fraud protection, we haven’t had an issue with the Costco visa but got a call today about the 2% Citibank Visa where someone had tried to take a cash advance. They denied it.
I use multiple creditcards. I have one that gives 1.5% on everything, one that pays 3% for restaurants and travel, and I use the Costco Visa only at Costco or for gas. We have the 2% card from Citi but for some reason with such a small credit limit that it’s useless.
We have a Costco Visa. In late February/early March, someone ran up $1700 in Supershuttle and a Baltimore-area Uber/Lyft-type car service charges. Didn’t see it til the bill came in the mail. When we called Citi, one of the CSRs told us, “Oh, were you in Vegas in mid-February? Someone tried to take a $2500 cash advance and we denied it.” Did Citi bother to TELL us this at the time it happened? Had we known, we would have been checking the online transactions daily. Instead, the scammers found another way to use our # and ran up lots of charges. Not at all happy with how Citi failed to be proactive when there was potential fraud. It didn’t cost us anything, but had we known there had been an attempted breach, we would have been able to ID the problem sooner and saved the merchants/credit card $4 and aggravation.
With USAA, we get phone calls or texts if there’s a questionable charge. We are also getting a 2.5% rebate on every dollar. Chase has also contacted us when we do something outside our usual buying profile. In fact, we bought a fridge on the Chase Visa the weekend of the Vegas hit, and we got a text to confirm the transaction.
We also carry different cards when we travel so that if one of us gets pickpocketed, the other still has valid cards. We used to have a Visa (Chase United), MC (USAA) and AmEx (Costco). Now the MC and AmEx have converted to Visas. Not sure we need three Visa cards, but each one gets us better benefits in certain situations.
And yes, we still get paper bills and we don’t do credit card transactions on our phones.
Yesterday I was pretty happy with the Costco Visa. I was notified three ways. Phone call, text and email about a charge on my card that they denied. It was for $500. They will send a replacement I’ll have it Monday. In the meantime my H can still use his card since with Costco the card numbers are different. With my Chase Sapphire the numbers are the same and if one card is compromised the other card needs to be cancelled as well.
@CountingDown - it’s my understanding that a USAA credit card is only available to those who have a military connection. Our son can get a USAA card, but we can not.
We have our credit cards set up so that we get a text every time a charge is made. It’s a useful way to make sure your card is not used without your knowledge and I heartily recommend you take advantage of the security option, if it is available to you in the future.
My Dad was not career military but he was still USAA eligible and so am I and my children. They are branching out, I believe. It may be that @bookreader can get USAA too because their child can.
ETA - to clarify, my Dad was in the military, just not career military.
@CountingDown Our go-to credit cards are the USAA Amex and Costco’s Citi Visa. I just crunched the numbers on what to spend where (gas, grocery, restaurants, etc.) to get the best rewards.
2.5% w/ USAA? Maybe I don’t have the best card. Not to hijack this thread, but what USAA card gives you that? We have excellent credit but the best I can find is 1.5%.
Both USAA & Costco gave us unique numbers for the joint cards. Both cards have been compromised (sigh) when we were abroad. Both were relatively painless to deal with sorting out the bogus charges. Costco still paid the monthly charge with an online autopay with a reminder to change the card.
USAA has opened us their enrollment a lot. No longer just family members of officers. DH not sure if parents of military can but seems reasonable as a family member.
Eligibility
Active, retired and honorably separated officers and enlisted personnel of the U.S. military.
Officer candidates in commissioning programs (Academy, ROTC, OCS/OTS).
Adult children of USAA members who have or had a USAA auto or property insurance policy.
Widows and widowers of USAA members who have or had a USAA auto or property insurance policy.
I think we got our eligibility from DH’s dad. Or maybe my dad. Our grown kids now have their own accounts since we have one.
@jym626 and @aMacMom - Here’s some info about the USAA 2.5% rewards card. It’s only offered in certain areas at the moment but is expanding to other areas pretty quickly. You can always call USAA and ask when it will be offered in yours.
USAA checking is not where we have direct deposits go, so this may not be an option for us. Will call and ask if they make exceptions since we have other investments with them.
Jym, we had a USAA savings account where we have regular deposits made, and that was not acceptable for the 2.5% cashback. We had to open a new checking account. We’ll just periodically sweep from the checking to savings, since we don’t really plan to use the checking account.
Patsmom pulled up the same info I have. No info on what areas are eligible, but we were in one of them.
Thanks @patsmom. The USAA 2.5% card isn’t available in CA yet. The representative I spoke with said they hope to expand to all the states sometime in the fourth quarter this year.
I just spoke with USAA and the 2.5% credit card requires a new application for a new card. We have our credit frozen and I’m not interested in (A) unfreezing it and (B) applying for yet another card I don’t need. She did tell me that there is hopefully something in the works to improve benefits on the current USAA signature credit card I currently have but they cannot release any information until it is confirmed in 2 to 3 months.
We have USAA. My dad was in the military for a few months in the 1940s. We were told he had to buy an insurance policy for a year with them so I and my sibs and dad’s grandkids would be eligible for USAA membership, including ability to buy insurance and financial products including CCards. I am now a member as well as my kids and H has a USAA CCard with me. My brother also got a USAA CCard with his wife. D has her auto policy with USAA.
I would get a USAA card if it was an option, but while my dad did a stint in the military, he did not have a USAA account so we are not eligible. My son is currently in the army, but that does not qualify us.
It is a good company to work with and is especially geared to the needs of those in the military. We did stop in at a branch office near my son’s school and met with a representative.