By Scott Tibbs, January 20, 2011
I sent this letter to the Better Business Bureau of Indianapolis.
Greetings:
I would like to report fraudulent activity by CitiBank, specifically the student loan services offered at www.StudentLoan.com.
Back in December, I made an extra payment on my student loan through the website to pay down the principal. There is an option on the website to apply an extra payment completely to principal, so I was surprised when my payment was applied as a normal payment.
I called customer service to investigate the problem and was told that in order for an extra payment to apply to principal, it must be made between the 14th and the 21st day of the month. This means out of every month, there is a seven day window to make an extra payment to principal, and all other payments are processed as a normal payment with interest deducted.
This is fraud, plain and simple.
CitiBank would have customers believe they are able to make a payment to principal at any time and there is an option on their website for that. There is not one single word on the website that in any way indicates that there is only a seven-day window each month to make an extra payment.
CitiBank is knowingly deceiving customers to line their pockets with interest payments, while pretending that payments will go to principal. Even worse, I was told that there is no way to apply inappropriate payments to principal despite the wishes of the customer and the fact that payments are clearly marked to go to principal on CitiBank's website.
I encourage you to take all necessary action to shame CitiBank for fraud and theft.
