Thanks for the Info! The only Citi account I experienced a rate jack on was Exxon/Mobil Mastercard to 26 %. My Universal card stayed at 9.24 % and my Shell Mastercard at 11.24 %.

Weird that they would have raised your Exxon/Mobil but not the Shell...Citibank..go figure!

In the most basic sense, any creditor that raised a cardholder's rates after 2/2009 must re-evaluate the card based on current available rates for new accounts. However, it appears that the creditors do not have to give you the lowest rate if you were at a higher tier (but rather lower you one or two tiers at a time). So, for instance, my Dividend MasterCard was at 14.74% I believe and they rate jacked it to 18.99% and now they have lowered it to 13.24%. I reviewed Citibank's website and the lowest available interest rate for Dividend cards is 12.99% So for some reason, I did not get the lowest rate. Now, my Citibank Platinum Select Visa was raised to 14.99% and they lowered it to 11.99% which is their lowest rate. Interestingly enough, my AT&T Universal MasterCard was NOT rate re-evaluated for some reason. My only thoughts on this is that my account APR is based on LIBOR and not Prime Rate and all of the new Universal Cards are based on Prime Rate.

As far as guidelines...it seems to be at the banks discretion. The law does state that they have to re-evaluate the rate (for decrease) every six months. However, it appears that most banks are only dropping the rates one tier at a time.

So far Citibank has been the only creditor to do this. All the other creditors that rate jacked me either do not offer a lower avaialble rate (Macy's & Kohls) or they have yet to lower my APR (Chase).

That was a long winded explaination, did that answer your question? Basically, there are no real guidelines other than the 6 month intervals.

Thanks for the Info! The only Citi account I experienced a rate jack on was Exxon/Mobil Mastercard to 26 %. My Universal card stayed at 9.24 % and my Shell Mastercard at 11.24 %.

Is there a guidline for the banks to use for determining what your apr should be? When they're required to lower it.

In the most basic sense, any creditor that raised a cardholder's rates after 2/2009 must re-evaluate the card based on current available rates for new accounts. However, it appears that the creditors do not have to give you the lowest rate if you were at a higher tier (but rather lower you one or two tiers at a time). So, for instance, my Dividend MasterCard was at 14.74% I believe and they rate jacked it to 18.99% and now they have lowered it to 13.24%. I reviewed Citibank's website and the lowest available interest rate for Dividend cards is 12.99% So for some reason, I did not get the lowest rate. Now, my Citibank Platinum Select Visa was raised to 14.99% and they lowered it to 11.99% which is their lowest rate. Interestingly enough, my AT&T Universal MasterCard was NOT rate re-evaluated for some reason. My only thoughts on this is that my account APR is based on LIBOR and not Prime Rate and all of the new Universal Cards are based on Prime Rate.

As far as guidelines...it seems to be at the banks discretion. The law does state that they have to re-evaluate the rate (for decrease) every six months. However, it appears that most banks are only dropping the rates one tier at a time.

So far Citibank has been the only creditor to do this. All the other creditors that rate jacked me either do not offer a lower avaialble rate (Macy's & Kohls) or they have yet to lower my APR (Chase).

That was a long winded explaination, did that answer your question? Basically, there are no real guidelines other than the 6 month intervals.

Congratulations on your lower APR! I received a notice from JCP credit card that they will be increasing my APR with them. I have always paid in full, never carried a balance in any credit card, paid my loans on time, and they increase my APR to 26.99% starting on May 2011! I want to close down my JCP CC, but I'm sure that will make an impact on my credit score and history...

I'm sorry to hear that I just went to the JC Penney website to look at the terms and conditions, it looks like their new rate is 26.9% So you did not do anything to trigger that increased rate.

Closing your JC Penney card shouldn't hurt too badly since it is a store card. The length of time that the account has been open will still factor into your FICO score. The only real downside is that the credit line will no longer be factored into the FICO score as part of the debt-to-credit ratio. Again, since it is a store card, this should not impact you unless you have a huge credit line.

I personally cannot stand GEMB, so I will be closing my Macy's once GEMB takes over the program from Citibank. GEMB is scandalous!

Is there a guidline for the banks to use for determining what your apr should be? When they're required to lower it.

Congratulations on your lower APR! I received a notice from JCP credit card that they will be increasing my APR with them. I have always paid in full, never carried a balance in any credit card, paid my loans on time, and they increase my APR to 26.99% starting on May 2011! I want to close down my JCP CC, but I'm sure that will make an impact on my credit score and history... what to do?

As you all know, many banks raised the APR's on their cardholder's accounts after CARD Act was announced in 2009. Part of the third wave of CARD Act rules beginning with April 2011 billing cycles states that any creditor that raised a cardholder's rates after February 2009 must re-evaluate the APR based on current rates offered by the company in relation to the cardholder's credit score etc.

Well I just received my Citibank Dividend MasterCard statement and there was a note that beginning 3/9/11 (one day after this billing cycle closed-so effective for the April statement) my APR has been lowered to 13.24% from 18.99%. I looked at their website and their lowest APR for new cardholders on the Dividend is 12.99%...not sure why I didn't get that, but I am happy that it was lowered.

So keep an eye out on your statements to see if your APR's have been lowered (if raised after 2/2009). This will likley not effect store cards like Macy's as they phased out our "lower" rates when raised; therefore, there is not a lower APR to be reduced to.