Citi Targeting Kids

As a loyal Citibank customer for almost 20 years now, I get disappointed when I see them acting badly and doing dumb things. Like targeting my son for a credit card. My seven year old son.

Below is the application that arrived yesterday. It's not the first time they've sent him one of these (click to enlarge).

It's not just any card. It's a Citi Gold card. For a seven year old? They'll give him 25,000 points with $750 in spending. That's about five years worth of allowance money. And if you read the fine print on the back... they are offering him a 13.99% interest rate. Not great. Not killer. If a seven year old should miss one payment... it shoots to 28.99%. He'll owe Citi for life.

How did Citi decide to target a seven year old? It's obvious that they bought or bartered for a list of American Airlines Advantage members (frequent fliers). They then determined who on the list didn't already have this credit card with Citi. I got my son his own Advantage number a few years when he flew American.

Innocent mistake? Or stupidity? American airlines knows my son's age as I've purchased tickets for him and flagged him as a minor. Either American can't scrub their list and send Citi only those over 18, Citi didn't think to ask American for a list of those over 18 or Citi actually wants to load debt on kids.

Once Vik figures out how to pay the US taxpayer back for its bailout, maybe he can ask his staff to stop targeting kids for credit cards. Citi, a company that acts badly once again.