Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Citigroup Match Pay

Thought I'd share this with everyone.

My 1-year Balance Liquidation Plan (a.k.a. Hardship plan, Debt Repayment plan, etc) on my Home Depot account ended last month. So today I get a call from Citibank who owns my HomeDepot CC account. They said they had not yet received a payment from me that was due on August 1st - so I was 11 days late. I explained my debt to income problems and I mentioned that it was "financially killing me."

They offered two Programs:
1. Match Pay - I make a payment anywhere from $144 to $599 and they will match it. Basically they waive a matching amount and call it a "Late Fee Credit" on my account statement.
or
2. PayDown 60 month program, 0%, $66/mo. I chose the Match Pay. I will allow them to issue a check against my checking account for $599 that I have setup for these type of payments. I also tape recorded the call. My new balance will be $1198 less than what I previously owed. My next payment will be due end of September at 21% APR. I'll ask for another MatchPay then or the PayDown plan.

This is the first I've heard about a Match Pay plan. It's kind of like a debt settlement plan without the dings to your credit report. Maybe some of you reading can ask for this "Match Pay" plan from your creditors to help you with your own debt. Good-luck.

I'll keep ya'll updated on whether Citigroup follows through on their promise to "match" my $599 payment.

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