Recently I was shutdown by Citi after a fraud alert. I suspected that the shutdown was because of too many inquires and account and sure enough I was right.
Citi officially stated “too many recently opened accounts” for the basis of shutdown
We’ve closed your accounts
Based on information obtained from a consumer reporting agency, we’ve had to close the following account(s):[states full card number]
Specifically, your credit report indicates too many recently opened accounts.
The Stats
Here are the relevant stats that I’m willing to put in one place:
(all stats below are from Experian which is what Citi used to come to shutdown decision)
# of inquires: ~15/12
# of Accounts in last 4 months: 0/1, 1/2, 4/3, 6/4
Above mentioned stats are from Experian which is what Citi used to come to shutdown decision.
If you’re hell-bent on knowing my other stats, you could read my older posts detailing out various credit card applications.
Closing Thoughts
Similar to Chase shutdown due to inquires/accounts, I believe there is no magic number of inquires and/or accounts required for Citi shutdown either. What seems to be certain is that many of these shutdowns came after a fraud alert. In other words, fraud alert can trigger a manual review which can lead to shutdown.
Oh and we have not seen new Citi credit card application being a catalyst for shutdown of this type, not yet anyway…
