A credit card is the last thing you should have if you wanted financial freedom or if you wanna get out of debt. However, there are instances in our lives that we have emergency expenses.
It can be alarming and hard not to be able to pay for Utility bills, buy food and groceries after having some emergency expenses. Apparently, credit cards are the fastest way to get out of a sudden spiraling financial crisis.
It is the fastest way. If you already have a card. Of course, if a financial crisis happens before having a credit card it may take a while or even impossible.
The thing is applying for a credit card may take a month or two. At the same time if you had an issue in paying bills you may end up not getting approved for a card too.
Check out: How to Get a Secured Credit Card with BPI
This post is not about how to get approved for a credit card. Today, I’m going to share the full timeline of my Citibank Credit Card application for Simplicity+ Visa card. It is for those who are curious how long do Citibank process their card application.
Just so you are aware, this is going to be my 4th card ever. But my 2nd active card with a separate credit limit. There’s a reason behind that which I’ll tell you later on.
Day 1 – 11/02/18 Card Application
When filling out their form make sure you have all details complete and accurate to avoid delays. Don’t falsify any information.
I applied through their website, it’s more realistic online than the sales reps because details will be unsecured.
Since I have an existing card, I entered my card number on the form. That was a life-threatening attempt, hahaha just kidding.
The thing is, I had a financial crash for the past two months. My baby’s first birthday, my unhealthy body strikes again and my baby broke my mom’s TV.
My mom is quite demanding with things. Instead of me paying for my card I was forced to get a home credit loan to replace her TV, my money was used to pay for the down payment. The TV was used on my baby’s birthday for karaoke purposes.
I was also supposed to make a payment for my card and just use the limit for purchasing the ingredients for my baby’s birthday feast. However, she told me that it’s gonna be better to buy at the local wet & dry market in Zapote. I got sick and lead to absences without pay, and being sick required me to purchase some meds too.
It was a total crisis for me. I’m being able to pay just the minimum due and the finance charges I’m getting every month is about 600+ PHP. So that’s getting into a deeper hole of financial disaster. So before it gets deeper and deeper, I applied for a second card to do a balance transfer.
Day 4 – November 05, 2018
I didn’t really check anything about the application on this day, but I got an email around 9 pm. I check my email around 1 am because my shift starts at 3 am. The email is not even about confirming that I got approved. But it gives the impression that it was.
The email was about welcoming me for an eStatement. I didn’t want to assume that time so I checked the application status.
Day 5- November 6, 2018, I got an Email from CitiBank
Technically it was day 4 because it’s 1 am. After seeing the email about the eStatement, I checked my application status. I can say that Citibank’s online facilities are quite secured because even in checking status it sends an OTP (one-time-password).
On the status of the card application, it only says “Booked”. Their process is fast but really confusing. I thought when they say booked, it means that it is booked for checking or credit investigation or whatever.
I tried checking on the web and there’s only one forum that has this topic. And no one confirmed the accuracy of the answer. Usually when you go to forums, if the question was answered or resolved, there would be an indication or at least a comment that says it’s good. But there’s none.
I needed to have the confirmation on which one is accurate because there are two answers that make sense. One says it’s booked for shipment and the other one says the same ideology as what I thought.
I’m so curious about what it means, so I also asked a friend who used to work in Citibank. He’s offline that’s why I decided to call Citibank.
You’re right I should’ve called them instead of searching and chatting a friend.
However, Citibank doesn’t have a toll-free number. It sucks right? I think they are the only bank that doesn’t have a toll-free number. They have chat support who can’t help me identify what I am trying to find out.
So for the sake of knowing what’s the real deal, I called them using our landline in CAVITE. Since I can’t find an answer about the “Booked” status on Citibank’s card application status, I thought it would be nice to confirm and share it here.
Having that said, I was able to confirm that it was approved and booked for printing. And later on, be shipped according to the rep.
Day 6 – November 7, 2018, I got the Credit Card Delivery Tracking Number
Around 5 pm, I received a text message that the card is about to be shipped via Air21. The tracking number is giving me an error when I checked it. Details were just loaded up after an hour.
If you encounter the same thing don’t panic. There are some parts on our job where we check tracking for orders and there are times that tracking numbers won’t have details for a while.
Maximum wait for tracking numbers to have details are within the day.
As per Air21’s website, deliveries in Cavite takes 1-2 business days. I have a feeling that this would arrive by tomorrow since we’re just in Bacoor, we’ll see.
Day 7- November 8, 2018, I received my CitiBank Simplicity Visa Card
Around 2:30 pm, I received the card. According to my husband, the delivery guy went over earlier but they can’t release the card to him even I left my authorization letter and IDs.
As per the delivery guy and the note on the package, this is a face to face delivery. They also have a form from Citibank that I have signed, the guy said they’ll return that to Citibank.
So if you think you’ll not be at home during business hours, ask for the card to be delivered at your office.
Activation of the card
It’s very easy to activate the Citibank card. I just downloaded the app and registered for an account there. Just make sure you have the card with you when signing up because it is required.
After sign up, it asked me to activate the card and poof! It’s activated.
My first use of my CitiBank Simplicity+
Since I can’t do balance transfer yet, I tried using it for our groceries. Since I found out at SM Appliance Center that they have “Buy Now, Pay Later” promo, I decided to invest in a laptop to maintain this blog.
I just recently posted why I hate installments, but I decided to get one for a laptop. There are more opportunities that I can unlock if I have a laptop that’s why even I hate installments, I have to get it.
That was just 7 days of application and activation
I should say that Citibank is the fastest bank that processes card applications. I thought it would be BDO because my other card is with them. They processed my card in less than 30 days.
I’ve seen that there was a lot of bad feedback about how long it took them for the card to be received. But according to the delivery guy, if I failed to receive the card at that time it may take a while for me to receive it.
Maybe those people who had a bad experience with receiving the card failed to be at home when the card is being delivered.
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Hi, I applied 2 days ago and the last page I was in showed that they will contact me in 3 business days. However, I have not received any email confirmation of my application nor the application ID. Usually I would receive an email confirmation stating that I have applied for this and my application is being processed. Was this the case for you? That you did not receive any email confirmation until you received the estatement email? Was that the first email you received from them since your application? How did you get your application ID? Sorry, I just got confused of the process. Thank you!
Hi as far as I can remember I got an email with reference number. You can also try calling their hotline to verify if your application has been received.
Hi Miely this is quite perfect, just like the rest I was also curious about the booked status, however my case is different. I applied on line, and got a call to resubmit my requirements and latest payslips. so I did, then a text requesting me to call them to verify my application, but when I called the agent said I was declined, and I felt what annoyed you asked me to call you just to be told I am declined? you can send that via text ( I don’t have a landline, I work at night so I will need to extend hours just to use the office phone to call them). So I thought end of the story. then received another text just 24 September it said “service advisory, Dear Value client one or more of your addresses were updated last 9/23/2019 if you did not request for this….. I ignored thinking there must be a mistake. but just today I received text and email that my application was approved and my card will be delivered by Air 21 7 days from now. I checked the online status checker. you were right when was declined I cannot access it, then now I can access it again with the booked status. But I still feel anxious about the change of address notice, so I will call them later at 6:00am… I am not 100% sure if I was really approved. Hope this is not a case of someone using my information but changed everything to their address, I am not also sure if my email address is hacked or if I am the alleged person, I should update my cellphone number too. or am I overthinking…. hahaha sorry, I guess some notices of citibank is very confusing.
Hi thanks so much for sharing your experience. Actually I had that notice of change address. It only means that they have entered it on their system
I am approved.. confirmed it finally, just waiting for Air21, this is my first credit card after 2 decades without it…. like having a second chance to live hahaha
Congrats beb. Spend wisely ? once you have the tracking no. Saglit nlng yon. ?
Hi ? Just received an email that my application for a Citibank credit card is approved and the courier will deliver it to my home address. How can I change it my office address?
Hi you should call citibank as soon as possible while the card is not yet shipped. Usually after getting the approval email the card is still on printing process so they should be able to update it.
Does Citibank have customer service during the weekend? Thank you ?
I’m not really sure. On their site they didn’t mention any open hours for the phone support you can refer to this https://www.citibank.com.ph/gcb/static/contact-us.htm?lid=PHENCBGGNHETLCONTACTUS
Hi, I really love this blog since it’s giving me ideas, I applied for a Citi Simplicity+ Card on Sept. 23, I received a text message thanking me for applying for a Citi Simplicity card, it gave me the reference number and when I checked the status it says that it needs documents even though I uploaded it during my online application so what I did was I uploaded my payslips again, I gave it a few days and they gave me an application ID and asking me to call them for verification or additional documents, I called them today and a rep told me that it’s on a “pre credit”?? I’m pretty sure I heard him right and he advised me to wait for a text message this coming week about the application, it’s my first time applying for a credit card so hoping for the best? Haha!
Hi thanks for your comment. I hope it goes well for you as well ☺️
Hi, I read your previous comment and you mentioned about loan, I would like to ask your experience with Citibank personal loan? Thank you
hi Sophia I was really planning to write about it pero I lost the details.. I remembered they had a processing fee of more than 1500 ata.. My mom told me it shouldn’t be like that but I am not sure since it was my first loan.. They also require checking account.. which i thought easy to get.. nd dn pala.. you have to be with the bank for at least 6 months to apply for a checking account. Good thing I had an account with metrobank at that time.. The reason you need it is that you’ll issue post-dated checks as your payment.. example you had a loan for 36 months you have to issue 36 post-dated checks… My mom told me to be really cautious about post-dated checks because in case you missed funding your checking account it can be filed as a case against me like stafa… So I had to be mindful about the due dates ganon po…
Hi,
I have citi rewards card already, then I decided to get a 2nd CC yesterday, because I want another credit line which I can sum up the credit limit of the 2 cards. I requested the citi simplicity+ as my 2nd card. Within just today I saw the e-mail confirmation and saw it is in booked status. I checked my online account from the webpage (not the app) I accidentally able to activate the simplicity card, that’s due to curiousity from the citibank online account, even if I do not know the card number and the CVC. I think I just by-passed the activation process and got a glitch. Anyway, the card is already active but my main concern is my credit limit did not increase at all. I’ll call them tomorrow to ask about this as well. Just want to know what is your view about this? 🙂 Sorry I do not have a friend with CC from citibank so I came here on your blog to ask this question.
It will be disappointing if my 2nd card will not increase my total credit limit.
Regards,
Hi Nath usually when you apply a 2nd card from the same bank it wouldn’t increase the credit limit. Instead it would use shared CL from your first card. If you need a credit limit increase you can request it from Citi Bank. They usually approves cl limit if you’ve been using your card regularly and pay on time regularly. I’m not sure though if they would ask you for documents but you can call them for that.
Hi Miely,
I just received an email from Citibank with subject Electronic Statement Enrollment & Electronic Advice Enrollment. I would like to ask how this works. How can i open the account because the card hasn’t delivered yet. Upon checking my application status, like yours, it says Booked.
Citi Simplicity+ cc.
Thank you!
Subscribed. 🙂
Hi Louise thnx for subscribing.. You have to wait for the card first because it is required to enter the card details on registration. 🙂
Oki. Thank you, Miely! 🙂
You’re welcome po ?
Hi! Same thing happened to me. I just applied recently and i did not receive an email confirmation. The thing that really bothered me tho was it did not ask me to submit my documents during the online application. Although i was pretty sure i checked “No” for no principal card with other banks. So it should be requiring me to send those docs right? Any thoughts on this?
I think if you have chosen “no” it would ask you to upload the docs during the application. I find it weird because some people claim that they didn’t receive a confirmation but when I tried doing an application trial it sent me an email. try to check your spam maybe it was tagged that way by your mail provider. otherwise, contact citibank
Hi. did you request for a specific credit limit? does citibank assign it for you? or do they have default limit for this type of card? i wanted to increase my credit limit with BPI, but transacting with them is such a hassle. might as well get a new card, especially if it was this fast.
Hi. I didn’t request for the limit they assigned it to me.
hi! I kinda have the same experience with you. So I was at SNR last tuesday when a sales rep approached me. Then yesterday around 9:42pm i received 2 emails welcoming me to an e statement and e advice. But the thing is, i didn’t get any text message or email saying that my application was processed so I don’t have an application ID to check the status. Do you think I’m approved or the e-statement was just a mistake?
Well in my case it was approved..? the approval sms and notification was delayed as well
Hi i applied for a citibank simplicity credit card through imoney, after that an agent called me then process my application. Yesterday I received an email from citibank welcoming me to an e-statement or e-advice something like that. I don’t know if im approved. I can’t check my status online because i didn’t directly apply in citibank online site so i don’t have a17 digit application id. What do you think? Am i approved? Thank you.
Hi you can check on the application status.. in my case it was approved..and same thing happened to me they sent the notif for e-statement
Hi. Can you provide the link on where you checked the application status online? Thanks!
Hi, just want to ask what will happen to my citi card if hindi ko sya natanggap kc sabi ni air 21 unlocated address daw and need contact number pero sure nman ako tama ung address ko and contact number na finill up sa form ni citibank.. i tried to contact citibank thru their number pero puro automated machine lng ung sumasagot to press this and that.. d ko tuloy matanong ung concern ko kung ano ung dapat kong gawin..pano kaya un, need ko bang mgapply ulit ng bagong credit card? if ever pwd bang ipick up ko nlng sya sa air 21 branch or kung pano ko madodouble check ung address and contact number ko sa knila..ask ko na rin alin ba ung hinihingi nilang 9 digit ba un na reference number sa pag aaply? San ko sya makikita? Thanks in advance..
Hi po I’m not sure eh.. may be you need to contact air 21 may tracking number nmn po ata kau they may be able to assist u
good morning maam, my citibank credit card status is recieved.
meaning, ngangaun palang nila natanggap po ba yun??
antagal tagal ko na pinasa yun.
thank you po.
bago po ba nyo makita na ang status nyo is booked, may nakita muna kayo na status nyo nung una na recieved?? thank you po