Several weeks ago I received an email from Citi informing me that I’d be receiving a new contactless credit card. In the past year I’ve had a few different homes addresses and unfortunately, that card never arrived. Then, about two weeks ago I moved to a new apartment and updated my mailing address and requested a replacement card. My replacement card arrived at my correct address a few days later.
When that new card shipped, I noticed a new card account show up in my Citi app. Then, when I activated my new card that account became active and the other account showed up as inactive. The whole thing was a bit unusual.
Typically when you request a new credit card and the card isn’t compromised, the card issuer will send you a new card with the exact same card number. The only changes to the new card are the expiration date and the CVV. In this instance however I received an entirely new account number for a card replacement.
After activating my card I carried on as usual without giving the new card much thought. I’ve been making an effort to use the card more often, but besides that, nothing changed. When I first received the card the contactless transactions didn’t work, but now the card works perfectly.
After about a week with the new card I received an interesting email from Citi. The email reminded me of something that I had completely forgotten to do when I received my new card in the mail.
Update AutoPay Services With New Credit Card Information
As I mentioned, a few days after I received my new Citi Premier credit card Citi sent me a helpful email. At first glance I wasn’t exactly sure what Citi was sending me as the subject line was a bit confusing. The subject line read “Inform companies of your new account number.” However, when I opened the email I found the following message in the body of the email which was much easier to understand.
The email essentially served as a reminder to update my card information on my subscriptions that use AutoPay. For me, these only include Netflix and Spotify as other charges hit other cards.
I imagine if you have more subscriptions that use AutoPay more accounts will show up, but as I only had two, only the two were shown. Toward the bottom of the email there were additional examples of accounts to update. This list included Membership Fees, Subscriptions, Utility/Phone Companies, and Online Retailers as examples of services that could be using AutoPay.
After reading the email I quickly visited each services website and updated my credit card information. I also used this email as a reminder to check my other accounts to make sure that my card numbers were correct, but also that my billing address was properly updated.
Final Thoughts
I know it’s weird, but I tend to avoid AutoPay. Personally, I like sitting down once a month and submitting payment for most of my purchases. I do this because as I hit the button to pay online it makes me consider if this charge is worthwhile or necessary. For things like utilities that I ultimately have to pay, it’s a reminder to turn off my air/heat when I’m not home for long periods of time.
That being said, there are a few payments that do automatically charge my card each month. This includes Netflix and Spotify, but also cell service, EZ Pass, and my gym membership. Most of these charge a different credit card, but when I checked, they all listed my old home address. So, I again went into each account website and update my contact information.
This email was obviously a great reminder to update my Citi card information, but also to update all of my information. I can’t tell you how many accounts had contact information from 1 or 2 apartments ago. So, while automated emails from banks and card issuers can be annoying, I often find that they serve as helpful reminders of things to do across all card accounts.
