The 6% Interest Rate Cap
Citi Military Benefits: SCRA 6% Cap, Not the 0% Myth
Part of: The Complete Guide to the SCRA
What Citi owes you
The cap is retroactive to your first day of active duty, and the excess interest is forgiven rather than deferred. Put your numbers in to see the size of your claim, then generate the letter that asks for it.
Simple-interest estimate on a fixed balance, capped at 6%: the 6% statutory ceiling (50 U.S.C. § 3937). Citi publishes no lower rate, so 6% is your guaranteed floor. A revolving balance that moved over the period will differ. It sizes the claim; it is not an amortization schedule and not legal advice.
Open the full calculator with these numbers | Generate the letter to Citi
Write the letter to Citi
Written notice is what starts the clock. Fill these in and the letter below is yours to copy, print, and send with a copy of your orders.
Where to send it: The online Benefits Enrollment Form, also in the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) section under Help & Support Citi states it takes Benefits applied within 2-3 monthly billing cycles once Citi confirms eligibility.
Nothing you type here leaves your browser. The letter is built on this device.
Citi has a reputation as the most generous SCRA bank in the country. Search for it and you will find the same number everywhere: 0% APR, all fees waived, the best program any major issuer runs.
Citi does not publish that number. Not on its SCRA page, not in its terms, not anywhere we could reach.
What its page does contain is real and worth reading: who is eligible, the channels to request relief, and a two-to-three billing cycle timeline for the reduction to land. What it contains no version of is a rate. This page repeated the 0% until July 2026, sourced to the same aggregator echo as everyone else. That is exactly the mistake this site exists to help you avoid, so here is the correction.
What we can and cannot tell you
| Feature | Statutory SCRA | What Citi publishes (read October 19, 2026) |
|---|---|---|
| Rate cap on pre-service debt | 6% APR, guaranteed | ”Reduced interest rates and more.” No figure. |
| Fees on eligible accounts | Fees count as interest under § 3937(d)(1) | No fee policy stated |
| Retroactive to duty start | Yes, from the date you are called to service | For most members, protections begin on the date they enter active duty |
| Excess interest above 6% | Forgiven, payment reduced | Governed by the statute either way |
| Timeline | On notice | Within 2-3 monthly billing cycles once Citi confirms eligibility |
| Deadline to ask | 180 days after release, § 3937(b)(1) | Requests accepted “within one year of release from active duty service” |
Everything in the left column is § 3937 and Citi cannot take any of it back. Everything Citi adds on top is currently unknowable from public sources. That is not an accusation. Plenty of issuers reduce rates below the floor without advertising it. It just means you cannot plan around a number nobody will print.
The deadline row needs care. Citi’s page, which loads only in a full browser, says you can request benefits “at any time during the service member’s active-duty service period or within one year of release from active duty service.” That is Citi’s own window. The law’s is shorter: § 3937(b)(1) requires written notice with a copy of your orders, or another indicator of service, no later than 180 days after release. File inside 180 days and Citi’s extra six months never matters.
The move: make them put it in writing
This is the practical consequence, and it applies to any issuer that publishes no rate (Chase is in the same position).
File normally. Then send a written § 3937 notice and ask four questions, in writing:
- What annual percentage rate did you apply to each eligible account?
- What date does it take effect, and does it run to my active-duty start date?
- What fees were waived or refunded?
- On what date does the relief end?
An issuer that answers is one you can plan around. An issuer that will not answer has still told you something: assume 6%, and be pleasantly surprised. Either way you now have a paper record, which is what you would need if you ever had to escalate.
Citi also issues store and co-branded cards, each under its own agreement and rate: the Home Depot consumer card, the My Best Buy cards, the Costco Anywhere Visa and the Macy’s cards. Citi prints no rule that one request covers every card, so name each account in yours.
How to file
File your SCRA request with Citi
- Gather orders covering your active-duty period and list your pre-service Citi accounts.
- Request SCRA benefits through Citi’s Military Response Unit at 877-804-1082, its online Benefits Enrollment Form, mail to Citi Military Response Correspondence, Attn: SCRA Request, P.O. Box 790398, St. Louis, MO 63179, or fax to 866-533-0503 with a cover page (all from Citi’s SCRA page, read October 19, 2026).
- Send a § 3937 letter as written notice with a copy of your orders, no later than 180 days after release (Citi’s one-year window is policy, not law). The letter generator produces one.
- Ask the four questions above and require answers in writing. Do not accept “you will see it on your statement.”
- Check the next three statements. Citi says it applies benefits within 2-3 monthly billing cycles once it confirms eligibility, starting from the date you entered active duty.
- If the applied rate is above 6%, that is a statutory violation, not a policy disagreement. Escalate.
If the rate is what you care about, owe someone else
Four issuers actually commit to a published rate below the 6% floor: Capital One at 4% (and Discover, now aligned to it), USAA at 4%, Navy Federal at 4%, and Sallie Mae at 5%. Those are on their own pages, in their own words.
Which issuer you owe on the day you enter military service is something you can choose, if you see the date coming. That is the pre-service window, and the lender-choice playbook is the version with the numbers in it.
One warning that matters here more than anywhere: do not transfer balances to chase a better rate during service. A transfer made while you are on active duty is a new obligation incurred during service, and it gets no cap at all. You would hand back the protection you already have. Before your start date, the same move is not just safe but often the smart one.
Size what the cap is worth in the savings calculator, and if you paid above 6% before filing, the refund guide shows how to recover it.
The law behind this: 50 U.S.C. § 3937
Maximum rate of interest on debts incurred before military service: read the statute , or read § 3937 in plain English, with its enforcement record .
Citi Access Checking: the account facts, from its own pages
Rank 21 of 22 on the Military Bank Scorecard, 33 of 100 (fees 0/25, ATM 0/15, early pay 0/15, SCRA 8/20, overdraft 10/10, complaints 15/15).
- Monthly fee: $5
- "Although Access Checking has a $5.00 Monthly Service Fee, it will be waived in months when you receive $250+ in Direct Deposits or other qualifying transactions or if you or another account owner are ..." (source, Oct 28, 2026)
- Military waiver
- "If you receive at least $250 in Direct Deposits or other qualifying transactions* in a calendar month, or are age 23 or younger, or are in a Relationship Tier, you will not be charged a Monthly Servic..." (source, Oct 28, 2026)
- ATM rebate: $0
- "Citigold and Citigold Private Client Relationship Tier accounts receive unlimited reimbursement of fees charged by third-party ATM operators or networks. [No reimbursement is stated for Access Checkin..." (source, Oct 28, 2026)
- Overdraft: $0
- "No Overdraft Fees. While Citibank will not charge you an overdraft fee, Citibank encourages its customers to consider the impact of overdrawing an account. The ability to overdraw your account may be ..." (source, Oct 28, 2026)
- Foreign transaction fee: 3%
- "Transactions Made Outside of the United States and its Territories. We will apply a foreign exchange fee equal to 3% of the transaction amount (including credit and reversals) for each international d..." (source, Oct 28, 2026)
- Deployment
- "not stated on https://www.citi.com/banking/access-checking; nothing about deployment, international ATM or fee refunds on the Access Checking or checking pages; the SCRA page was unreadable (see scraR..." (source, Oct 28, 2026)
CFPB complaint data, 2023 to 2025
What servicemembers told the CFPB about Citi
Servicemembers, veterans and military families filed 2,610 complaints about Citi with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau from 2023 through 2025. That is 6% of the 44,224 complaints the company received from everyone in the same period.
- Most common products
- Credit card (1,099); Credit reporting or other personal consumer reports (508); Checking or savings account (385)
- Most common issues
- Problem with a purchase shown on your statement (375); Incorrect information on your report (349); Managing an account (223)
- How it closed them
- 15% with monetary relief, 30% with non-monetary relief, 55% with an explanation only
- Timely response
- 100% answered within CFPB's timeline
How to read this: CFPB publishes complaints without verifying them, a large customer base produces more complaints, and the closing category is the one the company reported. Complaints about credit reports rarely end in a payment, so the product mix shapes the relief rate. The "Servicemember" tag covers active duty, Guard, Reserve, veterans, retirees and their spouses and dependents. See the CFPB query or compare every lender we cover, or read the full complaint profile.
Do the next thing
- Estimate the refund you are owed Months above 6% on a pre-service balance, as money.
- Generate the rate-cap letter Cites § 3937, asks for every pre-service account.
- What servicemembers report about your lender 349 companies, money-back rates, from the CFPB.
- Compare 22 banks on the scorecard Fees, early pay and SCRA rate, from their own pages.
Frequently asked questions
Does Citi really go to 0%?
Citi does not say so anywhere we can find. Its SCRA benefits page, read in a browser October 19, 2026, covers eligibility, how to request, and a two-to-three billing cycle timeline, and states no rate figure. The 0% is repeated across military blogs and card-review sites, but it traces to no Citi source. It may well be what Citi applies in practice. It is not something Citi has committed to in public, so do not plan around it. Your guaranteed floor is the statutory 6%, retroactive, with the excess forgiven.
Then how do I find out what rate Citi will give me?
Ask, and make them answer in writing. File your SCRA request with orders, then send a written § 3937 notice and ask Citi to confirm the applied rate, the effective date, the fee treatment, and the date relief ends. An issuer that will not put its rate in writing has told you something useful.
Where do I send Citi my SCRA request?
Citi's SCRA page, read in a browser October 19, 2026, lists four routes: the online Benefits Enrollment Form; its Military Response Unit at 877-804-1082; mail to Citi Military Response Correspondence, Attn: SCRA Request, P.O. Box 790398, St. Louis, MO 63179; or fax to 866-533-0503 with a cover page addressed to Citi Military Response Correspondence. Mailed and faxed requests need a copy of active-duty orders showing the service member's name, Social Security number, active duty start date and branch. Citi asks you not to send military or government photo IDs.
Which accounts qualify?
Citi accounts opened before your active-duty start date, the standard pre-service rule. Cards opened during service fall under the Military Lending Act, not the SCRA rate cap. Confirm with Citi which of your accounts it considers eligible.
Should I transfer other balances to Citi to chase a better rate?
Not during service. A balance transfer executed while you are on active duty creates a brand-new obligation incurred during service, and new debt gets no SCRA cap at all. You would be trading a protected debt for an unprotected one. A transfer done before your start date is a completely different move and can be a smart one, which is what the pre-service window playbook is about.
Tools for this topic
- SCRA refund calculator What a lender owes back for charging over 6%.
- Savings calculator What the 6% cap saves you per month and per year.
- Letter generator A rate-cap or lease letter that cites the statute.
Sources
Heads up: SCRA Saver publishes general information, not legal or financial advice. Laws change and every situation differs. Confirm details with your installation legal assistance office (free for service members) or a licensed professional.