MasterCard, RIP (1991 - 2005)

I just got a letter from Citibank telling me that my MasterCard was about to expire and that they would not be renewing it. They made up some excuse about how they were really doing it for me because it probably wouldn't be in my best interest to have an open line of credit that I didn't use. I think they must have just gotten tired of sending me two sets of balance transfer checks each and every month for the past few years.

I really don't know how to feel about this. I haven't made a charge on the card for maybe two years. They have tried twice to entice me back by offering a $20 credit (and then removing it a month or two later when I stubbornly refused to spend it). Still this was the first credit card I ever received. I got it just after I turned 18 and watched it change from a 13-digit Visa card, to a 16-digit Visa card, to a MasterCard while the credit line slowly increased from $500 to $15,000. This card is how I survived for the first few months after finishing graduate school but before landing my first dot-com job.

All is not lost, however. The letter did give a phone number that I could call if I decided I wanted to keep the card and they just might, because they are such good people, consider extending my credit. Thanks, but no thanks.

P.S. I tried finding my card to help relive some of the old memories, but I must have shredded it long ago. I did, however, frind my year 2000 bus pass and my original and renewed Amazon NextCard Visa cards.