at about the same time it was getting a $ 20 billion , taxpayer-financed government bailout . No one at Citigroup would talk on camera to CNN about the matter . Instead , the company issued a written statement , which said : `` To continue funding in this difficult credit and funding environment , Citi is repricing a group of customers . '' Citi told CNN that anyone unhappy with the new rates can opt out and continue paying the lower interest , but they must close their account when their card expires . It 's all in the fine print . Rep. Carolyn Maloney , D-New York , said she is sick of the fine print . She agreed that credit card companies get away with whatever they want , as long at they put their desires into the fine print . `` They have this provision that says they can raise the rate -- any time , any reason , '' she said . In September , Maloney got the House to pass by an overwhelming margin of 200 votes the `` credit card holders ' bill of rights , '' which would have stopped rate-jacking and
-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- It arrived in Rich Stevens ' mailbox a few weeks ago : the notice that Citibank had `` rate-jacked '' the Visa cards belonging to him and his wife . Some credit card holders have seen their interest rates go up dramatically , a practice called `` rate-jacking . '' `` In my case , from 9.5 percent to 16.99 , '' the 54-year-old nurse from the Long Island hamlet of Merrick , New York , told CNN . And his wife 's rate zoomed from 7.95 percent to 16.99 percent , he said . Stevens said he did not know why the rates had soared ; his credit rating is great . But , like thousands of other credit card customers around the nation , he has been notified his rate is skyrocketing . `` It almost borders on loan-sharking , from my perspective , '' he said . In the blogosphere , writers are livid at the instant rate hikes -- called `` rate-jacking . '' Citigroup seems to be the target of most bloggers ' venom -- partly because Citigroup issues so many credit cards and partly because Citi began sending the notices