Citibank Can't send me my new debit card to UK. Want me to call them.

I am a UK / US citizen living in UK. I have had a US Citibank checking  account for last 15 years. All OK till now. My debit card is expiring soon and then just sent an email stating that there is an issue with my address and sending my card, and they want me to call them. I am very keen to keep this account open as it has my US pension and Social Security paid into it. I am nervous that if i call them it will open a can of worms and result in them closing my account. I could live wthout the debit card at a push but it woud be very probelmatic if the account was closed. Any advice? Do i make the call from UK or ignore it and maybe lose the debit card but they might ignore the rest and leave the account open? Help!

No experience with Citibank I'm afraid.  Many big US banks support overseas clients so you may be okay, and I would first try and find out if that is still the case without giving them my details.  Presumably they have your UK address on file so you are almost certainly okay and it may be that you simply have to pay extra to have them ship the card to your UK address, or do without a US debit card.

A few years ago HSBC US started closing overseas client accounts so I opened a Wise USD account and linked it to my Vanguard account and it works great - it has its own US style bank routing number as well as personal account number. This could be a backup plan for yourself, to get your pension paid into a new bank account.

Thanks for the quick response. I may pluck up courage and call... I'll post the outcome. One other option i saw was that if Citi do shut it down i could ( Via ACA) open an SDFCU account which is especially for US Citizens without US addresses. This eems to be legit. Wonder if anyone has experience of this unit?

It maybe that they will close your account as you have an overseas address. There is no way to know until you call them however. As for SDFCU, I recently opened a basic checking account, (mandatory to also have a savings account and they give you the $1) with them and so far so good. They are sending a debit card and I'm able to transfer money via wise between my U.K and SDFCU account without any problem, (also my other U.S. account and SDFCU). I would open an account with SDFCU as a back up and link your existing account to the new one and do a test payment either way and then to your U.K account. Once all is well and you have your new debit card, then call your bank. I had joined the American Consumer Council as a lifetime member for $15, as the joining to one of their affiliates is a condition. PM me if you want a more detailed guide on opening the account. Should the worse happen, you've not 'locked yourself' out, and have a workable solution.

My daughter also has an SDFCU  checking account and it works well I think. I have wired money to her at that account from my US bank.

Citibank failed to send me a debit card for 4 years. I called and spent eternities in calls every few months. Every time I called I was told they were sending a new card. The replacements never arrived - probably because they failed to put international postage on the envelopes. By Christmas 2024 I moved out all the money and closed the account.

Just to remind you that 99% of UK residents receiving US social security have the payments direct deposited to a UK bank account.