Be aware of GTC changes Published June 21, 2016 By Dave Smith 21st Space Wing Public Affairs staff writer PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. -- Changes made in early 2016 concerning Government Travel Charge Cards are now complete, including the grace period to make sure accounts are active, passed on June 12. At the end of the 2015 fiscal year, cards were replaced throughout the Department of Defense, said Airman 1st Class Johnathon Downs, 21st Space Wing Wing Staff Agency GTC agency program coordinator. The card issuer, Citibank, wanted to improve security and efficiency of the cards and sent all active account, and card holders a new card with a chip and personal identification number, instead of the single magnetic strip on the previous versions. If cardholders did not receive a new card with a chip and a PIN, they were either ineligible for the new card or the account was determined to be unused. In either event, the account was purged and card holders need to reapply for a new chip card and PIN. Downs said there was a time frame in which the new cards had to be activated. If cards were not activated or received by June 12, the account was deactivated. Under certain conditions cards did not qualify for chip and PIN conversion. Things disqualifying accounts for conversion include negative credit ratings for things like fraud and bad addresses, no activity in a 36-month period, expired accounts, $0 credit limit and unactivated magnetic cards. Another change was a move by Citibank to provide more customer support online. As a part of this effort, cardholders are encouraged to sign up for paperless account statements, or e-statements. According to Citibank, signing up for paperless accounts provides faster access to statements and more efficient electronic delivery by providing email and text alerts when statements are ready for viewing. Going paperless is also going green, Citibank says, eliminating unnecessary paper and saving trees. To receive electronic statements cardholders must be registered on the CitiManager portal at citimanager.com/login. The portal, as part of the move for more online support, was enhanced. Email addresses and mobile phone information entered in the My Profile portion of the portal will now update the cardholder account along with the profile information. For help or further information contact your Agency Program Coordinator or one of the following: Citi Customer Service Center 24 hour support (in the U.S.) 1-800-200-7056 (outside of the U.S.) call collect 757-852-9076 DoD Travel Card cardholder’s guide: http://www.citibank.com/tts/card_solutions/commercial_cards/docs/dod/cardholderguide.pdf