Citigroup says it has ironed out problems with telephone sales of its credit card insurance that came under the gaze of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) after customers complained.

ASIC raised concerns with the financial services giant that some telephone sales between August last year and January this year may have been misleading, or likely to mislead consumers.

Citigroup was selling its CreditShield products during calls made by cardholders to activate new or replacement credit cards.

Activation calls monitored by ASIC revealed telephone operators persisting with selling CreditShield to callers, despite the cardholder declining more than once – in some cases three or more times.

The regulator criticised the practice of telephone operators to keep cardholders “captive” on calls by waiting to tell them that their credit cards had been activated while insurance sales were spruiked.

The company says it took action even before it was contacted by ASIC, when internal monitoring processes revealed some third-party agents were not adhering to their service standards. This included further training, education, and enhanced supervision and monitoring.

“In extreme cases, we also took the decision to terminate some agents and compelled other agents to comply with more rigorous standards,” Citigroup said in a statement.

ASIC says it is satisfied with the steps Citigroup is taking to address its concerns.