Bank of America--Warning

[HJM613]

I had a BOA Visa since 1982, yes 1982... I had a 12k limit, the last 5 years have been hard on me financially, but always paid card balance was around 9k. I maybe have been a little late here and there but nothing to bad... Finally business improved and I paid off the card.. Over a few months... One day i went to use it to fund out the canceled it... No letter or anything, I was in shock... Of course when I called they claim they mailed me a letter and I could  not talk to anyone who cared or would do anything...... I love how they waited until I paid them in full to cancel my card...Moral of the story I would not be so fast to pay them off.. I love there loyalty...

[RecoveredDebtaholic]

Experienced this a few years ago with BOA, Chase, Citi, and Discover, I had carried large balances for a while back then and paid off in full several trade lines in one furious bill pay session. Discover closed, Chase closed, BOA CLD to a lousy 500 from 6k, citi CLD roughly the same. I understood their actions especially as this was around the time of the financial crisis. It blows but look at the bright side, you paid off the debt and it's off your back. 

[user5387]

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@HJM613 wrote:

I had a BOA Visa since 1982, yes 1982... I had a 12k limit, the last 5 years have been hard on me financially, but always paid card balance was around 9k. I maybe have been a little late here and there but nothing to bad... Finally business improved and I paid off the card.. Over a few months... One day i went to use it to fund out the canceled it... No letter or anything, I was in shock... Of course when I called they claim they mailed me a letter and I could  not talk to anyone who cared or would do anything...... I love how they waited until I paid them in full to cancel my card...Moral of the story I would not be so fast to pay them off.. I love there loyalty...

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Welcome to the forums!

I expect with CC companies that they do an internal risk / reward calculation on their cardholders, and carrying a balance for a long time, making minimum payments, and late payments pushes one into a "risk outweighs reward" category.

[SevenNEW]

Horror stories--so sorry to hear! How did it show up on your CR? I expect it would be AA, but not as a baddy? I am trying to understand how difficult it would be to bounce back from this kind of situation.

[RecoveredDebtaholic]

Just shows closed by creditor, payments were always made so a long string of OK go along with it,  not too much of a hit as I did a refi to 3.75 to my rental and a new house at 3.75. I think the biggest factor as the OP alluded to is the perceived lack of loyalty factor, I understood though and it actually helped me long term to change my debt holding ways, I'm in the 800's now and going for the pinnacle just a few years removed from all of the closings and CLD's.

[Closingracer99]

The one time i basically maxed out a credit card was last December with a $1k limit i posted a balance of $988 or so on my Discover card but Brought it down to $500 a few days after it posted. Personally I wouldn't want a card to post on your report which usually be 2 statement cuts to show your card maxed out imo

[longtimelurker]

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@HJM613 wrote:

I had a BOA Visa since 1982, yes 1982... I had a 12k limit, the last 5 years have been hard on me financially, but always paid card balance was around 9k. I maybe have been a little late here and there but nothing to bad... Finally business improved and I paid off the card.. Over a few months... One day i went to use it to fund out the canceled it... No letter or anything, I was in shock... Of course when I called they claim they mailed me a letter and I could  not talk to anyone who cared or would do anything...... I love how they waited until I paid them in full to cancel my card...Moral of the story I would not be so fast to pay them off.. I love there loyalty...

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Well, not paying them off means you continue to pay interest, and for some,  stopping that may well be worth the risk of losing a trade line.

But "loyalty" with big corporations is pretty meaningless.  It is a business relationship, and as others said, they (rightly or wrongly) judged that that risk/reward of continuing the relationship with you was not what they required.   Similarly people here cancel cards every day when something better becomes available for them, it's not like friendship or anything!

[barbaralee]

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@Closingracer99 wrote:

The one time i basically maxed out a credit card was last December with a $1k limit i posted a balance of $988 or so on my Discover card but Brought it down to $500 a few days after it posted. Personally I wouldn't want a card to post on your report which usually be 2 statement cuts to show your card maxed out imo

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I think just about everybody feels that they do not want to max out a cc, or let it show for 2 statements, but life happens. Unfortunately too many people view credit cards not just as a means of paying but as an emergency fund. When you have that mentality, no savings, and are up against the wall, it is easy to suddenly find yourself in a river of debt.

[bdhu2001]

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@RecoveredDebtaholic wrote:

Experienced this a few years ago with BOA, Chase, Citi, and Discover, I had carried large balances for a while back then and paid off in full several trade lines in one furious bill pay session. Discover closed, Chase closed, BOA CLD to a lousy 500 from 6k, citi CLD roughly the same. I understood their actions especially as this was around the time of the financial crisis. It blows but look at the bright side, you paid off the debt and it's off your back. 

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This happened to me with BofA and Discover & I never paid late or had a high balance with them.  I had high balances with other cards, because of 0% interest transfer deals. BofA said they sent a letter.  I never saw theirs, but I did see Discovers.

Anyway, I figure their loss.  I'm an excellent risk and always pay ahead of time. Discover took my limit from 10K to 500.  Now that they provide a fico score, I buy water and pay them in full each month (before the charge hits).  It's still activity so I get to see my score.  Discover  has asked why I won't use their card more and do I want my limit increased.

My next FICO TU statement, provided by Discover should have me at 800 or close.  After that, I'll only use the discover 2 -3 times per year to see how aging of accounts & dropping of credit inquiries are affecting my score. However, if my TU score is 800 or more, I won't even use it that often.

@Anonymous all honesy only two of my cards get consistent usage American Express @Anonymous & FirstBankcard every where else that I charge.  My children use my Shell card so that gets a regular workout too, but not by me.

[keithB]

So what was Discover's reason for dropping your credit line 95%?

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@bdhu2001 wrote:

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@RecoveredDebtaholic wrote:

Experienced this a few years ago with BOA, Chase, Citi, and Discover, I had carried large balances for a while back then and paid off in full several trade lines in one furious bill pay session. Discover closed, Chase closed, BOA CLD to a lousy 500 from 6k, citi CLD roughly the same. I understood their actions especially as this was around the time of the financial crisis. It blows but look at the bright side, you paid off the debt and it's off your back. 

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This happened to me with BofA and Discover & I never paid late or had a high balance with them.  I had high balances with other cards, because of 0% interest transfer deals. BofA said they sent a letter.  I never saw theirs, but I did see Discovers.

Anyway, I figure their loss.  I'm an excellent risk and always pay ahead of time. Discover took my limit from 10K to 500.  Now that they provide a fico score, I buy water and pay them in full each month (before the charge hits).  It's still activity so I get to see my score.  Discover  has asked why I won't use their card more and do I want my limit increased.

My next FICO TU statement, provided by Discover should have me at 800 or close.  After that, I'll only use the discover 2 -3 times per year to see how aging of accounts & dropping of credit inquiries are affecting my score. However, if my TU score is 800 or more, I won't even use it that often.

@Anonymous all honesy only two of my cards get consistent usage American Express @Anonymous & FirstBankcard every where else that I charge.  My children use my Shell card so that gets a regular workout too, but not by me.

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