OH, NO! ANOTHER KROGER 123 CHANGE!!

rom828 · ‎08-22-2011

Just got letter from Kroger advising that as a 'final part of the transition to US Bank", I'll be receiving a new Visa card to replace the current Mastercard,

AAARGGGHH!

If any of you are familiar with the posts regarding the switch from RSB to US Bank and the problem with the new card reporting with new open date, which of course had detrimental effect on AoA os many cardholders as well as appearing as 'recent new' credit for any credit underwriting.

Thanks largely (I believe) to the fight DI put up with Kroger Corp, US Bank reporting was corrected to reflect the original date of opening.

I HOPE we wont be on that merry-fo-round again, with the Visa reporting with new opening date.

Anybody got any thoughts...or experience with anything similar?!?!

FICOS: TU 732(05-16-16) EQ '08 739( 05-16-16) EX 737 (08-17-16)

Anonymous · ‎08-22-2011

Yep - just got the letter, too. I'm fine with USBank and with the change.

Truth be told, USBank's actions to correct the "date opened" reporting issues on the 1-2-3 card started before the DI debacle.

I'm an AU on DH's 1-2-3 card - and the card reports properly. DH didn't have any adverse impact from the months when it reported as a new card. During that time, his AAofA was impacted a paltry .07 years (less than one month in real world numbers). I like it reporting properly - as it is now; but I didn't lose any sleep and DH didn't lose any FICO points when it was in process of being corrected. It simply didn't have an impact on anything that I could see - including my insurance rates btw (I'm softed every few months by my insurance carrier).

I've been pretty happy with them - opened with 6K CL, after a year it was 15K. Use it a lot and like the rewards. In fact, just got the rewards checks in the mail today. And may at some time use the 0% APR for five months on the convenience checks - if I think the 4% transaction fee works well for the situation.

And I'm just as happy with a Visa as with a Mastercard, so I'm not overly concerned about the switch. Quite frankly, I want them to do whatever makes good business sense because I'd like to see them stick around for a long time, and I'd like a long-term relationship with them. If the Visa makes better business sense than the MC, okay by me.

I've had some serious issues with CapOne's business practices (i.e. opening a new card rather than a CLI on an existing card) and others - no real issue with these guys. I like 'em fine. But if I didn't like 'em - I'd just use another card for the items I currently put on the 1-2-3 card.

I figure we're dating, maybe trending toward going steady, definitely not married to this or any other piece of plastic in the ole' wallet. But as of now, I really like these guys.

rom828 · ‎08-23-2011

I really like this card, too, beam! No, we're not married, but are pretty darn serious....kinda shacking up,if you will.

I love getting those checks in the mail and saving the extra on gas, so that certainly makes the relationship worthwhile.

That being said, when it reported as 'new', I did actually lose some points (knocked me from 5 yrs to 4 AAoA), but more importantly to me, I didn't feel that it reporting as 'new' really gave an accurate picture of continuous history, since just looking at my report you really wouldn't necessarily connect the closed RSB account to the newly opened US Bank account. (Wow....could I have made that sentence any longer?!?!)

Like you, I want this card around, so I'll deal with whatever, but my 'druthers' would be reporting with the original open date.

BTW, I'm not very savvy about diffs between VISA and MASTERCARD for either consumer or creditor. Any advices in that regard?

FICOS: TU 732(05-16-16) EQ '08 739( 05-16-16) EX 737 (08-17-16)

Anonymous · ‎08-23-2011

@rom828 wrote:
I really like this card, too, beam! No, we're not married, but are pretty darn serious....kinda shacking up,if you will.

I love getting those checks in the mail and saving the extra on gas, so that certainly makes the relationship worthwhile.

That being said, when it reported as 'new', I did actually lose some points (knocked me from 5 yrs to 4 AAoA), but more importantly to me, I didn't feel that it reporting as 'new' really gave an accurate picture of continuous history, since just looking at my report you really wouldn't necessarily connect the closed RSB account to the newly opened US Bank account. (Wow....could I have made that sentence any longer?!?!)

Like you, I want this card around, so I'll deal with whatever, but my 'druthers' would be reporting with the original open date.

BTW, I'm not very savvy about diffs between VISA and MASTERCARD for either consumer or creditor. Any advices in that regard?

Absolutely - me too! Since USBank made the date open correction, I'm anticipating that this change will be smooth. Hopefully it will report the original open date from day one without having to wait for any corrections. It'll be showing up soon - right? (don't have letter in hand - is it next month?), so I'm betting you and I will be watching to see exactly what happens and when.

off topic - but our local Smith's (Kroger's) is revamping and regrouping. Just had a beautiful independent grocer open in the neighborhood - complete with a gelatto bar (mmmmmm....pistachio and chocolate gelato -yum!) and a cooking school in the store. At this point, Smith's is trying to regain and retain their customers - including me. But they still have the best gas prices in our area.

rom828 · ‎08-23-2011

yeah..gas prices are great...and they've recently remodeled all the Krogers in my area, too. The one I frequent almost (not quite as chi chi) has the feel of Fresh Market or Whole Foods, with a Starbucks and really great organic section, wonderful olive bar and deli...even the floors are nice! And they've recently tried to implement a new procedure that eliminates long check times. They try to get another checkout opened if other lines are more than 2 deep. Hasn't been totally successful, but they're getting there.

The letter says new card will arrive in Sept or Oct, so I'll guess we'll find out then how it reports.

Any thoughts on my Visa vs Mastercard question?

FICOS: TU 732(05-16-16) EQ '08 739( 05-16-16) EX 737 (08-17-16)

Anonymous · ‎08-23-2011

rom828 wrote:
Any thoughts on my Visa vs Mastercard question?

I've wondered about the differences between Visa and Mastercard and haven't found anything in my half-hearted quest which convinces me to prefer one over the other. At one point, I saw some references to slightly different fee structures for merchants, which may explain the change - or not. Maybe some other folks have good input on this.