UPGRADE TO BANK OF AMERICA SIGNATURE

[rom828]

DH just received new Signature card from B of A which their letter advises replaces his current Platinum card.  They  indicated this is an upgrade and included brochures outlining benefits of Signature card and explaining WorldPoints.

He didnt have WorldPoints Rewards on Plat, so this is a plus, but is this product change actually an "upgrade" as they state?

Our concern is that they won't report the credit line, although the letter clearly shows  it has the same $5600 CL as on his Plat...but then at the bottom of the letter as "Important Notice" indicates card has no pre-set limit.  

I've tried to find some previous posts to clarify this.  Found one from watchnerd in 2007 indicating that if Signature card was a product change it would  report the credit limit of the previous card it was replacing.

Has anyone had recent experience with this?   We have a few questions about this change and would love some input.

  Would there be any reasons not to accept this new card?    If so, could he request to retain the Platinum?

  Will it report as a new account (thus lowering AAoA) or will it report with Plat's age?

   Anything else we should know about this card compared to Platinum?

Gratefully awaiting any advices!!

[Anonymous]

The only thing that will change IMHO is your credit limit being reported to the bureaus, and if you don't want your utilization disturbed I would turn that Signature card down because your limit of $5,600 will not show anymore on your reports and you will have an internal ceiling limit of $5,600 even though is says no-preset limit.

I have this very card but my card wasn't an upgrade I have an internal ceiling of $15,000 even though it is a no-preset limit that really doesn't bother me because I don't spend over $4,500 in charges a month anyway and the limit isn't reported only the high balance. I happen to love the card but as I stated in the beginning if you want your limits to show on your reports a Bank Of America Signature may not be the way you want to go.

Good luck to you...and congrats on the upgrade

Message Edited by JoJo74 on 01-11-2010 09:37 AM

[rom828]

Thanks for the advices, JoJo!

We really would prefer to have a card that reports the CL since DH already has Amex Gold,  but it may be that the benefits of this Signature card outweigh  the CL reporting.

We're not big travelers though,  so not so sure if we'd really benefit from  the Signature benefits, and maybe not even so much from the WorldPoints rewards.  

As I mentioned, I found the old post that stated the CL would indeed report if the Signature card was a product change, but was curious to see if anyone had actual experience with that recently.

The letter with the card attached captioning the new card number shows the CL of $5600 right next to the #, and also shows cardholder since 2008, which is also shown on the card...so I hope that means that's how it will report. 

[Anonymous]

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@rom828 wrote:

Thanks for the advices, JoJo!

We really would prefer to have a card that reports the CL since DH already has Amex Gold,  but it may be that the benefits of this Signature card outweigh  the CL reporting.

We're not big travelers though,  so not so sure if we'd really benefit from  the Signature benefits, and maybe not even so much from the WorldPoints rewards.  

As I mentioned, I found the old post that stated the CL would indeed report if the Signature card was a product change, but was curious to see if anyone had actual experience with that recently.

The letter with the card attached captioning the new card number shows the CL of $5600 right next to the #, and also shows cardholder since 2008, which is also shown on the card...so I hope that means that's how it will report. 

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You are correct their are Bank Of America Signature cards that do report the credit limit according to others in the forum, but I'm unfamiliar with this. I would like to see some more commentary on this from others that have had this done and what happened.

[stefanc]

Mine was "upgraded" in the summer - a Plat Plus with world points to a sig Visa. The credit limit dropped off from both EQ and TU, it still shows on EX. The high balance shows on all three and for me the high balance is actually close to the credit line.

If I remeber correctly on EQ and on TU it shows as a "flexible spending account" not sure about EX - they've locked me out of the back door.

I don't need the credit line on this card reporting for utilization purposes, the rest of my accounts report at zero or are very low.

I had a zero balance when it "uprgraded" - It made no difference to my FICO's when it reported (same age etc. no credit line, different number).

Just for grins I tossed a few thousand on it and let the balance report a few months ago - again no change at all with my FICO's

Not sure if this helps as my mix, age, utilization etc. are likely to be completely different, but for me, the way it reports now seems to work out well.

[rom828]

Good info, stef!   Thanks for responding.

If the Signature card  reports like Amex Gold, ie: open account etc, then I can't see where DH would be adversely affected.  Just concerned that if a balance reported it could appear as "maxed out" if it's reported like a regular revolver but  without a limit.

Any idea what prompts this supposed 'upgrade'?  With all the negative and unscrupulous  CCC activity going on, we just want to be sure we're not walking into some sort of 'trap'!!  

[Anonymous]

I was in the same situation.  BoA automatically "upgraded" my visa with no world points to Visa Signature last summer.  

On the EX, it shows the credit limit and stated that it's a Flexible Spending Account.  

On TU, it reported the highest balance and stated that it's a Flexible Spending Account.  I didn't check EQ.  

On both EX and TU, it just replaces my old card number, but everything else stays the same.

[CHARGE_IT]

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@stefanc wrote:

Mine was "upgraded" in the summer - a Plat Plus with world points to a sig Visa. The credit limit dropped off from both EQ and TU, it still shows on EX. The high balance shows on all three and for me the high balance is actually close to the credit line.

If I remember correctly on EQ and on TU it shows as a "flexible spending account" not sure about EX - they've locked me out of the back door.

I don't need the credit line on this card reporting for utilization purposes, the rest of my accounts report at zero or are very low.

I had a zero balance when it "paraded" - It made no difference to my FICO's when it reported (same age etc. no credit line, different number).

Just for grins I tossed a few thousand on it and let the balance report a few months ago - again no change at all with my FICO's

Not sure if this helps as my mix, age, utilization etc. are likely to be completely different, but for me, the way it reports now seems to work out well.

---

I was in your situation. It started in early December. It took six emails and three phone calls before anyone with BOA would admit that it doesn't report. I found that fishy since it was a simple question about a card they were trying to get me to accept. After all; don't we usually choose the cards we want.

I wasn't interested in the rewards and was uneasy with the loss of reporting CL. I have a large over all CL, but the card limit is so high that I felt sure it would affect my profile. Also, I have several non reporting charge cards, so I did not like the idea of so many of my cards not reporting CLs.

I did do a change without problem, but I will anticipate something new by them this year since there is a lot of new activity out there.

I do resent that they made such a major change without asking. I will warn you that the apr will go up due to the rewards system, but I can't tell you the time table.

Also, the person that almost made my change was trying to do a credit pull and I had to try to make her understand that I had approved credit and didn't ask for the card change. Gratefully she connected me to the good ole USA and the gentleman had no problem. Do stress the words PRODUCT CHANGE, AND WHY, AND THAT YOU CARRY AN APPROVED CREDIT LIMIT WITH BOA and that there is NO NEED FOR A PULL.

I have a hunch that thy did this to save the card. Most people don't want to have credit not listed. I just got the feeling they were dealing with this a lot. Except for the girl in Pakistan. (you could hear the bullets flying in the background)

CI

[Anonymous]

I looked through these previous posta because BoA Started last fall trying to get me to "upgrade" to this card.  They called me, sent me notices that the card was coming, etc.  I called them 2 times to refuse the card, I didn't want the benfits because I have AAA for travel things and when my card was stolen a couple of years back, they handled it very well.  I didn't want these "extras" they were trying to sell me.  Dispite refusing the card, I got the NEW CARD in the mail today.  I called and they told me that I had no choice, my old card has been deactivated as a "proactive security" measure. 

She then went in to her prompter and proceded to "sell" me this card, even though I have no choice in the matter.  She asks me, "Why wouldn't you want a better card?"  This is where I need some help- doesn't changing the account number reflect a NEW credit card on my reports?  Does this adversely effect me?  I HATE it that they FORCED a new card on me, and then tried to tell me that it was because of a security breech somewhere- I told her that I have not been notified of my card being at risk and she said that they didn't have to notify me if it was at risk.  I otld her that I didn't beleive that- but is she right?  That also happened to me before, a different card just stopped working one day and when I called, they said that my number had been compromised and that the card was immediately cancelled- that was also a visa, through my credit union.

I'm just so upset and I feel violated that I cannot refuse a card.  I naddition, they feed me these lines about security and expect me to beleive it- what is the REAL reason for the card "upgrade?"  Does anyone know?????

[xchap]

I agree this card doesn't report your limit.

I was looking for an alternate.

still looking