Credit card cancelled as requested by user

Anonymous · ‎03-31-2011

I recently applied to a credit card company for a Rewards card that was advertised at 11-19.9 % interest rate. In talking with the intake specialist, I repeadly told him that if his company charges me more than 11% in their review then don't even bother sending the card as I will not accept it. I was assured that he put that request in the package. Nine days later I received the paper work for the card with the terms of agreement. To my surprise they were charging me 19.9% interest rate. Upon calling them up to verify this as being correct, I was told that the rate was correct. I was then transfered to an account specialist and the rate was again verified. I told them that under no circumstances would I accept this rate and requested that they give me disposition instructions for the card. I aslo told them again as I was transfered to a supervisor that I did not want to see this issue on my credit history as a "CLOSED ACCOUNT". He told me that under Federal Regs. he had not choice but to report the card account as Closed. I told him that I was not going to accept the account as stated initially, and said that the card was never activated, never used, so how could the account be opened. He replied that the account was opened the moment the company reviewed my file and sent out the initial terms of agreement that I never agreed to in the first place.

I am under the impression that any credit card that shows CLOSED has a negative impact on your FICO Score, even if the user requests it to be closed.

Can anyone confirm this or at least give me a valid POC for conformation?????????

llecs · ‎03-31-2011

Cards (or anything else) that list as closed, either by the consumer or the credit grantor, have zero impact on your FICO score. In the past year to year and a half, I closed 5 CCs and none of which resulted in a negative impact to my FICO scores. The only impact to closing them would that it hurts your overall CC utilization (assuming you carry balances on your other CCs). But since your CC was DOA, it never helped your utilization and therefore closing it never hurt.

ETA....why not keep it open? There was no harm in doing so and if you PIF, your interest rate would be 0%.

Anonymous · ‎03-31-2011

Thank you for the positive info from your experience. OBTW what is PIF??? (Pay it ???)

llecs · ‎03-31-2011

PIF = paid in full

Common Abbreviations - it can be confusing with terms like AAoA, CRA, CA, GW, DV, PFD, PFB, PIF, GEMB, FCRA, FCBA, FDCPA, YMMV, and so many more. I was cross-eyed in the beginning.

Anonymous · ‎04-03-2011

@Anonymous wrote:
I recently applied to a credit card company for a Rewards card that was advertised at 11-19.9 % interest rate. In talking with the intake specialist, I repeadly told him that if his company charges me more than 11% in their review then don't even bother sending the card as I will not accept it. I was assured that he put that request in the package. Nine days later I received the paper work for the card with the terms of agreement. To my surprise they were charging me 19.9% interest rate. Upon calling them up to verify this as being correct, I was told that the rate was correct. I was then transfered to an account specialist and the rate was again verified. I told them that under no circumstances would I accept this rate and requested that they give me disposition instructions for the card. I aslo told them again as I was transfered to a supervisor that I did not want to see this issue on my credit history as a "CLOSED ACCOUNT". He told me that under Federal Regs. he had not choice but to report the card account as Closed. I told him that I was not going to accept the account as stated initially, and said that the card was never activated, never used, so how could the account be opened. He replied that the account was opened the moment the company reviewed my file and sent out the initial terms of agreement that I never agreed to in the first place.

I am under the impression that any credit card that shows CLOSED has a negative impact on your FICO Score, even if the user requests it to be closed.
Can anyone confirm this or at least give me a valid POC for conformation?????????

LLECS is correct in that you will not suffer by having this card closed at your request. Still, I can understand your frustrations with the application process and a customer service representative who you might think was less than candid. Unfortunately, though, you are probably technically stuck.

Personally, I would keep the card (as long as there is no annual fee) and hope that down the road an APR reduction materialized. Even with a high interest rate (and we all have at least one), as long as you pay in full each month you will never pay interest. The credit limit from this card will actually help you if you carry a balance on another card since it decreases your utilization (the percentage of your total available credit and the total amount you owe) and that is a good thing.

But if you really feel strongly about not wanting the card, probably your best bet is to go up the food chain and contact the bank's CEO and explain the situation. Sometimes that helps.

RobertEG · ‎04-04-2011

It is not the closing of the account that will affect credit score, it is the opening. It reduced your average age of accounts.