topic Re: WaMu Secured Credit Card Program Discontinued in Credit Cards

WaMu Secured Credit Card Program Discontinued

Anonymous — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 08:13:42 GMT

I received a letter today stating the following:

"Washington Mutual (WaMu) has decided to discontinue the Secured MasterCard credit card program. As you may be aware, WaMu is now part of JPMorgan Chase.

As a result, both your Secured MasterCard credit card account and your Secured Card Savings Account will be closed, effective January 12th, 2009.

The money in your Secured Card Savings Account will be used to pay the amount you owe on your secured credit card account. We will send you a check for any remaining money in your Secured Card Savings Account. If there is not enough money in your Secured Card Savings Account to pay the amount you owe, you must pay us any remaining debt on your credit card account under the terms of your Account Agreement.

If you have paid an annual fee for your account and your current year has not expired, we will credit your account as reimbursement for the unused portion of your account year.

If you have any questions, please feel free to call WaMu Customer Service at 1-800-356-0011.

Thank you for you business. We have truly appreciated the opportunity to serve your credit needs.

Sincerely,

WaMu Customer Service"

Needless to say, I am ticked off about this. I am seriously thinking about closing all of my other WaMu accounts. I worked hard at keeping a low balance and paying my bill on time. I have had it for twelve months and was hoping that my card would graduate...not fail!!! Anyhow, now I must look for another secured credit card that is pretty easy to get. Any suggestions?

Re: WaMu Secured Credit Card Program Discontinued

Anonymous — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 09:35:39 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:

Needless to say, I am ticked off about this. I am seriously thinking about closing all of my other WaMu accounts. I worked hard at keeping a low balance and paying my bill on time. I have had it for twelve months and was hoping that my card would graduate...not fail!!! Anyhow, now I must look for another secured credit card that is pretty easy to get. Any suggestions?

Have you thought about a BoA secured card? I don't know how easy it is to get, but if you've had your WaMu card for 12 months, then I would guess that your credit has improved so that if you weren't able to get one 12 months ago, maybe you can now.

Re: WaMu Secured Credit Card Program Discontinued

Anonymous — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 12:12:27 GMT

We'll see what others think, but... I would seriously consider calling and closing the account myself NOW to get the "account closed by customer" tag, rather than letting THEM close it on the 12th and risk getting the "closed by credit grantor" notation. I don't know that one way or the other actually affects your FICO, but the former sure reads better than the latter! We'll see what the more knowledgable people think.

Re: WaMu Secured Credit Card Program Discontinued

marty56 — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 13:07:31 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
We'll see what others think, but... I would seriously consider calling and closing the account myself NOW to get the "account closed by customer" tag, rather than letting THEM close it on the 12th and risk getting the "closed by credit grantor" notation. I don't know that one way or the other actually affects your FICO, but the former sure reads better than the latter! We'll see what the more knowledgable people think.

IMHO I would not close the account. if they are going to do that, then let them. I had most of my CC accounts closed by the grantor and that has not affected my ability to get credit after DMP. Also if you are going for a mortgage and they ask about it (MR) , just tell them the truth.

Re: WaMu Secured Credit Card Program Discontinued

Zar — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 15:46:40 GMT

You could try calling them and ask if they can convert your card into another (non secured) card.

Zar

Re: WaMu Secured Credit Card Program Discontinued

Anonymous — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 16:31:39 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
We'll see what others think, but... I would seriously consider calling and closing the account myself NOW to get the "account closed by customer" tag, rather than letting THEM close it on the 12th and risk getting the "closed by credit grantor" notation. I don't know that one way or the other actually affects your FICO, but the former sure reads better than the latter! We'll see what the more knowledgable people think.

I've had a CC and an LOC closed by GEMB for inactivity. When I asked how it would affect me because it says closed be credit grantor, I was told it doesn't affect your FICO in any way. I was also told that when applying for a mortgage an underwriter may ask why it was closed, but that as well really shouldn't affect the loan, unless you lie.

Re: WaMu Secured Credit Card Program Discontinued

Anonymous — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 18:23:49 GMT

Actually, I got a Bank of America card the same month as the WaMu card, and it graduated this month. I may have to look at National City or US Bank now...I was denied by Wells Fargo and Citi last year. However, my PFico has gone from 481 to 622. Hell, I amy even apply for a unsecured credit card. Whatcha think?

Re: WaMu Secured Credit Card Program Discontinued

CreditDrama85 — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 06:00:25 GMT

why did wells fargo and citi say they denied you? i would go with Us Bank; National City has no set guidelines for graduating the card and they have some outrageous hidden fees and rude customer service.

Message Edited by CreditDrama85 on 01-01-2009 10:00 PM

Re: WaMu Secured Credit Card Program Discontinued

Not_the_Point — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 12:05:40 GMT

So glad I closed that card a few weeks ago. I'd rather it say on my credit report that the closure was initiated by the consumer than by the institution.

Re: WaMu Secured Credit Card Program Discontinued

haulingthescoreup — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 00:31:45 GMT

woopah wrote:

I've had a CC and an LOC closed by GEMB for inactivity. When I asked how it would affect me because it says closed be credit grantor, I was told it doesn't affect your FICO in any way. I was also told that when applying for a mortgage an underwriter may ask why it was closed, but that as well really shouldn't affect the loan, unless you lie.

I'd say that with all the turmoil in the banking industry, and American Express's adventures on the evening news, no intelligent lender is going to blink at a "closed by issuer" notation these days, as long as other things look good on the report.

Your average mortgage officer has probably gone through this himself/ herself anyway!

And you're correct, "closed by grantor" vs "closed by consumer" does not affect your FICO score.

Re: WaMu Secured Credit Card Program Discontinued

Anonymous — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 04:13:16 GMT

We got that same letter as well. So to recap the advice........should we close the account ourselves or let them close it out?

Re: WaMu Secured Credit Card Program Discontinued

SCF — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 04:23:48 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
We got that same letter as well. So to recap the advice........should we close the account ourselves or let them close it out?

I don't think it really matters. In terms of FICO scoring, it is completely irrelevant. The only time it might come up is during a manual review of your file (as for a mortgage or other large loan), and then all you have to is be honest and you certainly won't be penalized. Many people are going to have cards closed due to bank closures and adjustments in the coming months, so it shouldn't look like anything out of the ordinary to the reviewer as long as your payment history and other factors are in good order. If I were you I'd make sure it's paid off and let them close it, it's just easier, unless you were near a graduation anyway and think you might be able to talk your way into an unsecured card with a phone call.

Re: WaMu Secured Credit Card Program Discontinued

Anonymous — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 04:36:02 GMT

Thank you SCF. Is there a backdoor number for WaMu.......cuz dialing the generic 800 number gets me connected overseas and its quite difficult to get them to answer complicated questions.

Re: WaMu Secured Credit Card Program Discontinued

SCF — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 04:52:35 GMT

No problem desi, backdoor numbers are posted here. I do believe there are a couple for WaMu. For future reference, that thread is also stickied at the top of this forum, good luck!

Re: WaMu Secured Credit Card Program Discontinued

Anonymous — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 17:31:00 GMT

I am in the same situation, have had the secured card for one year this month.

Interested to hear is anyone successfully convert it to an unsecured card.

Re: WaMu Secured Credit Card Program Discontinued

Anonymous — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 18:00:51 GMT

I got the same letter today and I am going to close all my WAMU accounts and go to the competition. I hope lots of people will do the same to show JPMorgan Chase that they cannot treat us like that without any consequences !

Re: WaMu Secured Credit Card Program Discontinued

Anonymous — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 19:53:10 GMT

Why are you upset at Chase? In all honesty, you should be upset at Washington Mutual - they are the ones who caused the bank to fail and get bought out by Chase. If Washington Mutual doesn't fail, Chase doesn't buy WaMu and a secured credit card product that Chase does not offer does not get discontinued.

Here is the link to the Chase credit card page. I looked at it, and I didn't see any mention of a secured credit card, so I don't understand how you could be upset that Chase is not continuing the WaMu secured credit card when Chase doesn't offer it.

http://www.firstusa.com/cgi-bin/webcgi/webserve.cgi?partner_dir_name=browse_our_list&page=index&MSC=LSBROWSEALL08U&AFFID=9C.eSeL3cao-N4GNXaMAQeKNhNAKh5qc4A

Re: WaMu Secured Credit Card Program Discontinued

Anonymous — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 13:06:12 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Why are you upset at Chase? In all honesty, you should be upset at Washington Mutual - they are the ones who caused the bank to fail and get bought out by Chase. If Washington Mutual doesn't fail, Chase doesn't buy WaMu and a secured credit card product that Chase does not offer does not get discontinued.

Here is the link to the Chase credit card page. I looked at it, and I didn't see any mention of a secured credit card, so I don't understand how you could be upset that Chase is not continuing the WaMu secured credit card when Chase doesn't offer it.

http://www.firstusa.com/cgi-bin/webcgi/webserve.cgi?partner_dir_name=browse_our_list&page=index&MSC=LSBROWSEALL08U&AFFID=9C.eSeL3cao-N4GNXaMAQeKNhNAKh5qc4A

I gotta agree with you. I'm not saying that those whose cards are going to be discontinued shouldn't be upset, I know I would be in their place. But Chase doesn't offer secured cards, and there's a reason for it, they don't want to. My guess would be that Chase will be taking some of WaMu's programs, but if there's a program that WaMu's got that Chase doesn't like, Chase is going to discontinue it.

Re: WaMu Secured Credit Card Program Discontinued

Anonymous — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 20:30:44 GMT

Well I tried to get them to upgrade my card to an "unsecured" status. All four times I was denied. They weren't having it.

Re: WaMu Secured Credit Card Program Discontinued

Anonymous — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 23:35:17 GMT

here's some interesting wrinkles in this:

I got the same mail and decided I didnt want to wait, so I went to the local branch and told them ok let's do it now - ie, let's close the card, pay off the balance on it out of the savings account that guarantees the card, then move the balance of the savings into my checking account. The guy closes the card and then says well, we were planning on doing all of this in a few more days anyway, so we'll do the rest then. I asked if he's saying I can't move any of my money into my checking even if we leave enough in the locked savings to cover the balance, and he says that's right. I tell him I need to cover a check that is coming and he says sorry, I need to make a deposit or it will be an NSF charge even though the money to cover it is in the savings account. As I was leaving, he gives me a paper that says what the current balance on the card is, which was the same balance I had already confirmed before going to the branch.

Now today, that balance has gone up even though the card is closed. I called about it and it's the monthly serevice charge, charged on an account that has not been used in the last month and was already closed. The lady in customer service told me I have all kinds of options to pay off the card balance early but they will not pay it off from the savings account that is there to back up the card in the 1st place. I asked her ok, if I go down and pay off the card balance from some other source, now will they go ahead and move the savings to the checking. No. Then what is the point to make another trip to pay it off now, how will it make a difference in the situation ? Her answer is that it will make no difference at all (except of course that now WAMU has more of my money).

And it turns out that their plan is that after they close all the cards on 1/12 and subtract the open balance from the savings account, the balance of the savings account will not be moved directly into your checking either automatically or even at your request - instead, their plan is that they will mail you the check at the end of the month and then you can deposit it back in your checking account. So any money you have in the savings account is totally theirs to play with for at least another 3 weeks and you can not even ask them to move it from one account to another, to save you the time waiting for the mail or making the trip to the local branch.

Needless to say, that check,minus whatever other fees they can find to hit me with between now and the end of the month, will not be going into a wamu account. And to all you apologists for Chase, give me a break. There are 2 ways Chase can go here: give the wamu customers adequate time and warning and procedures to avoid being hurt by the change to the new policies, or just say we're Chase, this is the way we do it, take it or leave it.