topic Re: Discover IT Converted to Discover IT Miles without Knowledge? in Credit Cards

Discover IT Converted to Discover IT Miles without Knowledge?

Anonymous — Fri, 11 Oct 2019 22:45:38 GMT

I just recevied a very odd email from Discover... My Discover IT (5% rotating) has been converted to a Discover IT Miles card @ 1.5% cashback for all purchases. I did not ask for a product change, nor do I want one. At first I thought my account was comprised. It doesn't look like it is. Then I thought maybe they got rid of the IT card? However, it's still on the Disco website. The email looks legit. Thoughts? I am going to give them a call now.

Re: Discover IT Converted to Discover IT Miles without Knowledge?

Anonymous — Fri, 11 Oct 2019 22:51:08 GMT

Been there, done that, posted about it..... https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/PSA-Disco-PCing-cards-UNSOLICITED/m-p/5739009

Re: Discover IT Converted to Discover IT Miles without Knowledge?

Anonymous — Fri, 11 Oct 2019 22:59:17 GMT

Yea, but they still offer my product!! It's an IT card. So I called in and it is legit. Essentially, they said I haven't been using my card for enough "everyday purchases" and were offering a promo rate. I don't want the miles card. I have to wait until 10/23 to call back and PC back to an IT card. WTH. Really not happy right now. And yes, discover, I only use my card for 5% bonus. Once I get it back to an IT card, I'm really tempted to start charing up on those 5% cateogories every single month. Really disgusted by them right now.

Re: Discover IT Converted to Discover IT Miles without Knowledge?

Anonymous — Fri, 11 Oct 2019 23:00:46 GMT

Gotcha, just read the rest of your post that your was an IT card too. Seriously Discover? And my card has been used recently.

Re: Discover IT Converted to Discover IT Miles without Knowledge?

Anonymous — Fri, 11 Oct 2019 23:06:07 GMT

Yup.... so I hadn't used mine in 6 months and voila I now have a Miles card.

I OP'd that they would cancel and leave it alone but, of course that didn't happen and the new card finally showed up a couple of weeks later. I'm just going to let it roll for now and not give them swipes for awhile since they managed to fubar the whole situation in the first place. I did however come up with a way to revert it back if I choose to w/o having to involve them.

https://www.discover.com/credit-cards/card-conversion/ All you have to is login and select which program you want to be under and hit submit.

Re: Discover IT Converted to Discover IT Miles without Knowledge?

TSlop — Fri, 11 Oct 2019 23:25:24 GMT

Interesting. I just got my Discover It in August and I only use it for 5% categories. If they pull this on me I'm going to close it if it is beyond my year 1 cash back match.

Re: Discover IT Converted to Discover IT Miles without Knowledge?

Anonymous — Fri, 11 Oct 2019 23:37:08 GMT

It's a good backup card since they nerfed most of the benefits. I keep it since it's at 50K and other than this misguided PC that wasn't asked for they've been stable since 2015.

Re: Discover IT Converted to Discover IT Miles without Knowledge?

kdm31091 — Sat, 12 Oct 2019 00:02:18 GMT

We've seen a few reports of this; obviously Discover isn't happy with people only using the card for 5% purchases, but as the rewards world has become much more advertised and public, I think there are more people juggling cards and only using them for bonus categories. While it's still definitely not the majority of consumers, it's enough that issuers are noticing. They'd rather give you a steady 1.5x because in their mind that may be "good enough" that you'll just use the card for everything.

In any event, it hasn't happened to me (yet) even though I very rarely use the card for anything beyond the bonus categories. As far as 1.5% cards go, the Miles is a good one since there's no redemption threshold and you can redeem even if you barely use the card.

Who knows, maybe Discover will move away from the 5% rotating model.

Re: Discover IT Converted to Discover IT Miles without Knowledge?

Anonymous — Sat, 12 Oct 2019 00:20:55 GMT

My wife hadn't used her Miles card for a long time (well over a year, maybe 2) and she got an email saying use it or it will close. They didn't auto convert to the standard IT so I guess it works just one way!

Re: Discover IT Converted to Discover IT Miles without Knowledge?

Anonymous — Sat, 12 Oct 2019 00:26:05 GMT

Well I converted mine from IT to Miles myself and now want to convert it back to IT again.

How long do I have to wait? Do I need to wait a year before I can convert it back to IT?

Re: Discover IT Converted to Discover IT Miles without Knowledge?

Anonymous — Sat, 12 Oct 2019 01:28:56 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Well I converted mine from IT to Miles myself and now want to convert it back to IT again.

How long do I have to wait? Do I need to wait a year before I can convert it back to IT?

Just go here, login, and it will tell you if you can change it. I don't think there's a minimum period you have to stick with one or the other.

Re: Discover IT Converted to Discover IT Miles without Knowledge?

Anonymous — Sat, 12 Oct 2019 02:01:03 GMT

Wow. Another post of mine addressing an issue I thought might have repercussions. The post was regarding using ONLY the high % rewards on a card. But I was pretty much told not to worry about it and go ahead and maximize the rewards.

I've stated that I use all my cards for the lowest % rate for some purchases (which is 1%, except for DC which is 2% for everything).

It looks like card companies are taking notice of those who don't use the "1% on everything else" category. We may have hit a wall on maximum rewards % and the downside begins. Annual fees for most rewards cards might be coming, especially those offering 3% or more.

Maybe even an option for a minimum use of the 1% category to avoid the AF. We'll see.

Re: Discover IT Converted to Discover IT Miles without Knowledge?

Anonymous — Sat, 12 Oct 2019 03:20:11 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Wow. Another post of mine addressing an issue I thought might have repercussions. The post was regarding using ONLY the high % rewards on a card. But I was pretty much told not to worry about it and go ahead and maximize the rewards.

I've stated that I use all my cards for the lowest % rate for some purchases (which is 1%, except for DC which is 2% for everything).

It looks like card companies are taking notice of those who don't use the "1% on everything else" category. We may have hit a wall on maximum rewards % and the downside begins. Annual fees for most rewards cards might be coming, especially those offering 3% or more.

Maybe even an option for a minimum use of the 1% category to avoid the AF. We'll see.

Sorry, looks like you are just seeing confirmation where you want to see it. So a few people experienced something, it's far from certain that it really has anything to do with using only the highest rewards. As counterpoint, I have only used a card for max rewards on:

CSP/CSR/Chase Amazon/Freedom (except by mistake this month on the freedom!) Amazon opened 2004, CSP/Freedom opened 2013

BCP/BCE/OBC opened 2012 and 2013

Citi Dividend opened 2013

Cash + opened 2012

and many others (Barclays, Penfed, Discover)

with no complaints or shutdown

and I am sure MANY others here have the same experience.

Re: Discover IT Converted to Discover IT Miles without Knowledge?

Anonymous — Sat, 12 Oct 2019 03:32:41 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
Wow. Another post of mine addressing an issue I thought might have repercussions. The post was regarding using ONLY the high % rewards on a card. But I was pretty much told not to worry about it and go ahead and maximize the rewards.

I've stated that I use all my cards for the lowest % rate for some purchases (which is 1%, except for DC which is 2% for everything).

It looks like card companies are taking notice of those who don't use the "1% on everything else" category. We may have hit a wall on maximum rewards % and the downside begins. Annual fees for most rewards cards might be coming, especially those offering 3% or more.

Maybe even an option for a minimum use of the 1% category to avoid the AF. We'll see.
Sorry, looks like you are just seeing confirmation where you want to see it. So a few people experienced something, it's far from certain that it really has anything to do with using only the highest rewards. As counterpoint, I have only used a card for max rewards on:

CSP/CSR/Chase Amazon/Freedom (except by mistake this month on the freedom!) Amazon opened 2004, CSP/Freedom opened 2013
BCP/BCE/OBC opened 2012 and 2013
Citi Dividend opened 2013
Cash + opened 2012

and many others (Barclays, Penfed, Discover)

with no complaints or shutdown

and I am sure MANY others here have the same experience.

For how long though? This is just starting it seems.

Businesses and banks are not in business to lose money.

1% is sustainable. Even 2% for superprime cardholders, even with no AF.

If you think this is going to continue forever, its not. Once we see an economic downturn, I bet we see scaling back, by almost all banks. Like rewards point values being cut back, AF being added or rotating categories being changed to smaller categories like only streaming services instead of dining, etc.

Re: Discover IT Converted to Discover IT Miles without Knowledge?

Anonymous — Sat, 12 Oct 2019 03:43:30 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
For how long though? This is just starting it seems.

Businesses and banks are not in business to lose money.
1% is sustainable. Even 2% for superprime cardholders, even with no AF.

If you think this is going to continue forever, its not. Once we see an economic downturn, I bet we see scaling back, by almost all banks. Like rewards point values being cut back, AF being added or rotating categories being changed to smaller categories like only streaming services instead of dining, etc.

WHAT is just starting? We have a few reports of cards being converted, no word as to the reason. There is, I believe, no evidence at all to support the hypothesis. We have seen small amounts of quirky things happening without the sky falling (e.g. Cap One cutting high CLs for insufficient use, most people escaped)

We don't have insight into the entire economics of these cards: Yes, if everyone always PIF and used only top categories, things wouldn't last. But the consumer pattern in general doesn't seem to be that way, and as long as enough people pay some interest, and the issuer downside is sufficiently capped, it works. AFAIK, all 5% cards now have caps, with the Amex OBC being the last to be capped.

Re: Discover IT Converted to Discover IT Miles without Knowledge?

Anonymous — Sat, 12 Oct 2019 03:57:18 GMT

I've heard some CLs are being trimmed to protect from a possible downturn, which may not happen for years. Rewards rates skyrocketed way before the economic boom hit. We hit 3 and 4 percent rewards rates fairly recently. These may be leading indicators 3 years in advance, much like the stock market leads by 6 months.

You understand that default rates increase significantly in a recession. Then who is going to pay interest for your rewards? Then what?

The poster stated the lack of 1% use is why the card was converted.

I believe we will have another big upside to the economy before recession. The upside might start this fall.

Re: Discover IT Converted to Discover IT Miles without Knowledge?

Anonymous — Sat, 12 Oct 2019 16:08:08 GMT

I can speak from my use of just using the card for whatever it was fit for use at the time of the swipe. The categories are something to be aware of to get the most back but, in my case the only thing that meshed with the spontaneous change was lack of use overall for 6 months.

The lack of use was due to getting a fistful of new cards and needing to nail down bonuses on them. Disco overall is a decent enough card but, if my spending pattern changed to maximize 6% with BCP instead of what I had been using Disco for 1%... kind of makes sense to switch cards?

The moving and swapping of programs abitrarily though is the peculiar part of this post and my thread a month before. I thought my experience was isolated and now we have 2. My account is several years old and the OP is ~1.5 years old. Our spend patterns are probably completely different along with our CR profiles. There's no TREND to speak of and Disco never really was high on anyones priority list to get one since they don't offer a huge SUB or anything really enticing to sign up for a card. Most of the perks got nerded a couple of years ago that would remotely interest some people like Disco Deals portal shopping with increased earn rates. DFS is just experimenting in my book to see if consurmers lacking swipes will use a 1.5% card vs the IT card.

2 reports though certainly isn't a predictor of what's coming down the pipe from lenders regarding rewards. There hasn't been a dynamic shift across lenders reducing the amount you can earn from swipes. Until there's a huge thread with 1000's of posts to it then it's safe to say there isn't a huge change coming or in process.

Around here we're the canaries in the credit mine.

Re: Discover IT Converted to Discover IT Miles without Knowledge?

Anonymous — Sat, 12 Oct 2019 17:03:57 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I can speak from my use of just using the card for whatever it was fit for use at the time of the swipe. The categories are something to be aware of to get the most back but, in my case the only thing that meshed with the spontaneous change was lack of use overall for 6 months.

The lack of use was due to getting a fistful of new cards and needing to nail down bonuses on them. Disco overall is a decent enough card but, if my spending pattern changed to maximize 6% with BCP instead of what I had been using Disco for 1%... kind of makes sense to switch cards?

The moving and swapping of programs abitrarily though is the peculiar part of this post and my thread a month before. I thought my experience was isolated and now we have 2. My account is several years old and the OP is ~1.5 years old. Our spend patterns are probably completely different along with our CR profiles. There's no TREND to speak of and Disco never really was high on anyones priority list to get one since they don't offer a huge SUB or anything really enticing to sign up for a card. Most of the perks got nerded a couple of years ago that would remotely interest some people like Disco Deals portal shopping with increased earn rates. DFS is just experimenting in my book to see if consurmers lacking swipes will use a 1.5% card vs the IT card.

2 reports though certainly isn't a predictor of what's coming down the pipe from lenders regarding rewards. There hasn't been a dynamic shift across lenders reducing the amount you can earn from swipes. Until there's a huge thread with 1000's of posts to it then it's safe to say there isn't a huge change coming or in process.

Around here we're the canaries in the credit mine.

Lack of use in your case, yes. I'm basing my theory on AH20003 post: "So I called in and it is legit. Essentially, they said I haven't been using my card for enough "everyday purchases"".Assuming the call actually did take place, and assuming the Savor users who have gotten offers for 1.5% cash back on every day purchases until 12/31 (I didn't get that offer but I use Savor for some everyday purchases anyway), to me it looks like CCC are honing in on those who are only using the max % categories.

And I'm saying 3-5% categories are not sustainable unless coupled with a AF or some kind of scaling back of some sorts. They are getting squeezed and it's no surprise Disco dropped some of its offerings, Citi dropped benefits, etc.

Once we hit hard economic times, you'll see significant changes.

Re: Discover IT Converted to Discover IT Miles without Knowledge?

Anonymous — Sat, 12 Oct 2019 17:41:57 GMT

I think it's ridiculous to take what a frontline CSR says at face value. We don't know how much the OP was actually using the card.

I don't think the sky is falling. Disco is just experimenting, something they are known to do. Outside of credit card communities, people don't even know that Disco has the Miles card. It's very well possible they're watching spend on OTHER cards and assuming that the OP might be happier with a general spend card instead. We really don't know what their reasoning is and the frontline CSRs likely don't either.

Re: Discover IT Converted to Discover IT Miles without Knowledge?

Anonymous — Sat, 12 Oct 2019 17:52:42 GMT

It's all speculation until it actually happens. Just like asking for odds on an approval around here.

Shareholders dictate what we get for rewards. No big secret there that banks are pushed to squeeze every penny or fraction thereof out of our activities.

A good portion of the big banks scaled back the "benefts" of x/y/z cards. Those nerfed benefits were across the board for particular offerings from each of the big banks. There's potentially a saturation issue with claims or use of those benefits that caused them to be nerfed.

Scaling back rewards to make better offers on newer products to nudge poeple into those programs is how things have always worked. Changing them w/o notice hasn't been observed though until now with our 2 incidents of PCing to another card w/o notice or suggestion.

Even the worst cards ever mail you 10 times to try to get you to switch to another product when they're trying to kill off a legacy holding that's costing them more to maintain and administer. DFS sort of just took it upon themselves to say...hmm... Customer X y & Z let's just swap them out for another product and send an e-mail when we do it instead of giving a heads up. This is where it gets sticky because IIRC in most cases things like this require a 45 day notice / opt-out period before they can make the change.

Even when you PC w/ Citi for example they drag their feet and there's a 30-45 day period where you can change your mind and go back w/o any repercussions... which can come in handy if you're in a particular program and don't want to reset your 2 month clock to get a bonus in the same program.