topic Re: Bank of America closing my accounts in Credit Cards

Bank of America closing my accounts

Anonymous — Sun, 20 May 2012 16:10:48 GMT

I just had an interesting experience and want some advice. I had 2 BOA credit cards with relatively low interest rated due to balance transfer offered approve 4-5 years ago. I had approve 2,500 on each crard and was steadily paying them off . I never missed a payment, and I have been holding those cards since 1996. I was only made minimum payments. Recently, I got a 0% percent balance offer from another bank (within the past year I've been working hard at increasing my FICO score from 680 to 775). Within 2 days of paying off the cards I got a call from BOA saying they are closing my cards out. They asked me where I got the money to pay off the cards. I was honest and said I got a 0% elsewhere because I've been working hard on improving my credut score. They said that they are closing my account because a balance transfer and only making minimum payments signgles FINANCIAL TROUBLE. I tried to assure her I was not in financial trouble, and if they do this, my credit score will take a hit and I'll be back to where I was a year ago. Nothing I could do, closed by them!!! I hate Bank of America. How could they do this to someone who is trying to do the right thing? Is there anything I can do?

Re: Bank of America closing my accounts

RockinRay — Sun, 20 May 2012 16:15:55 GMT

This happened to us also at the beginning of the year. Between my wife adn myself, they took away $30k in credit lines. I called and asked them why and in our case it was because we had "enough available credit" already. Really made me mad.

I would tell you to call ask ask that your accounts be reviewed. You might catch a break. At this point, there is nothing to loose.

Good luck and let us know what you decide to do - and - welcome to the forums!

Re: Bank of America closing my accounts

Anonymous — Sun, 20 May 2012 16:16:11 GMT

Call for recon. That's pretty brutal.

Re: Bank of America closing my accounts

aussiesareforever — Sun, 20 May 2012 16:17:20 GMT

I'm sorry for your experience and welcome to the club of people that are not huge fans of BOA.

How much credit card debt do you owe and what is the new limit you have on your new credit card? Do you have any other credit cards?

It is true that closing those accounts will affect your FICO score and raise your utilization however I wouldn't worry too much about it (unless you are planning to apply for additional cards, a car loan or a mortgage sometime soon).

I recommend working hard on paying your debt down. Even if it means you pay an extra $5 or $10 every month towards the balance. The little extra payments add up quickly. As soon as you get your debt paid down, your utilization will go down and your FICO score will go up.

In addition, because you have paid the BOA accounts on time and haven't had any negative history, they will remain on your credit report for 10 years and contribute to your average age of accounts.

Dont get discouraged. Keep paying your bills on time and work on getting your utilization low, you will likely be in a position to apply for a new (and better) card soon! Personally I think BOA did you a huge favor

Re: Bank of America closing my accounts

jwduke — Sun, 20 May 2012 16:19:46 GMT

BofA closed mine for the same reason...I even HAD (I Refinanced it because of this BS!) my home loan with them!

Re: Bank of America closing my accounts

Anonymous — Sun, 20 May 2012 16:24:05 GMT

Other option is to app for a coUple more cards if bofa hasn't reported cards as closed. Op's issue another reason to spread out your relationships.

Re: Bank of America closing my accounts

Anonymous — Sun, 20 May 2012 16:24:44 GMT

Well, that's how a lot of creditors play, if you've had a stagnant balance for awhile, they're very likely to close your account or credit limit decrease you as soon as the balance does decrease.

My husbands Sears/Citicard credit limit decreased him as soon as he paid down his balance. It wouldn't surprise me at all if they close his account as soon as it's paid off. Ironically, we paid it off in cash, not a balance transfer.. lol Though, now that they credit limit decreased him, I did transfer about $300 onto one of my cards so that his utilization wouldn't be too high.

All you can do is aggressively pay off your current credit card debt. Yeah, there's a chance your current creditor will balance chase you too. In other words, whenever you pay it down to a comfortable level, they may balance chase you where your credit limit is right above your current balance.

Probably the most infuriating part of our experience with SEARS/Citi was that they credit limit decreased him based on information pulled from his credit report 2 months earlier and wouldn't pull another report.

On the brightside, utilization doesn't have to hurt you forever, it's not like late payments. As soon as you pay it off and it reports, your back to golden. I sold several pieces of jewelry to help pay down my husbands credit card. Sometimes you have to be creative to get rid of credit card debt. There's no point in paying interest for the privilege of paying later.

Re: Bank of America closing my accounts

clocktick — Sun, 20 May 2012 19:20:08 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
They asked me where I got the money to pay off the cards. I was honest and said I got a 0% elsewhere because I've been working hard on improving my credut score. They said that they are closing my account because a balance transfer and only making minimum payments signgles FINANCIAL TROUBLE. I tried to assure her I was not in financial trouble, and if they do this, my credit score will take a hit and I'll be back to where I was a year ago.

They asked you where you got the money from? Wow, none of their business!! Then they said they closed them even know told them about the BT after the fact? How long were you making minimum payments for? They may think of it as "financial trouble" because probably most people won't pay interest intentionally by only paying the minimum (unless it's 0%). Do you have other accounts with them?

Re: Bank of America closing my accounts

Anonymous — Sun, 20 May 2012 19:49:03 GMT

BofA closed mine for the same reason.I even HAD to much credit. They close my 2 credit card one with 15K limit and the other with 5k limit.

I HATE BOA I WILL NEVER DO BUSINESS WITH THEM.

Re: Bank of America closing my accounts

marty56 — Sun, 20 May 2012 20:29:37 GMT

When I was in DMP, I had a BofA Visa card in the program and a $500 BofA MC card which was not in the program. The closed the MC shorttly after I enterted the program, which I also think was out of spite, yet they forgot to close the Visa card which still provides me 10k of FICO util and they haven't reported it for over 4 years. The account is from '96 so I want it to still look open on my CR.

BofA is all about game playing and altough it doesn't seem like it now, IMHO they did you a favor in closing the account.

Re: Bank of America closing my accounts

h4ldol — Sun, 20 May 2012 20:34:46 GMT

That's terrible to hear, I would definitely recon with one of the 'backdoor' phone numbers on the sticky at the top, especially with such an old account. Would suck to lose that.

Re: Bank of America closing my accounts

AF_23 — Sun, 20 May 2012 21:43:35 GMT

What a nightmare. A letter is a good idea as well. Speak with someone at the very top if you're calling though. I'd be irate right now if i were you

Re: Bank of America closing my accounts

Anonymous — Sun, 24 Jun 2012 01:41:23 GMT

I just discovered today the BOA closed a credit card I had with them when I couldn't log into my account to get my billing statement. The card was originally with another bank (opened in 1998) and BOA bought it out. They raised my credit limited every few months and kept telling me what great credit I had until; they suddenly more than doubled my interest rate in 2008. It went from 12% to 27%. When I called and asked why (since they had literally just raised my limit by $2,500 two months before) they told me it was my student loan debt (I had just graduated from grad school). What a thoughtful gift!

Well, I wasn't in financial trouble before then, but I was after that and had to enter into a credit counseling program to get the interest rate back down to the original 12%. I've paid more than the required program amount every month since 2008, and with just 3-5 months to go BOA has suddenly closed the account. The irony is I just pulled my credit report and FICO scores today and all is great. My score is really, really high. Or, at least it was until BOA's recent move will not only reduce my credit history, but will also mess with my debt usage ratio.

To top it off, when I called to see why I couldn't log into my account, I was bounced to seven different people and two different departments until someone finally told me they closed the account. By that time I just lost it. The man I spoke to told me I could reapply for a credit card once the balance was paid off! What nerve! BOA is pure evil. I would have never, never chosen to go with them. The sad thing is you never know when your account is going to be sold and it is all too easy to end up in the hands of BOA again, or some bank just as bad.