topic Re: Bank of America--Warning in Credit Cards

Bank of America--Warning

Anonymous — Sun, 29 Jun 2014 12:15:59 GMT

I had a BOA Visa since 1982, yes 1982... I had a 12k limit, the last 5 years have been hard on me financially, but always paid card balance was around 9k. I maybe have been a little late here and there but nothing to bad... Finally business improved and I paid off the card.. Over a few months... One day i went to use it to fund out the canceled it... No letter or anything, I was in shock... Of course when I called they claim they mailed me a letter and I could not talk to anyone who cared or would do anything...... I love how they waited until I paid them in full to cancel my card...Moral of the story I would not be so fast to pay them off.. I love there loyalty...

Re: Bank of America--Warning

Anonymous — Sun, 29 Jun 2014 12:42:32 GMT

Experienced this a few years ago with BOA, Chase, Citi, and Discover, I had carried large balances for a while back then and paid off in full several trade lines in one furious bill pay session. Discover closed, Chase closed, BOA CLD to a lousy 500 from 6k, citi CLD roughly the same. I understood their actions especially as this was around the time of the financial crisis. It blows but look at the bright side, you paid off the debt and it's off your back.

Re: Bank of America--Warning

Anonymous — Sun, 29 Jun 2014 13:43:44 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I had a BOA Visa since 1982, yes 1982... I had a 12k limit, the last 5 years have been hard on me financially, but always paid card balance was around 9k. I maybe have been a little late here and there but nothing to bad... Finally business improved and I paid off the card.. Over a few months... One day i went to use it to fund out the canceled it... No letter or anything, I was in shock... Of course when I called they claim they mailed me a letter and I could not talk to anyone who cared or would do anything...... I love how they waited until I paid them in full to cancel my card...Moral of the story I would not be so fast to pay them off.. I love there loyalty...

Welcome to the forums!

I expect with CC companies that they do an internal risk / reward calculation on their cardholders, and carrying a balance for a long time, making minimum payments, and late payments pushes one into a "risk outweighs reward" category.

Re: Bank of America--Warning

SevenNEW — Sun, 29 Jun 2014 13:44:07 GMT

Horror stories--so sorry to hear! How did it show up on your CR? I expect it would be AA, but not as a baddy? I am trying to understand how difficult it would be to bounce back from this kind of situation.

Re: Bank of America--Warning

Anonymous — Sun, 29 Jun 2014 14:06:35 GMT

Just shows closed by creditor, payments were always made so a long string of OK go along with it, not too much of a hit as I did a refi to 3.75 to my rental and a new house at 3.75. I think the biggest factor as the OP alluded to is the perceived lack of loyalty factor, I understood though and it actually helped me long term to change my debt holding ways, I'm in the 800's now and going for the pinnacle just a few years removed from all of the closings and CLD's.

Re: Bank of America--Warning

Closingracer99 — Sun, 29 Jun 2014 15:13:06 GMT

The one time i basically maxed out a credit card was last December with a $1k limit i posted a balance of $988 or so on my Discover card but Brought it down to $500 a few days after it posted. Personally I wouldn't want a card to post on your report which usually be 2 statement cuts to show your card maxed out imo

Re: Bank of America--Warning

Anonymous — Sun, 29 Jun 2014 15:35:43 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I had a BOA Visa since 1982, yes 1982... I had a 12k limit, the last 5 years have been hard on me financially, but always paid card balance was around 9k. I maybe have been a little late here and there but nothing to bad... Finally business improved and I paid off the card.. Over a few months... One day i went to use it to fund out the canceled it... No letter or anything, I was in shock... Of course when I called they claim they mailed me a letter and I could not talk to anyone who cared or would do anything...... I love how they waited until I paid them in full to cancel my card...Moral of the story I would not be so fast to pay them off.. I love there loyalty...

Well, not paying them off means you continue to pay interest, and for some, stopping that may well be worth the risk of losing a trade line.

But "loyalty" with big corporations is pretty meaningless. It is a business relationship, and as others said, they (rightly or wrongly) judged that that risk/reward of continuing the relationship with you was not what they required. Similarly people here cancel cards every day when something better becomes available for them, it's not like friendship or anything!

Re: Bank of America--Warning

barbaralee — Sun, 29 Jun 2014 16:08:14 GMT

@Closingracer99 wrote:
The one time i basically maxed out a credit card was last December with a $1k limit i posted a balance of $988 or so on my Discover card but Brought it down to $500 a few days after it posted. Personally I wouldn't want a card to post on your report which usually be 2 statement cuts to show your card maxed out imo

I think just about everybody feels that they do not want to max out a cc, or let it show for 2 statements, but life happens. Unfortunately too many people view credit cards not just as a means of paying but as an emergency fund. When you have that mentality, no savings, and are up against the wall, it is easy to suddenly find yourself in a river of debt.

Re: Bank of America--Warning

bdhu2001 — Sun, 29 Jun 2014 16:37:34 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Experienced this a few years ago with BOA, Chase, Citi, and Discover, I had carried large balances for a while back then and paid off in full several trade lines in one furious bill pay session. Discover closed, Chase closed, BOA CLD to a lousy 500 from 6k, citi CLD roughly the same. I understood their actions especially as this was around the time of the financial crisis. It blows but look at the bright side, you paid off the debt and it's off your back.

This happened to me with BofA and Discover & I never paid late or had a high balance with them. I had high balances with other cards, because of 0% interest transfer deals. BofA said they sent a letter. I never saw theirs, but I did see Discovers.

Anyway, I figure their loss. I'm an excellent risk and always pay ahead of time. Discover took my limit from 10K to 500. Now that they provide a fico score, I buy water and pay them in full each month (before the charge hits). It's still activity so I get to see my score. Discover has asked why I won't use their card more and do I want my limit increased.

My next FICO TU statement, provided by Discover should have me at 800 or close. After that, I'll only use the discover 2 -3 times per year to see how aging of accounts & dropping of credit inquiries are affecting my score. However, if my TU score is 800 or more, I won't even use it that often.

@Anonymous all honesy only two of my cards get consistent usage American Express @Anonymous & FirstBankcard every where else that I charge. My children use my Shell card so that gets a regular workout too, but not by me.

Re: Bank of America--Warning

Anonymous — Sun, 29 Jun 2014 16:42:35 GMT

So what was Discover's reason for dropping your credit line 95%?

@bdhu2001 wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
Experienced this a few years ago with BOA, Chase, Citi, and Discover, I had carried large balances for a while back then and paid off in full several trade lines in one furious bill pay session. Discover closed, Chase closed, BOA CLD to a lousy 500 from 6k, citi CLD roughly the same. I understood their actions especially as this was around the time of the financial crisis. It blows but look at the bright side, you paid off the debt and it's off your back.
This happened to me with BofA and Discover & I never paid late or had a high balance with them. I had high balances with other cards, because of 0% interest transfer deals. BofA said they sent a letter. I never saw theirs, but I did see Discovers.

Anyway, I figure their loss. I'm an excellent risk and always pay ahead of time. Discover took my limit from 10K to 500. Now that they provide a fico score, I buy water and pay them in full each month (before the charge hits). It's still activity so I get to see my score. Discover has asked why I won't use their card more and do I want my limit increased.

My next FICO TU statement, provided by Discover should have me at 800 or close. After that, I'll only use the discover 2 -3 times per year to see how aging of accounts & dropping of credit inquiries are affecting my score. However, if my TU score is 800 or more, I won't even use it that often.

@Anonymous all honesy only two of my cards get consistent usage American Express @Anonymous & FirstBankcard every where else that I charge. My children use my Shell card so that gets a regular workout too, but not by me.

Re: Bank of America--Warning

RushXTC — Sun, 29 Jun 2014 17:09:33 GMT

After hearing about these stories, I will never pay my BoA card in full... LOL. I've almost always had a near max balance until recently, Dropped it down to $3,000 in debt and an emergency came out, Back up to $4,900. Right now it sits at $4,600 and will be declining by $300 a month, But will make sure not to pay it off =P

Re: Bank of America--Warning

TRC_WA — Sun, 29 Jun 2014 17:11:58 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
I had a BOA Visa since 1982, yes 1982... I had a 12k limit, the last 5 years have been hard on me financially, but always paid card balance was around 9k. I maybe have been a little late here and there but nothing to bad... Finally business improved and I paid off the card.. Over a few months... One day i went to use it to fund out the canceled it... No letter or anything, I was in shock... Of course when I called they claim they mailed me a letter and I could not talk to anyone who cared or would do anything...... I love how they waited until I paid them in full to cancel my card...Moral of the story I would not be so fast to pay them off.. I love there loyalty...
Welcome to the forums!

I expect with CC companies that they do an internal risk / reward calculation on their cardholders, and carrying a balance for a long time, making minimum payments, and late payments pushes one into a "risk outweighs reward" category.

I agree.

If I carried large balances across multiple cards for an extended period and thus showing an inability to pay I wouldn't expect anything less than balance chasing and/or account closure.

Re: Bank of America--Warning

j_casteel — Sun, 29 Jun 2014 18:39:45 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
I had a BOA Visa since 1982, yes 1982... I had a 12k limit, the last 5 years have been hard on me financially, but always paid card balance was around 9k. I maybe have been a little late here and there but nothing to bad... Finally business improved and I paid off the card.. Over a few months... One day i went to use it to fund out the canceled it... No letter or anything, I was in shock... Of course when I called they claim they mailed me a letter and I could not talk to anyone who cared or would do anything...... I love how they waited until I paid them in full to cancel my card...Moral of the story I would not be so fast to pay them off.. I love there loyalty...
Well, not paying them off means you continue to pay interest, and for some, stopping that may well be worth the risk of losing a trade line.

But "loyalty" with big corporations is pretty meaningless. It is a business relationship, and as others said, they (rightly or wrongly) judged that that risk/reward of continuing the relationship with you was not what they required. Similarly people here cancel cards every day when something better becomes available for them, it's not like friendship or anything!

Exactly!

I wonder if they have a forum where they post about how their customers aren't loyal enough?

Re: Bank of America--Warning

Bman70 — Sun, 29 Jun 2014 19:07:16 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
..but always paid card balance was around 9k. I maybe have been a little late here and there but nothing to bad...

I bet "nothing too bad" means something different to BofA. Especially repeated lates. However they could also have soft pulled you to see your overall situation.. What else had changed in your credit picture?

Re: Bank of America--Warning

Anonymous — Thu, 17 Jul 2014 18:23:53 GMT

The only factor on mine was carrying large balances for a long time, never late, paid in full when I got a big chunk of money. As I said, I did and still do understand their actions. It's a fine balance of please carry a balance so we can get your interest payment to CLD or closed account. I do not believe that the only factor is the consumer, the company itself goes through periods of change as they de-risk or re-leverage as a part of the global finance picture. I do still look upon the CLD as ultimately beneficial to me in forcing me to reevaluate how I manage my money, a few years later I'm doing just fine and got into a habit of living well within my means. Credit for me now is not for instant gratification but a very useful tool to do my own leveraging, I can take advantage of many opportunities as they come up and collecting the rewards is now just free money if you always PIF.

Re: Bank of America--Warning

Anonymous — Thu, 17 Jul 2014 18:28:21 GMT

Macys is notorious for lowing cl

Re: Bank of America--Warning

Turbobuick — Thu, 17 Jul 2014 18:47:22 GMT

Lenders rarely show any loyalty and are only out to gather as much money from us as possible. I was a long time Capital One customer(15yrs+) with past car loans and multiple cards. Always paid on time was never ever late. Around 2003 I had to hire an attorney for business related issues. Non-financial issues, but I accrued about $18K in legal fees that I put on a Capital One card at ~7% at the time. I think my limit was 22.5. I was making double or triple minimum payments when I get a notice, about a year later, they are almost doubling my APR. I had no choice but to cancel to keep my rate fixed and I cancelled our other card too out of spite. We can only protest these questionable/unethical behaviors by not dealing with them again. But they are all basically the same when it comes down to it. All you can do is move on and try not to take it personally.

Re: Bank of America--Warning

wmweeza — Thu, 17 Jul 2014 20:17:10 GMT

@Bman70 wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
..but always paid card balance was around 9k. I maybe have been a little late here and there but nothing to bad...
I bet "nothing too bad" means something different to BofA. Especially repeated lates. However they could also have soft pulled you to see your overall situation.. What else had changed in your credit picture?

That's what I don't get; Why this is such a huge shock if the OP admittedly was late a few times ? I'd fully expect at least a CLD if I were late moe then once, even if it was just by a day or two.

Re: Bank of America--Warning

wmweeza — Thu, 17 Jul 2014 20:21:12 GMT

@RushXTC wrote:
After hearing about these stories, I will never pay my BoA card in full... LOL. I've almost always had a near max balance until recently, Dropped it down to $3,000 in debt and an emergency came out, Back up to $4,900. Right now it sits at $4,600 and will be declining by $300 a month, But will make sure not to pay it off =P

I've paid my account in full almost every month (twice in 4 years I have carried a balance of about $25, that's it) but they keep giving me CLI's, so I think it depends on much more then balances as to how they handle accounts

Re: Bank of America--Warning

Anonymous — Fri, 18 Jul 2014 03:52:33 GMT

Business is business.