Amazon Store Card (Synchrony) Cancellation

[lahtiji]

I just got a score alert that my Experian report had changed, and I found out that my $3500 Amazon store card line with Synchrony had been closed by the grantor.

Two other accounts with Synchrony (Chevron and Walmart) are unaffected, though. No missed payments on this, or any account, Synchrony or not, nor any fraud notification. This card gets regular use and payment, total utilization under 30% across all trade lines. I liked using the store account because it wasn't tied to other account numbers, and got special financing for larger purchases. I hope there's an explanation forthcoming.

I see that they are rolling out the "Prime Store Card," so maybe there is an upgrade coming with a new account number. But I remember seeing the option offered, and I decided to stick with the card I had.

Has anyone else received this in his or her stocking?

[Anonymous]

A creditor does not close an account for no reason.  Call them tomorrow and see why the closure.  Also, make sure your other reports state the same thing if not, it may be an error in reporting.

Have you checked the account online at all to see if it is still active?

[lahtiji]

I think there are differing ideas of "no reason," based on what I read here with respect to Synchrony. But in general, yes, they would have their reasons. No alerts with respect to this line on the other two reports, yet.

The account is still active online, yes, meaning I can pay the last statement balance, but have no spending ability.

[UncleB]

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@Anonymous wrote:

A creditor does not close an account for no reason.  Call them tomorrow and see why the closure.  Also, make sure your other reports state the same thing if not, it may be an error in reporting.

Have you checked the account online at all to see if it is still active?

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+1

I could be mistaken, but I don't think the offer you mention to 'upgrade' to an Amazon Prime store card has anything to do with the account closure.  My understanding is that if someone has an Amazon store card and later gets 'Prime', they just add the 'Prime' moniker to the credit account to indicate it gets a 5% discount, but everything else remains the same.

I would be on the phone as soon as they're open to find out what's going on, since if there's an error on one of your credit reports it could (and likely will) impact your other Synchrony accounts as well.  Ironically, this is how my grandfather found out about a new negative account appearing on his own credit reports... Synchrony took AA on his Care Credit almost immediately.

[lahtiji]

And here I was wondering what I was going to do with my Saturday.

You're right, I've worked very methodically to get where I am now. I will find out what the situation is.

[lahtiji]

Mystery solved: unlike my other two Synchrony bank accounts, I cannot successfully make an online payment from my savings account to the Amazon store card account. I tried it once before, and the payment was rejected, so I made another payment immediately (and before the due date) by checking account which was accepted.

I though I would try again, as I can make payments on my Chevron and Walmart accounts from my savings account without difficulty. Same problem, so I just made another checking account payment right away, which was accepted. This is proof of the adage that insanity is doing the same thing twice and expecting a different result.

Their automatic system will close an account after two "rejected" payments, regardless of whether that means a payment was truly missed or not.

Certainly I didn't expect to reach anyone on the phone today, but I suppose it's not a public holiday wherever their call center is. The representative was very helpful, and restored the account right away (which I have verified).

Now the question will be what to do about the report of the closed account. Wait for it to resume reporting, or dispute the change?

Thank you both for your responses.

[Cotton_Britches]

Glad it worked out. Thanks for sharing this information on Synchrony. Good to know for future reference.

[Skye12329]

As for your reporting question. I would assume it would change back to open if the account number is the same. If it doesn't within a month or whenever it reports then i would suggest a dispute. But i think it will change back.

[lahtiji]

Thanks for your response. I'm still puzzled as to why certain accounts will accept ACH payment from a savings account, and others won't.