Bank of America Closed my Card -- do they ever reopen?

[mourningmycard]

I was just blindsided by BoA closing my Cash Rewards credit card with no notice. When I called, they cited "irregular activity" or some such and would not elaborate further.

The issue is, WHAT was irregular? They would not budge at all and only repeated the same reason. I have not made any strange or large purchases. I use it as my everyday workhorse card. I pay my bills, I buy my groceries. I always pay the balance off every month. I don't think there's anything going on with my credit either. I haven't opened any new accounts or made any inquiries. I've been steadily paying off all my loans. My TransUnion credit score is 800. I wish someone would just talk to me and tell me directly what was so irregular so that I might have a chance to explain. It's just my personal credit card that only I use for my own purchases in the same way every month.  

Is there any shot at reopening this card? I don't even know who to talk to anymore. I've called four different lines and have gotten nowhere. This whole experience has been so frustrating. I don't feel like I did anything wrong, and the vagueness and lack of avenues for dispute or discussion makes it hard for me to feel like I can trust them ever again. There's no transparency at all. I'm just completely devastated because this card has a lot of sentimental value for me for many personal reasons. Even changing all my autopays off the card was an emotional experience for me... maybe I have issues.

[JoeRockhead]

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@mourningmycard wrote:

I was just blindsided by BoA closing my Cash Rewards credit card with no notice. When I called, they cited "irregular activity" or some such and would not elaborate further.

The issue is, WHAT was irregular? They would not budge at all and only repeated the same reason. I have not made any strange or large purchases. I use it as my everyday workhorse card. I pay my bills, I buy my groceries. I always pay the balance off every month. I don't think there's anything going on with my credit either. I haven't opened any new accounts or made any inquiries. I've been steadily paying off all my loans. My TransUnion credit score is 800. I wish someone would just talk to me and tell me directly what was so irregular so that I might have a chance to explain. It's just my personal credit card that only I use for my own purchases in the same way every month.  

Is there any shot at reopening this card? I don't even know who to talk to anymore. I've called four different lines and have gotten nowhere. This whole experience has been so frustrating. I don't feel like I did anything wrong, and the vagueness and lack of avenues for dispute or discussion makes it hard for me to feel like I can trust them ever again. There's no transparency at all. I'm just completely devastated because this card has a lot of sentimental value for me for many personal reasons. Even changing all my autopays off the card was an emotional experience for me... maybe I have issues.

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No, there's likely no shot they will re-open a closed card... Usually when this happens it's due to something spooking them, a returned payment, high utilization on one or more other cards... have you checked your credit report? 

[mourningmycard]

Thank you for the reply -- I immediately checked all my reports afterward and there was nothing unusual (beyond the card still being on there as open/never late but I suppose it will be updated). I've never had a returned payment and my utilization on the card would only ever be 10 or 15% max. It's the only card I have (first credit card I opened out of college two years ago) and I never carry a balance from month to month. Sucks to hear that regarding reopening... I really do have a weird attachment to this card, but beyond that, it's hard for me to feel like I can trust opening a new one after this experience, even though I probably should.

[K-in-Boston]

Do you have other accounts with BOA that are still open, like checking?   Do you work in an industry that they and some other banks distance themselves from (cannabis, adult, etc.)?

[spiritcraft1]

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@mourningmycard wrote:

... maybe I have issues.

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BofA has serious issues.  Move on.  They can be a mystery.

[FireMedic1]

@mourningmycard 

" I've been steadily paying off all my loans."

How many loans and how much owed compared to income? Something spooked them.

[ptatohed]

Sorry @mourningmycard . 

Any single large purchases lately?  Any purchases long distance either in person or online?  Any over the phone (no tap/swipe/insert) purchases?  Have you reviewed your statement for anything that might stand out as an abnormal purchase(s)?  Lots of purchases of gift cards or anything else that could look like a cash advance?  

[coldfusion]

SInce you've ruled out payment issues with BoA or explicit derogatory info on your credit reports there's a decent chance there may be 1 or more of these several things going on with you:

a) you have card use associated with activities with complicated reputational concerns (cannabis dispensaries, online/offshore gambling, OnlyFans or other adult-content activities would be examples)

b) concerns regarding amount and/or rate of repayment of loans, including if you had loans in deferment even if they were by default placed in deferment by the US govt

c) account management issues associated with AU: either the number of AU on the account, amount of spend they place on the card, or their relationship and whether or not they live with you

d) cycling of limit or what is on the surface at least the appearance of engaging in manufactured spend

Since BoA is being tight-lipped you can consider opening up a CFPB or FDIC complaint which would trigger a response from them but odds of getting the card reopened are very long.

[mourningmycard]

Wow, thanks everybody for all the replies! After what felt like trying to milk a stone from getting any sort of helpful information from BofA, the fact that I can actually talk to somebody about this is so refreshing. I'll try to answer the questions I've seen.

• Other accounts @ BOA: yep, I still have the same checking and savings account that I opened in high school that I still use today.
• No to working in spicy / dicey industries, just a typical corporate job
• Loans - I only have my student loans, which to be fair were on pause since covid but they restarted last month. I've never missed a payment and my income has only gone up while the loans have been the same or going down. If the issue was the pause, I really wish they'd have told me since I would've been fine with manually restarting payments earlier... I just didn't know that it might lead to my credit card being closed suddenly out of the blue. Arrghh BofA!
• Purchases - no single large purchases, no long distance purchases, have made over the phone payments like on delivery apps and orders and stuff, but nothing out of the ordinary, and nothing abnormal on my statements either.
• Somewhat of a goodie-two-shoes, so no gambling, cannabis, or even OnlyFans, (but no judgment to any of that).
• No Authorized Users -- just me. Oh, this does remind me about something somewhat adjacent to this. Not necessarily an AU thing, but I also had another Cash Rewards card open with BofA, but it was a joint card with my older brother that I opened during college (he helped me with getting  it) and only I used it. I stopped using it after I got my personal one a few years later when I graduated. It was closed due to inactivity last week, but I was fine with that. I forgot to mention this because it didn't seem relevant to the "irregular activity" of this card, and I also just kind of forgot as well.
• I'm not sure what manufactured spending is, but again I just wish they would've talked to me about it to give me a chance to explain anything they felt weird about instead of being SO quick and decisive. I just use it for my bills and everyday normal, boring purchases. 

Thanks particularly to coldfusion for the detailed post, as well as everybody else, because a lot of these things I have never thought about and it's good to keep in mind for the future. I might consider opening a CFPB or FDIC complaint, but I really just care about reopening this card that is dear to me (I sound psycho), and since the prognosis from everybody seems grim, I don't think I'm gonna bother. I may just have to move on somehow. Easier said than done but what can you do. BofA is giving me trust issues.

[JR_TX]

Sorry to hear about the closure. Best to just move on and try to learn something from it.

Also, If all of your 3 major bureaus checks out fine, try looking at the other players, i.e., Lexis-Nexis, EWS, etc...

And if they're fine as well then... well...

I guess... 

On this day and age, I wouldn't as well be surprised if Banks are stalking our online and social media footprints and shut us down for the most inconsequential reason if it spooks them just because they can. And they can. It's in the TOS that we all agreed on when we accepted their card. 
They're just being courteous in giving us a BS drawn out generic reason for the shut down!