Chase Cancelled my CSP, cannot understand why. Anything to be done?

[Anonymous]

Hi all.

Yesterday, I got a notification on from iOS wallet that my CSP had been revoked by the issuer. Stunned, I called Chase and was informed that they had cancelled my account as of 2/28 for having too low/new of a credit history.

A little background:

Up until last March, the only credit card I had was a never used Macy’s card, however, I’ve been an AU on an Amex gold card and an Amex gold business card for something like 14 years.

I had student loans, which I paid off in full. I had a 5-year car loan, which I paid off in full. I was never late on either.

In the interest of building credit and finally getting cards, I applied for two: an Amex Blue Cash Preferred and a CSP. I was approved for the Amex last February, and the CSP last march. Amex initially gave me a $1500 limit, which they later raised to $3000 (I did not request the increase). The CSP came with a (surprising to me) 16K limit.

I used both cards regularly, and due to a bit of a compulsive nature, would routinely pay throughout the month to keep my utilization low. On the occasions when my monthly statement would have a balance, I would pay it promptly and in full. I thought this was good behavior.

I tend to use the Amex card for gas and groceries, and the CSP for everything else. I eat out fairly often and use Lyft and Uber quite a bit, so the bonus points in travel and dining were nice on the CSP. Over the course of the year, I spent about $50,000 on the CSP – always paid on time or early.

A few months ago I started thinking about upgrading to a CSR (I plan on applying for Global Entry, and the travel allowance would have been nice for that) and complimenting it with a Freedom Unlimited.

I contacted Chase about this, and was advised to wait until I had held the CSP for a year. Happy to do so, I waited.

Towards the end of last month, I contacted Chase about the mechanics of applying for a new card and upgrading the CSP. Because I didn’t want to be without a Chase card during the upgrade process, I elected to first apply for the FU card and wait on the upgrade for now. I applied for the FU card in the beginning of March (which is interesting, because Chase has told me they actually canceled the CSP on Feb 28, before I applied for the FU.)

For the last year I’ve been watching my credit on NerdWallet (TU) and Chase Credit Journey (also TU). It’s ranged between 776 and 790. I now realize this is probably not the best way to monitor my credit.

So I was surprised when Chase declined my FU application a few weeks ago. I contacted them and was told there were negative marks on my Experian account. Again, I’m not sure if this is related because according to Chase’s time line, the revocation of my CSP came before my application for the FU.

I did some digging using my yearly free credit report, and found that there were, in fact, two unpaid collections on my Experian report and my Experian score was around 660, quite disappointingly. For a total of $5. From a medical bill I didn’t recognize. Please bear in mind, at this time I still was unaware that my CSP had been canceled.

I contacted the original owner of the debt, learned the whole thing had been a misunderstanding and am currently working with them to have it deleted from my report.

Once this was set in motion, I contacted Chase for a re-evaluation on my FU and explained the situation to them. This was last week.

Yesterday, via my iPhone, I learned my CSP was cancelled. During the course of my conversations with Chase, I was also told the “no” on my FU was final.

The “official” phone explanation (I have yet to receive paperwork) for the revocation of my CSP was “too few/too new of a credit history”.

I’m baffled. My credit history is identical to what I had when I applied to this card last year. The negative marks were on my account then too. The only difference is that I’ve now been a timely customer to both Amex and Chase for a year.

Can anyone shed some light on what happened? Is there any way to fix this?

Thanks all.

[gdale6]

The real reason is the decrease in Fico score from those collections and the collections themselves. Once you get them off your CR you could try to get them to reverse their decision again.

[Anonymous]

Thanks @gdale6! Given that they were apparantly there when I opened the card last year, does that fit the timeline?

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymouswrote:

@Anonymous @gdale6! Given that they were apparantly there when I opened the card last year, does that fit the timeline?

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Work on the collections...

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymouswrote:

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@Anonymouswrote:

@Anonymous @gdale6! Given that they were apparantly there when I opened the card last year, does that fit the timeline?

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Work on the collections...

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Who'da thunk an erronious 5 bucks would cause this much trouble. Ugh...

I really hope that's the root of it - I've already got a promise to delete en route by mail

I was concerned that maybe they thought I was a bust-out risk or something? Because of the multiple payments each month.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymouswrote:

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@Anonymouswrote:

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@Anonymouswrote:

@Anonymous @gdale6! Given that they were apparantly there when I opened the card last year, does that fit the timeline?

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Work on the collections...

---

Who'da thunk an erronious 5 bucks would cause this much trouble. Ugh...

I really hope that's the root of it - I've already got a promise to delete en route by mail

I was concerned that maybe they thought I was a bust-out risk or something? Because of the multiple payments each month.

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Propably they did. Chase is acting paranoid lately. A lot account closures out of the blue. I've recently opened an account with them and they asked me 2 times for 2 different account related reasons to verify my SSN. I'm actually concerned tbh. Not for the account but for the reason they act like this.

[gdale6]

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@Anonymouswrote:

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@Anonymouswrote:

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@Anonymouswrote:

@Anonymous @gdale6! Given that they were apparantly there when I opened the card last year, does that fit the timeline?

---

Work on the collections...

---

Who'da thunk an erronious 5 bucks would cause this much trouble. Ugh...

I really hope that's the root of it - I've already got a promise to delete en route by mail

I was concerned that maybe they thought I was a bust-out risk or something? Because of the multiple payments each month.

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You dont fit the pattern of bust out.

https://www.experian.com/assets/decision-analytics/white-papers/bust-out-fraud-white-paper.pdf

[Anonymous]

Of the $50K spend over a year, was it all on "good" purchases, nothing that looks suspicious?

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymouswrote:

Of the $50K spend over a year, was it all on "good" purchases, nothing that looks suspicious?

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Furniture, Clothing, Camera equipment, Books, Housewares, other retail goods, dining, a few subscriptions, Lyft, some itunes purchases, my monthly storage unit. I think my cellphone bill once or twice. Nothing like gift cards.

[Anonymous]

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@gdale6wrote:

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@Anonymouswrote:

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@Anonymouswrote:

---

@Anonymouswrote:

@Anonymous @gdale6! Given that they were apparantly there when I opened the card last year, does that fit the timeline?

---

Work on the collections...

---

Who'da thunk an erronious 5 bucks would cause this much trouble. Ugh...

I really hope that's the root of it - I've already got a promise to delete en route by mail

I was concerned that maybe they thought I was a bust-out risk or something? Because of the multiple payments each month.

---

You dont fit the pattern of bust out.

https://www.experian.com/assets/decision-analytics/white-papers/bust-out-fraud-white-paper.pdf

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That's a relief. I was worried that the combination of multiple monthly payments, the lack of a mortgage (I'm a renter) and being a relatively new cardholder was bad.

Currently, I have a pdf copy of the letter the original creditor (a doctor's office) sent the collection agency, instructing them to send me a letter confirming that they will delete the item from my credit reports with the understanding that once I have that letter from the collections agency I will pay the five bucks (which I certainly will).

From my talks with Chase yesterday, I think I'll have to reapply (they won't reopen) and my gut tells me to wait until the derogatory accounts are removed from my report to do so (which may take a month or two to trickle through the parties involved) - but I'm also curious if it would be better to just move fast and go to my local Chase with that letter and talk to someone. What do you think?