OCCU is closing out credit cards if you are not a member

[FinStar]

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@pcmedic2k wrote:

Just found out about this the hard way today. Got alerts from my credit monitoring that one of my accounts had been closed. Logged in to see what was up and it was my OCCU DUCK card.

Jump on phone to contact OCCU and after 35 minutes got tired of sitting on hold so hung up and sent them an email and they promptly responded with ...

"Thank you for reaching out to us for assistance. An established OCCU membership is now a requirement to a be a credit cardholder. We had sent multiple letters to notify you of this change and eased into this transition by initially blocking credit cards to encourage outreach before fully closing accounts.

Please reach out to our Member Contact Center for further instruction and guidance. We can assist you with opening a membership and reapplying for a credit card if you would like. We are available by dialing 1(800) 365-1111, Option 0, between 8AM - 6PM, PT, Monday - Friday, and on Saturdays from 10AM - 2PM, PT.

Thank you for your time in this matter!

Regards,

OCCU"

Now as I replied to them, I am not sure what address they were sending thse letters to, but sure was not the same one they send the statements I pay every month to and perhaps a notice by email, included with the statement, or secure message when you logged into your online account may have been a better option for them to use.

Pay to get a membership with your credit union and take a hard pull to get a new account. I think not if this is how they treat their customers.

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Well, if it's already closed not much one can do about it, other than perhaps request a $0 balance letter via snail mail to confirm the closure 🤷‍♂️

Mine survived the mass closures + the clutching of the pearls by many when the carnage happened, but it sure was a fun ride when this was a FOTM😎 I closed mine several years ago once I read about another imminent wave of closures. RIP OCCU Ducks!

[longtimelurker]

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@pcmedic2k wrote:

Just found out about this the hard way today. Got alerts from my credit monitoring that one of my accounts had been closed. Logged in to see what was up and it was my OCCU DUCK card.

Jump on phone to contact OCCU and after 35 minutes got tired of sitting on hold so hung up and sent them an email and they promptly responded with ...

"Thank you for reaching out to us for assistance. An established OCCU membership is now a requirement to a be a credit cardholder. We had sent multiple letters to notify you of this change and eased into this transition by initially blocking credit cards to encourage outreach before fully closing accounts.

Please reach out to our Member Contact Center for further instruction and guidance. We can assist you with opening a membership and reapplying for a credit card if you would like. We are available by dialing 1(800) 365-1111, Option 0, between 8AM - 6PM, PT, Monday - Friday, and on Saturdays from 10AM - 2PM, PT.

Thank you for your time in this matter!

Regards,

OCCU"

Now as I replied to them, I am not sure what address they were sending thse letters to, but sure was not the same one they send the statements I pay every month to and perhaps a notice by email, included with the statement, or secure message when you logged into your online account may have been a better option for them to use.

Pay to get a membership with your credit union and take a hard pull to get a new account. I think not if this is how they treat their customers.

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So you were using it most months up to now (i.e. their blocking story isn't true)?

[pcmedic2k]

Last use was in August

[Anonymous]

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@Credit-hoarder wrote:

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I enjoyed this forum a lot back then too. I'm pretty sure it was Fall of 2013 when the Duck card was popular b/c I was relatively new to the forum and rebuilding my credit at the time--and that was my first experience with a FOTM card.

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For those of us who weren't active at that time, what was the appeal of the Duck and Beaver cards at that time? Big signup bonus? Attractive multipliers?

[ChargedUp]

Ahh the Duck & Beaver cards!

Those were some great threads until the closures started!

[BearsCubsOtters]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Credit-hoarder wrote:

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I enjoyed this forum a lot back then too. I'm pretty sure it was Fall of 2013 when the Duck card was popular b/c I was relatively new to the forum and rebuilding my credit at the time--and that was my first experience with a FOTM card.

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For those of us who weren't active at that time, what was the appeal of the Duck and Beaver cards at that time? Big signup bonus? Attractive multipliers?

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@Anonymous The primary appeal was for rebuilders getting an easy $10,000 starting limit from a previously unknown financial institution. As you may imagine, when rebuilding, it would be rare to even get a $5,000 limit, so the idea of $10,000 was too much for many to ignore. 

It was so much fun to watch. I have been lurking around here for 10 years now. The first FoTM that I remember back in 2011 was PSECU (Pennsylvania State Employees Credit Union); this was popular for two reasons: 1) free EX FICO score with checking account (that was rare back then to get a free EX score) and 2) they had a combo Visa/PLOC that SHARED the same $10,000 credit line but were reported separately to the bureaus as each having $10,000. It was like a free $10,000 padding on available credit. LOL those weren't shut down but PSECU made residing in PA a requirement for a long time after that. 

I completely blame Navy for allowing virtually anybody to join starting in February 2017 for ruining the FoTM fun. I do not pay attention to new Navy approvals so I am not sure if they are still handing out huge limits, but it was not unusual in 2017 to see people with low to mid 600 scores getting $24K SL.....

The best FoTMs were the ones that the rebuilders went crazy over. Others were fun too, but man. OCCU Duck/Beaver was fun to watch because of how badly it ended. But that is just me being evil. If you search "OCCU" , "Duck" , "Quack Quack" you should see several threads about it.  The Beaver card was not as popular. 

[FinStar]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Credit-hoarder wrote:

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I enjoyed this forum a lot back then too. I'm pretty sure it was Fall of 2013 when the Duck card was popular b/c I was relatively new to the forum and rebuilding my credit at the time--and that was my first experience with a FOTM card.

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For those of us who weren't active at that time, what was the appeal of the Duck and Beaver cards at that time? Big signup bonus? Attractive multipliers?

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Some things that drew the myFICO crowd at the time were:

-No requirement to be a member or join the CU to apply for either the Duck or Beaver CC

-Ease of underwriting. Some decent CLs were had by some folks

-Not-so-perfect credit 'friendly'

-Intro APR for BTs, SUB, no AF

-Rewards (not stellar by today's comparison, but this was circa 2013)

Then, the hammers came down.

[Anonymous]

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@gdale6 wrote:

Had mine after surviving the flood of closings in 2014-2015, got a letter that said I had to join the CU to keep it, told em wasnt interested in a CU membership and to shut it down. No biggie, rewards were nerfed and I rarely used it. Will be getting something else to replace its 9K overall loss.

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Quitter! You're suppose to take the hit for the mother ship and support the team?! Who's the team? Oh well ...

It is "just business" ... interesting ole threads running around back then as has been reviewed in this thread. Never got too excited and did not jump on the "band wagon" ...

[CreditCuriosity]

didnt they also get in trouble form the credit union association for going over reserve limits or something as well that caused part of the shutdowns other then just the geo thing?  Then they closed many cards to get below said thresholds of reserves or along those lines?  I could be imagining things.

[gdale6]

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@CreditCuriosity wrote:

didnt they also get in trouble form the credit union association for going over reserve limits or something as well that caused part of the shutdowns other then just the geo thing?  Then they closed many cards to get below said thresholds of reserves or along those lines?  I could be imagining things.

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Something spooked them and IIRC no one ever found out the real reason it happened.