Walmart - CLOSED!

[Anonymous]

Well I woke up to a not so nice sight in seeing that my Walmart card had been closed by the credit grantor. It makes no sense considering I have always paid on time, never had any issues, and nothing has happened on my credit to warrant it being closed. As I know withy SYNC that if you were to have a missed payment on another credit grantor they would close your account potentially just for that issue, but that hasn't happened with me.

I called a couple of the backdoor numbers and really couldn't get much of the answer other than they review credit from time to time... blah... blah... blah... you all know that story and that I will get a letter in the mail. I got to one person that was finally in the US and he told me it was based off inactivity and the low credit score. Which made no sense cause my credit score has went UP since even opening the card and I use the card weekly, so that was kind of crap to me. I ended up just leaving the call at that because I didn't want to keep going further and further to keep getting the same answer or no help at all.

So I guess I figured I would post here and get thoughts from you all about what you think on it? I know that SYNC is notorius for shutting down accounts randomly, but usually it's you get the BLUE LETTER or you've had some actual stuff go down on your credit report to warrant them pulling the credit cards from you before you end up doing damage with them as well.

Just kind of dumbfounded by it all. I know there isn't anything that can really be done as they won't reinstate it and all you can do is just pay off the remaining balance and then apply later on in hopes they would extend credit again, but I'm not even sure of what chance that would be either.

[Anonymous]

At this point, the best thing I can say, for you or anyone else who's been hit by closures on their Walmart (or other Sync) cards this week is to wait for the letter they say is going to be sent to you. I *hope* (crossed fingers) that this will shed some light on the matter, or that even before that somebody will be able to find out something that helps explain what's going on. I can say - and I've said as much in one or two other threads - that issuers never do AA just without a reason or at random, as much as it seems like that sometimes. There's always something going on in a customer's credit history/report when that happens, even if it's not clear to the customer on their end at the time, that would trigger an alert in the issuer's computers, or the UW people reading through the customer's reports, that would cause CLD or outright closure.  One hypothesis that I would offer - and it's strictly a theory, I don't know at this point if it's the right or wrong one - is that Synchrony has either instituted a new policy/standard, or changed an existing one, that has caused accounts that previously were OK to raise danger signals. (We do know that a lot of issuers have been tightening things up lately; see, for instance, Penfed's new and much stricter policies on CLI's.)

For what it's worth, I'm watching my own three Synchrony accounts like a hawk now.

[Anonymous]

I agree! They won’t just close the account for no reason at all. I am just going to wait for the letter and see what it says but I hope it’s not vague and leaves me with more questions than answers.

One comment the last person said to me was about inactivity and that my Experian credit score fell below their threshold but that still seems kind of like a general response to me.

But maybe they did change some policies and maybe one of those is a starting score that if you don’t have it, then you don’t get to keep it.

[Meanmchine]

There are dozens of reasons why this could have happened to you. You have given us no information to go on here. "Paying on time" is not the same as PIF. And Synchrony closing accounts randomly is not a true statement. There is ALWAYS a reason. The answer is in your credit report somewhere.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymouswrote:
I agree! They won’t just close the account for no reason at all. I am just going to wait for the letter and see what it says but I hope it’s not vague and leaves me with more questions than answers.

One comment the last person said to me was about inactivity and that my Experian credit score fell below their threshold but that still seems kind of like a general response to me.

But maybe they did change some policies and maybe one of those is a starting score that if you don’t have it, then you don’t get to keep it.

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I notice in your sig that your current (at least the last time you checked it) EX score is 667. I think we need to check with other people who've also had their EX scores cited to them as a reason for having their accounts closed and find out where they stand. It seems odd though given that my TU score was around 646 when I got my own Walmart card last June.

@P.S. Per @Meanmchine, I recommend that you get a copy of your current credit report (Experian to start with, and also TransUnion and Equifax) and go over them with a fine-tooth comb. See if there's anything that stands out as possibly having a negative impact on your credit.

[Anonymous]

Right now there is a balance of $758 out of a $4k limit on the card. I’ve always paid on time with no issues. I use to PIF every month except for maybe the last 3 months where I make about a $100 payment because I have some other things going on at the moment and my overall utilization across everything sits at 23% where it actually use to be 28% but has decreased month by month.

I can’t think of anything else that has popped up that I could see as being negative or giving them a reason to just up and close the card. I don’t agree that SYNC just randomly closes cards either. I know they only do it when they have a reason behind it and sometimes that reason isn’t always easy to spot either.

Once I get the letter I’ll for sure share it with all if you. Cause I know there are plenty others around here with the same issue. Just curious if all of our letters might show a pattern or new item that is making them close accounts.

[Anonymous]

I am going off the idea that they have somehow changed policy on their minimum credit score criteria to extend credit to the consumer and that goes to those who even have the card already opened up.

Now that could be ruled out easily by any other person who has less of a score than myself and there card is still open and alive!

I would be curious to see if all the others who have their card shutdown on here out of nowhere have maybe something like mine or just below 700.

Still seems odd to me but it is just a theory for sure. I actually was due on here to review my credit reports so I pulled all 3 this morning.

No significant changes in any of the FICO scores, if anything my FICO 9 scores went up a tad bit. No new negative or derogatory info. Utilization is down to 23% from previously being 25% last month.

I really do not see anything on any of the 3 reports and especially the EX that stick out to cause a problem.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymouswrote:

No significant changes in any of the FICO scores, if anything my FICO 9 scores went up a tad bit. No new negative or derogatory info. Utilization is down to 23% from previously being 25% last month.

I really do not see anything on any of the 3 reports and especially the EX that stick out to cause a problem.

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What about *old* derogatories/negatives, though? It's possible Synchrony is tightening up on old derogatories in people's reports, meaning there might be something from some time ago in your report that wasn't an issue when you opened the account but is now.

[Anonymous]

My profiles are completely clean. I worked over the past year to clean them up. I actually didn’t get approved for my Walmart card until after all of that was removed and gone so it’s got to be something else for my issue.

But that could be something causing others some problems.

[Remedios]

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@Anonymouswrote:

Well I woke up to a not so nice sight in seeing that my Walmart card had been closed by the credit grantor. It makes no sense considering I have always paid on time, never had any issues, and nothing has happened on my credit to warrant it being closed. As I know withy SYNC that if you were to have a missed payment on another credit grantor they would close your account potentially just for that issue, but that hasn't happened with me.

I called a couple of the backdoor numbers and really couldn't get much of the answer other than they review credit from time to time... blah... blah... blah... you all know that story and that I will get a letter in the mail. I got to one person that was finally in the US and he told me it was based off inactivity and the low credit score. Which made no sense cause my credit score has went UP since even opening the card and I use the card weekly, so that was kind of crap to me. I ended up just leaving the call at that because I didn't want to keep going further and further to keep getting the same answer or no help at all.

So I guess I figured I would post here and get thoughts from you all about what you think on it? I know that SYNC is notorius for shutting down accounts randomly, but usually it's you get the BLUE LETTER or you've had some actual stuff go down on your credit report to warrant them pulling the credit cards from you before you end up doing damage with them as well.

Just kind of dumbfounded by it all. I know there isn't anything that can really be done as they won't reinstate it and all you can do is just pay off the remaining balance and then apply later on in hopes they would extend credit again, but I'm not even sure of what chance that would be either.

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If my memory serves me right, you've recently had some payment dispute related to your Walmart card plus multiple Synchrony accounts. Maybe that's enough for them to get a bit spooked. 

As far as getting a letter, those are usually blah blah blah. Legally, they have to tell you something, but  that something may not be the exact reason why.