Advanta to close all cards after Jun 10

Amazing.

They just called me on my cell phone less than 15 minutes ago and I did a $22,000 balance transfer at 1.99% until Feb 2010.

Update ( I will post if it goes through it was directly to checking account.)

Does anyone suggest a replacement for their CashBack program. I have penfed for the gas at 5% but I dont know of anyone that does 5% on utilities and office supplies and a few of the other categories that they gave good CashBack for.

Any guesses as to what's gonna happen to ca$h back rewards?

This is a indicator of things to come, IMHO. CC companies are going under.

Darn.. I've been turning down on their 1.9% offer for the past 6 months.

Did they raise the APR for everyone? Mine has been sitting at 7.9% all this time. I was waiting for them to jack it up but I guess it makes no difference now. I don't see any offer on BT on my account anymore (at least no posted rate).

First it was Chase taking away my $30K limit on one of the business card and now Advanta.

I agree.. CC coming are going down.....

Just received a balance transfer check the other day in the mail. Think it was around 2-3% APR for about 1 year on BT. Any advantage to taking the cash in light of this news?

DaveHanson said: OP, I assume you're NOT saying they've said rewards for charges made before they close on June 10 won't be honored (including bonus rewards)? I've seen the pieces in your OP, but nothing addressing any additional changes in the rewards program.

Advanta has said nothing about what they're going to do with accumulated awards.

However, since they are going to close all accounts as of June 10, that means you can't charge any more after that.

No more new charges = no more new CashBack points earned.

So, your last credit card statement before June 10 is probably going to be the last chance to earn (and redeem) points.

Say you've only earned $15.00 by Jun 10, and the minimum to redeem is $50. They'll either:

1) be nice and just cut you a check for whatever amount you've earned (even if it's less than the $50 minimum)

or

2) be mean and tell you tough luck, you lose (credit card agreements usually have language that say you forfeit any unredeemed rewards/points earned if the account is closed *for any reason*).

Since they're in such bad straits, they're not legally obligated to give you anything more than they have to, and they haven't said they'll go with option #1, do you really want to take the risk?

Thanks for replying OP. slc39 said: Since they're in such bad straits, they're not legally obligated to give you anything Their dire financial condition does not change the legal obligation (limited as it is) to pay accrued rewards as promised. Of course this fact doesn't guarantee anything.

The question for many of us will be whether or not it's worth the effort to reach the $50 accrued rewards cutoff before June 10th. Obviously that's a more compelling prospect if you have $45 already earned than if you have just $1.

ingenue007 said: should we close accounts or let the company close the business accnts on their own?Good question. Presumably, your credit report will say "close by lender" rather than "closed by cardholder request." I'm not sure if that really affects your FICO score, but it doesn't look good if someone is manually reviewing your report. However, there will be lots of "closed by lender" listings on credit reports now that lenders are quick to close cards just for inactivity for 3 or 6 months, so it probably won't carry too much unique stigma.

I'd be interested if someone has already called and asked Advanta how they will report this to the credit reports.

Remember, this is a business card and shouldn't report to your personal report, but does to your business report.

I paid off my Advanta Small Business balance last fall after they raised my rate to 23.99% from 4.99%.
No, I didn't miss a payment. They said flatly that they no longer wanted to do business with those involved in real estate investing and rehab. I have an 823 fico and the only thing the customer service people could tell me was that any and all customers in RE investing were having their rates jacked.

I didn't close the account, but simply stopped using it and paid it off ( because I sold a house I'd rehabbed using that account) and then got a Chase Small Business account with which I've had no issues.

Then today I get an "offer" in the mail from Advanta to transfer my balances to a 1.99% for 12 months. I'm thinking...
. why in the hell would I do business with these A*oles again?

I'll be happy to see them sink...

i noticed i only got 1% CashBack instead of the normal 5% CashBack points on my most recent statement. anyone notice the same?

MikeR397 said: However, there will be lots of "closed by lender" listings on credit reports now that lenders are quick to close cards just for inactivity for 3 or 6 months, so it probably won't carry too much unique stigma. In the current times, where all issuers are closing lines, I dont think "closed by grantor" is going to have much significance, or the stigma it used to carry

IIRC it has never been a credit score factor

samko said: I've accrued $43.04 and my statement closes on the 7th, 8th, or 9th, so I make the cutoff before the account is closed. I'm accruing about $4/month this time of year which puts me ridiculously close to the $50 cutoff.

They issue the check with the statement that puts you over $50 and then if there are any returns, they subtract it from the following month. I may have to make a large purchase before the cutoff and I may have to return it after June 10.

Any thoughts?

Why not presidential coins?

Anyone think people more likely to say 'screw you' to an issuer that jacks the APR to the mid 30s than another issuer that charges a reasonable rate? I know Advanta would have been first on my list to screw if I were in that position.

So are they closing the accounts, or just restricting purchases for now. I have $0 balance, but might be interested in keeping the card if they ever decide to give out credit again. Are they suspending my purchase power, or just flat out canceling the card?

samko said: I've accrued $43.04 and my statement closes on the 7th, 8th, or 9th, so I make the cutoff before the account is closed. I'm accruing about $4/month this time of year which puts me ridiculously close to the $50 cutoff.

They issue the check with the statement that puts you over $50 and then if there are any returns, they subtract it from the following month. I may have to make a large purchase before the cutoff and I may have to return it after June 10.

Any thoughts?

Verizon lets my prepay my bill. If your phone company lets you prepay, I'd charge $139.20 ($139.20 * .05 = $6.96). Minus whatever purchases you were planning on making anyways of course.

spacecadet610 said: i noticed i only got 1% CashBack instead of the normal 5% CashBack points on my most recent statement. anyone notice the same?

same here, I had charged $121 to the card this statement period and they just credited $1 CashBack....I am not going to be using this card anymore - just use COSTCO gas + 3% AMEX CashBack now for gas purchases.

Even though owners personally guarantee them, I suspect some people gave more priority to keeping their personal accounts in good standing. If your business is struggling, you might just let your business card hang.

It does make sense, since it only hits your personal report in the event of charge off IIRC. There was a thread here a couple months back where the OP declined to pay his business cards for 2 months, then called and told them the business was defunct but he was willing to pay the balance and negotiated a 5 year 0% payment plan. No hits to his personal credit and a 60 month 0% deal. Sounds like fun I must admit.

mshen11 said: just spoke to Christina Don (customer number 4169) - she said rewards under $50 can be paid by check after that date. if thats not true - i have the call documented
if they don't go under before you receive or deposit the check.