I have some interesting stories about my dealings with Chase over the past two months. Recently they changed the Cash Rewards business card to a non point card. I generate a ton of points with our business cards etc and I am not going to use a non point card. I called to ask if they would flip it to another point program which is very common. The rep was pretty surly and said no and would I like to close the card. The card had a 53K limit and was used previously for 0% for a yr. Recently I got a letter from Chase that they were cutting lines on my various business and personal cards. That 53K card got taken down to 3500.00. I called to close the card and some other cards from Mariott. The Mariott card was a crummy one but UI got some free points and nights when I signed up. These cards were taken down to $500 limits from 10K+. I called to cancel and wanted a credit for the annual fee which was charged in May. These were my first line reductions by any company in many years. Current scores are average 750.
As a long time customer it is rare to have any issues regarding this. The rep I called told me he will pro rate both. Therefore charging me $7.50 for each card approx. He told me all the line changes are due to the government. I do think the card companies or at least some of them are being spiteful. However spitefull at the expense of losing me. Another interesting note. Usually I pay all these cc bills online. Usually within 1 day or so you have access to the full credit line. Not any more with chase figure 5 days. One of my best cards a Sams club discover recently took 10 days to cycle. When I called Discover which is admined by GE capital they told me that I paid twice in a month and that was risky. Of course I have paid twice in a cycle before.
My financial profile has not changed and always pay on time etc. I am closing down on Chase every card for the exception of one business card because I save 3% on my UPS charges for my company. Being fully aware of the tough times I still believe that at a certian point some of these companies will be seeking the better customers again. Another interesting point is my utilization is normally 35-40% especially in my busy season business wise. Right now I am only at approx 25% utliz. House nearly paid off etc. All these many years bank I made a ton off the cards and bt offers etc. I actually think there is a chance that these problems and complaints could lead to a new product for charging. Imagine if google put together a good co branded card somehow. Merchants are pissed at high merchant fees, and the general public is not happy with the cc companies. I am on a little rant here and I have maximized millions of points and programs over the years. The cards are still a useful tool for me, however I am going to be careful who I give my business to.
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So first of all, I'm a dedicated credit card strategist like a lot of people here. I have made a lot of money on credit card deals and bonuses. Thank you for your post letting us know of the decisions that Chase has made with regard to your accounts.
But let's be clear: Chase has decided (quite rationally) they don't want you as a customer. That's not personal, it's just business, just as it was when you decided to accept their generous offers for free stuff knowing you could come out ahead. You are not punishing them by closing your accounts -- you are doing what they want you to do. They will not feel any emotional hurt over you closing accounts. Because they are happy to see you go, they also have no incentive to credit you annual fees, and I'd say you are fortunate to have gotten them pro-rated. So with all that clear, make the decisions on which accounts to keep to maximize your own advantage, keeping the ones that improve your credit profile, etc.
What's really incredible is how long it's taken big banks to become sophisticated about this stuff.
Very interesting. I just checked my chase account and found something similar.
Chase business card from 20K CL to 1K Chase Mileage Plus from $6K to $500.
I didn't have any balance on both but Mileage Plus being a daily spender, I'm a bit upset. I usually charge $1-2K a month on this. Like OP, maybe I'll close all of my chase account.
I called Chase to see what's going on. Apparently, I agreed that Chase can pull-out my credit report any time they want, so they pull-out and found out about my AOR across different credit cards including chase Disney's $8700 out of $9K line. While I have sufficient income with no late payment, she was not happy with high utilization. She also reduced my business card again to $500 and threatened to close Mileage plus card. She wants me to pay off Disney card if I want to get the other chase cards' limit back. I concluded that if I pay off Chase Disney, Chase will sure lower the limit on that too, so I won't pay it off.
This whole thing started because I try to take 0% BT offer on Mileage Plus, which was evidently a bait. I advise, unless it's an introductory 0% BT offer, don't take it. It'll just give Chase a reason to reduce your line.
RobertW ~~I also have had a nightmare dealing with Chase ``` $50,000 worth of credit line (2 carda) reduced to $35K 35 yrs of perfect credit history with them and economy hit my business and I used a low APR to help me move thru it `` As soon as it expired I was moved to 12% then 2 mo later 17% even though I always paid my card on time and included extra ~~ I did what was advised and called and asked them to reduce my rate so I could eventually pay it off ....
At 17% I don't see it happening .... so playing by the rules all these years and like you having a close to 750 score of good credit use meant nothing since I had no regular "income" I could truthfully define and I wasn't going to lie
SO I am now looking at a way to transfer that balance to a credit union so I can pay off the balance over time and not have to file bankruptcy ~~~
Chase just slashed me as well - Disney Card from $40K to $25K which is just over the 0% BT balance I have running on that card and Amazon card from $16.5K to $7.3K - I have been churning that card for the last 3 months as I have their 3-2-1 rewards doubled for that time. I called and they said my debt to income is unacceptable - I faxed in proof that my liquid cash is in excess of my total CC liabilities - about $100K each - we will see if they restore the lines.
Whenever someone opens a new Chase account or request a BT or any big spending or even payment, they pull out your credit report and check out other cards' balance. The last month's agreement change seems to include 'Chase can pull out your credit report whenever as many as...' If your utilization in any of your credit card is too high, or any reason they (dis)like, they'll cut your current line asap. If you have a good line, just don't do anything abnormal (or even call).
VanceWade said:So first of all, I'm a dedicated credit card strategist like a lot of people here. I have made a lot of money on credit card deals and bonuses. Thank you for your post letting us know of the decisions that Chase has made with regard to your accounts.
But let's be clear: Chase has decided (quite rationally) they don't want you as a customer. That's not personal, it's just business, just as it was when you decided to accept their generous offers for free stuff knowing you could come out ahead. You are not punishing them by closing your accounts -- you are doing what they want you to do. They will not feel any emotional hurt over you closing accounts. Because they are happy to see you go, they also have no incentive to credit you annual fees, and I'd say you are fortunate to have gotten them pro-rated. So with all that clear, make the decisions on which accounts to keep to maximize your own advantage, keeping the ones that improve your credit profile, etc.
What's really incredible is how long it's taken big banks to become sophisticated about this stuff.
I agree with most of what you have written. However they have decided they don't want me not on a rational decision IMHO. I think things are pretty bad over there. They are pulling credit lines from everyone (so it seems) across the board to reduce their overall risk profile. In my case some account manager should have reviewed payment histories etc before cutting everything down. Chase seems the most aggressive out there. I have never been thrilled with their csut service. A few years ago I heard they were going to kill a great promo with Ritz Carlton. I had been saving points for a while. So in the last 2 months of the prmo I chaged and paid the card inter cycyle in order to get the number of points needed. They would not give me the points for the inter cycle charges. they said I exceed my credit limit therefore they would not give me those extra points.
VanceWade said:So first of all, I'm a dedicated credit card strategist like a lot of people here. I have made a lot of money on credit card deals and bonuses. Thank you for your post letting us know of the decisions that Chase has made with regard to your accounts.
But let's be clear: Chase has decided (quite rationally) they don't want you as a customer. That's not personal, it's just business, just as it was when you decided to accept their generous offers for free stuff knowing you could come out ahead. You are not punishing them by closing your accounts -- you are doing what they want you to do. They will not feel any emotional hurt over you closing accounts. Because they are happy to see you go, they also have no incentive to credit you annual fees, and I'd say you are fortunate to have gotten them pro-rated. So with all that clear, make the decisions on which accounts to keep to maximize your own advantage, keeping the ones that improve your credit profile, etc.
What's really incredible is how long it's taken big banks to become sophisticated about this stuff.
I don't get the part about Chase having no incentive for crediting annual fees. At least for my cards, annual fees are paid at the beginning of the year for which I am using my card. As a customer, before I decide to pay that fee, I evaluate whether the cost is worth the rewards and/or perks of that particular credit card for the entire year. So an annual fee of $100 might be worthwhile if I am using a card for the full year, but not necessarily for two months of use. If anything, they should refund the the full fee since my usage can vary significantly from month to month (I do admit that this last point is a stretching it a bit).
Am I missing some "legal" card agreement issue or is my logic flawed here?
Chase has cut a bunch of my lines, closed an older WaMu card (with whooping 300 CL - another story), and "closed" my business card with 24k limit with not so much as a notification - when I called after it disappeard from the Web account, they couldn't find it in their system. All started this february when I took an under 50% BT at 0% on the card I got in 2007 (online offer). I've taken many online bt offers from them before (some at 0%), and haven't seen this behavior before. Other banks are starting to follow suit with cutting lines (no wonder, chase took 40k+ CL cut across personal lines and 70+ if including business lines), so my balances look very high to CLs (and chase has been reducing CLs every several months).
What chase and the banks don't understand is that by doing so they eliminate incentives to paying down debt (aka available credit lines).
My United Mileage card cut from $600 to $300 a while back... I had allocated most of my credit line to my Cash Rewards Plus card, which had $28.9K. Just checked and they cut this down to $3K. Wondering if I should call them up and ask them what's going on. That's $25K of credit that just vanished.
I do have a total of about $40K on 0%BT at the moment (began 6 months ago), but they're spread across Citi, BOA and State Farm. I haven't done anything recently to trigger this decrease.
Message edited by: bnj999 on 2009-09-02 16:04:58 CDT
I would not call. I did call and the lending dept lady almost closed all of my account and I bet they'll try to even cut $3500 to $500 or so. The agreement was changed so that Chase can pull out credit report and they can see what your utilization is. They don't care when I told them I have all the money in high % rewards checking.
Does anyone know if Chase limits the # of cards you can have? I currently have 2 and am going to apply for the Marriott and Southwest cards. I remember reading a few years back in the AOR threads you are limited to 3 cards branded by Chase at any time. If that's the case I might have to cancel one before submitting my application.
Also, I believe it's still the best idea to apply on the same day, right? (Sorry, it's been a few years since I've been in the AOR and cc churning game!) TIA!
After losing money on me for so many years (0% transfers, 5% rewards plus paid in full) I thought, why not let Chase profit for a change. And for this they closed all my accounts.
I was funding savings accounts with a 1% Chase rewards card - in fairly large amounts. I thought they could turn a nice profit on the transaction/interchange fees after my 1% commission. But they closed all my accounts for doing it ("account not used as intended"). Then they closed my wife's accounts on the same day - although her reason was she had too many new accounts, utilization too high, etc (even though her credit profile was less risky looking than ever). Of course they can make up any reason they want. Oh well, I thought we had a good thing going Chase. But thanks for all the good times.
CoastieRob said:Does anyone know if Chase limits the # of cards you can have? I currently have 2 and am going to apply for the Marriott and Southwest cards. I remember reading a few years back in the AOR threads you are limited to 3 cards branded by Chase at any time. If that's the case I might have to cancel one before submitting my application.
Also, I believe it's still the best idea to apply on the same day, right? (Sorry, it's been a few years since I've been in the AOR and cc churning game!) TIA!
Before reading this thread, I called this Chase number this morning (888-245-0625) to check the status of my Southwest card app. As of now they haven't approved it because of a high balance on a Chase BT card I was using (it's since been moved but the statement hasn't posted yet). The lady told me (FWIW) that they will only give total credit lines up to 30% of your HHI. With these lending practices, it looks like I'm running into not being able to get new cards (especially the Southwest free flight card that I've churned a few times) because of the high credit lines I have with Chase BT cards. I only have BT debt and think I'll be getting out of that game after this time. If I don't have normal credit card debt, is it stupid of me to want to have my Chase lines cut/closed, so I'll be able to continue to get the Southwest card etc? If I run into an "emergency" situation where I need credit, I have enough on other lenders lines which is my reasoning to have the Chase ones cut/closed...
Has anyone noticed the card companies like Chase taking a long time to clear payments? I think this is a way for them to actually slow your charges month to month. Discover Business took about 10+ days to clear a charge paid online, now Chase is taking the same amount of time or more.
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