Mass Closure of Credit Card Accounts
Today I received letters from Bank of America stating that they are closing my credit cards.
As a result of a recent review, we’ve closed your above referenced account because there are too many accounts with balances and you currently owe sufficient amounts on your revolving lines of credit.
I had four Bank of America credit cards with a combined total credit limit of $82,000. Fortunately, I had already withdrawn $60,000 from these accounts, so I only lost a potential balance transfer amount of $21,000. I will continue making minimum payments until the promotional period ends.
What Just Happened?
I searched for “bank of america credit card closure” and found a similar story here.
I spoke to a customer rep that told me there were no lower APR offers available so I proceeded to ask for a supervisor. I get on the phone with the supervisor and I stated that I had no late or no missed payments and paid off the balance. I then asked the supervisor is it possible to lower the APR.
She checked my credit and proceeded to tell me that they were closing my account. Her explanation was that they were afraid that with a $8000 limit, the debt on the card would go up.
Recently, I encountered an issue with U.S. Bank regarding a credit balance refund. To access cash from 0% APR balance transfer offers, I had transferred balances to a U.S. Bank credit card. When I contacted customer service to request a refund, they informed me that their policy prohibited issuing refunds via direct deposit or check. Refunds had to be sent back to the original source. One of these sources was a cash rewards credit card from Bank of America. The reversal was processed on September 23, and my Bank of America credit cards were closed on September 29. Clearly, this transaction triggered the account review that led to the massive credit card closures. I could have used Citi or Discover for this strategy, but I wanted to explore other options.
