What happens after a bank closes all of your credit cards?
3 years ago
What is this about?
Back in November I posted a story about how I assisted Chase with finding a security issue in their ultimate rewards points system, and later they decided to close all of my banking accounts, and credit cards (as well as a family members because they were a co-owner of one of my checking accounts).
I spent many hours trying to get a hold of them, and trying to determine what was happening, and why.
The whole time I knew that if they were to proceed with their decision they would single handedly destroy my credit score that have I spent many years building by never missing a payment.
What was the banks final decision?
Unfortunately they would not budge, and never told me anything as to why they have decided boot me.
They did give me a final reply by mail which also says nothing...
What did your banking usage look like?
I signed up to Chase 13 years ago when I was 19 years old. This was one of my first banks, and I did everything with them as I was a loyal client.
I was using my accounts, and credit cards in a pretty standard manner. I would accept my monthly salary directly into my bank account, and I also had autopay setup to all of my 5 credit cards.
I was not churning, as I rarely closed any cards other than the card I closed to demonstrate the initial issue, and I opened them over the course of 13 years.
What happened after they closed your accounts?
Luckily I was able to easily open accounts at EVERY bank I applied to, and was also able to open up new credit cards without any issue.
At the time they closed all my accounts my credit score was 827, but shortly after all the account closures hit my credit the score crashed to 596... This was a brutal blow to my credit score, and I was not sure if I would ever be able to repair it.
Luckily after 6 months I have been able to grow my credit score to a whopping 696 points.
Lessons?
First off, I would never report any issues to a bank you are using heavily. In my situation it not only impacted me, but it also impacted my family member. This is also something to think about when you grant another family member access to one of your accounts, they also can be terminated for just being associated with you.
Second, PLEASE diversify your credit cards across different financial institutions. I know it’s easier to keep them all in one bank, but the huge risk is that they can terminate you at any time for any reason and destroy your credit at the same time.