Update: I recently received several emails from readers about credit card shutdowns, so I am sharing this post again to help keep your accounts open!
Originally posted 9/3/19.
There are lots of stories online of credits cards being closed by the issuer. Typically no reason is given for the closure, which creates lots of frustration. However banks don’t close down accounts for no reason.
American Express is known to occasionally perform a financial review. Typically this is triggered by abnormally high spending. They will ask for your tax returns and as long as you provide them you should pass the review. Your credit lines may be reduced if your taxes show significantly less income than you reported when you applied for the card. You can also try asking if they will accept bank statements instead of your tax return. If you are living at home and are supported by your parents you can ask if they will accept their financial information. If you don’t want to provide any information you should just close the accounts yourself so that it doesn’t say closed by creditor on your credit report. If you have points you should transfer those to airlines before closing your cards.
Banks can also take adverse action at any time if they feel you are a risky customer. That means they will reduce your credit lines or close your cards. Some people have successfully been able to get the bank to reconsider and reopen their cards, so it’s definitely worth trying to appeal. You can also file a complaint with the CFPB or your state’s attorney general if you feel you were closed down unfairly.
If you are shut down you should give it at least a year before you try opening another account with that bank again. Some banks have longer memories than others, so YMMV (your mileage may vary) on how long you will be blacklisted for.
In most cases you can still transfer out your earned points if you are closed down.
Typically these things can happen when you have several risk factors and the bank decides it’s too risky to have you as a customer. Some banks are stricter than others, but here are activities you should try to avoid:
- Returned payments
- There is no bigger red flag than paying off your credit card bill and having the payment returned due to insufficient funds. The credit card bank looks at this as a sign of a cardholder in financial distress. Autopay is wonderful for avoiding missed payments, but you need to be especially careful that there are sufficient funds in your checking account to cover the balance. A returned payment can cause an immediate closure of all of your credit cards with a bank, or a restriction on getting approved for new cards.
- Inactivity
- You should try to use your cards at least once per year. After a year of not using your card, banks often close down accounts due to inactivity.
- Charging your own credit card.
- If you charge your own credit card via your business or a relative’s business you are risking both your credit cards and your ability to process credit card payments.
- Swiping your card for others
- As I wrote about earlier this year, you should never swipe your card for other people. People involved in that scheme had their cards closed and found themselves in deep debt. If you wouldn’t hand over a briefcase full of cash to someone, then don’t hand over your credit card or goods that you paid for, that you can’t afford to lose.
- Allowing credit card application farms to open cards in your name.
- As I wrote about in the past, you should run away from ads offering cash to open credit cards in your name. People have had their accounts closed, found themselves in debt, and haven’t been paid what they were promised after handing over their social security number. Never give anyone your personal information and never give anyone access to your credit line.
- Having a 3rd party pay off a credit card bill or deposit a check into your account.
- Pay off your own credit card bills from your own bank account. Don’t deposit checks that aren’t made out to you.
- Failing to pay the annual fee
- If you are billed an annual fee and don’t pay it, the bank will close down your card.
- Not paying your bills on time and/or carrying large balances.
- These actions will lower your credit score significantly. If your score has a big drop it can trigger action from other banks besides the one where you had a late bill or carry a large balance with.
- Cycling through your credit line multiple times per month
- Banks give you a set credit line, which is the maximum risk they want to take on. Some banks will close down your card if you max out your credit line and pay it off multiple times in middle of a billing cycle.
- Maxing out your credit lines.
- Ideally for your credit score you want your billing statements to close with just a dollar of usage to show that you’re using the card, but using as little of your available credit on any given card as possible. However even if you pay off 99.9% of your bill before the statement closes, banks will not like seeing you use too much of your credit line as it can mean that you are racking up a bill that you won’t pay. Excessive and/or abnormal spend patterns can be a trigger for financial review and adverse action. As with everything in life, moderation is key.
- Hitting a new card too hard.
- When you get a new card you may be tempted to quickly meet the spend threshold to get the bonus miles. However putting large charges on a new card can cause a financial review, so take things a little slower if possible and avoid erratic spending patterns.
- Transferring/Receiving Ultimate Rewards points to/from ineligible receivers.
- You can only transfer or receive Chase Ultimate Rewards points between spouses/domestic partners or between co-business owners on a business card. Transferring Chase Ultimate Rewards points to others Chase Ultimate Rewards accounts may result in both the sender and the recipient’s cards being closed. You can however safely transfer points directly to an additional user’s airline/hotel mileage account.
- Having too much total credit.
- On the one hand, having a lot of credit is good for your credit score. But if your credit lines are far beyond the income that you report, it can be a red flag.
- Excessive refunds.
- Refunding too many purchases (or having refunds that exceed total card purchases) is a red flag.
- Depositing excessive cash or money orders into a checking account.
- Banks don’t like to see excessive cash or money order deposits into a checking account as it can look like money laundering. If you do that with a bank that you have a credit card with, it can cause a shutdown of both your checking account and your credit cards.
- Suspicious or excessive wires
- Banks are very careful these days with wire payments. It’s good practice not to make wire payments from a checking account with a bank that you also have credit card with, as a suspicious wire payment or excessive wire payments can trigger a shutdown of all of your accounts.
- Paying for the mistakes of others at your address.
- Typically when a bank does a financial review or decides to close accounts, they will go after all accounts located at the same address.
Have you experienced a shutdown? Did you figure out what triggered it? Know of other red flags? Were you able to get your account reopened? Share your experience in the comments!
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224 Comments On "How To Avoid Having Your Credit Cards Closed: These Are The Red Flags That Trigger Financial Reviews And Adverse Action Shutdowns"
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Dan-
Any words of wisdom regarding the practice of card piggybacking (services offer you cash in exchange for opening an authorized user card for someone trying to build/reestablish credit).
I’m uncomfortable doing it but many of my points and miles friends are into it big time. They argue the user never takes possession of the card and the bank can’t act on the AUs instructions.
Perhaps you can outline the risks?
I’d be uncomfortable doing that.
Agree, but when I go through paypal at certain merchants and they cancel, it posts as a return
Chase will shut you down for this. Adding too many AUs is a known Chase shutdown trigger.
Transferring Chase UR to someone who is not your spouse or partner will trigger a shutdown of your accounts. FME, it took about a year for them to forgive and allow me to re-open chase CC accounts
Correct, or a business co-owner.
Added to the post, thanks!
No problem! That has usually been one of the bigger reasons people get shut down by Chase.
“Spouse” is not the limitation for transferring UR between accounts. It’s “household member”, self, and business co-owner.
Last I checked it was spouse/domestic partner or joint business owner.
I’m not sure when you checked, but it’s not like that now and as far back as I can remember, has never been “spouse”.
Just looked up the terms,
“Combine points with other Chase cards with Ultimate Rewards: You can move your points, but only to another Chase card with Ultimate Rewards belonging to you, your spouse or domestic partner, or your joint business owner(s), as applicable.”
That’s very interesting. Which Ink card? This is the language I have on CIP, CIU and CIC:
“You can move your points, but only to another Chase card with Ultimate Rewards belonging to you, or one member of your household or owner of the company, as applicable.”
That’s interesting, what about between parents and adult kids at the same address?
@Dan I just called chase last week and they said a co business owner cannot transfer points
How do you even do that?
Previously I thought the only possible way of transfering btwn accouts was through AU.
I wonder if canceled orders are included in “Excessive Returns”?
Typically companies don’t charge your card until an items ships.
Do all of the the above apply to business cards as well?
Yes.
Great post!
Quick Question:
When Amex offers were able to be saved to all authorized users via the multi tab trick, I made a bunch of authorized users in my own name.
Now that the multi tab method doesn’t work anymore, should I leave them open? Should I close?
You can still add AMEX Offers to different authorized users. Just make a new account for each card.
I thought you can’t anymore if all the users are the same name/SSN.
Hence, different authorized users.
Anyone else here recently got shut down by Capital One Spark Business?
What was the reason they gave you?
“Inconsistent Purchases”
I never heard of a bank looking at your puchases to see if they are business related, that is taking it to the next level. Totally obsured.
@Dan So charging a Biz card to an LLC of your’s through say Square attached to a Biz checking account.
Even if the invoice, list purchase of assest from one entity to another is going to be problematic, (I understand the tax implications, but is it’s really a huge redflag?) Say charging an Amex biz card to your Square business thats a LLC with a Chase Biz DDA that is being deposited, I unserstand how running GC through Square, can cause problems with Square. I can see how using a Chase biz card deposited to a Chase Biz account could be problematic.
Any DPs would be great, as I was actually planning on using this two kill two birds with one stone. TIA
I don’t have data points with Square, but charging your own card is a big no-no.
I was red flagged by Amex for doing this with a chase biz checking account. Thanks god they didn’t close my account, was just a warning
@Bh,. One more thing was your Chase Biz DDA – Chinese walled from all Amex payment accounts per/biz. I.e. never connected to any Amex card under your roof?
I’m curious what also or behavior got Amex eyes on the acct. I’m just trying to see if the issue was Square (even with LLC DDA account) . I understand the concern about ML for Square, also per chance was the processing on a charge card or 0% Apr 12-15 mo card.
Also curious if the flag might have been Square (processing) verus other or if it was industry connected to Square acct.
Just hunting DP.
My last Chase biz card app took 2x as long before it showed in my acct , ( I floated 80% of CL on 2 Ink 0% cards -paid them off a few weeks before app’ng,,) but also sent me a form letter, We were at close 50% CL/income before app’ng, but have Mortgage, auto and CU accts and cards, so that lowers our bust-out risk (and 20+ yr residence &Mortg). They reduced lines but still opened card, but sent me a Stern form letter about number of accts and amount of overall credit, thankful I saw writing on the wall and didn’t have to deal with hassle of FR or shutdown.
Thanks
My wife was shut down by amex years ago , I guess it was because a payment was made by a business that was blacklisted by amex.
Problem was that if they wanted to close my account why would they make you go a hell of a time with FR. if the case like my wife they first made her go through a FR , and after providing all tax returns that’s when they decided to close the account without giving reason which I assume it was bcs it was paid by a business account that was blacklisted by amex.
3rd party payments are always a red flag.
So why would they make her go thru the pain of a financial review when they are anyways closing it due to 3’rd party payment?
I’ve been doing this for last 3.5 years consistently (every month) and never had an issue. Like 2k from one account and 1k from another. Should I stop?
Yes, since you aren’t shut down yet doesnt prove it wont happen!
Does this “3rd party” include payments made from Serve or Bluebird? Or are you referring to payments such as Walmart Bill Pay? Thanks!
What would you think is worse for an amex business charge card. Returned payment that gets paid on the 2nd try ( amex tries 3 times before it’s actually rejected) or making the payment a day or 2 late?
Returned payment is worse.
Thank you Great post very informative!
Issues with paying a CC bill in person with a money order? Been doing it for a couple of years but unsure of the risk.
YMMV. Depends on the bank and your other risk factors.
How do credit cards that dont have a set credit limit (e.g. Amex Platinum) show up?
Same!
How bad is if 2 of my cards were closed down recently due to inactivity? (One is chase and I still have other cards from them, the other one was my only citi card)
It’s not the end of the world. You won’t be blacklisted for that.
What about Amex BlueBird. A few of my friends and I got shutdown over the summer. They didn’t really give a reason.
Thanks for this informative post.
You got shutdown by Bluebird or your credit card?
Been ages since Bluebird shut me down. Worthless card after Redbird was killed.
Why is Bluebird worthless? If you’re able to get one, it’s still $5,000 of free cashing out of Visa gift cards per month.
Because they ban you quickly for doing that.
Can one transfer points between themselves and a parent? Once lived at the same address but not anymore.
Safer to add them as an additional user and transfer directly to their mileage account.
Yes, did this already you should be able to do it over the phone to play it safe.
what is Having a “3rd party pay off a credit card bill”?
if i have a friend send a bill pay from his checking account to my cc is that a problem?
It’s a red flag. Not all red flags will lead to a shutdown, but it adds to your risk factors.
What about if the bill pay is being issued from a business checking account ?
Wait- so even using my spouse’s checking account to pay off my credit card bill- initiated from the credit card website- is a red flag? Or, using spouse’s Serve/Bluebird to push to my credit card?
My were closed and Amex didn’t give me an option to transfer my points like chase does. Has that been others’ experience IYE?
What was the reason it was closed?
Did you HUCA?
500 HUCAs. They said I violated their terms and conditions but would not be specific
Any advice on how I can reclaim my points?
Try filing a CFPB complaint or your state’s AG.
Did you try calling the MR dept. directly ?
And ask them to reinstate my points?
Depending on the amount of points lost it might be worth to hire an attorney that specializes in this field to negotiate this for you with amex
CFPB is a waste of time
@dov would you have a name of lawyer you would recommend ?
Anything wrong with paying a cc with cash through the atm ?
Bank of America allows it (Chase does not)
YMMV
Care to elaborate why a bank wouldn’t like someone paying a cc with cash into the atm ?
Banks are becoming pickier about the source of the cash for deposits and payments. Someone paying in cash could be laundering money, avoiding taxed, etc.
It doesn’t mean you will get shut down, but it’s a flag.
While this does make some sense, it is strange to me that they allow you to pay in this way- and then wham, shut you down for it. If they don’t like the idea of people paying their CC bills with cash at an ATM because they’re worried about the source of the cash, then simply don’t allow people to do it! (like Chase doesn’t.) This way people won’t unknowingly fall afoul of your “rules” and get shut down.
Using cash to pay for more than a handful of small bills is going to put you on a list you don’t want to be on. Feds hate cash transactions – because who uses cash unless they are doing something nefarious (in Big Brother thinking?). A “normal” person uses a credit/debit card, but drug dealers, money launderers, undocumented workers, terrorists all love cash…
Citi only allows cash payments to credit cards through the ATM and the limit is 3k per month
chase DOES allow this
Will being shut down on a bussiness card be reported?
No.
If Amex closed all your accounts due to FR, how many years should I wait until I re-apply for amex cards?
A few months
Quick question Dan…. Would my credit score be affected if I close a card or 2 myself? Would there be any other ramifications by doing this?
If you transfer the credit line to other cards, then practically nothing.
Pardon my ignorance, but how do you do that?
Call the bank and ask what options there are to downgrade the card, transfer the credit line, etc.
Amex Bonvoy doesn’t have any option to downgrade which is very disappointing
Chase closed down all my accounts in one fell swoop easier this year, I called and had a quick review over the phone with an agent, asked me a couple of questions like why I don’t use many of my cards, and eventually reopened my accounts within a week.
I have been paying off my cc from other accounts and also had one or two returned payments over time.
No point transfers except to authorized users.
I had no way to ascertain the trigger from that phone call, agent was courteous but evasive when asked about trigger. BH it’s history now.
Congrats on surviving the shutdown!
Definitely could have been those triggers.
Wish I would’ve read this months ago. Opened Chase United cc and charged 10k on it which resulted in Chase closing all my c c. Have excellent credit score, never had a late payment or go above 30% of my credit limit. Was super frustrating!
Gotta hang out on the DansDeals Forums more often 🙂
If one is spending a lot on a business card will it help to make payments from a business checking account? On this note can someone open a business banking just like they would for a business credit card (I.e. use their SSN as a Tax ID and their name as business name)?
Thanks
It’s not a bad idea, but not a requirement.
Yes, you can open a business account the same way.
Thanks
what is exactly the difference between a checking acc to a biz checking acc ?
Barclays closed my jet blue Mastercard, which was crucial to me for Mosaic. I called, filed CFPB complaint, nothing. No reason given, would never tell me why. None of the triggers apply to me, great credit score, never missed payment. I’m totally lost, I was counting on it to have Mosaic status, there is no other card that works with Jet Blue
Check your credit report. Maybe identity theft and someone did something fishy with your credit.
Otherwise. It’s the banks mishandling, but go try to fight city hall.
I checked, and looked at all the charges, absolutely nothing wrong, all purchases at grocery stores or jet blue. Absolutely refused any reason.
Have the chase trifecta. Use my ink cash (almost) exclusively for staples GC during the promotion sales (about $25k annually).
Should I worry about shutdown?
Not that I’ve seen.
Become a felon is a trigger. With Chase I had over 100k limit, never late, score over 800, they closed all my accounts.
Lol, yikes.
Excellent DDF thread: https://forums.dansdeals.com/index.php?topic=86975.0
Thanks for the shoutout. Hopefully its a dead thread.
Wow, who’da ever thunk being a felon was a red flag for a bank to extend unsecured credit?
Wow. Way to go not understanding risk. The best credit risks are not who you think. After a Bankruptcy you’re the best credit risk because you cant file for bankruptcy for 7 years.
I’ve gotten quite a few credit card account, 20+ and many with the annual fees. Some of these with the annual fees (Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt, etc…) I no longer use them. As a matter of fact, I don’t use them on purpose because I have been under the impression that they will not close them as long as they get their annual fee (for which I am getting the free night). Now, if they closing all of my active Chase accounts (seven) because I rarely use some of them will be a disaster.
Make a small purchase on each every now and then?
Will do, some online bills or just temporarily carry these cards. I never carry more than three credit cards at a time in my wallet even though I have quite a few.
I should spend a little on all cards that I have?
I opened a chase saphire prefered along with a freedom unlimited. I got approved for both but then got a letter in the mail shutting down my unlimited since i opened too many cards at once. How long should i wait before chase would approve me for other cards?
I have a big purchase coming up, and would like to use my credit card. Are there any steps that I should take to decrease the chances of getting shut down?
Can you split it up into smaller purchases?
No, unfortunately not. It’s for a medical procedure.
Should I split up even if it’s way below my credit limit Or only if getting close?
@Dan,
I got the sapphire reserved a few years ago, after a year downgraded from the card. Two years later (recently) I upgraded to it again.
Would downgrading again raise a red flag? (How much time should I give to downgrade)?
Thanks,
Not a trigger.
Got a 13 year old amazon chase, plus 2-3 others shutdown when they decided to close my bank account. No reason given. Some habits that may have triggered the bank shutdown:
-Cash/3rd party credit card payments at the teller
-5 Money order deposits in same amount (under $400) in 2 months
-Cycling the credit (paying down credit card a few times during the month to spend more than the credit limit – hello prime day, hello buying groups)
Info I picked up along the way:
Chase and Citi HATE cash more than smaller banks. Would rather shut someone down “we reserve the right to do so”, than have to answer questions in court for aiding a terrorist/laundering scheme.
While you may request a formal review (HUCA HUCA), once a decision has been made to “terminate our business relationship”, there is nothing you (at least I) could do to get the accounts reinstated. Maybe my habits raised flags that were redder than others… Or maybe they are just plain stubborn.
Glimmer of hope: On my last call with the rep who actually reviewed the account and delivered the final verdict, he was deliberate when he told me that the decision was final as far as the closed accounts, but did not rule out being able to re-open a checking/credit card in the future.
Hope my experience save someone else from a headache.
How long ago did this happen?
Did you try to reapply yet?
No disrespect but I find it odd that you had to go through all of the above in order to understand and learn said lessons. Isnt it trivial that a bank like chase is wise enough to forbid all those shenanigans? Like who does that?
Sheer ignorance on my part. Guilty as charged.
Had I read Dan’s post, 2-3 years ago, I would NEVER have:
Used 3rd party checks to pay credit card
Cycled credit limit
Deposited money orders
I was clearly ignorant and wrong to assume that Chase, the “big bank” doesn’t care much about, really, anything… I certainly never knew of a concept of “periodic reviews of our accounts” exists. Much less the “right we maintain to end a relationship without explanation”…
Had all my chase cards shut down last year after applying and getting approved for Chase United Card (prior to spending any $ on it). Opening a new card is a trigger for a review by Chase.
Managed to have them reopened after speaking to representative and fighting my case – they had no valid reason to shut me down.
All of my wife’s and my capitalone cards were shutdown this year after I disputed a bogus charge from a vendor in Jamaica. I’m guessing disputing the charge prompted the wrong person to review my account and notice we had both met the $50k Spark Business spend in a short period of time with MS.
Anyone has any experience with a shut down from Citi?
Citi just closed all my credit cards and checking account and they didn’t give me a reason. All they said is that we have a right to do it.
How long am i blacklisted for?
How long do i need to wait to reapply?
Did you do any of the triggers in this post?
They sent me letter that “we observed transactional activity which is inconsistent with typical consumer use”
Did u get a call from {know your customer) with Citi they called me and asked my a bunch of questions about my spending and why I pay my credit card off with money orders all the time. And the truth is I’ve been earning 3.75 points per dollars on gift cards at the gas station. Then turn them into money orders and pay the card off I stopped that and it’s been over 2 months since the call I’m wounding if I’m in the clear of what I should do. Transfer all the points etc. any info from ur experience?
I never like having a balance and constantly pay my bill throughout the month but don’t think I max my card collectively throughout the month. Is that risky?
Better off paying once before statement close and once at payment due
Is paying CC with GCs through Plastiq will trigger red flags?
If you do some of the items on the list on your chase accounts, (max out cards each month & pay it from a business account) is adding your spouse accounts in order to transfer your Ur points to her a trigger where the look to see if it’s your actual spouse (and then see the other item when mentioned)?
“carrying large balances”
Is that an issue on Biz cards too?
Yes.
In middle of FR now. Spending $500k on amex business paying in full from two diff business accounts. They are asking for financials for business. Should I provide? The business can handle it.
Of course.
you mention not spending too much on a new card,how about on a new business card.
businesses do spend alot so would that be a issue in a business
Just ramp up slowly, don’t max it out on day one
I’d like suggestions on what to do with a zillion money orders from Simon, Staples and Office Depot gift card liquidations. I don’t worry too much about the spending (high credit lines, no credit line cycling), but those MOs need to be put back into the kitty somehow to pay off the Credit cards.
Just don’t deposit them with banks where you also have credit cards.
If I closed my Amex 2 years ago for not wanting to provide tax returns when is it safe to apply again
Now, but be prepared to be asked again.
Is having a friend writing a personal check of his and then mailing it in as a CC payment to my account considered “Having a 3rd party pay off a credit card bill or deposit a check into your account.”?
yes
Even if the check is written out to Chase? Is this only with Chase or also with Amex?
Dan-
Paying my cc bill with a checking account from an authorized user will trigger a red flag?
How about denying (alotta) charges
Is billpay from amex serve a trigger for BIZ CC?
anyone heard of the partners plus program that amex offers??
is anyone looking to apply for a business card and plans to spend over 1 million?
What about fighting a dispute with my capital one credit card. They say I haven’t provided them with a credit voucher from merchant where I explained that the merchant doesn’t have them and if I got a credit then why would I need to dispute a charge. How far is too far to push with your cc disputes team? Seems like the third dispute where they didn’t even file a reply to visa, they just denied the claim in house rather then push to visa… 🙁
My citi accounts are “under review” and no one on the phone can help me. They say I should wait for a letter in the mail. any experience?
How about if I have a 3rd party make a check out directly to chase and apply that as a payment to my credit card? Is that considered 3rd party? Thanks.
Yes.
I am totally guilty of doing this. Hundreds of times. Per my comment above, this was probably the reason I was shut down.
Dan,
Does it make a difference if this is done in a branch or by mail?
Does it make a difference if the check is written out to my own name, just from a third party?
Dan thanks for the post.
2 questions:
(Somone asked this already but it wasn’t answered:) Is paying my Amex cc with my wife’s checking account an issue? She is a AU. Would it be better to pay from her checkong usong her login over mine?
Secondly, you mention paying the balance down to $1 before the statement prints. But if you do that, you kind of loose track of your total spending, because you can’t just add up your bills from each month after a year, for example, because you’ll only get a total of $12. Rather, now you’re going to have to go through reach statement, etc. Is there a way around this?
I’d imagine that a spouse’s or even an AU’s account is OK, but nothing is black and white with risk factors. Best practice it to use your own account.
Your spending total still shows up on your statement, even if you pay it down first.
Ok great, thanks!!
whats the “safest” way to transfer money from my spouses account to mine so I can pay my own bill?
But if my AU logs in to their own account (as AMEX makes a separate login for AU) and AU pays with their checking account only what they spent themselves, there is definitely no risk?
(I would like that option if it’s safe)
Hey Dan, quick question:
I fall on the AMEX financial review, so I quickly closed the accounts before they shut me down. How long do I have to wait to apply Will i get accepted if applied again? Thanks for the post!
A few months is probably fine, but be prepared to hand over your tax returns.
If a 3rd party check is made out to my name is that considered 3rd party when deposited to chase, also whats considered having a large balance?. Thanks
Regarding your sentence, “If you don’t want to provide any information you should just close the accounts yourself so that it doesn’t say closed by creditor on your credit report.” Why should that matter? It doesn’t affect the score OR any decisioning going forward. Thanks!
If you’re applying for a mortgage or a loan and have eyes on your report, closed by creditor is going to look more suspicious.
Thanks. There could be multiple reasons for “closed by grantor”, have you ever heard/seen it being an issue? Tx again!
Dan, I have a 75k credit line at chase on my cc, should I be concern and lower the credit line now if I have this already for a couple of years or would you just leave it the way it is?
Thank you in advance!
Depends on your reported income.
What about buying groups? Anybody have their credit cards or bank accounts shutdown due to excessively inconsistent deposits and statement balance amounts?
See my comment above. 90% of my spending was for buying groups. They were excellent in paying me back on time – not endorsing anything here, just saying – but I used their checks to pay my card, and was cycling my credit limit to keep buying… clearly a perfect storm.
Hey Dan can you give a little more insight on this?
“Maxing out your credit lines… However even if you pay off 99.9% of your bill before the statement closes, banks will not like seeing you use too much of your credit line as it can mean that you are racking up a bill that you won’t pay…”
Did you mention 99.9% specifically? If so can you shed some more light. If someone uses their credit line to the max, what’s the best way to avoid to hurt your credit score.
TIA!
Yes, pay off everything but a buck before the statement closes to boost your score.
thanks @dan This whole time I thought I was doing great by having autopay in FULL when the bill is due.
Is there a way to setup autopay for this or is it more manual.
That is great. You pay in full before due date. Dan was talking about before billing date, which is at least 21 days earlier, to leave a dollar
Dan,
Thanks for the great info.
What about cards that are used exclusively for balance transfers but are always paid off before the interest period is triggered? Is that a red flag?
Do all your AU need to have activity every year or as long as either one of them or the main holder does it should be okay?
Primary is fine.
@Dan Is paying CC bill with GCs using Plastiq will trigger red flags?
I’ve been AA’d by chase 2 years ago & tried recently to apply for a card & got declined right away.
Is there a time for how long they close u? Or is it possible it’s forever?
Is using a biz card not for biz a trigger?
Not typically.
Is paying a CC bill with a check made out to your name called a trigger?
You have mentioned that Chase business cards won’t be reported on a credit report. Chase shut down my accounts almost 2 years ago and when applying for a BOA card recently, they declined me saying the reason was forcible shutdowns and listed accounts forcibly shut down and one of them was my Chase business card. They were able to see it.
Wow!
Authorized user making payments from his personal account is a risk?
We sold points from my wife’s account. Chase got wind of this and shut her down. This happened about 7 years ago. Every two years we try to call Chase and explain that we have perfect credit and that we are sorry that we did it and will not do it again (I mean we bought a house and both have good jobs). My wife just recently applied and was turned down due to a “previous unsatisfactory relationship with us or one of our affiliates”. Do you have any advice to fix this mess? (We even tried speaking to a bank manager and he said that years ago if you had over 100k in the bank that they can make an exception, but that is history)
Great post. Thanks.
Just to clarify, if I open a new card every year to take advantage of bonus points, I’ll end up with a lot of cards over the years. Will that cause them to shut down my account for having a big credit line? I have a great score and no missed payments.
Can any one please advise I’m in Israel and don’t have a way to deposit in my us account whats the safest way to pay my credit card bills.
Try the Transferwise App.
Having an international AU using only for air travel is that something to worry about?
Used my business chase cc to pay for my school. Is that a problem?
No.
Great post! Awesome DP in the comments!
What I haven’t read is…what about combining Chase points? For example: I do combine all of my points from all of my chase cards, personal and business in to where else than CSR! Could that be a problem?
@Dan ?
@…anyone?
No problem.
I just get shut down My Marriott card how bed is it?
It’s my only card with American Express
(how long will I have problems to open the card with) or I can open now a new American express card ??
What about Mile Account Closed?
Is there anything to do about it?
How often is safe to apply for ink cards? I got the ink preferred card 2 months ago, can I safely apply for the ink cash card?
@Dan ?
Hi Dan, thanks for your advise, i got a phone call from chase that they want to ask me a couple of questions bcs my 3 cards are under review, i told them ill call back tomorrow. whats best they want to hear in order not to shut off my accounts. should i bring out my high income? should i explain i can use the cards more frequently? also should i pay off my balances there right away so when i speak it should be clean or rather should i start spend on it so they see i use it a lot? please let me know thanks loads!!!
Anything wrong with paying personal CC from biz account and vice versa (all Chase accounts)? No shtick with tax issues, but it’s easier i.e when I know one account has plenty of $ and the other may go low…..
2 questions:
Is it an issue paying my ink card from my personal chase?
is it an issue to pay from an external personal checking account?
Hey Dan,
Chase shut down my Chase Freedom Unlimited card that had a 75K credit line, have worked on that for years, in addition that told me they are shutting down my 3 chase personal checking accounts by Jan 3, 2020. They said my name is banned from opening up any accounts or personal credit cards with chase. However my Chase ink and both my chase buisness accounts they say are fine. No rhyme or reason. I am wondering if my wife is blacklisted as well, she was only on one of the checking accounts. The Credit card and other checking accounts were just me. There is a ban on my personal name. Do u think based on what I am saying my wife would be blacklisted as well from opening up any personal credit cards or checking accounts?
We buy alot of southwest flights using rapid rewards points and there is a seperate $5.60 credit card charge for taxes to the Chase Southwest card each time. We need flexibility for our flights so we often end up cancelling about 50-60% of these flights which results in six or seven $5.60 refunds on the credit card some months. Is this a possible flag or do they look at returns as a % of all purchases? For instance is 7 refunds in a month likely okay if you also made 20 (non-returned) purchases that month? And are small $ refunds like this considered just as bad as large refunds?
All my Chase cards and accounts were shut, no reason given, they just “terminated their business relationship with me”. Most likely because of paying off a new card with a 3rd party check which is sooo stupid. My question is who can I call since noone is giving any information?
How long after a chase shutdown could one reapply with any real shot of getting approved. Is chase known for lifetime bans?
got approved after a few years but about 2 months after they sent me a letter they are closing my account. Luckily had enough time to earn the sign up bonus and cash out
I was recently told 4 years, but ymmv
is paying chase card with check made out to AU a trigger?
@Dan wow what a post!, A must read for every beginner!
Any way to know how to juggle with max credit line? is there any recommended number where to stop? 150 % of reported income? 200 % Etc.?
Thank you!
transferred ur points to wifes marriot account. is that ok? (i’m an au on her amex bonvoy card)
Had a returned payment with Barclay 3 + years ago and I’m still blocked
Here’s looking at you, buying groups…
Depositing excessive cash or money orders into a checking account.
Banks don’t like to see excessive cash or money order deposits into a checking account
What about usually paying a credit card bill with cash. Is that a concern?
Would also like to know the answer to this
@dan you say “If you charge your own credit card via your business or a relative’s business” so if I send money on PayPal to a relatives PayPal account, that can be a trigger?
@ Dan – no update for actual information in article?
thank you if this is your contribution toward humanity much appreciated try to do a little more please
1.Is there a ‘limit’ to how many times you can call to get your annual fee waived?
2.If they give you statement credit which covers part of annual fee is it a problem to call back and still tell them your thinking about closing card and they offer you more?
2 Questions
1. Would calling to many times to get your annual fee (or statement credit) raise chances of card getting closed.
2. If they do offer statement to subsidize the fee is it a problem to call back and again say your thinking about closing the card and again ask for them to give statement credit?
Returned payment because the checking account was frozen for a few days. Is that the same as insufficient funds? I know they (amex) denied new card a week later because of that reason. Is there a point of calling up?
Chase closed one account a few years ago (still don’t know why) and then shut like 5 more at that address.
After years of multiple attempts , they finally approved cards for one of the family members.. :/
Haven’t used credit cards in almost 8 months. Only budgeting and making hard choices. Great feeling, really, except it means a large of chunk of your posts (and vacation spots) sadly don’t apply to me. Antartica only awaits in my dreams.
Don’t open an BoA Business card unless you have a real business and/or plan to go through a financial review with them. They occasionally review those accounts and will close ALL your accounts, business and personal, if they don’t like what they see.
thanks…
Where are you getting your gift cards for money orders? I gave up on this at wal mart many years ago in so, Florida when they refused to do it and kept messing up also. Then I was using Publix, sometimes only one money order allowed at a time,but then they also wouldn’t issue me a money order without a gift card that is valid with your name etc. on it. So I have given up.
I am going through a very bad time since for 16 years hotels were my home and the employees my families, so I could travel abroad in Europe. Now since the pandemic everything has changed and my families are gone, replaced with new people not knowing my history and a lot of temporary employees and the food has gone way downhill, especially here at Zurich. Now I am in a very precarious situation with no family to turn to, no desire to return to the states at this time as it would be hard for a senior woman to start from scratch when she is so accustomed to a different lifestyle than the. Mah jongg groups of adult active communities. I have israel passport but the cost of living now and everywhere so expensive. It’s driving me crazy the indecision and now not feeling anchored and with no husband to make the journey easier. Is there someone who can recommend a place in Tel Aviv to use, and be part of a warm loving family for awhile? I need to regain my bearings. Also, how about some kind of senior dating to be part of dans deals, as we are the people who have similar interests. It’s been difficult to find beshert when I have been constantly on the go, and I’m wanting to settle down more now.
Some rep at amex once told me to use my charge cards line several times a month and this is how it will build my line to go higher as the formula they are using is your monthly average usage x2
With chase thay alow me to go over the credit limit and I am doing so each month till how much over wold you consider safe?
paying by checks from 3rd party accounts raise flags, ive been doing it for 15 years on numerous cards without issue,could be paying directly from bank account is more of a trigger ?
wondering if deposting a bunch of checks from diff buying groups is a red flag and does deposting echecks into bank account a red flag
1) if I occasionally have others (relatives)write out a check to chase for my bill, can it be a trigger 2) I’ve had a family member who resides at my address (different last name) transfer chase points to my sapphire reserve account for travel. Do I need to stop? 3) If my credit line is more than my income, should I call and ask them to lower my credit line?
any issues for buying gc at simon malls with chase business cards?
you wrote about not hitting a new card too hard, how much of the credit limit can be spent and how long must I be careful? what are the specifications?
Dan- i recently opened a credit card for my new buisness,
theiy gave me a low credit limit.
i need to spend about 3 times my limit a month to buy things for buisness is that going to make a review?