HSBC Closed My Credit Card Account --guess why

[ucancallmeflower]

I know...call and tell them that you just booked your next DW trip and that since you couldn't use your card you went and paid up front

 

[tlbwriter]

I believe drag n'fly is referring to consumers (like you and me) not merchants!!!

Oh, I know. I'm just saying that the CC companies make money from your purchases whether you carry a balance or not (though they obviously make a lot more money if you carry a balance). I can see why they would weed out people who don't use their cards at all, but as long as you're making purchases, they're making money, and it's silly for them to purge someone who is using the card frequently, even if they don't carry a balance.

 

[Stein]

Here is my view.

If you are a "deadbeat" and pay off your bill every month, they make money only on the % they charge the merchant, maybe 3% tops. The merchant accepts the card because they know more people will shop there and those that use credit will spend more.

But, if you pay late every once in a while or carry a balance, the bank will slam you with unbelievable charges and make 30+% plus the 3%. Factor in the increased difficulty in filing bankruptcy and the now damaged credit score and many people find themselves stuck paying what was formerly considered usury. Thus, you have a wildly profitable business. (no discussion of legality or morality, this is just a fact)

Essentially, they are saying we don't want to mess with the 3% only crowd when we can be pilaging other villages. This frees up their resources, call centers, mailing centers, etc, to focus on where they get the bulk of their money.

 

[pixiewings71]

Last year I applied for a Master Card from Circuit City ("CC", as opposed to "BB"; there is also a similar store chain called "Good Guys" or "GG") They were offering a rebate on that day's purchases if you applied for the card. They declined my application but instead issued a CC credit card (i.e. good in their stores only) which fortunately also had the rebate feature. Yes, I am aware of those stores, my problem with receiving the MC from them is it was not disclosed well, it's in very small print in the application and it's on the back page. Neither my DBF nor myself saw it when we applied for the BB cards. Also, there was no way to opt out of receiving the MC.


Maybe because they didn't want to have to keep waiving the annual fee. If you reread my post you'll see that MY card was the one with the annual fee, not his. AND I didn't have the fee removed until a YEAR after the card was issued, his card was cancelled within 3 months. MY card is currently still open and I haven't used it for over a year. And there was NO reason for them to issue me a card with an annual fee, my credit has been amazing for the past 5 years, before that it has marks due to a nasty divorce but those bills weren't my responsibility to pay, they were my ex's. Unfortunately my name was on the accounts so I got dinged as well. But these cards were issued well after that and I have plenty of other cards with no annual fee on them.

 

[mrsltg]

In the case of the friend of the OP, my bet was that the card holder was making multiple payments per month. Since there is a transaction fee to pay your bill online (AMEX would pay a fee to your bank for the electronic payment), I can see this happening. IIRC, the AMEX website was updated a year or 2 ago (botched update) to prevent more than 1 payment per month per account...

Definitely not true. We use our Amex green account as our everyday card and have for the last three years. Amex loves us! We pay them bi-weekly our set grocery/gas money and then pay whatever is left over on the balance at the end of the month. We make at least 3 payments online per month and there is no charge whatsoever.

 

[LadyShiva]

Here's an article on how FICO scores are calculated: http://www.bankrate.com/nltrack/new....asp?ec_id=brmint_ns_frugal_20070918&caret=3a

I really like that website. It has a lot of "understandable" information.

Brandie

 

[jen-n-greg]

I didn't get any rewards at all from this card, ever. So no big loss for me. Just wanted to make sure it doesn't affect my credit rating at all.



It won't affect your overall credit any more than any other bank's cancelling your credit card for no reason. As far as getting credit with them in the future, they have every right to not let you collect a second helping of 15,000 airline miles or a second Macy's gift card and by not sending you junk mail that invites you to sign up for a new card, they accomplish their goal.

Disney hints: http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/disney.htm

In the past few years I got 15,000 Delta miles for one credit card and 15,000 United miles for another credit card, both of which cards have since sat in my dresser drawer after one or two real usages each. Yes, unused but open accounts are vulnerable to identity theft because you might not know if some miscreant modified the billing address.[/QUOTE]