Comments on: Reader Question: Bank of America Closing my Account After I Opted out of a Rate Increase

By: smilendragon

smilendragon — Sun, 04 Apr 2010 01:42:29 +0000

I’ve been a customer of B of A since they were a savings and loan in 1984..As Banks rather than Savings and Loans..they showed less interest in my needs and more and more about their bottom line…on through their time as Nations Bank the last time “It” was like a bank at all…in their recent incarnation their people have mislead …lied to my face… off and on progressing until currently it has gotten criminal…At this point they are like carneys at a small venue..sucking in the marks..using the policy and holes in government regulations to intimdate… and when you are simply trying to get a fair value on the product you were promised…trying to deal honestly and in good faith they give you nothing in return except platitudes..excuses and empty apoligies…these people are frauds..liars and cheats…they are going down…get out before they take you down with them….I am..and I for one will never do business with them again…..

By: Apuka

Apuka — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 03:52:41 +0000

Reject it. You credit score may take a hit temporarily, however, when you keep paying your debt off, it will go back higher again. We ALL should reject their attempts to rule. ‘Nuff said …

By: Wizard Prang

Wizard Prang — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 21:21:34 +0000

Pay it off. Life’s too short to have a Bank of America Credit Card.

By: Mark

Mark — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 02:31:57 +0000

I have seen this situation happen to quite a few people. I would try to renegotiate the rate if possible. As a last resort I would pay off the debt and shop for a new card.

By: Emily

Emily — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 01:58:24 +0000

Can you either (1) pay the balance off before the rate change or (2) transfer the balance to a new card with lower rates? Then keep the BoA card open but don’t use it. That way you keep your credit age, but don’t pay any interest with the new high rate. I’m not sure if you still have this option if you already rejected the change, but you might be able to write them a letter reversing your position.

By: Evgeniy

Evgeniy — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 09:47:28 +0000

It is better to pay off the debt. Because negotiations with the bank took a lot of time and effort
If you can not quickly pay off the debt then it is necessary to negotiate

By: robin

robin — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 21:42:06 +0000

I have a card with Chase and encountered this as well. Their rates are going up in February, I’m guessing right before the laws change.

I wrote them a letter to reject the increase and they wrote me a letter saying that they felt it was fair. I disagree. So I scrimped on my holiday shopping and paid it off in full. It’s going to be totally paid off in 2 days (some automatic bill stuff foiled my plan). I opened a new CC with my credit union. The Chase card is the oldest card in my history, but they gave me the opt out and I feel it’s important that they understand the cost of doing business sometimes means losing customers.

My credit score took a tiny hit for this. But mostly because I also let the credit union refi my auto loan at a lower rate. So while the inquiries and change in time frame of accounts made the number go down, I’m saving money in the long run. The score will recover in short time.

I’d say, pay off the account. Get another account (with a credit union) and tell Bank of America thank you for giving you the opportunity to keep your low rate while you pay off your debt and for making it clear to you why you need to handle your financial affairs with a competitor.

By: Wizard Prang

Wizard Prang — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 20:09:21 +0000

I had an MBNA card once. I closed it after BofA ate them.

Full story here:
http://wizardprang.wordpress.com/2006/11/15/bofa/

By: Mike

Mike — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 03:57:17 +0000

Hey @Seska,
Great question! You make a great point about having a good age and limit to help your credit score but it doesn’t make much sense if the only reason that you’re thinking about making minimum payments on your balance is to build your credit score. Here’s why:

Your credit score is made up of

1. 35% payment history
2. 30% debt usage
3. 15% credit age
4. 10% account mix
5. 10% inquiries

The majority of your credit score is determined by making your payments on time and having a low debt-to-limit ratio. So lowering your balance faster would help your debt usage portion of your score.

While credit age is important, chances are accounts with an age less than 7 years isn’t going to help your score that much. Even if it is over 7 years, it’s not going to help your score that much.

Having an similar types of credit isn’t going to help you out either. It’s more important to have a variety of credit than another credit card balance outstanding.

Hope that helps.

By: Seska

Seska — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 02:11:21 +0000

I am not ashamed to say that I’m the person that asked this question.

@Agency collection: I didn’t choose Bank of America. The card was initially with MBNA six years ago and I never had any problems until they were bought out by Bank of America.

@Johnathan: I wasn’t surprised, I did read the information that came with the rate increase notice. I rejected it because I thought it was ridiculous and I have another card with a much lower rate than what they wanted to increase the interest to, it just has a much lower limit because it’s a newer card. And I DO have health insurance—the $6k was my out-of-pocket expense. Just because you have insurance doesn’t mean you can’t rack up massive medical bills.

@Winter: Thank you for giving a good, non-judgmental answer.