Introduction
A reader sent me this email and let me share it with you guys. By the way, kudos to the reader for answering every question I would have asked him:
Just got shutdown today by Cap1 on my Venture card. Had the card since 2011, but did not really do any MS until 2017. CL was 20K and I never went over/cycle. It was used about 90% MS (Simon and GC.com). Was probably averaging 90% utilization every month and paying it off every month.
First hint was I had email from Cap1 saying I had an account credit on the way, which was weird as I had not requested one. Amount was half of accumulated points which is what you get on a “cash out”. So I logged on to account and it said “This account is currently Restricted”. Called in and got automated voice telling me account closed.
All payments on the account were from my own checking accounts.
If there is anything else needed, just let me know.
BTW, in your experience, how will this show on credit report?
Lessons Learned
While Chase shutdown week was popular, we haven’t heard of a Capital One shutdown in a while. At this point, paying off your balance before statement cuts doesn’t even matter to [some] banks. Clearly, Capital One does NOT like MS. Feel free to take their bonus and sock drawer their cards.
By the way, I haven’t looked at how shutdown appear on my credit report, but clearly it hasn’t hindered me from getting new cards. So I wouldn’t worry too much about how the shutdown looks on your CR.
>At this point, paying off your balance before statement cuts doesn’t even matter to [some] banks.
Reader did not pay the balance before the statement cut. He said he got up to 90% utilization. That’s cycling credit (or getting 90% up there).
Ah good catch. For some reason, I read it as he was paying it off early. Let me ask him.
Just clarified with the reader. He did pay off before statement closed. He was using 90% of his CL in-month.
Even if it’s paid off before statement cuts, why is anybody using 90% of CL month by month? The banks notice your balances even if they don’t show up on statements. Reader had a 20K limit, why not MS 5K at a time and make sure the balance never goes above 5K.
Man, I honestly don’t understand MSers like this. Just calm down a bit. We all have lots of cards anyway, split it up a bit! And diversify beyond Simon and GC.com which are dead giveaways. Do some at CVS or grocery stores.
If someone really wants to push 100K a month, do 50K every two weeks with the full amount paid… over 10 cards so no card has a balance over 5K. 90% utilization at exclusively Simons and GC.com is such a giveaway and a risk flag.
where on earth is anybody getting rid of $100k of GC’s a month? Please contact me!!
If you live in the southern states or midwest, there are still a lot of places to drain GCs easily. Unless you move to those areas, you’re not going to benefit from it to drain your GCs. From acquisition to liquidation to deposit to banks is still relatively easy in certain states.
Thanks, I thought it dried up nation wide.
Just had a second shut down from Cap One this week. Prior shut down was just over a year ago. They let you back in, though I didn’t MS on new card, just spent enough to get sign-up bonus.
a data point from someone who got the original CapOne Venture card 100K bonus. Product changed it the next year to their no fee card & promptly put it in the drawer & forgot about it.
Recently, Out of the blue I got a letter telling me they were shutting me down for inactivity. No chance for reinstatement if I began to use it. Bummer cause I would’ve put some spend on it. Recently ordered my TU CR & will have to see what it says.
fwiw, my mother’s Cap1 card is still alive despite the fact she passed away 2 yrs ago. Go figure?
Thx. That is my oldest card, so I just put a $5 amazon GC purchase on it to keep it alive.