Introduction
It’s been a while we’ve heard of a BoA shutdown, but it seems to have happened to a reader recently. His quote below:
I just learned that BoA closed all my credit cards (3). “Business decision to not support your banking needs any more. Decision is final”. They claim they sent a letter on 1/16/2018 but I don’t remember getting that letter. I had 21K points in my Travel Rewards card, which they claim are now void. I also earned 18K Alaska points on my last statement that haven’t posted yet.
My shutdown must have been related to the spending levels/use of debit card to pay the balance since I had no BoA bank accounts and nothing bad on my credit report: no spikes, no negatives, never cycled BoA CCs. 28 open accounts maybe. I converted my Virgin Atlantic CC (with BoA) in the middle of January to the BoA Cash Rewards card and that must have put eyes on my account. The Alaska CC was closed first (already reported to Experian as “closed by credit grantor”), the other 2 cards (travel rewards and the new cash rewards) were closed a few days later.
Lessons Learned
I know a lot of people who have the BoA TR card and hammer it pretty hard (2-4X cycling) that haven’t been banned. So either the reader got unlucky by having eyes on his account or more shutdowns might be coming. The main lesson learned is – cash out your rewards frequently because those are forfeited on shutdown. Unfortunately for the reader, BoA has a long memory and may not let him back in.
I got the axe as well. Maybe they were doing a sweep.
Anyone know if it’s possible to get into good graces with BoA again? If so, how long do we need to wait until trying to do business with them again?
I was able to get back in after a few months. That was several years ago. A friend (shut down on the banking side) has been banned for years.
I just had my account closed. I had a highest status with them for rewards thanks to ML balance. I had 4 cards (one was never used), wife had 2. Used all of them single digits of Ks. Never had any problems, never cycled cl, paid off all balances before statement closing. One of the cards was ML visa. First, got mail from ML about account closing, in 2 days – both our checkings were closed and few days later – CCs.
You can pay BofA cards with debit cards? I thought only Citi allowed that?
will citi take a meta vgc? website or phone payment?
We have two citi aa’s in the mail, and are about to ride that train.
BofA allows it, but the method is a closely-guarded secret, whereas with Citi, the method is well-known.
18K Alaska…
Haha that’s when you run out of every other card to use…
I have the BofA Cash Rewards card. I haven’t used it lately. I received a letter from them stating I need to make a purchase on it or the card would be closed. While my situation is different, I think they are systematically reviewing all their accounts and probably pruning some.
” a lot of people who have the BoA TR card and hammer it pretty hard “. Does status (gold/platinum) play a role?
From shutdowns I’ve heard of in past, it doesn’t matter.