Another involuntary credit card being closed- Lowes/ Synchrony

[Sequoiasoon]

go buy something on the card. Go to customer service and return it.

Go there to make sure the plumbing works and leave a "deposit". Grab a bottle of water on the way out and pay it off when you get home.

 

[Zee09]

That's not a bad thing. Once you have the card long enough it recognizes patterns and will not shut down like that. I feel its a little protection for theft or fraud if the card or numbers are stolen.Bofa also sends me a text alert if I write a large check to an unfamiliar party before they cash it.

I have had the card since the early 90s

 

[CKN]

And then you have Bank of America
Trip to Florida from Maryland with two gas stops and on the third when I hit Florida they locked down my card and had my email and text alerts activated but they never contacted me...

I call them from the gas station and they kindly tell me that two weeks before any trip it's best for me to call them and let them know....

Really........ yeah that's real smart...

I have been to 38 countries and all 50 states. Yes everytime I travel I go on a website and tell them my destinations. That way there are zero issues using my cards.

 

[Hall]

I don't remember what bank it was, but years ago I bought our daughter's college Macbook from B&H Photo and they had a 6 or 12-month, no interest offer using their branded card, which I took advantage of. After a couple years, B&H switched banks and the old bank closed everyone's accounts (at least those with $0 balance, I presume). It did "hit" my credit report as an account closure but the impact was minimal and short-term.

Yes everytime I travel I go on a website and tell them my destinations. That way there are zero issues using my cards.

I know years ago that seemed to be a thing where they'd recommend you do this but we haven't done it in a decade and there's been no issues. Just checked my CITI credit card and I see nothing about traveling. I did search "travel" and it points to giving them a "travel notice" and a link to do this, but inside the app, I see nothing.

Once you have the card long enough it recognizes patterns and will not shut down like that.

I know there's a lot of 'intelligence' they use for this (sorry, not going to call it "AI" !). I've asked how do they know that a transaction at a gas station 300 miles from home is okay ? Then another at a gas station and restaurant 700 miles away ? Did someone steal the card and headed to FL with it ? My hunch is our phones factor in. I have my credit union's app plus my debit card and I have a CITI credit card as well as the CITI app. Are they tying my location (via my phone) to card transactions and presuming it's me vs someone that stole my card AND my phone ?

If you just make a small purchase and pay it off, they'll keep the account open.

That's what I'd do just out of spite . And it would be something very, very inexpensive too !

 

[JHZR2]

I’ve had that happen once long ago. Probably good practice to stop fraud too.

If it’s that big of a concern, buy something you need at Lowe’s. Price can’t be that bad, 5% off. Pay it. Done.

 

[JHZR2]

I have been to 38 countries and all 50 states. Yes everytime I travel I go on a website and tell them my destinations. That way there are zero issues using my cards.

I’ve stopped doing it. I travel a lot, including overseas, and the last few times, some of my issuers said it wasnt necessary.

Knocking on wood now, lol.

 

[opus1]

And then you have Bank of America
Trip to Florida from Maryland with two gas stops and on the third when I hit Florida they locked down my card and had my email and text alerts activated but they never contacted me...

I call them from the gas station and they kindly tell me that two weeks before any trip it's best for me to call them and let them know....

Really........ yeah that's real smart...

Came close to that with my GM Card, I think when HSBC still handled the account. Went to Texas for work and I wasn't using my cell phone much so I never gave the number out, so when they saw the hotel charge hit they called my home phone. Never got an e-mail for some reason or I'd have caught it that way. Somehow, they figured it out and I didn't have a problem checking out, but there were two messages waiting for me when I got back. That put me in the habit of letting the issuer know.

I also got in the habit of calling before large purchases to make sure they knew it was coming. I remember talking to one rep and started the conversation saying there would be a large charge coming through and I didn't want their computer system to freak out. I told her the amount and she said that she'd be freaking out too . It was for bodywork for hail damage on my car. Got to the shop, ran the card, and no problem.

 

[Zee09]

Came close to that with my GM Card, I think when HSBC still handled the account. Went to Texas for work and I wasn't using my cell phone much so I never gave the number out, so when they saw the hotel charge hit they called my home phone. Never got an e-mail for some reason or I'd have caught it that way. Somehow, they figured it out and I didn't have a problem checking out, but there were two messages waiting for me when I got back. That put me in the habit of letting the issuer know.

I also got in the habit of calling before large purchases to make sure they knew it was coming. I remember talking to one rep and started the conversation saying there would be a large charge coming through and I didn't want their computer system to freak out. I told her the amount and she said that she'd be freaking out too . It was for bodywork for hail damage on my car. Got to the shop, ran the card, and no problem.

I also have an over $1500 alert set just in case someone tries to load me up

 

[Hall]

I also have an over $1500 alert set just in case someone tries to load me up

I get alerts for any card transaction over $0.01 I use my debit card for 95% of purchases, so no, I'm not getting multiple alerts per day either.

 

[dishdude]

I’ve stopped doing it. I travel a lot, including overseas, and the last few times, some of my issuers said it wasnt necessary.

Knocking on wood now, lol.

I don't do it either and I've never had a problem.

 

[Bud]

I also have an over $1500 alert set just in case someone tries to load me up

You are brave, I do 500.

 

[CKN]

I’ve stopped doing it. I travel a lot, including overseas, and the last few times, some of my issuers said it wasnt necessary.

Knocking on wood now, lol.

To notify via website doesn't take long.

 

[ripcord]

The whole credit reporting needs a major overhaul. One would think closing a credit line you don't need or use would be a positive thing.

For sure. The month I paid off my student loan (my only consumer debt) my credit score dropped 60 points.

 

[alarmguy]

Moral of the story?
Don’t have a bunch of open credit lines that you never use. It’s part of responsible credit use.

1. The OP credit score will not suffer as the account will not show any late payments and will reflect “paid on time” however being as anal as I am I would have charged something, paid the bill then closed the account myself because I also don’t like to have anyone close something on me, I rather do it. But it won’t harm his score, depending it could help.

2. Having too many open lines of credit can also negatively affect your score.

3. Credit scoring is no one size fits all, it’s more complicated than we think. I’m not so sure having a unused line of credit fur 20 years is a benefit

 

[SC Maintenance]

I have been to 38 countries and all 50 states. Yes everytime I travel I go on a website and tell them my destinations. That way there are zero issues using my cards.

BoA no longer takes travel notices. Yes, stupid, like them.

 

[tbm5690]

Moral of the story?
Don’t have a bunch of open credit lines that you never use. It’s part of responsible credit use.

1. The OP credit score will not suffer as the account will not show any late payments and will reflect “paid on time” however being as anal as I am I would have charged something, paid the bill then closed the account myself because I also don’t like to have anyone close something on me, I rather do it. But it won’t harm his score, depending it could help.

2. Having too many open lines of credit can also negatively affect your score.

3. Credit scoring is no one size fits all, it’s more complicated than we think. I’m not so sure having a unused line of credit fur 20 years is a benefit

Age of credit lines is calculated in your score...I believe FICO uses an average age of all lines and Vantage looks at oldest line. In both cases older is better. I believe having a credit line 20 years or older is the only way to get scored as "exceptional" in that category. My oldest line is 16 years old...the card I opened when I hit 18 and started school. That card I purposely keep open as it establishes my history. I never use it, unless I get notified that it will be closed due to inactivity in which case I make a single purchase on it and then store the card away again. I've had an 800+ score since my mid 20s

 

[alarmguy]

Age of credit lines is calculated in your score...I believe FICO uses an average age of all lines and Vantage looks at oldest line. In both cases older is better. I believe having a credit line 20 years or older is the only way to get scored as "exceptional" in that category. My oldest line is 16 years old...the card I opened when I hit 18 and started school. That card I purposely keep open as it establishes my history. I never use it, unless I get notified that it will be closed due to inactivity in which case I make a single purchase on it and then store the card away again. I've had an 800+ score since my mid 20s

It's just one criteria of a huge equation. Then through the credit line of the OP's card in question is never used.
Here is why ANY one criteria of the equation cannot be discussed or compared to a particular circumstance.
As an example, a balance of available credit is one part of it. There is also such a thing as too much available credit and unused available credit. Also to many open accounts. Responsible handling of credit also means not having open accounts that are never used.

Im only posting below to show some credibility. Have had months a while ago where I even hit exactly an 850 score for a few months. Before moving to a new home, took it down slightly. Because of my score, I pay dirt cheap rates on all forms of insurance and for the heck of it, took a GM loan at 0% interest when we bought my wife's car because our score was so high to get it. Also since I dont really carry loans anymore, at 0% it helps show payment history. Plus that money collects 4% A month sitting in our bank account, making the car even cheaper. We charge, gosh a couple thousand a month on our credit cards and always pay in full. Never once did we carry a balance. All things things, makes other things in life much cheaper . (like insurance)

BTW, my oldest bank charge card now has a history for the last 36 years and I still use that depending on cash back category during the year. Part of the reason for credit history is if history goes back only 7 or 10 years, then depending on your age might indicate you had a bankruptcy since bankruptcy can no longer be reported after that time frame, this could be another indication not having credit past that 7 or 10 year mark.

 

[tbm5690]

It's just one criteria of a huge equation. Then through the credit line of the OP's card in question is never used.
Here is why ANY one criteria of the equation cannot be discussed or compared to a particular circumstance.
As an example, a balance of available credit is one part of it. There is also such a thing as too much available credit and unused available credit. Also to many open accounts. Responsible handling of credit also means not having open accounts that are never used.

I'm aware that it's just one piece of the puzzle. I'm not sure what would qualify as "unused" available credit. Like I mentioned, I keep one card open simply because it was my first line. I put one charge on it every 2-3 years only when notified that the account will be closed due to inactivity. It used to have roughly a 25k limit, and they did kick me down to 10k a few years ago due to underutilization, which seemed to only hurt my score a touch since available credit decreased. My score has never been negatively affected directly due to having an open account that isn't used. My utilization is always 3% or less...and I'm not being docked points for having too much available credit either. YMMV I suppose.

 

[alarmguy]

I'm aware that it's just one piece of the puzzle. I'm not sure what would qualify as "unused" available credit. Like I mentioned, I keep one card open simply because it was my first line. I put one charge on it every 2-3 years only when notified that the account will be closed due to inactivity. It used to have roughly a 25k limit, and they did kick me down to 10k a few years ago due to underutilization, which seemed to only hurt my score a touch since available credit decreased. My score has never been negatively affected directly due to having an open account that isn't used. My utilization is always 3% or less...and I'm not being docked points for having too much available credit either. YMMV I suppose.

(unused) Poor choice of words made on my part. Too Much Available Credit might be better. All I am saying is no one know the exact method used by FICO, it does vary.
I always closed out lines of credit that I have no use for because I have seen "too much available credit"
Anyway, sounds like both of us are well aware of how to maintain good ratings. No one size fits all. For the OP I would close that account but I am one who only keeps accounts open that I use.

 

[Hall]

The month I paid off my student loan (my only consumer debt) my credit score dropped 60 points.

That's normal with any loan. Why ? No idea.... If everything else remains the same though, it will recover those lost points and increase above.