We received a shocking email from a reader called Del earlier this week. He wrote in to report on a crazy situation that occurred after his credit card switched from MBNA to Bank of America ownership:
After Bank of America bought out MBNA bank my credit card changed over and they increased my interest rate from 7% to 25%. I have never been late with my payments to anyone and have an excellent credit report. When I opened my latest statement, I was shocked to see the doubling of my interest rate! When I contacted BofA, I was told that a letter was sent to me asking if I wanted an increase in my rates and that by not responding with a no, they went ahead and increased them [to 25%!]. I never received such a letter. Not only is this unethical, is it legal?
In my youth this was loansharking. I bring this to your attention for two reasons. First, all I ask is that this practice is brought to your attention so you can help others I am sure are being squeezed like this by them, and second to see if you have suggestions for how I could get a fair rate back. On second thought, I plan to pay off all of my BofA account and never do business with them. What do you think?
What a horrible situation! Technically, it is legal for Bank of America to increase your interest rates as long as they alert you to the change somehow. This business with the letter asking you if you want to raise your rates seems completely absurd to me, but likely covers the legal bases.
If calling and demanding that your interest rate is lowered doesn’t work, you should then start paying off the card as fast as possible. You may even want to transfer the balance to a different card with a lower rate. When the account is paid off, do not close it with the bank. Instead, leave the card open but don’t use it. Closing credit cards can cause significant damage to your credit scores, so it often hurts you more than the creditor. Keep the dormant card in a safe drawer at home for emergencies and check in on it once in a while to make sure it is okay. Letting the card go dormant is better for your credit scores and still "punishes" the bank for their bad behavior.
Have you received a letter like this from Bank of America? Have your credit card rates increased dramatically? Share your story in the comments section.
{ 73 comments… add a comment }
Bank of America recently bought MBNA a company I have had a credit card with for a 3 years with no complaints I have never missed a payment or been late I rarely make minimum payments in fact I usually make double the payment. After looking at my last statement they raised my APR to 22% with no notification even though I had a fixed rate of 8% with MBNA and have never defaulted. When I called to find out why I was given the run around for 2 days before I finally spoke with a supervisor who told me it was because of a high balance and proceeded to lecture me and treat me as though I were a criminal. I asked as to the legality of this and was told that I could waste money on a lawyer if I wanted to. Again I had a fixed rate never defaulted almost always payed more than the minimum and just because they bought out the company I had a contract with they can raise my rate an exorbitant amount with no notice ???? Even if this is legal it is certainly reprehensible unethical behaviour mitigated only by the fact that I can pay the balance off and cancel my account they will never have my business again. Although I must admit I never intentionally gave them my business in the first place.
Wow! Thanks for sharing your story Karl. With three confirmed reports of bad BofA behavior, this is getting serious.
same thing happened to my card. i signed up with MBNA with 9.9% fixed apr, now BOFA increased my rate to 27%, which is fraud. wehn i call them they just transfered me to the phone which says this center is closed. i have to close down the card with them right away.
i wonder if theere is any legal battle i can go for?.
Interesting… BOA sent me a letter telling me my APR is going to be 19.99% variable starting next month. I have never missed or been late on a payment and have had the card for 3 yrs at 9.99% fixed. I called to ask why this was happening and the rep said nothing other than to hold on, sent me to another rep who tried to get me to apply for a line of credit! Do they think I am stupid?
I also have Bank of America card that was originally a Fleet card. I had had zero problems with Fleet and enjoyed my 9.9% fixed APR (rare these days) and then Bank of America bought them. Initially when I was moved, everything transitioned and I thought things were fine. I use online banking exclusively to handle my account, see transactions, and make payments. Their online system conveniently does not show what your current APR is. Out of curiosity I called up Bank of America and found out my APR skyrocketed to 25.24% variable. I have been trying to get a better rate for a few months now and they claim my account is flagged because of a high balance and not making large enough payments. This is hard to do considering the bloodletting going on due the APR. What happened to the time when credit card terms fit on a single page instead of a booklet? They have wording in these things that lets them get away with anything, any time. I plan to transfer my balance somewhere else.
I also have an MBNA (now Bank of America) card. I received a promotional offer to transfer balances at 3% interest, which I did. Last month, I got a letter from MBNA saying that they were increasing my APR to 22%. They increased my APR before my promotional period was even up…how messed up it that? I never made a late payment either! I was going to reject the increase, but then found out that if you do, they will close your account. Since I didn’t want to take a bump in my credit score, I chose not to reject it. Now I just have to find a way to transfer this balance to another card. Hopefully some laws will be changed soon to help out the people…not the unethical corporations.
How is this bullshit even legal? The same thing just happened to me. I received a 5.9% fixed rate credit card through MBNA. Bank of America bought them out and I just received my most recent credit card bill. I looked at it briefly and noticed that my interest rate had skyrocketed 14 points to 19.99%. What a complete crock of shit! I can’t believe this is legal. I called the place and they said they sent me out a letter saying they were increasing my rate, which of course I never received.
The same thing just happened to me. I had an MBNA card and BoA bought out MBNA. I was happy at 9.9% – never missed a payment, always payed on time (same with all my bills) and then they decided to up it to 23.99%. Now, I intend to reject this, but can they cancel the card and demand payment in full if I reject it? Also, will rejecting it adversely affect my credit score?
I just got the same letter, saying mine was to be raised from 14 to 23% if I didn’t respond. Obviously, I’m going to reject the amendment to increase my APR. The catch is that if the card is used at all, it will shoot straight up to that new number.
I have had an MBNA card for 9 years, been at 7.99% fixed since I received it. I put over $100k on my card every year. My latest statement shows my new rate is 25.99%.
When I called I got the same story: In march they sent me a notice, if I had responded to the notice “rejecting” the rate change, my rate would have stayed at 7.99%, but since I didn’t respond they can make it anything they want.
Anyone know a good class action lawyer?
Same thing happened to me. I had a bank of america card at a comfortable 9.9%. It shot up to a whopping 22%.This puts quite a strain on my family. I am not even sure that I can make my minimum payment on time anymore.
This is ridiculous. I just found out that my MBNA card which had a fixed rate of 5.9% for the past three years I have had it is now being bumped up to 11.9%. What the hell is going on here? I know my percentage rate is not as high as some of these other people who are getting the low end of the deal but where am I going to find the extra money to pay off this stupid increase. All of this stupid increase came right after I asked for an increase in my credit even though I have not and will not use this increase. This is getting to be a big problem and I am going to be paying off my credit card as soon as possible and BOA can shove it.
I just found out my apr went from 9.9% to 26.99%! My husband called boa and was told it was because of his high balance. I called them the next day and was told it was because my credit score had gone down then they asked me if I’d like to consolidate my cards. The guy would not budge on lowering the rate. I will never do any kind of business with them again!
This same thing happened to me. I had a 7.99% rate and two months ago it jumped to 15.9% and the date it is due changes all the time so I have been late the past month. I also have two accounts with Bank of America due to the buyout by MBNA. The 7.9% card was with Quixtar and was supposed to be the rate forever until it was paid. I feel like I have been raped by this company and I am looking for other credit card companies that want my good credit. I had paid them over $1000 on Apirl 1st when my bill was due, but of course, the payment did not post until 4/2 and they socked me with not only 15.9% interest but and additional $39. I hate being treated with such shitty customer service and business.
I also received notice from Bank of America that they intend to increase the APR on my credit card from 9.75% to over 18%.
The letter gave me until May 1 to reject this change, but advised that I would no longer have use of the card.
I mailed the letter yesterday rejecting the change, but am ticked off by the way they handled this.
I have good credit and no late payments on anything. I have been responsible with my use of credit though this year I did rack up a rather high balance on my BOA credit card.
I hope that I can find a good card with an introductory rate for balance transfers. That way I can payoff this balance and be done with Bank of America.
I received my statement today and my APR has increased to 25.9%, making my monthly payment $95 per month. I have cild and one on the way and I go to college full time, Ican not afford this every month. I’ve been paying over the min. balance and have made my payments on time, this is ridiculous. When I called B of A I was told by a “senior advisor” that there was nothing he could do and that my payment only increased a little, we a little adds up to an extra $400 a year I told him. Finally he said he could lower it to 21.9% like that’s much better. I’ve emailed B of A about this practice, so we’ll see if they will do anything.
I received my statement today and my APR has increased to 25.9%, making my monthly payment $95 per month. I have child and one on the way and I go to college full time, I can not afford this every month. I’ve been paying over the min. balance and have made my payments on time, this is ridiculous. When I called B of A I was told by a “senior advisor” that there was nothing he could do and that my payment only increased a little, well a little adds up to an extra $400 a year I told him. Finally he said he could lower it to 21.9% like that’s much better. I’ve emailed B of A about this practice, so we’ll see if they will do anything.
I also received a giant increase from BOA although I have never been late and send more than the minimum due. When I called I was told it was because I didn’t use my card enough. So, by not wanting to run up a large debt and using my card for major items only I have to pay an interest rate of 20.99%, nearly twice as much as I was paying? The woman at BOA did everthing she could to get me to transfer balances to the BOA cards and then she could lower my rates to 15.99% with a 0% interest on the transfer for 1 year. I went to Citi Card and got a 4.99% balance transfer for the life of the loan. Kiss off BOA.
My card was with MBNA before the buyout. About 3 months before the buyout I saw my rate change from 7.9%, up to 11.% in one month, then it went up to 23.99% on the third month. I called and asked MBNA why, and I was verbally told as the service rep was reviewing my account that she could see “NO REASON” for raising my rates, there were no marks on my account or any postings to my account in their system explaining the rate increase. But I could call back next month to see if they have a promotional offer. WHAT A LOAD!!!!! Then I find out why…. two months later Bank of America buys them out. Something to sweeten the pot before BofA signs on the line. Now that its BofA, and Ive had a checking account with BofA for a long time, since it was NationsBank. They held a large deposit of mine I was going to use to pay off that old MBNA card, for ten days, which costed me 200.00 in finance charges, that I wouldnt have had to pay if I could have had immediate access to the funds. All Around, Both companies deserve an old time tar and feathering. We need another Boston Tea Party on their asses.
I would say KUDOS to everyone who files for bankruptcy. It has come to the point that consumers have been completely ramrodded into this. MBNA and BankofAmerica want to act criminal? And they finance Bush? If you get money from criminals Enron, MBNA, what does that make you? If you WORK for criminals, what does that make you? The people who work for these companies should be ashamed of themselves, but of course, shame is a lost adage.
I received the “letter” this week advising that effective Jan 19, 2008 my APR would increase from 7.90% to 24.99% if I didn’t reject the increase. I have sent in my letter rejecting the increase and I also filed a complaint with the FTC and BBB as this appears to me to be a legal form of extortion.
The exact same thing happened to me. I have been a bofa customer for over 2 years now. I had a rate of 9.9% after my introductory rate. I have been using the card for a remodel of my home and intended to pay it off once I get the appraisal and refinance the home. I currently have a 10,000 balance on the card. My payments went from $200ish to $457 this month. My intererst rate is 23.9% now. Same story as all of the above. I never made a late payment and never went over my limit. I too felt this couldn’t possibly be legal. I’d love to hear from someone who knows if there is anything I can do to lessen the damages caused by this. This is causing me a great deal of financial stress. I was also told that a letter had been sent and that I had the option to opt out of the increase. What kind of nonsense is that. Who would “Opt in” to that?
Please if anyone has any ideas…let me know.
I guess I too can add myself to the list of people being duped by BoA.
While jacking up my rates, they continues to send me teaser promotions. When they sent me a “wipe your credit clean” consolidation offer, I called to see what they would do for me.
Of course this was treated as a loan application which apparently allows them to review all of my accounts with them.
Based on my call to them, they rejected the “wipe clean” offer, proceeded to lower my account limits on two credit cards, and close a line of credit that I wasn’t using. I’m sure this is goning to kill my credit score.
Keep in mind: I called them!
Whatever you do, don’t call them!
Like many others on this post I always paid on time and have (had) an excellent credit score.
I too am doing everything to get out of BoA, including banking.
Do what I am doing, take your good debt to http://www.Prosper.com and borrow from real people.
I too suspect there is an anti-trust class action suit in here somewhere.
I guess I too can add myself to the list of people being duped by BoA.
While jacking up my rates, they continues to send me teaser promotions. When they sent me a “wipe your credit clean” consolidation offer, I called to see what they would do for me.
Of course this was treated as a loan application which apparently allows them to review all of my accounts with them.
Based on my call to them, they rejected the “wipe clean” offer, proceeded to lower my account limits on two credit cards, and close a line of credit that I wasn’t using. I’m sure this is goning to kill my credit score.
Keep in mind: I called them!
Whatever you do, don’t call them!
Like many others on this post I always paid on time and have (had) an excellent credit score.
I too am doing everything to get out of BoA, including banking.
Do what I am doing, take your good debt to http://www.Prosper.com and borrow from real people.
I too suspect there is an anti-trust class action suit in here somewhere.
This is ridiculous. I never got a letter and I know for sure because I went “paperless” last year so every news about account change comes as an attachment that is called “Important information about your account”.
I recently moved abroad and had to use my credit card more than usually for my first month and racked up a decent (though by no means absurd) amount of money. Not only was I charged a 3% foreign transaction fee for every time I used the card abroad (something that MBNA never did), that month my card’s interest rate jumped to 28.11%. I have been an excellent customer never letting my ENTIRE balance go unpaid for more than three months, plus I’ve always paid more than the minimum payment each time–never ever late. Give me a break! I’m transferring and never using this card again.
This is ridiculous. I never got a letter and I know for sure because I went “paperless” last year so every news about account change comes as an attachment that is called “Important information about your account”.
I recently moved abroad and had to use my credit card more than usually for my first month and racked up a decent (though by no means absurd) amount of money. Not only was I charged a 3% foreign transaction fee for every time I used the card abroad (something that MBNA never did), that month my card’s interest rate jumped to 28.11%. I have been an excellent customer never letting my ENTIRE balance go unpaid for more than three months, plus I’ve always paid more than the minimum payment each time–never ever late. Give me a break! I’m transferring and never using this card again.
This is all well and good, but I have a complaint about something much more important: the first CINEMATIC TITANIC DVD.
As much as I love the old MST3K days, this TITANIC project simply costs too much. A burned DVD in a sleeve for $15? Come on. I would consider paying $10-$12 for a pressed DVD in a substantial case with extras. I buy every PIXAR movie for about that much. I won’t be buying this project at this price.
I predict piracy will damage sales to the point at which Joel and company will throw in the towel early. There won’t even be 12 episodes of CINEMATIC TITANIC completed. A lower price would have been so much more realistic. If they sold 10,000 copies at $8, each writer/performer might clear a couple thousand an episode. That’s not great show-biz money, but aside from Joel it’s probably more than the other people involved have been making lately.
Same thing happened to me with Bank of America. 9.9 to 24.9, but am sending a letter rejecting it. Screw all the credit card companies. Beware of Chase/JP Morgan, they will take your intro rate of 5% or so and put it to 29.99% then claim you sent one payment in late.
this just happened to me. i had a MBNA card that was purchased by BofA and today received an amendment letter stating my rate would increase from 14% to 27.99%!! Doubling. I haven’t been late on this card in over 5 years and the customer service rep said it was due to a high balance. How the hell can they do this? I can choose to reject, but then lose the use of the card and a 10 year history with them. I am going to transfer the balance to god knows where I guess. One thing he said was that I was not alone and that over 1.5 million customers were sent these letters today.
Same thing here Just had the same letter up from 14% to 27.99%, over 6 years of no late payments and because my balance went up they are screwing me!!!
Me too. I just received the letter wanting to jack me from 11.99% to 19.99% – My minimu payment is $143 a month and I pay $702 every month! Way over my minimum. I have never been late. My balance is a little high, but not that high. Barely over 1/2, which I guess is why they “only” want to riase mine to 19.99 instead of 25, like others.
I too am writing to reject the terms and if anyone starts a class action suit, I would be happy to add my name to the list. They also told me not to use my card after February 29th, if I reject the terms or they will automatically go into effect. This thing is getting paid off and then they can pay to send me a paper statement each month on a $0 balance!
Same here. 9.9 to 23.99%. Getting screwed like everyone else. I’m onboard with signing a class action lawsuit.
Wow, I’m not alone. I thought I was a good, responsible customer of BoA who made their payment on time. I guess that’s just not enough for BoA. Same as everyone else, I recieved one of these letters today, saying that my 9.99% APR was going to be changed to 23.99% (if you’re reading this you probably have the letter). This is highway robbery. Either you close your account (and still pay off the balance at 9.99%, boa wins) or you transfer the account (BoA still get the balance and makes money of past interest) or you pay the outrageous APR and conintue to get screwed. I wonder if this has something to do with the laws trying to be passed stating that banks can no longer raise interest rates for missed payments, and too many people filing bankruptcy due to credit card debt. Sounds like this is BoA’s last effort to suck money out of their customers. Sad, really. Wish I had known!
I had two credit cards with MBNA. One in
my name and one in my husbands. Two
separate accounts. 9.9% fixed. Bank of America buys the account and for a few months everything is fine. Then wham I got a letter last week stating that they are going to triple our rates. My card has a high balance my husband has a low balance. I have never been late or over limit and always make large payments on the cards. Our credit report is clean. I called BofA and was told my rep I could barely understand that it would not affect my purchase rate. Wrong I told her, I read the paragraph to her that says it applies to all categories. After reading all of these comments I am wondering if she was trying to mislead me. I asked to be transfered to a account manager and yes it does apply to all categories and was told it could be 1 of 100 reasons why they raised our rates. Just give me one guy but all he could do was speculate. One reason was high balance, really then why did you raise my husbands rate? 2. Maybe Credit score- Ours is good.3 Overall debt-just paid off two car loans and a credit card. He finally stopped trying to give me a bogus reason and told me I could reject the increase, but it has to be in writing. So I did, I will rip up the cards but not close the account because that can lower our credit score. I can’t believe that BofA can legally do this. They deserve whatever headache Countrywide Financial gives them and being a former employee of Countrywide they are in for a number.
Got it today also, 12% to variable 24% there must be something we can do??
I just got the same letter yesterday. I was offered a balance transfer on a card that had no balance and I called to do the transfer and the rep encouraged me to use all of my available credit and even increased my credit to take advantage of the balance transfer rate. I did and the rate period just expired. I still have a balance on the card and was sent a letter stating my rate would increase to 24.99 based on the fact that my balance was high when I did the transfers??? The transfer that I was encouraged to do, I am now being penalized for! I plan to reject the amendment and pay off this card ASAP and will never use this credit card again.
I have had a BofA card for over 5 years now. Never a late payment or overlimit. Today I received a letter stating that my fixed rate of 7.90% was being raised to 15.99% as of 3/01/08. The letter gave no reason. The letter stated that to reject this increase I could write to an enclosed address and pay off my balance at the current rate; but could not use the card any longer without the rate increase. I decided to call BofA and found out there is a special dept. set up for this mass letter as they stated. When I asked the woman in this dept. why my rate was being increased; she said she had no idea why. I asked if everyone got this letter with increases and she said a lot of people did. I explained all of the above to her and she said it was just the economy. This is such a scam; but what can you do. I noticed from previous post that it appears to happen when BofA is trying to raise capital for new acquisitions. i.e. MBNA, as stated in many post above and now my letter with the recent news of them investing in Countrywide. Has anyone else noticed this?
1-800-718-6257 – This is the number I was given for questions about this letter. It is called the Retention Dept..
I had an MBNA account which was fixed at 5.9% for the life of the account for purchases and transfers. When BofA took over they informed me that the agreement which I had with MBNA was now considered a promotional rate and raised it to 11.99%. Unfortunately I had just dumped $20,000 of home building expenses onto it. At the same time I also had a BofA account with a 7.9% rate but only an $8,000 credit line (it remained unchanged). I borrowed money from my 401K to pay off the %20,000. I then transferred the amount on the original BofA card to another account last month. I also received the letter today informing me the new rate is going from 7.9% to 15.99%. I am leaving the account open but locking up the card. Even, if in the future, they offer me a lower rate,I am sure they will break the original agreement and double the rate once a large balance goes on it. Like everyone else I have never been late on a payment and paying well above minimum. From what I am hearing here, I’m lucky not to be paying 25% on $20,000. I am sending this to my congress person along with the link to this blog. Consumers are being hit hard to pay for the banks poor decision making. My response is to cash in whatever assets I can get my hands on to payoff remaining credit card debt and cut back on all unnecessary spending. If a lot of people are thinking like I am then we are already in recession.
I for one was also shafted by this ridiculous move by BoA. I Had a BoA AMEX go from 7.5% to 19% & a BoA Visa go from 10% to 21.99%, this is a utterly ignorant move on BoA’s part. I for one have defended BoA when comrades & co-workers have bashed it for its less than stellar past practices, but I guess I will now become a BoA hater.
Just got the letter yesterday, going up to 21.99%. I have a high balance, but always make my payments on time. This is such BS, I really wish there was something we all could do – class action?
I just got the letter as well. This is utter BS ! Is there any class action or anything organized ? Are these rates in place to pay for the massive Q4 profit loss BofA incurred due to their incredibly short sighted mortgage loans ?? Why do WE get screwed for THEIR mistake ?? Been on hold 15 minutes now – getting a recorded message to call back at a “more convienent time”. Convienent for WHO !? Me or them ??
Add me to the list! I just got the notification a couple of days ago that my rate is increasing from 13.99% (which is already by far the highest of any other card I have) to 23.99%. This is crazy!
About a month ago, I received a notice that BofA would increase APR’s for balance transfers and cash advances; I paid no attention because I do not utilize these card services. However, yesterday I received another notice that the APR for purchases would be raised to 19.99%. I HAVE HAD THIS CARD FOR 21 YEARS and was formerly receiving a 10.9 fixed APR!! Ironically, Discover recently did the exact same thing less than 6 months ago, raising my rate from a 9.9% fixed to 19.99%. Discover claimed this was a random decision affecting several thousand customers and was due to the fact that Discover was losing money. Amusingly, Discover has new TV ads for a Motiva card where customers who pay on time for 6 months receive the 7th month of interest CASH BACK!! What kind of company stiffs responsible, long-term customers for the sake of new business! I have an excellent credit rating (recently bought a home based on my credit alone) and have always paid my payments on time. However, these 2 cards contain my highest balances and I cannot pay them off. Not only does this seem to be extortion but also a form of “bait & switch sales”! With all these posted complaints, it seems to me that a Class Action Lawsuit is in order! I believe these rate increases have to be reasonable and incremental and that these companies should not be allowed to implement such a significant change instantaneously without any basis relating to poor credit or poor payment history! If being a good customer for 21 years has no weight, what does?
Yes this just happened to me. I got a letter in the mail saying that they would increase my APR rate to 27.99% in March 2008! They said they did not have to explain why…but if I didn’t write them a letter refusing the change by February 29th, 2008…and stop using my card permanently, then they would raise the amount. I talked to a few friends who had this happen to them too. My advice: Don’t get a credit card with Bank of America. They have always charged me high interest and weird charges and now this percentage increase? I’m a working student and it’s hard enough trying to pay off my card as it is. Almost half my payment is just interest and my APR is only 14% right now. This is just wrong of them to pull this on us.
I got this letter last week. My APR is going from 12% to 23%. I have not done this company wrong in any way. In fact, about a month ago they sent me a letter offering a pretty decent balance transfer offer, so what gives? I sent my letter rejecting the APR today. I will pay it off and let it sniff drawers, never to see light of day again.
I received this letter a few weeks ago as well–and plan on writing in to reject the amendment.
I spoke to BoA customer service, and was told that it was sent because my balance (while paid on time, monthly) hasn’t varied enough. And that it looked like it was being used as a loan rather than credit card. That said, I was told to pay down my balance half–call back in, and speak to them about lowering the APR back to normal.
This isn’t half as bad as losing use of the card if this weren’t the case.
I got a letter like this, as well. I want to reject the new interest rate, but I don’t have the letter, so I don’t know what to write or where to send it. Can anyone post the address and format of the letter? Thanks!
I’m commenting on this post.
Reader Reports Dramatic Bank of America APR Rise
Posted by EmilyDavidson
I have almost the exact story. I received my card through MBNA 3 years ago. I had 7.9% for the lifetime of the balance on the card. I did receive the letter from B of A written in January (no date on letter other than,
January, 2008). For some reason I read the letter rather than tossing it in the junk mail as I do with the tons of B of A junk mail. I called and was told I had to write for the reason or I could opt to not use the card and keep the rate the same. I also have never been late, have always paid a hefty payment each month. I do believe it’s an effort to make up for the Mortgage losses. I’m furious, and know that legally they are probably covered. I don’t use the card for credit card charges, so don’t increase the debt.
I received my first credit card from MBNA (now BofA) in 2001 and have been a customer since then. I had some credit problems in the past but that has been almost three years ago. For the past 2 years I have been paying on time and reduced my credit card amounts by almost 30%.
I was put in an unfortunate situation 2 years ago where I can’t work until I graduate this semester. For this reason I have had to use a little bit more credit than I would have liked. Despite that I have still maintained good credit and my credit balances.
About a week ago I received a notification that my rate would increase from 16.74% to 27.99%. So I had to use most of my savings to pay off my credit card so that I wouldn’t have to pay the interest charges. On top of that, they couldn’t tell me why I was getting an increase because they said I had to write a letter refutting the increase.
This is horrible service for everyone, and quite surprising to those that have good credit and have been good customers for a long time.
My husband received the same letter about 6 months ago for his formally mbna card. I notified B of A that I would not pay the higher interest rate and they said I could continue to pay my payments, but if I used the card at all the rate would be increased. About 2 months later I receive the same kind of letter for Discover card also and I have never been late on any bills and have an excellent credit score. Never less, I have notified Discover also that I would not use my card anymore and would not pay the higher rate either.
Format and address for rejecting BofA’s APR increases as per instructions on my letter from BofA.
Type or print your name and full credit card account number and state you reject the change. You must give notice in writing; it is not sufficient to telephone. Send the notice to this address:
FIA Card Services, N.A.
P.O. Box 15565
Wilmington, DE 19850
If the card is used after the stated deadline [which varies by account], the higher interest will be charged. This applies to overdraft protection and all online services and subscriptions.
I got my letter a few weeks ago, and was furious. They tried to make it sound like it was something on my credit history, which is a big ‘ol crock of shit. I’ve never been late, and my balance is less than 50% of my credit line. I promptly closed the account and rejected the APR. How dare they treat people like this? I will never, ever do business with B of A again. EVER! I hope they’re happy with what they’ve done.
Yup, got me too. Good credit, regular payments. Increased to 27.99% I rejected the increase and cut up the card and am looking forward to seeing BofA in court.
Same story as everyone else. I had master card, then sold out to boa, (good name), payments always exceeded minimum and on time, or wwll before due date. Now increased to 24%. Sending opt out! Class action suit? Just let me know.
B of A just raised my interest rate to 29% from 14% never been late but limit was too high although under limit
Hello,
same thing happened to me, had a line of credit through mbna @ 9.9 %, never late, BOA took it over, sent a letter indiacting the the rate would be increased to 24.98 if I did not send a response rejecting the increase..The account was already closed and I sent a response letter in as they requested, but the claimed they never received it, so now on a 23k balance, I have paid them more that 20k and the balacne has not dropped…I am unable to re-finance it, so I am going to let it default, I will trade a 30point drop in my credit score to save $550 per month…There should be sme protection for consumers against thes types of extortion tactics
BoA are a bunch of bastards! Same thing happened to me and they won’t change/lower my APR. I’ve (finally) almost finished paying it. Rest assured BoA, I will never do business with you again, and I’m about to buy my first home. I hope you guys go under with the housing crunch!
I too have been duped by BoA. I had one card with Fleet which I absolutely loved. Ditto for my BankOne and MBNA account cards. BoA bought them out and combined my cards into one. Cool. Then all of a sudden, I went from 11 percent to 23 percent. I did get a letter, and I called to opt out. They told me my rates would remain but I could not use the card. By the way, this does not mean the card is closed, so it does not ding your account….but if you use the card the rates skyrocket. It sits in my safe never to be used again.
But wait: there is more.
I got another card through them, and transferred balances. All was fine, and with the latest round of fed cut rates, they were apparently not making enough. They proceeded to cut my credit limits; now they all looked maxed out. See if you can guess what happens when they do that….yeppers, my 12 percent APR was a whopping 27.99. I never got any kind of letter regarding the change, and although the person was pleasant and changed it back with an opt out, there was a whiff of condescension as she recommended a credit help program through them. Uhhh, no thanks. YOU maxed out my cards, not me.
Now both are no longer usable as I opted out, and I am busting my butt to pay them off completely so they can sit and rot as I have no plans of ever closing them. I may even head to my friendly credit union and see if I can get a loan just to really piss them all off.
Just happened to me… went from 10.90% to 19.99% for no reason. I have an excellent credit score and have always paid more than minimum..ALWAYS… Now I have to reject the new rate and cant use the card. THIS IS BULLSIT>>> Welcome to American Banking Business pratices.!!!! Does not one person have the ability to do or suggest anything??? This should be a crime and I take it as one!!!!
I always feel that Bank of America is bad for America they shoul change the name to Bank of Parasites.
I got off the phone with a account supervisor after they jacked my APR up to 28%. I’m transferring balance and leaving 0 on the card but not closing it.
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The interesting part was the fact that he claimed I was a credit risk. My credit report is spotless. He claimed he could see delinquencies from years ago. I check my report every month. There are none. So that leads me to believe they are looking at historical 7+ years latter information. So you would have to go back 10 years. Isn’t this illegal??
I asked them to provide this information but all they keep doing is sending the same scripted email and phone conversations. I cannot wait for this to be a class action law suite. What I found out is they go back in time and get older and outdated information that was scrubbed off your report to justify the credit increase.
I hope they go broke. I am moving all my savings account and checking accounts to a competitor bank. I am also paying off the card this month and letting it sit with zero balance. So all they will get is 28% of ZERO! We need to send this information our congress and senators; I am putting together a package to send now. They need to know.
What I found out is they go back in time and get older and outdated information that was scrubbed off your report to justify the credit increase.
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BTW it was the BOA Account manager that told me all this.
He said he could see that in the far past i had these problems and that this information was th result in the increase… so they are going offf of old data.
I was told that in November I was sent the same letter telling me I could “opt out” of the higher APR if I notified them and start using the card. Shame on me for not paying attention. I realized this last weekend and when I got no where on the phone with them, I posted an email on their website. They replied with apologies that the credit center was not available over the weekend. But to call Mon – Fri. I called Tuesday only to be told that the opt out period ended on Monday. My rate when from 15% to 25%. I have good credit, and make payments ontime. Since I hadn’t paid attention since they increased the APR in December, I went over the credit limit for 2 months since I was making the minimum payment, but the finance charges put me over the limit. They charged me an over the limit fee too! Unreal. I had a card with MBNA, so I never really “opted in” to doing business with BofA. I should mention that I was laid off in 2008 by BofA after they acquired the company I worked for.
Me Too!! Our ages old, 9.9% fixed rate, formerly MBNA acount, now BOA account has been bodyslammed into a variable rate, based upon an index using the inflation rate in Zimbabwe + a margin calculated for the March Madness point spread. I guess that’s what the geniuses figured out will repay our TARP loans to them.
The only course of action customers of Bank of America (BOA) can take is to pay-off your account with them as soon as possible, and don’t use their card…ever. Let the card go dormant (I shredded mine) to protect your credit score and tell BOA when they call to offer you back into the fold, “No thank you, please don’t call me anymore.” Our Senators and Congressmen are either asleep at the wheel as usual or in BOA’s pocket. Take your pick as to what that might be. BOA is using TARP monies, your tax dollars to subsidize what they doing to you and their other customers, even their good ones. Let BOA wither on the vine. Spread the word through the Internet to beware of BOA.
BofA just did this to me as well. I have been with them for years at the 7.9% rate, great credit, never late. I was sent a letter stating that my rate would be increasing to 24.9% unless I contacted them and rejected the rate increase. Here’s the catch. If, after the cutoff date of May 1 I use the card once, even on accident (forgotten auto payment or such), the ENTIRE BALANCE goes to the 25% rate.
An interesting note — the letter that they sent did not look like an official letter. It looked like junk mail. I only opened it so that I wouldn’t send the envelope through my shredder like the other zillion offers that they send through the mail. Dirty. I wonder how many people tossed it without ever realizing what it is??
PLEASE WRITE A LETTER TO THE BANK CEO AND CONGRESS IF YOU FEEL THAT BOA WAS UNETHICAL IN MAKING THESE INCREASES…… Bank Of America Corporate Ctr. Attn: Mr. Kenneth D. Lewis, CEO 100 N. Tryon Street, 18th Floor Charlotte, NC 28255 Dear Mr. Lewis, I�??ve been a long-standing loyal customer of Bank of America since 1994. I possess two credit card accounts with the Corporation. I recently received my monthly statement for my account, When I reviewed my account I had noticed a considerable increase in my interest rate. I called Bank Of America at 1-800-421-2110 and inquired on the drastic increase in my interest rates regarding the above mentioned account number. At that time I was informed that a letter had evidentially been sent out in November of 2008 increasing my Daily and Annual FIXED Percentage Rates to a much higher �??VARIABLE�?? rate. I didn�??t receive this notification or I would have promptly closed my account with Bank Of America. I�??ve made several attempts in addressing the current rate increases with Bank Of America�??s Customer Service team, regretfully this matter remains.
I also am taking them to small claims for the excess of interest they have overcharged me in the past months.
I just got off the phone with BOA. I to received a letter saying they were raising my interest rate. I have been a customer since 1995 at 7.9% and they were going to raise it to 16.20%. I asked them why they were doing this and was told because of the economy, in other words so we can pay for their bailout. I declined the increase and they will leave it at 7.9 but they will freeze the account rather than close it and they claim this will have no effect on my credit score. If anyone has info on this please post it. Anyway they can freeze it all they want because I will never use it again and I will be shopping to transfer the balance. I hope all of you do the same!
I am going through this with Bank of America (AAA) card. They give you the option to opt out, but if you have any auto payments set up on your card, you better cancel ALL if them. If one goes through after you opt out, your rate will automatically go up as the Credit Card company interprets it as an “opt back in” decision on your part. It’s criminal. Credit card companies got us in to this mess in the first place and now they are punishing everyone. I will be contacting my state’s attorney general as I always do when I experience something that seems fundamentally corrupt.
Just happened to me! I live overseas, and I recieve all my BOA info via web. Everytime there’s important info it appears on my credit card account info. When I called today a BOA rep. assured me they “sent” the letter to my US address (never recieved one). When I questioned the reason why this particular info didn’t appeared in my online account, she put me on hold for several minutes..then….HUNGED UP! After several attepmpts got a supervisor, explained to me that BOA can support more this “loans” thats why they give you the “option” to opt for 7.9% however if I used again the card they will charge me 16% or more…depending I believe on their “mood”…Adviced me I had til july 12/2009 to let them know my desition but I can only comunicate with them BY PHONE..they dont want to send anything in writting..its very fishy and tricky. I will close my accounts with them and payoff ASAP my cc. Dont want to have my bussiness with such unclear and unprofessional bank.
YOu need to contact the Comptroller of the Currency. FIll out the form on line about Bank of America’s APR bait and switch.
….mine went up to 39%?!? Are they insane???? I’d get a better rate from the mafia!
No late payments or problems EVER! They just want to give the little guy the SHAFT!
Why are we giving these banks bailouts???????? Maybe we should charge them interest on OUR money!