swimmingwithsharks

Well, three cheers for the CB search function on helping to re-discover why you did something! And to recap, Wings FCU used to offer a no-fee, 0% balance transfer, so you joined in preparation for using that, but now they have a balance transfer fee. And you never did open a credit card. SO now you're free to close and discard the CU. The times they are a-changin'

I sort of admire your determination to "cull the herd." I have lots of open lines but I can't bring myself to choose which (if any) to actively close them. Although to be fair I don't have any Synchrony cards, and everything I have read on CB make me leery of that issuer, so maybe I can cheerlead for your decision to close out Synchrony lines?

How are the membership specials? I will have to take a look into that.

This is very interesting to know, thank you. I was surprised the other day to see how high the savings account interest rate was, for a traditional brick-and-mortar bank. And now that PNC has a 2% cash back card . . . (which is only available to people who have an existing banking relationship, going along with what @NoMoreHate said).

And the minimum activity can bePER account, not just PER bank/institution. For IRL example, I have a checking account, regular savings account, credit card and an HSA at a local credit union. I use the credit card at least once every 6 months (that's another thread), and I make checking account transactions a few times per year (this is a back-up account). The regular savings account has a terribly low interest rate, it's just a requirement to be a member of the CU to have. So I keep around a small savings balance in there, just enough to earn a few pennies of interest each month. BUT that interest-posting does NOT count as activity. I inadvertently found this out (what @hdporter is saying about "at least one transaction annually") when I was making my annual "top-up" HSA contribution at this CU; it is a small CU that still manages to keep HSA functions out of the realm of front-line tellers and phone reps. So I had to talk to someone in Deposit Operations, and she let me know that since my regular savings account hadn't had any activity in over 12 months, I would soon be receiving a letter about inactivity and the risk of escheatment to the state (which she told me would happen after 2 years). Now clearly I was using the OTHER accounts sufficiently to have activity in THEM, but from the CU point of view, the regular savings account was at risk of being "abandoned." The simple solution is just to transfer some amount from that savings account to the checking account at that CU, and then back again a few days later, then do that exercise once a year. It is illogical to have to do this, but here we are. So too much activity is one problem, and not enough activity is a problem, too!

Now I'm waiting for bated breath to read WHO is this servicer???

THANK YOU for coming back to report what transpired and not leaving us hanging. Also, such an interesting data point about Comenity's flawed historical information storage activity!

Most of the great people who might have worked at Citi in 1998 have undoubtedly moved on, and certainly management has changed. Ergo, Citi 2023 ain't Citi circa 1998. As Ms. Jackson sang, "What have you done for me lately?" It is imperative on the consumer to ask this question on a regular basis. It's akin to rebalancing a portfolio.

Apparently it depends on the account. My US Bank Visa statement closes in the middle of the month (between the 14th and 19th - it varies by month), but the balance that USB reports to the CRA is always the actual balance on the last business day of the month. Which, if you're following along, is roughly the middle of my statement period. (And if I haven't made that statement's payment yet, that balance will show the entire statement balance PLUS current new charges!). SO for me, if I want a $0 bal reported by USB, I have to make sure the balance is $0 on the last business day of the month (which naturally is not always a weekday, although it is this month). EX updates first, usually on the 1st or 2nd business day of the next month, and then the other CRAs fall in line - TU takes the longest, usually takes a full week to update from USB or so (compared to EX). But this account will soon be 25 years old, so maybe newer accounts report differently at USB. TL;DR: you should check your own reports each month and see how USB reports for your account specifically.

Hmmm . . . maybe he's just not right for you? Although I do wonder how many bank accounts is too many. It's not like credit cards where more, with bigger lines, are definitely better (for flexibility and rewards opportunities). Simplifying banking sounds like such a great goal . . . but each bank I have does something really well that the others don't. Maybe I can promise to get rid of each one when they each stop doing that one thing I like?

Yes, some issuers are MUCH jumpier than others when it comes to fraud prevention. As you found out, this means some issuers are more likely to cause trouble for transactions you actually wanted to make, but the algorithm was set so tight that your real purchase seemed suspicious to the issuer.

It's great to read a CB success story! Congratulations on excellent scores and using the credit to benefit your life

It's not you getting treated differently. It's your issuing bank getting treated differently - as in, earning more per transaction than a customer with a "lesser" card. The merchant must pay the higher fee because the bank says "this is a better customer we because of these words ('Signature, World Elite')"

Is it just me, or does this read like a press release?

I'd also say, as a lurker since at least 2008, is that we've been in some good times economically for the last few years. In my limited view, CB seems to get a LOT more active and wild during the not-so-good times. Because while a rising tide lifts all boats, the low tide leaves some people beached - this is a metaphor to say that more people are needing CB in bad times. ALSO, I wonder with the change in medical collections reporting if that has helped improve reports "enough" that fewer people come and post about that, too.