Lowes CC (Synchrony) closed. What now ?

[iLoveCali]

i just login in my CC account online and noticed this red line:

 

This account has been closed. No further purchases will be allowed. Continue to make payments until your balance is paid in full.

I called CR, asked for details, why...  A: Yes, the CC is closed, we can't tell why... but you can apply for another 1 after 6mo.

 

i have it for like 5 years, paid on time, no activity in the last 3 months. CL:30k and i was pretty proud about it(it was top 3 on CL and its 14 % of my total CLs).

 

Is there anything i can do to get it back ?

[centex]

Anything else on your reports that serves as a red flag?

 

If there is not, then it sounds like the lack of activity windows have grown smaller...

 

 

[iLoveCali]

No red flags, all green and no changes in last months, except the Fry's CC (10yrs old)was closed few weeks ago, but that was because Fry's stores were all closed in February.

 

i have a tjx CC(5yrs old) and not used for 10 months now, still open.  i am thinking to close it, too, and say bye bye to Syncrony.

[DebtFreeIn04]

3 hours ago, iLoveCali said:

No red flags, all green and no changes in last months, except the Fry's CC (10yrs old)was closed few weeks ago, but that was because Fry's stores were all closed in February.

 

i have a tjx CC(5yrs old) and not used for 10 months now, still open.  i am thinking to close it, too, and say bye bye to Syncrony.

I've seen the reports that everyone's Marvel card is supposed to close tomorrow.  Some people received an email about it in April.  I didn't get one, I think that's about the last straw for any more synchrony accounts. I have an open Lowe's card with 17k on it , zero balance no use in 3 months.  Off to Lowe's I go this weekend. 

[iLoveCali]

Well, they had good deals on 0apr for 12-24-36mo,  or 5%discount. But, i guess Lowes like to lose a customer, and the bank too. That's fine for me. Saving more money and then spend it at Home Depot and friends

 

loosing 30k on my total CLs will affect my Credit Score, but not much i hope(my debts  % will go up few points).

 

Also, i was planning to do a mortgage refinance next month, i think the bank will ask about those CC closing.

[centex]

20 hours ago, iLoveCali said:

No red flags, all green and no changes in last months, except the Fry's CC (10yrs old)was closed few weeks ago, but that was because Fry's stores were all closed in February.

 

i have a tjx CC(5yrs old) and not used for 10 months now, still open.  i am thinking to close it, too, and say bye bye to Syncrony.

Unless the TJX card has a large limit, the non-use would be less of a concern than an unused $30K line.  Remember, banks still have to have reserves for all of the lines, and so closing unused lines allowed them to pare the reserves.   Various Suckrony lines have been cut for people who were not using them, as we saw a few months back with the PayPal Buyer's Credit lines...

[iLoveCali]

tjx is 10k(medium CL), and is mastercard, i can use it anywhere, but the rewards $10 for 1k spent is not good, so i use it maybe twice a year. In 5 years i spent in total 1.1K.  on Lowes CC i think i spent over 50k in 5 years. On those Suckrony CC it's easy to have a nice CL(they do soft pull for CLI) that will show good in your CR, than having 5 CC with 1k CL.

 

i understand it's their money and their decisions, and they can do whatever they want, but i want to have a good standing history and without surprises like this. And i can choose the bank i work with. It's not going to be a big dent on my history or score and i am not taking it personally, it's just business.

[iLoveCali]

And they should have sent me a letter or call.

[policebox]

Sorry to hear about your closure. But welcome to the "Synchrony sucks" club.

[MP80]

6 hours ago, iLoveCali said:

And they should have sent me a letter or call.

You just need to stay away from these crumbs and detritus these days. Things like Sync, Com, and consumer finance,  if you have debt, they could kneecap your credit and your reports.
 

[Burgerwars]

That's unusual for a store card to be closed for such a short period of inactivity.  Maybe I should try my Lowes.  I haven't used it since last summer.  I've always thought just using a store card like that once a year is sufficient to keep it open.  

[althes]

8 hours ago, Burgerwars said:

That's unusual for a store card to be closed for such a short period of inactivity.  Maybe I should try my Lowes.  I haven't used it since last summer.  I've always thought just using a store card like that once a year is sufficient to keep it open.  

Synch has just been on a closing spree regardless of how good or bad you are as a customer.

They have lost alot of good clients and are in a lot of trouble financially.

[hdporter]

13 hours ago, centex said:

Unless the TJX card has a large limit, the non-use would be less of a concern than an unused $30K line.  Remember, banks still have to have reserves for all of the lines, and so closing unused lines allowed them to pare the reserves.   Various Suckrony lines have been cut for people who were not using them, as we saw a few months back with the PayPal Buyer's Credit lines...

 

With considerable respect @centex, I've seen this statement about the need to establish reserves against unused credit lines bandied about here for some time.  It doesn't ring true to me.

 

In my experience, there are no such reserves against committed but unused lines of credit on the commercial side of things (my direct professional experience involved the review and analysis of insurer statutory and GAAP reserves.  Generally speaking, reserves are accrued against actual assets in the ledger (not assets that might enter the books at some date in the future simply because a lending facility is in place).  You simply don't set up a reserve without there being a tangible recorded asset value (or liability, when it comes to uncertain loss exposure) that it directly offsets.

 

My speculation is that unused credit lines are pared back simply as a measure to reduce fraud exposure.  Inactive credit lines tend not to be monitored by the account owners, increasing the potential that they might be fraudulently tapped without early detection.  Since inactive liens are poor revenue prospects, it's best to close the lines, eliminating this risk, and have the account owner reapply when they have a new need for credit.

 

------------

 

As to the original post, while it may seem improbable that your Lowe's card was closed as a consequence of something reporting on your credit report, it's even less likely that the account closure was due to inactivity (based upon what you report).  That leaves a big "???".  In your shoes, I might call back and ask to speak with a credit analyst (if you haven't already) vs. a front line credit CSR (who are relatively ignorant of the business), and see what intel you can pry out.

 

Aside from that suggestion, might be best to simply kick the concerns to the curb until such time as you finish with whatever mortgage activity that's currently on the slate.  I don't shop Lowe's actively (prefer HD), but if I did, I'd want this card in my pocket and would be willing to jump through a hoop or two to get a new account.

 

 

 

 

[insolent1]

Synchrony is an odd lender. They will give some applicants with developing credit histories high credit lines and will severely curtail or close down a long term customer with no obvious issues. While I like Lowe's and am no fan of Home Depot [all because of Bob Nardelli], I won't get a Lowe's credit card because of Synchrony.