Consumer complaint received 2020-03-26
Company: U.S. BANCORP
State: CA
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Closing your account
Sub-issue: Company closed your account

Complaint:
I noticed on XX/XX/XXXX that my USBank Altitude Reserve credit card was canceled without notice as I tried to login to my online account and noticed it did not show up. This is a credit card that I had been using heavily since I received it on XX/XX/XXXX as indicated by the rewards balance of over XXXX points at time of closure ( these points redeem at 1.5x on travel which puts the value of these points at over $ XXXX ). Since the rewards never expire, I had been saving them, never thinking that a time would occur where my account would be closed and I would be unable to use them. 

When I called USBank to see why my account was closed, the rep told me it was because I overpaid the account balance ( something I've never heard as a justification for account closure ). When I asked about the large rewards balance in my account, she told me that it was forfeited at the time of account closure. I was given no opportunity to redeem the rewards I had been accruing and saving in my account. I believe it is only fair that if my account is to be closed, I would receive ample warning so that I can at least redeem the rewards in my account. However, that was not the case and I was very disappointed. 

I wrote an email to the Executive Team at USBank explaining what happened and received an automated response saying that I will be sent a written response within 15 days. The written response I received was nothing specific to my case, but rather a 10-page printed copy of the card agreement which I have attached. I guess they figured I would find the reason they closed my account within that agreement but I did not. Instead, what I found on page 5 was : 32. Cancellation of Your Account : We may cancel your Account or suspend your ability to obtain Account credit immediately, without notice, if your account is in Default. Even if you are not in Default, we may cancel your Account by providing notice to you. 

In other words, not only did I not find anything within the agreement that justifies my account closure, I also found that in the case of account closure, notice must be provided except in the case of Default, which was not the case here. I am suspicious that USBank chose not to provide warning because they noticed a large rewards balance in my account and did not want to give me a chance to redeem it. 

I can also add that I have a friend who had the same exact credit card whose account was also closed. This friend had redeemed most of his rewards by the time the letter was sent and therefore did not have a large rewards balance in the account. He received a letter from USBank, which I have attached, saying that his account would be closed effective 30 days from the date of the letter and to contact customer service to redeem any rewards since they will be forfeited at closure. According to the card agreement this type of notice is necessary in order to close an account that is not in default, and I believe that I should have received a similar letter to notify me that my account would be closed and allow me to redeem the rewards I had accrued. As I mentioned, however, I did not receive such notice and I am suspicious that it is because USBank did not want to give me an opportunity to redeem the large sum of rewards in my account. 

To be clear, I believe that I have been robbed of over $ XXXX by USBank because they did not have a valid reason to close my account without notice, and by doing so they were able to confiscate a large rewards balance that they owed to me. Had I received an account closure notice similar to the one my friend received which is in line with their card agreement, I would have had the opportunity to redeem my rewards and although I would not have been happy about my account being closed, at least I would have been given a chance to redeem the rewards that were rightfully mine. By canceling my account without notice USBank was able to rob me of these rewards, and nothing was said over the phone or through the mail that was able to justify this abrupt closure and effective confiscation of over $ XXXX worth of rewards.

Company public response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation