Consumer complaint received 2023-05-01
Company: JPMORGAN CHASE & CO.
State: AZ
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Other features, terms, or problems
Sub-issue: Problem with cash advances

Complaint:
This complaint has to do with the credit card that I have through Chase Bank, or Chase.com. I signed up for a XXXX XXXX  and used my Chase credit card to pay the {$9.00} fee to get it on XX/XX/XXXX. The following day XX/XX/XXXX, I checked my credit card account online and noticed a {$5.00} " Transaction fee ''. I was not sure what it was, but made an assumption that it was maybe an additional fee from XXXX for the card. I meant to follow up on it, but put it off. On XX/XX/XXXX I noticed a {$0.00} " Cash advance fee ''. I immediately panicked thinking that there may be bank fraud because I never use the Cash Advance feature on my credit card. I had never used this on any credit card. While looking at my online account, I noticed that I had made an XXXX purchase on the same day, so I thought the Cash advance interest charge may have something to do with that. I contacted Chase Bank through their online messaging service on XX/XX/XXXX, and the following conversation ensued : XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX ToChase Card Services SubjectAccount inquiry ACCOUNT NUMBER : XXXX CATEGORY TYPE : Account inquiry ATTACHMENTSIZE:0 On XX/XX/XXXX I was charge a {$0.00} Cash advance fee for an XXXX purchase. I have been a buyer and seller on XXXX for over 25 years and this has never happened. I used my credit card to pay for the purchase, I did not do a cash advance. Please refund this fee right away, and please tell me how to turn off the cash advance feature of my credit card. XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX  FromChase Card Services SubjectRe : Account inquiry Delete Reply Hello XXXX, Thank you for contacting us to concerning the {$0.00} cash advance interest charge. We'll be glad to review and address your email XXXX, upon review, I see that the {$0.00} cash advance interest is not associated with XXXX purchase. Rest assured, the XXXX purchase of {$36.00} is not a cash advance transaction. Instead, the transaction of {$9.00} made for XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX is the actual cash advance charge which caused the cash advance interest charge of {$0.00}. Your account also incurred a cash advance fee of {$5.00} which was billed on XX/XX/XXXX. I have refunded the cash advance fee of {$5.00} and the cash advance interest charge of {$0.00} with an associated interest of {$0.00}. You'll see these credit adjustments online in one to two business days. There's no option to deactivate or turn off the cash advance feature. However, we can reduce the cash line to the minimum of {$100.00}. Here are things to know about when you use your card to take a cash advance : - The Annual Percentage Rate ( APR ) for a cash advance is 29.74 % variable. - The cash advance fee is either 4 % of the amount or {$5.00}, whichever is greater. - Cash advances do not have an interest-free period and interest charges accrue daily. - You may pay ATM fees if you use a non-Chase ATM. Your cash advance APRs will vary with the market based on the Prime Rate. To find your APRs, check your monthly billing statement. Your Cardmember Agreement explains the full terms and provides information about cash advances and cash-like transactions. Have a good day! EQUAL CREDIT OPPORTUNITY ACT NOTICE The federal Equal Credit Opportunity Act prohibits creditors from discriminating against credit applicants on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, marital status, age ( provided the applicant has the capacity to enter into a binding contract ) ; because all or part of the applicant 's income derives from any public assistance program ; or because the applicant has in good faith exercised any right under the Consumer Credit Protection Act. The federal agency that administers compliance with this law concerning this creditor is the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX, DC XXXX. We appreciate you being a Chase customer. Thank you, XXXX Chase Email Servicing XXXX XXXX  : XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX  ToChase Card Services SubjectRe : Account inquiry CATEGORY TYPE : Re : Account inquiry ATTACHMENTSIZE:0 Thank you for the credits and explanation. My concern is that I do not use cash advances and I do not want to be charged for them and not know it. Or incur interest and not know it, which is exactly what happened. I check my account almost daily and did not know or see a cash advance nor did I know or see that I was being charged interest until this transaction came up. The XXXX transaction says Money Transfer, not Cash Advance. It does not show anywhere online that I have a Cash Advance balance and that I'm paying interest on it. In addition, the {$5.00} fee from XX/XX/XXXX only says XXXX XXXX and no other description. How was I to know that it was a Cash Advance Fee? The information that should be readily available to me is hidden and feels like a way to scam money out of people. I would not know what these transaction actually were until and if I looked at the actual Bank XXXX itself. So far that is the only place I have been able to see this information, and that is well after the fact. I am also not ok with not being able to turn off the Cash Advance feature because that means this could easily happen again. Please advise. XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX  FromChase Card Services SubjectRe : Account inquiry Delete Reply Hello XXXX, Thank you for contacting us about your XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. We're sorry for any confusion or inconvenience this has caused. XXXX, let me share that the category and the name by which merchant is registered is chosen by the merchant based upon its primary business and it is not chosen by Chase. Also, we are unable to make any changes to their business category as Chase doesn't have control over the category they are assigned based on the type of business they have registered. For your reference, here are the transactions that may be treated as cash advances : - Purchasing lottery tickets, casino gaming chips, racetrack wagers or similar offline and online betting transactions. - Purchasing traveler 's checks, foreign currency, money orders, wire transfers and other similar transactions. - Person-to-person money transfers and account-funding transactions that transfer currency such as XXXX and XXXX. - Making payment using third-party service including bill payment transactions not made directly with merchant or their service provider. For immediate assistance, please call the number on the back of your card. We accept operator relay calls. We appreciate you being a Chase customer. Thank you, XXXX Chase Email Servicing XXXX XXXX : XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX  ToChase Card Services SubjectRe : Account inquiry CATEGORY TYPE : Re : Account inquiry ATTACHMENTSIZE:0 Thank you but that does not address my concerns or questions. I have read Chase 's information about cash advances. My problems are as follows : 1. I check my account almost daily and did not know or see a cash advance nor did I know or see that I was being charged interest until this transaction came up. WHERE DO CASH ADVANCES SHOW ON MY ACCOUNT? 2. The XXXX transaction says Money Transfer, not Cash Advance. It does not show anywhere online that I have a Cash Advance balance and that I'm paying interest on it. In addition, the {$5.00} fee from XX/XX/XXXX only says XXXX XXXX and no other description. HOW WOULD I KNOW THAT IT WAS A CASH ADVANCE? 3. There should be a way for a customer to turn off the cash advance feature so that these types of transactions do not get processed. Is there a way to do this? I know other credit cards do. SentXXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX FromChase Card Services SubjectRe : Account inquiry Delete Reply Hello XXXX, Thank you for contacting us about your XXXX XXXX card. We understand your concern about the cash advance and will be more than happy to answer your questions. 1. Cash advances  will show in the transaction activity along with the other transactions such as purchases, fees, etc. 2. The " Transaction fee '' is for cash advances. You will not see any other fees labeled with this wording. Also, your statement will detail the charges on your account and will show the cash advance. The statements will have more information than what is displayed online. 3. We can not remove the cash advance feature, however, we can limit the amount that can be used for cash advances. We can reduce the cash line to a minimum of {$100.00}. Please reply to this message if you would like to reduce the cash line to {$100.00}. XXXX, we appreciate you being a Chase customer. Thank you, XXXX Chase Email Servicing XXXX XXXX : XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX PM ToChase Card Services SubjectRe : Account inquiry CATEGORY TYPE : Re : Account inquiry ATTACHMENTSIZE:0 Thank you for your reply. Let me make sure that I understand the answers to my questions. Please address my additional questions as well as the action requested in # 3. 1. Cash advances will show in the transaction activity along with the other transactions such as purchases, fees, etc. BUT NO WHERE AS PART OF THE TRANSACTION DOES IT STATE THAT IT IS A " CASH ADVANCE ''. AND NO WHER ONLINE IN MY ACCOUNT DOES IT SAY THAT THERE IS A " CASH ADVANCE '' BALANCE THAT IS INCURRING INTEREST CHARGES? 2. The " Transaction fee '' is for cash advances. You will not see any other fees labeled with this wording. YOU ARE SAYING THAT " TRANSACTION FEE = " CASH ADVANCE FEE '', AND DOES NOT APPLY TO ANYTHING ELSE? WHY NOT CALL IT CASH ADVANCE FEE SO THAT CUSTOMERS ACTUALLY KNOW WHAT IT IS? TRANSACTION FEE IS SO GENERAL IT COULD LITERALLY MEAN A FEE FOR ANY TYPE OF TRANSACTION. THE PROBLEM WITH FINALLY GETTING TO SEE WHAT THESE TRANSACTIONS ACTUALLY ARE ON THE MONTHLY STATEMENT, IS THAT IT IS AFTER THE FACT AND INTEREST ON THE CASH ADVANCES HAVE ALREADY BEEN ACCRUING. THIS IS NOT BEING TRANSPARENT WITH THE CUSTOMER. THERE IS NO REASON WHY THIS INFORMATION SHOULD NOT BE COMPLETELY TRANSPARENT ON THE ONLINE ACCOUNT. 3. YES PLEASE REDUCE THE CASH ADVANCE TO THE {$100.00} MINIMUM ASAP. XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX FromChase Card Services SubjectRe : Account inquiry Delete Reply Hello XXXX XXXX, Your feedback is always welcome as it helps us to identify opportunities for improvement. XXXX, below are the answers to your questions : 1. and 2. I have forwarded your message to our concerned department for review. Your satisfaction is extremely important and your comments are critical to our efforts for continued improvement. Please continue to contact us with any feedback or questions. We are committed to delivering the high level of service that you expect and deserve. Also, your Cardmember Agreement explains the full terms and provides information about cash advances and cash-like transactions. 3. Your new cash line is {$100.00}, and you can use it immediately. We appreciate you being a Chase customer. Thank you, XXXX Chase Email Servicing XXXX XXXX  : XXXX

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation