Consumer complaint received 2023-05-02
Company: U.S. BANCORP
State: MN
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 rewards from credit card

Complaint:
I opened a US Bank FlexPerks credit card in 2014, primarily because they offered points that could be used as airline miles on multiple airlines. At the time, the card issuer promised that as long as I kept my credit card open, those FlexPerks points would not expire. As a result, I accumulated quite a few points ( I dont recall exactly how many, but at least a few hundred thousand ) without using them, because I was saving the points to purchase tickets for a family vacation.To my surprise, when I happened to look at my statement about two months ago, my balance had declined to only 65,000 points. Until that time, I had not redeemed any of the points I had earned. 

Of course I called the card issuer to ask what happened, and the US Bank FlexPerks representative confirmed my suspicion that my points had expired. The problem, I explained to her, was that there was no notice or indication that the points would expire. She acknowledged that my points balance and amounts expiring were listed on my monthly hard-copy statements, but because US Bank pushed me into receiving my statements digitally, I stopped receiving the hard-copy statements. As a result, I used only the US Bank FlexPerks app, which the customer representative admitted does not show the expiring points. I told her this was wrong and unfair, because I had no notice of my points ever expiring. 

I asked the representative to reinstate my expired points, but she declined. She said she would submit my request to her management for further review of my situation, but a few weeks later I received a paper letter that indicated my request for reinstatement had been declined ( again ). 

BTW, when I complained about this situation to a friend, she commented that she, too, had a US Bank FlexPerks credit card and had no idea the points were subject to an expiration date. So I believe that many consumers have been lured into opening and maintaining this kind of credit card account without realizing that USBank now takes away what it gives as an incentive to use and reward for using their card. 

My complaints : - I understand that companies sometimes change the rules for when points expire, but I truly do not recall agreeing to or seeing that change in this instance. I would have noticed if it were prominently featured, because I was intentionally saving these points for a big family trip. Any change here was likely buried in the fine print that consumers like me routinely click to agree. It was unreasonable for USBank to change the expiration rules without appropriate notice to cardholders. 
- USBank should put expiration dates on the app, if that is where it wants its customers to receive information. Putting that information only on the paper statements, when fewer and fewer customers receive paper statements, is likewise unfair and misleading. 

If upon further investigation you are able to substantiate my complaints, I would respectfully ask that my point balance be reinstated ( so I can use them before they expire! ). Thank you very much for your assistance.

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 monetary relief