Consumer complaint received 2022-04-05
Company: U.S. BANCORP
State: CA
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Advertising and marketing, including promotional offers
Sub-issue: Confusing or misleading advertising about the credit card

Complaint:
On XX/XX/22 I logged into my business US Bank mobile banking app and followed the process suggested by customer service representatives to apply for a credit card. I do not have any personal banking with US Bank. On the homepage of the app, there is an ad that states : " Explore and Apply>Reach for financial freedom>Credit Cards '' you can click on the credit card link and it opens a page that states " Credit Cards : Find a card that fits your lifestyle. '' It shows Filter by Card Feature and " All Credit Cards '' is selected. The following page shows ONLY personal consumer credit cards including all of the following : " U.S. Bank Altitude Go XXXX XXXX XXXX  ; U.S. Bank XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX ; U.S. Bank XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX U.S. Bank XXXX XXXX XXXX ; U.S , Bank XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX and the following Secure Credit Cards : " U.S. Bank XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX U.S. Bank Altitude Go Visa Secured Card ; U.S. Bank XXXX XXXX Secured Card '' In addition to the ad posted on the homepage of the Business Banking App, you can click on the menu on the upper left and then click on " Explore accounts & offers '' From there you can click on " Credit Cards '' under financial products. This takes you to the same page that ONLY displays consumer credit cards. On the advice of the customer service rep I applied for a credit card while logged into my business account under the assumption that I was applying for a business credit card NOT a personal consumer credit card. When I spoke to the customer service rep inquiring about obtaining a business credit card for my new business account, I was advised to apply via the mobile banking app since it would be automatically tied to my business account. I asked since it was a new account with no credit history if I would first need to apply for a secured account and they advised me that no, it would look take into account the personal credit of myself and my business partner. I applied for the " U.S. Bank XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX while logged into my business banking app thinking this was a business credit card. No where under the credit card page with " All credit cards '' did it show or mention any difference or availability of a business credit card. I applied on Friday, XX/XX/22 and added my business partner onto the application and was approved for {$20000.00}. On XX/XX/22, I called into US Bank customer service for an unrelated issue and inquired about my credit card application. I was told by the customer service rep that the card was being mailed but in the meantime I could see details ( credit availability, etc. ) on my mobile banking app. I let the customer service rep know that nothing showed on my account. She researched and let me know that I would need to create a PERSONAL banking account to access my credit card info because I had applied for a personal consumer credit card instead of a business credit card. From that point I spoke to multiple customer service reps and managers to try to cancel my personal credit card applcation. I spoke to customer service representatives and managers from both personal and business banking who all advised me ( including while on a cobrowsing/screen sharing process ) that if I wanted to apply for a credit card for my business, I would need to follow the steps I listed above ( click on the menu in the upper left hand corner then click on credit cards ). After these multiple customer service representatives realized that they had all advised me to XXXX for a personal credit card instead of a business credit card they apologized and said they would escalate my issue to cancel my application and reach out to the credit bureaus on my behalf to void any application and hard inquiry into my credit for the application. I was on the phone and placed on hold by 6 different representatives and when I reached their credit card department they said that all other representatives lied to me to get me off of the phone and that was no way that they could rectify the situation with the credit bureaus and that I would need to mail in a letter so that they could review the situation. This rep tried to get me to keep the personal consumer credit card by suggesting " maybe you can use this personal credit card '' and can I incentivize you to keep this if I offer you a " {$25.00} cash credit towards a future purchase ''. I responded that I do not need a personal consumer credit card and have no need for personal banking and/or credit with the bank, that I wanted the application cancelled/removed from my credit report through their escalation process and that if I were to open a business credit card with them, I would take the cash credit there. This customer service rep cancelled my application and then let me know there was nothing else he can do which makes it seem like I ( as a consumer ) decided to apply and then cancel an approved credit card. Multiple customer service representatives placed me on hold and were unable/unwilling to assist me. Several did not listen to my issue and attempted to transfer me to the wrong department just to get me off the phone. I realized that there is a way to apply for a business card while logged into business mobile banking app by clicking on the menu in the upper left hand corner, clicking on " Explore accounts & offers '', scrolling down to " business banking '' and then clicking " Business credit cards ''. There you have the option of seeing their 3 business credit cards. US Bank is practicing deceptive marketing tactics and not properly training their staff in order to get business account holders to apply for personal consumer credit cards. This practice is unethical and their overall customer service is absolutely horrendous.

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 non-monetary relief