Consumer complaint received 2023-03-20
Company: CAPITAL ONE FINANCIAL CORPORATION
State: IL
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Trouble using your card
Sub-issue: Can't use card to make purchases

Complaint:
My e-mail address : XXXX In summary : capital one is forcefully closing my credit card despite my perfect payment history and countless attempts of reaching out and resolving the problem. This is one of the oldest credit cards I have, so having this line of credit closed will be detrimental to my credit score. I have repeatedly expressed my concern for this and have been patient and cooperative, however their administrative incompetence and lack of communication has made it impossible for me to resolve this problem without governmental help ( thank you cfpb ) Timeline : XX/XX/XXXX : Opened credit card ( ending in XXXX ), perfect payment history for 2 years. I was living in XXXX at the time. 

XX/XX/XXXX : I have moved to XXXX for work, the phone number ( XXXX ) I had used in XXXX for the two-factor authentication to log in to the capital one online profile is no longer in use at this point. 

Approx XX/XX/XXXX : After multiple calls with capital one in attempt to log in without using my phone number, they had told me it was impossible for me to log in without a US phone number. This meant I could not check my statement online, so I locked my card. My plan was to obtain a US phone plan next time I was in America. With COVID restrictions, leaving XXXX was very risky ( XXXX closing boarders ), so I have been staying in XXXX since then. 

XX/XX/XXXX : I got an e-mail from Capitol One saying that my account will be closing in XX/XX/XXXX due to inactivity. The e-mail instructed me to use the card at least once to keep the account open. Since my card is locked, I needed to unlock the card first. 

XX/XX/XXXX : Case number XXXX. I called the customer help phone number to have my card unlocked and was told that I needed to verify my identity. I submitted a picture of my drivers license immediately, and was told that the verification can take up to 2 weeks. 

XX/XX/XXXX : Since I got no word regarding the verification, I have called them again to check on the status. It turns out that the verification was denied due to the picture being blurry ( it was not blurry in my opinion ). They said they had called my old number ( XXXX ) to notify me. I had told them repeatedly previously that the phone number is not in service anymore, and I have reminded them that fact again. This phone call took hours, I was transferred to multiple departments without them transferring the information, thus I had to explain my situation 4 times. I have resubmitted my drivers license photo, which was approved. They told me they would send me a new card ( ending in XXXX ) for me to activate and use. 

XX/XX/XXXX : The new card ( ending in XXXX ) arrived, and I have called capital one customer phone line to activate my account. They have told me that the credit card number can not be activated for some reason, and they told me that they would send me another card with a different card number ( but on the same line of credit ). They have told me that they have expedited the shipping and the new card would arrive in 4-6 business days. 

XX/XX/XXXX : The card has not arrived yet. My account will close on XX/XX/XXXX if I dont unlock my account and use the credit card. I am livid, and I am scared that my account will close. 

Other notes : I have other bank accounts and a credit card in the US, and I have had no problem logging in from XXXX. Capital ones insistence on using cell-phone text authentication without any other options ( email etc ) is a major hindrance in their online platform functioning, and is inconsiderate for those who live overseas despite them touting themselves as being a versatile global company.

Company response to consumer: Closed with non-monetary relief