Consumer complaint received 2019-09-20
Company: CAPITAL ONE FINANCIAL CORPORATION
State: VA
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Trouble using your card
Sub-issue: Credit card company won't increase or decrease your credit limit

Complaint:
On XX/XX/2019 I was notified by XXXX that my credit rating had dropped by 97 points. This seemed inaccurate so I checked my accounts for fraud. 

It turns out CapitalOne decided to lower my one credit card limit from $ XXXX to $ XXXX due to not using it enough. Note, I always pay the balance in full. I inquired about this from the customer service rep. The first one told me that I was not using the card enough and my only option was to apply for an increase in 6 months but there was no guarantee it would be approved. I explained that my business on occasion needed access to this credit but they didn't care. I was told they didn't have any written policies around this issue and they were not aware of any internal or external contracts to escalate or file a complaint. 

I hung up and I called back with the same scenario. The second rep did say there was an internal complaint dept. They sent and e-mail requesting my situation be reviewed. I asked what was their written policy on reducing credit limits due to usage that is under what they deem appropriate. They indicated they didn't know. 

I followed up today, which was 10 days later given no response. I was first told it had not been reviewed. I pushed back and they went away and came back with the exact same explanation. I could apply for a credit increase in 6 months. I asked if they could see my other business credit card and they indicated they could. He also said he could see that I did use that card on a higher percentage usage but there was nothing they could do. 

Why does this matter? I utilized my credit according to all recommendation of sound credit ... utilizing under 30 % of revolving credit, I do not carry balances and I have consistently maintained a credit score in the high 700 's and above XXXX the majority of my credit histroy ( 20+ years ). 

Their action to reduce my credit limit ... due to NOT USING IT ENOUGH makes no sense and they can not provide a written policy on how this works. The decision was totally arbitrary. One reason for this for my business recently we converted some bills that typically pay annually to monthly so the total usage is about the same but we do not have the spikes ... of which we always paid in full anyway. I still may have needs for credit that would be over what they deem too low usage yet below my limit. Their actions, that were taken arbitrarily decreased my credit score by 97 points taking my credit score into the 600 's for the first time in my life when my financial position and credit position is the strongest ever and there is nothing I can do about it. 

This is a very dangerous policy they have instituted against me as well as others given you can be in a situation where you use under the proposed 30 % of your limit and they keep lowering it to make sure that you are using 30+ % of your limit. If I were carrying a balance on the card and it appeared I was a high credit risk or growing credit risk this would seem prudent. Instead, quite the contrary, I am a super low credit risk. They take actions that then make me appear to be a high credit risk that will detrimentally impact me acquiring other forms of credit. I am a long standing card holder with an impeccable credit payment history and they didn't care. It is obvious their complaint department is a ruse and they do not care if their undocumented policy causes me harm. 

I would very much appreciate you follow up on this to make sure they have clear documented policies that outline under what terms they can lower credit limits. Thank you.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation