Consumer complaint received 2019-09-27
Company: FIRST NATIONAL BANK OF OMAHA
State: CT
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:
I have been using First Bank Card for 14 Years. I have NEVER been late on a single payment. On XX/XX/2019, I received a new card in the mail because the existing card was due to expire by the end of the month. The terms on the new card indicated a Total Credit Limit of {$29000.00}. My credit usage was roughly maxed out at that time. On XX/XX/XXXX, upon receiving the new card in the mail, I called in and activated the new card with a representative at the company. At the same time, on XX/XX/XXXX, I also made a payment of {$20000.00} which was initiated that day. I made this payment in good faith that my card limit was to remain at {$29000.00} per the notice I received and the conversation I had with the representative prior to making payment on the XXXX. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, the new card got activated and the {$20000.00} payment went through. The payment did not clear the account until the next day on XX/XX/XXXX. Upon checking my statement to be sure that the payment cleared, I noticed that my available credit was still at XXXX, meaning my card was maxed out, despite me clearing more than 2/3 of my entire balance. I called the company multiple times and they told me that my credit card limit had been decreased from {$29000.00} to {$10000.00} overnight. The company reps claimed it happened to be a coincidence that my limit got lowered on the same day that I made payment. The reps I spoke to would not let me talk to anyone in the credit department. They claimed over and and over again that it was impossible to change their decision. 

The ONLY reason I paid {$20000.00} to Firstbankcard was to IMPROVE my credit score, since now I would have ample amount of credit available which improves my overall debt ratio significantly. This company accepted my payment under false pretenses and eliminated my available credit by reducing my limit to {$10000.00}. The {$200000.00} payment I made essentially evaporated and provided me zero benefit. My score will not increase because my debt ratio is still maxed out at 100 % under the new limit, despite the healthy payoff. Also, I have no access to the cash that I earned for the entire year to put myself in a better financial situation. 

The {$200000.00} limit decrease prevents me from improving on my score or having access to credit. My card has never been deceased prior to XX/XX/2019. {$20000.00} decrease in limit is EXTREME at best and other card companies I have talked to said they would never reduce the limit by more than {$5000.00} at a time. 

This situation has put in great hardship and I may have to file for bankruptcy because the card company deceived me into making a payment and essentially robbed me of {$20000.00} and offered no benefit or reward for me being a financially responsible. I am left with XXXX savings, XXXX cash, and XXXX ACCESS TO MONEY. 

I need my file reviewed and my credit limit increased back to its prior level. I received no notice or warning that a decrease was in play, and this took me totally off guard, leaving me in a very bad financial situation. The new card would not have been activated nor would I have paid such a large payment knowing this would be the result. No notice was sent out whatsoever. 

The company in question is Firstbank Card XXXX XXXX

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 explanation