Consumer complaint received 2022-12-13
Company: BANK OF THE WEST
State: MO
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Closing your account
Sub-issue: Can't close your account

Complaint:
I had previously lived in a place with a Bank of the West branch and was planning on opening a business account and card with them. I had met with a business representative and liked the services they offered and the credit card deal ( 0 % APR for the first 9 months, extra rewards points for spending {$5000.00} in the first 3 months ). It seemed like the perfect thing for my new small business. Instead of having to get out a business loan, it would be exactly what I would need for the initial set up expenses. 

However, with the pandemic I ended up moving out of the area and so opened my bank account with a different bank. Nevertheless, remembering Bank of the West 's offer, in XX/XX/2021 I reached out to open the business credit card. The closest Bank of the West location is 2 hours away and at no point when I applied did they say that they could not work with me because I did not have a bank account with them. Nor did they say that most of the business needed to be conducted in-person at a branch. I assumed it would be like a XXXX or other credit card that frequently worked with folks remotely. However, everything that I have tried to do since opening the account has required me to go in person to a branch. I can not do that. I have not been able to access my account online, get or use my rewards, set up automatic payments, or even close the account. And this is all for an account -- once I realized the credit limit -- I asked NOT to be issued. 

When I applied, I asked for {$6000.00} in credit, which seemed like a low amount for a small business but seemed reasonable for my needs. I was told I could be given only {$2000.00} because it was a new business and it didn't have a credit history. I replied that I did not want a card for {$2000.00} because I had things I needed to buy that were more than {$2000.00} and a card with that limit would be useless. Plus, there was no way I could get the deal they had offered with the rewards points if I couldn't even spend that much. They said I could appeal and ask for a greater amount. I did so. I never heard back. Two weeks later, a card was issued for me for {$2000.00}. I called to see if the amount could be changed now that it was opened but they said it could not. 

In retrospect I should have just closed it immediately. But I decided to make the best of it. I had bills that needed paying and I figured I could make it work. I tried to open an online account to pay things off easier but the website said it required in-person verification and I would need to go in person to the bank to open the online account. I called Bank of the West to see if anything could be done. They could not help. It had to be done in person. Fine. However, this meant I could never see my current balance and had to call upwards of 2x a month to pay off the balance to avoid going over the absurdly low limit. I had to ask for payment plans ( and pay additional fees for doing so ) for items that I had the money to pay for in full just because the item cost more than the credit limit. 

As part of my application process it had asked whether I wanted the card to automatically pay off the minimum balance and I had said yes. In XXXX I decided to let that happen because I had 0 % APR for the first few months and I was finally not spending so much that I needed to pay it all off in advance. I was surprised to see that I was charged a late fee when I got my next bill. When I called I was told that they didn't have any record of a minimum payment being set up for me. The representative said that as a " courtesy '' they would waive the fee. I pointed out that it wasn't really a courtesy if they had made the mistake and not processed the initial form correctly. She said that she would send me a new form so that I could set up automatic payments. Given how many problems I was having with the card already, I figured I would set it up to pay off the whole amount automatically. But I was never sent the form. A later representative told me she thought it had to be done in person in the office. So I limped on. 

Not having access to review my accounts, I forgot about a bigger purchase I had made which sent me over my balance during the late summer. My account was frozen. I called Bank of the West but they said there was nothing I could do about it. Even if I could pay it all off in full then and there ( which I did ), they reserved the right to freeze my accounts for up to 15 days. Multiple orders I made were cancelled and I had to tell suppliers that I needed extra time to pay them. I had the money -- I just couldn't get it to them. 

I finally decided I had had enough with Bank of the West and so decided to open a card with my local bank. I was able to get the {$5000.00} I requested approved in under a day. I started using that card as my main one but I figured I would keep Bank of the West as a backup. As I didn't need to pay it off so frequently I switched to paying it off by check rather than calling via phone. 

I was surprised to see when I got my statement this XXXX that I was charged another late fee with interest. I had sent a paper check in on time. The representative assured me they processed checks the day they receive them so it had apparently been delayed by the mail. However, because my previous " courtesy '' had already been used I had no choice but to pay this time. I asked whether they could apply the rewards points on the back end so I could at least make up for my losses with this card, but that was not possible. I had to do it myself through the separate rewards provider, but of course, i couldn't set up an account with them as I didn't have a Bank of the West online account. So I paid off the balance and the fee and the interest. And then I asked to close my account. I was told I could not do that. I had to come in person. 

So what do I do? I have a credit card that I did not want that I can not close with points on it that are " mine '' that I can not access. It's cute that Bank of the West XXXX owned by XXXX XXXX, the 2nd largest banking conglomerate in the world ) wants to do everything face to face, but if that's the case, they shouldn't issue cards to folks remotely. And if they do issue cards to folks remotely ( as they did with me ) they should be prepared to actually service them.

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