Consumer complaint received 2022-01-18
Company: CAPITAL ONE FINANCIAL CORPORATION
State: DC
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Problem when making payments
Sub-issue: Problem during payment process

Complaint:
Capital One has closed my Credit card account due to Fraud Suspicions. To this date, I do not have a direct answer as to why my account was closed, but I do believe 3 returned payments are the cause. I strongly believe that there has been a technical issue with the Capital One mobile platform. I have attached a timeline of charges from XX/XX/XXXX - XX/XX/XXXX and have outlined which payments were manually made by me and which payments were processed by the mobile platform causing a return of payment. I have attached all of the notices I have recieved from Capital One and have detailed the actions I took to resolve the issue after each return of payment. It is my hope, with the assistance of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, to get a clear understanding as to WHY my account was closed for fraud and to have my credit account, and all reward points assoicated with the account re-opened. 
Thank you in advanced for your time. 

TIMELINE : On XX/XX/XXXX, I changed banking institutions from XXXX to Capital One Checking. I was already a Capital One Credit account holder and wanted to take advantage of a promotion Capital One was offering for new Checking Accounts. Once my Capital one Checking account was funded, it became my primary account to pay my Capital One Credit Card bill. 
I make 2 payments a month to my Credit Card. I participate in AutoBill Pay once a month to make sure I don't miss payments, and I manually pay whatever extra I have left over at the end of each month. 


1.On XX/XX/XXXX, I received an email from Capital One stating that my XX/XX/XXXX payment had been returned. This is an Auto Payment I have had set up with my past XXXX checking account that I forgot to cancel since I changed banks. I immediately stopped AutoPay from the XXXX Account and Set Up AutoPay with my new Capital One Checking Account. I immediately provided a manual payment from my new checking account following the notice of the return payment. 

2.On XX/XX/XXXX, I received an email from Capital One Stating that my XX/XX/XXXX payment had been returned. This was a manual payment that I had made from my Capital One mobile app, and without realizing my old XXXX account was still tied to the Capital One mobile app. I contacted Capital One to see why payments were still being charged to my old account, and I was informed that I had to physically remove the XXXX account from the mobile App.The Customer Service Agent was very kind and understanding, I had not missed a billing payment, this was an additional payment. Just like the language on the email correspondence informed me that " Returned payments arent reflected in your balance and wont be applied to any remaining minimum payment you may have '' I removed the XXXX account from the Capital One mobile App on XX/XX/XXXX. I immediately provided a manual payment from my new checking account following the notice of the return payment. 

3. On XX/XX/XXXX, I received yet another email from Capital One stating that my XX/XX/XXXX payment had been returned. This as well, was from the XXXX Account- the account that I physically removed from my mobile App on XX/XX/XXXX. This transaction also correlated to the 2 back to back declined credit card transactions on XX/XX/XXXX. 
At this point, I decided to cancel AutoPay on my credit card entirely, I believe the mobile app was still wired to my XXXX Account, even though the XXXX account was removed on XX/XX/XXXX and the Autopay was cancelled on XX/XX/XXXX. 
I received the confirmation of AutoPay termination on XX/XX/XXXX. I immediately provided a manual payment from my new checking account following the notice of the return payment. 

4. On XX/XX/XXXX, I received an email from Capital One notifying me of a new document. I had not used my credit card since XX/XX/XXXX. This document, dated XX/XX/XXXX, stated : " We're closing this account because activity on this or another account is not consistent with our expectations for account usage and violates the Capital One Customer Agreement '' I immediately made a phone call to customer service to find out what was going on. My first question is simply " Why has my account been closed ". I am not provided with any reason, just the answer " This is our policy, there is nothing we can do ''. 
I am immediately transferred to a Manager. Again, the only answer I receive is " Once an account is closed, there is nothing we can do " After 45 minutes explaining my case and explaining the issues I have been having since switching payment accounts, the Manager ( Number XXXX ) explains that any payment errors should be addressed with the banking institutions, and that Capital One Credit and Checking are 2 different companies. He informs me that I may be able to salvage my account and reward points if the bank is able to provide a letter stating there are technical issues with the checking accounts. 
My next task is to contact both XXXX and Capital One Checking to see if I can find some answers. 


XXXX. On XX/XX/XXXX, I contacted XXXX Banking. I explain my case - due to allegations of fraud, I have lost a Capital One credit account and all reward points associated. I asked the XXXX representative if there are any automatic payments still associated with this account, and her answer is that there have never been any AutoPayments through this account. Any AutoPayments are set up directly with the company being funded. 


6. On XX/XX/XXXX, I contacted Capital One Checking. I explain my case - due to allegations of fraud, I have lost a Capital One credit account and all reward points associated. I truly believed that having a Checking and Credit account through the same institution would have benefits - that is clearly not true. I was informed that any payments made to Capital One Credit through a mobile device is in the hands of Capital One Credit. 
I believe I have my answers. 
I am confident that there has been a mistake, partially on my end from trusting the convenience of my mobile phone- but I committed to getting this issue resolved. I am going to gather all of my correspondence from Capital One Credit and present to them my proof that no fraud has taken place, this is a mobile app error. 

7. On XX/XX/XXXX, I contacted the Capital One Credit Fraud division. They are shocked to hear that I want to dispute the fraud charges that have closed my account. I have all of my research, all of my dates and I am ready to find a solution. I ask directly to speak to a Manager, and for the final time, I hope to explain my case and find an understanding of why my account was closed. 
Unfortunately, I am told the very same thing as a month ago. " Once your account has been closed, there is nothing that can be done. '' When I ask for a reason as to why the account has been closed, the answer " As stated on the back of your monthly bill, our policy gives us the discretion to close accounts at any time ". 
I am forced to acknowledge that the account will never be reopened, but what about the reward points? The answer, " Once your account has been closed, there is nothing that can be done. '' Here I am on XX/XX/XXXX, feeling defeated, confused, and quite embarrassed. I believe the most frustrating part is the power that Capital One has to terminate an account without any notice. The involuntary closure of a credit account has serious financial consequence- if this is reported on my credit score, I will be spending years trying to catch up I still do not have a definite reason as to why my account was closed. I am speculating that it is due to the multiple returned payments- and if so, there is clear proof of intent to fix these returned payments as soon as I was notified. 
If this was a missed payment instead of a returned payment, Capital One would be calling me, leaving voicemails and sending multiple letters. Instead, the returned payment notifications are emailed 5 days after the incident, and the language is very lenient. If I had known of any possibility that my account could be closed due to return payments, I would have never used a mobile app to pay, I would have called in or mailed a check. 
Even when I called Capital One on XX/XX/XXXX, there wasn't the slightest concern from the employee that helped me. 

I requested the terms and conditions of my Capital One Credit account, and it is attached. I have read through this policy multiple times, searching for any language that can justify the closure of my account. I completely understand that the language has to be vague to protect themselves from any issue that may arise, but there has to be accountability for any technology errors that happen on their end.

Fraud is defined as the " wrongful or criminal deception intended to result in financial or personal gain. '' In today 's world where everyone is just trying to get by, making a mistake on a mobile app should not be considered fraud.

Company response to consumer: Closed with monetary relief