Consumer complaint received 2018-12-14
Company: BARCLAYS BANK DELAWARE
State: NJ
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Closing your account
Sub-issue: Company closed your account

Complaint:
The Credit Card Company issued this card was : BARCLAYS BANK through their agreement with XXXX XXXX. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I received a letter from BARCLAYS BANK telling me that they had permanently closed my VISA Card as a decision was made internally that I was " too risky of a customer to have an Active Line of Credit ''. 

In spite of the fact that I would make monthly payments to this very card, sometimes up to three-times a month, of $ 700+ on top of the minimum payment required. The entire situation happened after I withdrew cash from an ATM, as allowed by BARCLAYS BANK, to cover an emergency expense at the time. 

BARCLAYS could not articulate to me the reason why they were charging me, several times, APR interest on purchases and money retrieved from ATMs. The last person I talked to explained that BARCLAYS calculated my interest for the Month at the end of the cicle ( when my Statement closed for the Month ), however, as I shown to this lady, well after getting my interest added in my Account I would continue to get hit with more interest charges which put my balance well-above the 'Credit Limit '. 

BARCLAYS accused me of being an irresponsible customers for allowing my Balance to go 'above the limit ' for several months in a row. I showed them, to no success, that the charges caused this anomaly were the strange APR Interest calculations added to my Account, sometimes up to 4 times during the same Month. At the time of their letter and closure I wasn't purchasing anything with the card attempting to lower such Balance, however for every {$700.00} I would inject into my Balance as payment ; BARCLAYS BANK would then apply 2-4 " APR Interest Charges '' which were labelled on my Statement as " Administrative Charges ''. Nobody ever helped me understand this and I ultimately paid the price which severely impacted my 'Credit Report/Score '. 

There are 2 elements which are disturbing about this particular experience : 1.  BARCLAYS BANK would " delete '' items from my Monthly Statement, like those numerous 'Administrative Charges ' kept on being added to my already-above-limit Balance. However, their manipulation of data would not be reflected on my smartphone Official App where I could still see how BARCLAYS BANK ( after the Month cycle had closed and APR was added to my Statement ), they would continue to charge me with {$250.00} over and over again. At this time, the Card was not being used by me as I was only paying my Monthly which, every time for one day, would reflect I was well below my Credit Limit only to return back to 'Above Limit ' shortly after. 

BARCLAYS BANK argued with me that the APR charges for taking money out of ATMs was calculated differently and each of the {$250.00} I saw were related to the ONE-TIME I took money ( {$600.00} ) out through an ATM. I disputed this explanation suspecting fraud and was never contacted again by anyone at Corporate.

2. The very month my Credit Card was closed by BARCLAYS BANK a bizarre situation happened where I had scheduled a {$800.00} payment through the App, confirmed it on the website was reflected for the month of XXXX plus paying another {$380.00} was the minimum due at the time. 

I had checked my Bank Account and I had more than enough money in my Checking Account to cover such payments. The day it was supposed to be processed, BARCLAYS BANK blocked my Bank 's Transaction ( money was deducted from my Checking Account as it was greyed out as 'Pending ' ). This block continued for 48 Hours until XXXX XXXX, when I called my Customer Service Department, told me that BARCLAYS had denied the transaction and the money was supposed to return back.

During this 48 Hours period where BARCLAYS BANK told me to wait, as it could have been just a minor glitch from their system, someone decided to close my Account Permanently. Not happy with that, they kept the money was supposed to be my Monthly Payment and added it to the 'owed Balance for my closed Account '. Later on, to my surprise, I read on the letter the reason for closure had to do with my over the limit balance and inability to make a payment on-time for that very Month. 

Ever since this disturbing experience I have suspected a foul move by BARCLAYS BANK which impacted me as a consumer. Ever since I got this Credit Line, I would always make on-time payments where the minimum was {$700.00}. In fact, during my vacation in XXXX XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX, I paid BARCLAYS BANK up to {$2500.00} as " Payments '' to cover all my shopping and expenses at the time. I was never a delinquent customer, nor someone struggled to make the minimum payment to them. 

On XX/XX/XXXX ( months after this situation ) I received a letter letting me know I was part of a CIVIL ACTION LAWSUIT against BARCLAYS BANK, especially related to my VISA Card approved through XXXX XXXX XXXX. On this letter, I was informed that BARCLAYS BANK had violated my rights under the 'Fair Credit Act ' by enacting actions ultimately were aimed at protecting the Bank itself while hurting my Credit Score.

Ever since this letter, I have been making my payments to BARCLAYS BANK every single month without miss as I setup the 'Automated Payment Option '. On top of that, I have made additional payments to reduce the Balance on the Credit they gave me which, up until XX/XX/XXXX continued to show ( through my Statements ) activity by BARCLAYS BANK attempting to charge me more 'Administrative Fees '. These were essentially rendering my Monthly payments on a 'Closed Account ' NULL as they would eat the money with these fees. In fact, I confronted BARCLAYS on XXXX, XXXX as I did not understand why they were charging me with 'Interest on Purchases ' on an Account had been closed since XXXX. Furthermore, I showed evidence of the many charges applied by BARCLAYS to my Account which forced my Balance to remain 'Above Credit Limit '. Once again, I was promised somebody would call me ( at the Director Level ) to discuss this discrepancies. Nobody ever called. After this phone call, the strange charges disappeared and my Statements, today, reflect a 'Closed Account ' where the customer ( Myself ) is paying every month well-above the 'Minimum Due '.

I feel BARCLAYS BANK abused of me as a customer and even with a CIVIL ACTION LAWSUIT in place, they continued to rob me of my money utilizing " made-up '' policies and fees should not, in reality, have happened in the first place. 

I would like for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to assist me in investigating this scheme resulted in my Credit Score being severely damaged as I firmly believe BARCLAYS BANK had no grounds to do all they did to me.

In addition, as a resolution to this matter ( now my Account is well-below my Credit Limit ) I would like BARCLAYS BANK to reconsider and re-open my Account.

I should have never lost my VISA Credit Card as I was an exemplary customer paid more than four-times his 'minimum due ' each Month, on time. Even more, on XX/XX/XXXX I brought my Balance to XXXX. All this is recorded in my History with the VISA Credit Card Number they issued to me, in no way ( in my personal, humble opinion ) I ever demonstrated the level of deliquency/irresponsibility BARCLAYS BANK claimed as the prime reason for their decision to permanently closed my Account. 

I'm writing to you because BARCLAYS BANK is now throwing me in 'limbo ' as no agent from their Customer Service Department can help me as my Account, according to them, can not be accessed through their system. Therefore, as they have shown me I'm at the mercy of more irregularities, fraud and unfair practices masked by an alleged system where I, no longer, appear as a 'Customer of the Bank '. 

You have my full authorization ( XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX ) to contact BARCLAYS BANK with these facts and my proposed resolution, especially after they were sued for violating the 'Fair Credit Act ' Guidelines.

My Account Number with BARCLAYS is : XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX My Credit Line is at : {$8900.00} ( I started with {$2000.00} and BARCLAYS BANK rewarded me with increases due to my 'Payment History ' ). 

My APR is at : 24.99 % and cash-advance APR is at : 27.24 % I hope you can help me with this problem has caused me a great deal of stress since that XXXX in XXXX when BARCLAYS BANK decided, unilaterally, to close my Account in spite of the fact I was in perfect standing with them ( Payment History ). 

Sincerely yours, XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX Address : XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX, NJ, 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