Consumer complaint received 2018-01-28
Product: Credit card or prepaid card — General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Other features, terms, or problems — Other problem
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY (FL)

BOTTOM LINE : After over four years, Wells Fargo refuses to graduate me from a secured credit card to an unsecured card despite assurances to the contrary, or explain why not. They have kept hold of my {$300.00} collateral and continue to charge a {$25.00} annual fee indefinitely, providing contradictory information on how graduation decisions are made. Their only proposed solution is to update my income information, which has been done several times with no results. Dozens of complaints posted online suggest there is a systemic issue with Wells Fargo accepting secured card deposits, charging annual fees, and never graduating secured card users. 


-- -- -- -- -- In XX/XX/XXXX, a banker at my university 's Wells Fargo branch offered to open a Wells Fargo ( WF ) Secured Credit card account for me in order to build a credit history since I did not have any credit in the past. As someone who has just enrolled in college, I thought it was a good idea to start building credit so I went ahead and opened an account. 


The WF Secured Credit card stipulated that I would have to give Wells Fargo a secured collateral deposit equal to the credit limit I desired. The minimum amount possible was {$300.00} so I chose that amount. Additionally, the WF Secured Credit card has a {$25.00} annual fee. The banker also explained that as long as I made payments on-time and didn't go over my credit limit, I would be " graduated '' from the WF Secured Credit card within a year or two. " Graduation '' in this case entails having my WF Secured Credit Card upgraded to a different, unsecured WF Credit Card and my secured deposit being given back to me. If my memory serves me correctly, the banker also explained that the unsecured Credit Card I would graduate into would not have an annual fee. I was also advised to use my credit card as much as possible ( while paying on time ) to improve my credit. 


I followed the instructions, used the card as much as I could, never went above my credit limit, and paid every single payment on time. As of XX/XX/XXXX, I have made more than 50 on-time monthly payments without missing a single one. About ten months after opening my WF Secured Credit card, I was able to apply and receive an unsecured credit card from a different financial institution with an initial credit limit of {$2500.00}. I kept using my WF Secured Credit card often and paid on time. Since then, I have opened four more unsecured credit cards and always made on-time payments on all of these credit accounts. My FICO credit score today is higher than 770. While I made all payments on time, and continued to improve my credit rating, Wells Fargo has still not graduated me from the secured account. 


Over the past 3+ years, I have contacted Wells Fargo customer care about once or twice a year to inquire and complain about the fact that I have not been graduated. Every time I would call, the customer care representative ( s ) would explain that they are surprised I have not been graduated yet given the length of my card-holding and the consistency of my on-time payment record. They would then ask me to update my income information. My income hasn't changed much but I would update it anyway and then wait for months on end. However, not everything I was told over these calls was always consistent. For instance, several of the representatives explained that it was an automated system that periodically reviewed whether accounts are graduated or not, and that decisions are made twice per year. Yesterday ( XX/XX/XXXX ), when I called and spoke with three different representatives, the " executive customer care '' representative explicitly said that it is not an automated system that reviews the accounts. Either way, there is an evident lack of transparency with customers about their account status and the graduation process. Over the years and the numerous Wells Fargo representatives I have talked to about this, not a single one has been able to point out why I have not yet been graduated. Additionally, I have repeatedly asked that someone manually review my case, but the representatives would explain that that would not be possible and the most I can do is file a complaint for " documentation purposes only ''. 


During all this time, Wells Fargo has continued to withhold the {$300.00} collateral and charge the {$25.00} annual fee. While I would gladly close my WF Secured Credit card as well has my Wells Fargo Checking and Savings accounts, closing down my oldest credit card would harm my credit rating. 


A quick search on the internet and the CFPB database shows that this is a consistent issue with Wells Fargo as many users have made similar complaints. 


To summarize, there are three main issues involved in my situation. First, Wells Fargo is not graduating me from my secured credit card even though I have been consistently fulfilling all the requirements to qualify for graduation for years. Second, Well Fargo customer service not being able to give a reason why I have not been graduated yet. Third, Wells Fargo 's explicit refusal to open a case to investigate and resolve my issue.