Consumer complaint received 2021-09-18
Product: Credit card or prepaid card — General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Other features, terms, or problems — Other problem
Company: CAPITAL ONE FINANCIAL CORPORATION (TX)

On XX/XX/2021 I requested an increase on my CAPITAL ONE credit card because the current limit was not beneficial to me as a consumer. The account was open in XXXX of 2021 with a limit of {$300.00}. Between XXXX  2021-XXXX  2021 I paid the card, amounts ranging from {$260.00} and {$290.00}, a total of 5 times which proves I am able to maintain a higher limit. Even though I have always made payments ahead of time and in full, because my limit is so low if I make one purchase that is more than {$80.00} it makes it seem as if I have high utilization when in fact my limit is just too low to be an asset to my credit. This was shown when CAPITAL ONE reported to a credit reseller in XXXX of 2021, even with my payment being paid well before the due date, that I had high utilization which resulted in a 105 point drop of my score. This is what led me to request a limit increase because with a low limit I have no real freedom to even use my card because as I stated I used this card for household and personal use. With a family of five it is rare that I make a purchase below {$80.00} and therefore this account, again even though it is always paid ahead and multiple times a month, will always show as a derogatory account in any reporting agency 's files. On XX/XX/2021 I received a denial letter from CAPITAL ONE with the reason stated as " Your account is too new. '' With this information I contacted CAPITAL ONE 's credit department and asked how to dispute this denial letter, to which I was advised that there was no process to dispute because the letter was a suggestion to apply when the account is older. However, knowing that a suggestion is not a law or policy I advised the representative I would like to deny the suggestion and move forward with the original amount I requested since not only am I of age, mentally and physically able to contract, and have shown that I am able to maintain the limit I requested. The representative again said there was nothing that could be done I advised her that by them denying me my right to credit this was violating my rights as a consumer and constitutes discrimination pursuant to 15 USC 1691 or the Equal Credit Opportunity Act. The representative was not aware of the information I was giving her so she advised that I see if I could go in person to a CAPITAL ONE branch and speak with a credit specialist. On XX/XX/2021 I called multiple branches and they all advised that there was no such specialist and has not been a credit specialist in any of the retail branches. Having this information I called the credit department again to try to solve this matter. Once I explained the situation and invoked my rights as a consumer the representative sent me an email to upload documents regarding my claims which I did right away. On XX/XX/2021 I called to get an update on my case and was advised that a document had been posted, but not yet sent to me, again denying that anything could be done about the limit increase without providing a company policy or law to back up the denial. CAPITAL ONE has denied me my right to credit by discriminating against me due to the age of an account which directly constitutes a violation pursuant to 15 USC 1691.