Consumer complaint received 12-01-2017 about Credit card or prepaid card (General-purpose credit card or charge card) with U.S. BANCORP (AZ).
Issue: Closing your account
Sub-issue: Company closed your account

Complaint: US Bank closed my account erroneously and will not escalate my issue to the decision makers that incorrectly decided that I violated their T & Cs. They are also denying my request to redeem my rightfully earned points as a statement credit so that I can pay off the balance on this account and move on to a bank that appreciates my business. 

I have been a US Bank customer since XXXX/XXXX/XXXX. I opened my first US Bank credit card on XXXX/XXXX/XXXX and was recently invited to apply for the US Bank Altitude Reserve VISA credit card which was approved on XXXX/XXXX/XXXX. I was trying to book a hotel today ( XXXX/XXXX/XXXX ) when my card was declined. I called customer service to find out what was going on and was told that I needed to talk to XXXX ( Sp? ) in investigations. I left a message for her and she called me back promptly to inform me that the bank decided to close my account due to a breach of their T & Cs ( Cardholder Agreement ).

I have nearly 20 years of credit experience across over 20 accounts and have never had an account closed by a bank so obviously I was shocked. I asked specifically what was the breach and she pointed to Page 6 of 10, section ( a ), paragraph 5 that states the account can be closed for " excessive or patterned purchases of cash equivalent instruments, such as gift cards, rewards cards, and other prepaid cards. '' She stated that there was a " couple '' XXXX Pay gift cards on my account. Being confused I asked how in the world a few purchases of gifts around XXXX time can be misconstrued as " excessive '' or even " patterned. '' This was the purchase of less than {$150.00} of gifts over a month period ( i.e. 2x {$40.00} GCs for XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX and 1x {$63.00} GC for XXXX ). There is no way that can be considered " excessive ''. Also the fact that these are gift cards that can only be used as those specific stores for goods and merchandise, it should be in line with the T & Cs which states " this Account is intended to be used for the purchase of various products and services for personal, family, and household purposes ''. These gift cards obviously fit this bill. They are for products and services and are usually placed at the check out line of grocery stores because it is easy to pick them up as a gifts for individuals so they can purchase other products and services from specific retailers! If a single purchase of such a merchandise is considered " excessive '' and a problem, US Bank should have denied the charge and I could have used any one of my other accounts to fulfill the order. Obviously, it was NOT. These purchases were only 2 % of nearly {$7000.00} of daily purchases that was made that month. This in no way or form constitute " excessive or patterned '' behavior.

I am aware that it is US Bank 's decision whether to close an account for whatever reason so at this point I just want the nearly XXXX points that was earned during that month to be applied as a {$640.00} statement credit so I can repay the balance of the account and move all my business back to XXXX XXXX! It is unfair to falsely close an account and then hold all cash rewards for ransom. This behavior can be abused by US Bank to avoid paying out rewards for what ever reason. Please help me to resolve this matter as my attempts to resolve directly with US Bank has fallen on deaf ears.

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