Consumer complaint received 2020-07-14 00:00:00
Product: Credit card or prepaid card — General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Getting a credit card — Application denied
Company: DISCOVER BANK
State: CA

Complaint narrative:
It seemed like a plausible idea, getting a Discover card in order to earn the cash back. Their online application was ok, but then they wanted an address verification for an address thats been on my credit for about 25 years. Think Discover is clueless? Yeah, a bit. Then, I had to send in an address verification. Really clueless? Yep. Then they wanted to talk to me. Strangeness, since Ive never before had to speak to a credit card company to apply. 

Anyhow, I spoke with their representative and she seemed fine with everything. She told me I was approved and would be receiving a card in the mail. Great. 

I get a card and call to activate it. After some transferring run-around, I speak to a gentleman who is a bit evasive and confusing. After a long conversation where I had to elicit any actual information, it turns out I was not approved. The earlier representative had lied to me. 

Discover wanted to begin a lengthy, costly, and detailed background investigation. For a personal credit card? Ridiculous. And I know exactly why. And it has nothing to do with credit. Ive had credit cards for over 30 years and never failed to pay a single one. No bankruptcy. Never even made a late payment. And Discover treats me like they want to scrape me off their shoe.

Obviously, creditworthiness is not a factor at Discover. What else could it be? Yep, racism and discrimination. All there is to it. They are a hateful, arrogant organization who issues credit to whomever they want. With prejudice and malice against the others. Not with impartial criteria of creditworthiness. I have a credit score upwards of XXXX, but the Discover policy makes me a persona non grata unless I want to endure a background investigation.

Their ruse is to say they want to access historical tax records, but we all know thats a sham. Tax records are backward-looking and are only the beginning of a truly meaningful background investigation that takes months to give a picture of a persons responsibility, character, etc. Necessary for a security clearance? Absolutely. A personal credit card? Not a chance.

If Discover was actually concerned about a persons ability to pay a credit card, the simple solution is to limit the credit amount and/or make the card secured by a deposit. Entirely reasonable for those with short and/or muddied credit histories. But to conduct an investigation on a person with no negative credit history and a score over XXXX? They were simply looking for excuses to discriminate on things other than creditworthiness. 

Discover is blatantly in violation of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, which prohibits discrimination based on race, religion, national origin, gender, marital status, age, and associated factors.

Sadly, a large company like Discover is allowed to operate a discriminatory credit card business while regulators, lawmakers, and state AGs let this happen. So far. Well, Ill do my part to make sure Discovers dirty laundry gets aired out. Hopefully, regulators will put a stop to Discovers discriminatory practices and systemic racism.

I would have been an extremely responsible customer, and instead, they have made me into a lifelong enemy who will champion against Discover for many years to come.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation