garykung

Remember - Chase dings based on a pattern to determine if you are using the card as designed. So while you can purchase anything you want, make sure it makes sense. For example, unless you are in an export business in baby formula, you should not use your business card to buy baby formula.

STS-134

But how would Chase know what you are buying? I highly doubt merchants give them an itemized list of what was bought -- that data is highly valued by merchants and they aren't going to give it up to anyone unless that other party pays them for it.

cheaptom

They might not "know" but then again, they don't have to know. They'll just close you down because of what they assume. For example, If you have an expensive, un-insured prescription that you fill at CVS for $600, I bet Chase automatically think you bought a gift card there.

nychad10

Interesting point..




So if I buy 1-5 of the $100 (cost me $90) or the $ 500 (cost $450) gc's for Carnival Cruise Line on Verizon Rewards for they will close me for that (FYI it's listed as "Verizon Rewards" on my CSP statement)?
Since 2015 I have purchased them 2 or 3 times a month and then sold them on Craigslist for a profit for each card.

nychad10

Following up on this...


My concern is more like buying grocery's a few times a week at Wal-Mart and Target and buying stuff online like clothes... I guess what I'm trying to say is if I got to a retail store every couple of days and spend say $10- $120 is that something they will look at? Or go to lunch a few times a week and spend $15-$20?
I wasn't concerned about it until I read this tread. But it seems like most of the posts I have read are people buying Visa and debit cards and then cashing them out.

STS-134

They likely don't care about you buying GCs. But if you try to recycle that GC money to pay off the CC bill, they will care.

paperwastage

guess what?

merchants get a discount on processing fees for submitting level3 data (which describes what you buy)

https://www.burlingtonbankcard.com/l...rchange-rates/

if you bought a plane ticket directly via the airline using your credit card, it's likely to see the exact flight details on your credit card statement

one example that I can find (There's a lesson to be learned here...hmm):
http://www.tampabay.com/news/politic...t-card/1075692

garykung

Sorry but your bet does not pay off.

As paperwastage has correctly mentioned, they actually know because merchant now transmitting those data (known as Level 3) to the processor for a discounted merchant fee.

It is interesting enough to the point that it was wrong.

Again - your spending pattern matters. Since issuers know what you have purchased, they can estimate what kind of business you are in.

To clarify - issuers simply don't want you to buy cash equivalent GCs. Any other GCs? They don't care as they know many people are getting a discount by using GCs.

reft

and

See here on FT: Does AMEX know what we buy?

Search google for "Bernie Madoff American Express Statement" It's an old [scanned pdf] statement, but shows some examples of what purchases look like on an AMEX statement, with several airfare/airline examples.

The data reported to the card holder on the printed statement or available per-transaction online, may be less than the card issuer received. Chase doesn't include this on their printed statement like AMEX does, but it doesn't mean they didn't get the transaction data.

Not all merchants transmit. They may have a POS/Inventory system which provides a nice itemized bill but use a standalone credit card reader which takes a total and a swipe, and kicks out a receipt.

merice107107

Another data point here:

My wife and I were shut down in July of 2014. It really sucked because we were abroad in London (luckily we had some other cards with us). Anyways, although I never got a straight answer, I'm pretty sure what did me in was that I closed my British airways card, and then had it reopened so I could move the large credit limit over to my newly opened CSP which only had a $5,000 credit limit. I'm pretty sure that drew attention to unwanted eyes and got myself AND my wife shut down. We did do some MS, but not a lot.

I tried for another card in 2015 and was denied.

I feel like I had read reports of people getting cards again after 2 years. Since my wife and I just bough a house in October of 2016, we held off of getting any new cards which also helped us get under 5/24.

Flash forward to the end of May 2017. We are now almost 3 years since the shutdown. We are at 3/24. My wife applied for and got approved for the CSP. Got the card a week later and started spending. We were only going to do real spend. No MS. I really wanted to build a positive relationship. A week after getting the card, boom, shut down. The woman on the phone confirmed it was for "previous unsatisfactory relationship." Although, she seemed to think it was because of getting a checking account shut down. Anyways, we requested to be contacted and by the executive branch to be called back with further details. On a side note, we did do a $2,000 transaction paying for a grad school class with the card (since we weren't going to do any MS, I figured this would be a nice way to help towards the minimum spend and totally within the T&C).

I applied for one of those 70k UA offers a week after my wife. I got my card in the mail a day after my wife was shut down. I am worried it is only a matter of time for me.

At first I was hoping the shutdown for my wife was only because of the large purchase and could have the account reopened like other have reported on here. Unfortunately, it seems that our July 2014 shutdown is still haunting us three years later.

Like I said, the main thing here is we just want to get in the good graces of chase again. When we talk to someone at the lending department, we are just going to explain we would be fine with a lower credit limit or a different card that is considered less "risky." Who knows if that will make a difference...

Looking back, maybe if we didn't do the $2000 tuition payment, we might be ok. But then again, eventually they would find that "previous unsatisfactory relationship."

Will report back on how this all ends up.

FWIW:
Did you transfer UR points to someone with a different address? Different last name?
No
Did you sell UR points to someone?
No
Approximately what percentage of your charges earned less than 5x points in the past 12 months?
in 2013 shutdown 30%
Did a Chase or non-Chase bank recently close one of your credit cards?
Chase
Are you using up a large percentage of your credit line on all Chase and non-Chase credit cards?
No
Is your total credit line with Chase much higher than with other banks?
Somewhat
Did you apply for many credit cards or other forms of credit in the past 2 months? ("Many" may be hard to define.)
No. 0
If you have a Chase checking account how much did you typically deposit in money orders per month, if any?
In 2013 shutdown, no deposits
Did you recently start spending a lot more with Chase than in typical months?
Sort of, just got new card.
Is your monthly balance frequently close to your credit limit?
No
Approximately what percentage of spending was on gift cards this year?
On chase, 0.
How much of your bill do you typically pay using WM or KMart bill payment if any?
N/A
Do you have a Chase mortgage or other account that might be profitable to Chase?
No
Has your credit score or credit profile changed recently? As in: significantly more debt, more open credit lines, or a large drop in your credit score?
Yes, dropped 10 points. Not significant though, went from 800ish to 790ish.

Troopers

Thanks for sharing. I have not been shutdown nor do I think I am at risk, so just curious. Is "she" the Chase rep or your wife? Was this a Chase checking account that was shut down?

SteveT

I would call Chase recon and request a reconsideration to have those accounts reopened.

Chase throws all closures in the "previous unsatisfactory relationship" when its really meant for unpaid charge offs and other losses.

cdancer20

You should proactively call the executive dept and not depend on the front line CSRs to pass your message along. You can Google their number.

garykung

Not wrong. Many people did get a total shut down not related to MS (i.e. Chase determined that they are risky businesses).

It is never the problem. The charge is as legitimate (i.e. non-MS) as it gets, even it means you have paid a convenience fee, or you paid for another person.

cdancer20

I believe that OP is saying that large purchase possibly triggered an internal manual review. That review led them to realize that his wife was on the Chase blacklist. Thus, they cancelled her card.