Bank of America review: raising interest rates for no good reason! 40

It is really surprising that Bank of America can survive the financial crisis with the type of customer service it has.
America needs to rebuild itself by purging itself of the poor employee quality and their indifference to customer needs.
I arrived in America in 2007/08 and happen to open a bank account with BOA and Citibank in the vicinity of 1414 Cambridge Massachusetts
I came here as a student therefore did not have any job. I had enough resources and was told to apply credits cards to build credit history (another irony as credit cards use would mean you have a problem with credit)
I was told that I could only open a secured credit card by depositing $1000 as I have no credit history in America.
I duly open the accounts by placing the deposit. This started my cycle of initially using the card and then paying late charges until the ultimate billing reached the credit limit. From where I came there was no need to monitor as everything was automatically deducted from bank account and was erasily setup. In America you have to make such arrangements and when I tried there were some limitation for Bank of America that stopped me from pursuing that approach.
In Apr 2011 I therefore decided to terminate my BOA credit card as it was creating bad credit history and I was simply accumulating late charges
I therefore assumed that was the end as the secured credit deposit will offset the outstanding payment. In Jun 2011 I kept getting calls from automatic phone calls that remind me that I was 2 months past due and have accumulated another 194 in late charges.
When I enquired, the bank customer service replied that my card was not secured and therefore there was no deposit. They kept maintaining that their system was the 'truth' and everybody else was wrong. Upon further checking and after alot of pestering they said that I was given the unsecured card based on an income declaration of $75, 000 and the fact that I was a student with Harvard. Both of this was a completely not true and appeared as an internal fraud.
They refuse outright to investigate the matter and deemed it unnecessary. They were not even able to tell me which branch the card was open at and said that I will need to show them a receipt to proof that I did make a deposit. They left me to check with the branch directly who duly told me that all records were sent to the secured credit department and therefore they could not provide any documentation as proof of opening the card and the conditions I signed to.
Throughout the customer service representative were very high-handed in dealing with me. They did not see a customer as an asset but a problem which they could quickly transfer to someone else and wash their hands off the case. They do not see it necessary to understand the customer but instead will just tell you in a matter of fact that there is nothing they can do and there is no one else in the entire bank that can assist. They claim that they are the most senior and then when asked about certain details, they said that that was a responsibility of another department for which they have no insight.
I have bank with many and never have seen a customer service so pathetic and poor in my whole life. I had to tell them on several occasion that we are the customer due to whom the bank exist. It appears this message does not seems to sink in and rather they see themselves a a mere digit in the large bank and therefore can get away with an indifferent attitude and were get away with the minimum of effort and service
I will never recommend Bank of America to anyone and really hope that the bank closes down and rebuild itself with a new and more productive team. This bank brings a bad name to this great country.

I Made a Loan With 3.99% for 6 Months, each month always and time I never late. My pay due is in the 21 each month, so I made one payment $600.00, on march 11. I made my final amount due on march 14 with all my incometax. Now Bank of America Customer service still try to charge more and my Credit Card. and I hope the recording what they said. so I need fix this problem if not I want to cancel my Direct Deposit and Changes morgage and Checking account to another Bank. If they don' t fiw the problem they made for me,

Sanjuana

Hello My Name Is Edward Richardson I Am A Bank Of America Customer I Have On Several Occations Contacted Them I Am Like Most American People I Am Haveing It Ruff But Surviving For Over Two Years I Have Been Trying To Get Some Resolution With My Mortage Threw Bank Of America I Had An Agreament With Them That They Would Not Charge Me With Any Late Fees Till I Was Currant I Was Almost Their And My Wife Lost Her Job Ok Contacted Bac To Try To Resolve My Mortage Payment All I Get On The Other End Of My Phone Is Incompatent People That Dont Know How To Do Their Jobs I Am Not Asking Them To Forget My Loan Nor Am I Asking That They Take Off Over Half My Loan Because My House Is Worth Less Than Half Of Whats Owed But My Mortage Payment Since Bac Has Taken It From Countrywide Has Went Up Over Two Hundreed Dollars A Month And When I Ask Them I Get A Run Around My Taxes Went Down Because Of The Assesed Value And I Stopped Paying My Ins Threw The Because They Were Late In Paying And Also Got It For Over Half My Mortage Is A Fixed Rate Thirty Year Loan They Keep Telling Me That Taxes Went Up Or I Needed More In Escrow This Is All B/s Can Some One Help Me The Little Guy Because I Dont Know How Much Longer I Can Hold On To My Home This Is Where I Have Raised My Kids And Our Home We Dont Want To Loose It But If Someone Does Not Do Somethig About Bac This Country Will Never Recover I Dont My Paying What I Owe I Have Never Shafted One Single Person Or Company Money I Owed But Bac Needs To Be Investigated On Their Practices And What They Are Doing To The American People That Work So Very Hard Every Day For The American Dream Of Owning Their Own Home For Some Corp To Buy Out Another One And Raise Their Payment And Who Do You Call I Dont Have Money For A Big Lawyer Toi Go After Them I Have A Hard Enough Time Puting Food On The Table And Clothes If Some One Has Any Compasion For The Little Guy Please Call Me Eddie At [protected] If You Are In The Same Boat Sent It On Dont Let Bac Mortages Get Over On Us The American People That Make This Country Hope Everyone Has Food Love And A Roof Me I Have Love Hope A Roof And I Will Always Work For Food God Bless Us Forward To Any One Who Is In Office Maybe Some Of Are Electided Officals Will Do Their Jobs

I have a credit card with Bank of America and recently ran into some financial issues after a family concern. When I spoke to the bank they agreed to work with me.

On Aug 6, 2007 I was sent a letter by Reginald Miles who said if I paid $65 by August 23rd (today), that would help me from falling further back. I received calls daily, sometimes 3-4 a day.

So I spoke to Bank of America and advised I was prepared to pay $800 over 2 payments in the next week. They assurred me that would get me back in good graces. So I paid $800 between Aug 8th and August 14th.

Then today I got a statement and my APR went from 12% to 30.24%

when I called for asistance a man named Ben on their 800# said he had the final say and nothing could be done. I asked for a supervisor and he said again, he was the "final say".

Bank of America is worse than a loan shark and when I tried to work something out, they declined any assistance.

Don't ever get involved with Bank of America because they have a long history of ripping off their customers. I have been in touch with the local ABC affiliate who will include a copy of my statement showing the 30.24% in their upcoming series on "Credit Card rip offs"

I got a loan of around $15, 000 when I was going through nursing school a few years ago. I paid my monthly payment through automatic payments (or so I thought). The automatic payments ended without my being notified, therefore, making them late and causing my intrest rate to increase. They would finally call me a month or two after a payment was not made and state that my automatic payments had ended and that I would have to pay more money and restart automatic payments. Stupid me started the automatic payments again only to have them end without my being notified; thus driving up the interest rate more. I was told I was paying 18% interest but out of a payment of $290 a month only about $30.00 of that went to the principal payment (not quite sure how they do math). Finally recently I got smart and paid the whole loan off (or so I thought). I paid off what they said I owed on it. A week or two later an $81.00 credit showed up in the account. I went to a Bank of America center where they said they would move the credit to one of my other accounts and then the account would be closed. Just today the account shows that I now owe $75.00. I'm pretty sure this whole thing is a huge scam so that I will keep having to pay money on this stupid account. I just want it to end. I am ready to [censored] over this nightmare and I need some help please!

This letter is concerning Gregory, Vanessa Timmons. We owned a home at 11817 Riad. We were just paying 900.00 when our mortgage was brought by Bank Of America. It went from 900.00 to1136.00 well that was hard for us to pay.So I contact the Bank Of America to redo a loan modification. They just had brought it. So I contacted Loan Soluctions help. They told me they would handle it from there.now I'm losing my home. Could you please let me have a loan monifcation.I want to keep my home of 27 years.

They will just come in and destroy it.

Are you kidding, always calling when I am at work. I work your hours, send a letter or call after 6 pm. Do not send a letter I have to sign for, guess what, I am at work and can't sign for it.

Sudden increase in interst rate from 7.9% to 29.5% Based on two instances.

Bank of America claimed I made a late payment, Although it was made on the due date at a BOA branch. Bank claims it is not the due date that counts, of course, but the date transaction is recorded. That as I am sure you've heard before is down right sleazy.

Made a payment 4 days ahead of due date.
I did not have bill with me so I guessed at amount due. I underestimated by $3.00.

they recorded payment as not made.

As a result of the banks action my monthly payment will be more than I can pay, thus throwing my credit rating down the tube.

What purpose can that possibly serve?

I have to assume that either the BOA is either very dumb or very callous. I think both. Regardless, it is my understanding that I have to notify FIA card services that I refuse to accept this vindictive interest rate.

Dogged by lawsuits for the past four years, now has another one on its plate – and this one may gain the most exposure in racist Augusta Georgia: Racism, corporate corruption, securities fraud lawsuit accusing Corp Chief Executive Brian Moynihan, the Augusta Branch Staff- discriminating against & mistreating customers who are African-American, and stealing money from customers! Members of the class action lawsuit against the company related to overdraft fees will receive compensation. Don't do any business with this horrible & negligent company!

I have a Bank of America Power Rewards Card provided thru FIA Card Services based out of Wilmington, Delaware. I received a letter in the mail recently telling me that my rate would be raised from 19 percent (which was already outrageous) to 27.99%. I have an excellent record of payment and make more than minimum payments on my credit cards. I was very angry to receive this notice. According to the notice, information was acquired via TransUnion which precipitated the increase. I have NEVER made a late payment to this card and I have always payed more than the minimum payment on a monthly basis for at least 4 years. I have now written the required note to reject the amendment. This means that after February 28th, I will not be able to use this card otherwise it will default to the 27.99 interest rate. THIS IS 24 POINTS HIGHER THAN THE CURRENT FEDERAL RESERVE BANK INTEREST RATE (3.5 as of this writing)! NOT EVEN A LAS VEGAS LOAN SHARK WOULD VIG AS HIGH AS THIS! I will be paying this card off and closing it immediately. To take money from hard working people who actually make their payments on time to their outstanding debts is beyond despicable and deplorable. These heartless organizations are not deserving of our investment. My only hope is that this move will diminish their customer base and drive their organization along with their vampiric practices right into the grave of bankruptcy.

I Made a Loan With 3.99% for 6 Months, each month always and time I never late. My pay due is in the 21 each month, so I made one payment $600.00, on march 11. I made my final amount due on march 14 with all my incometax. Now Bank of America Customer service still try to charge more and my Credit Card. and I hope the recording what they said. so I need fix this problem if not I want to cancel my Direct Deposit and Changes morgage and Checking account to another Bank. If they don' t fiw the problem they made for me,

Sanjuana

A short time ago, I contacted B of A to try and arrange a settlement on my high CC debt. I was in deep to others as well. Instead of filing a Bankruptsy, I chose to go to my local banker and secure enough money to pay everyone I owed 33% on the dollar. Trying to do the right thing instead of sticking everyone and avoid Bankruptsy. Everyone agreed with the exception of B of A. The rep, inquired about every bill I was paying and instead of agreeing to my plan, said they could do nothing at this time. Needless to say, I was already behind 6 months. Then they asked me to make a payment, knowing full well I could not. To this day, they have not agreed and I am looking at Bankruptsy as a result. Instead of trying to help, they have foced my hand. The banker said they would lend the money only if all my creditors agreed to the 33%. I believe they need to be brought down to size. And so many more as well. They talk the big talk to get your business, but then when you need help, it's so long sucker! I might add, the reason I had such hardship was due to helping my sick kids. One with Lupus and one that had a severe heart attack. Of course, they could care less...up until that point in time, I carried a credit rating about 800.

i went on line yesterday evening to see about a cash advance that was posted on my account. they asked if i would like to increase my line of credit and i answered sure. they said i would have to call a number today which i did and found my credit line was reduced almost in half from $14, 200 down to $6, 600 when i asked why they told me they reviewed my credit line and as my income dropped as i was on social security. i have been a member of fia since 2004 i became disabled in 2002 and my credit is very good as i pay 7.24% interest to fia. last august i applied for a balance transfer fo $3, 000 to pay some medical bills and take a vacation, which they recommended was the very purpose of the checks they send me at least once a month. talking to a person named josh an hour ago i was told that i use the card too much in the last year. why wouldn't i, the interest is the lowest of all my cards. to me it made perfect sense. i wonder if it could be that we cancelled our savings and checking account at bank of america where we had some of our reverse mortgage on account there. my credit scores were all in the 700s, the highest at last report was 779 followed by 732 and 716 . i don't understand why they cut my credit line but would like to know why, which josh ran me around in circles for about 15 minutes. i guess when you question about your account at BoA or FIA you insult their integraty and their wrath falls apon you instantly. well i've learned my lesson and i've learned it well, not only can your credit card check on you, but you should check them out a few times a year. so the snipping and tearing you heard was me cutting up my card and ripping the 2 packets of checks i received in the last month from them. if i hadn't called back today and wrote a checkfor $500 it would have been returned, my credit could have been affected not to mention the embarressment i might have felt.

FIA card services owned by BA, I just made 10, 000 dollars in payments this month on my card, and they dropped my credit line to just above my balance the next day, YES I AM SERIOUS, they dropped my credit line from 24300.00 to 15200, the NEXT DAY, the payment posted yesterday and today my credit line was decreased!
I have not been late on payments, have $177k a year income, so I don't want to hear the bs from some of you about why banks are lowering your balances, raising rates, because there was absolutely no reason for this!, we have Closed our account with them because of this, GOOD BYE FIA! I have a auto loan with Bank of America as well, it is mt last one, there will not be another

I wish we had a better credit education in this country! First off the T.A.R.P. funds were given to the larger banks so they could lend credit...your high interest rate reflects your poor credit history! Consolidating your credit cards OFTEN causes a lower score...try asking for a credit line increase before the transfer! It doesn't matter if you had a credit card open for 20 years...if you BECOME RISKY YOU ARE RISKY!

P.S. Regions is not owned by Bank of America...they are owned by Regions Financial Corporation.

BOA needs to be investigated for criminal activity. They have several times improperly processed my automatic payments. Because they have messed up on their side, they then increased my rate from an introductory rate below 5% to nearly 30%. I was called and told that i had to pay the difference from my previous scheduled low rate to the 30% rate. After that I could call back and explain to their retention department what occurred (their error at BOA) and ask to have my initial rate reinstated. The fia cust service person was very nice to me on the phone and agreed BOA was in error, but her hands were tied. I guess she was also lying in the end as when i called the 'retention' group number, the numbers I have received from them go to a messages stating this number is not in service. Who can we write to for BOA criminal activities? Is there a class action suit against them yet, as I have also heard horror stories from others as well. Not only are they stealing money from us, they are ruining our credit. I have also been on phone with their cust service previuously with other messups done by BOA, and they were the rudest, condescending cust service reps I have yet to encounter. BOA has now taken over my mortage company. Who is investigating BOA?

FIA handles cards for various banks. My bank was wachovia and somehow FIA ended up with my wachovia credit card. the affirmative action hires at wachovia siad that it was their account and that it wasn't and that even though it says wachovia on my bill that they could handle it and that they couldn't handle it and that it would no longer be associated with them. Years later and it still says wachovia on my bill along with FIA. They are purposely messed up as it allows them to charge more. Try making a payment online at FIA... Good luck. They play games with letting you make a payment from an account and they delay payment for several days. Citicards is an example of a bank whose online section actually works well and is customer friendly. Try to make a phone call and they charge $15 for a payment if you are lucky to make it through their system. Try calling customer service and you have to wait forever to get through to some chimpanzee at the local zoo. Sorry, but i don't speak mexibonics.

I also received a letter stating they were going to raise my interest rate to almost 23 percent unless I called and declined their offer. If I called and declined the interest hike, I would no longer be able to use my card, and if I did, everything on it would be raised to the 22.9 interest rate. I called and declined their "offer" and cut my credit card in half. They will NEVER get my business again. Oh, and for any of you that think I was a bad customer? My limit on the card was $16, 500.00, my balance is $2130.00 and my payments have always been above the minimum and always on time. So, they are just one F*CKED up company!

As for Ryan Davis... Kiss my A**

I too received a letter from BOA. I am a disabled Veteran who has worked extremely hard to get to where I am today. In Today's troubled economy you would think BOA would be looking to assist their customers with reducing debt, instead they continually raise interest rates on their loyal customers thus putting them further in debt. I will be canceling all and any credit cards I have associated with BOA or FIA Card Services this month.

Ryan Davis must work for Bank or America. Probably on the Board of Directors. Maybe an AIG employee. There really are people who pay their bills and don't whine for hand-outs; oh, poor me.

I've been a BOA customer for serveral years, never missed a single payment and always pay 3 to 5 times the minimum balance each month. My balance was $4300 last month and I made a large payment of $1500 to help reduce the interest. As a "reward" for my consistent, on time payments and for significantly lowering the balance last month, these crooked, freemasonic shysters sent me a note in the mail today stating that they are doubling my interest due to my "payment patterns"(!). Thus, it seems I am being PENALIZED for always being on time, paying way over the min. and making an extra large payment last month, which cut into their pockets. And the smart aleck above need not reply with his accusations. My payment history is perfect and my credit is perfect. I have a 30 year death contract er I mean "mort" gage and a car which is nearly paid off and 2 credit cards, BOA and American Express (which I have had no problems with so far, it's on a fixed for the life rate of 4.99). The greedy bankers have ruined America and have stolen everything from the people with their inflated monopoly money, the unscrupulous "mort"gage death contracts, and unjust usuary on credit. I wish I had listened to my Grandparents when I was young, they always told me to save money and pay outright for everything. I guess that's why the Bible says "The borrower is SLAVE to the lender." Anyway, BOA has cut their foot off where I'm concerned. I've pulled money out of my savings account and am promptly paying them off and canceling the card and will NEVER have anything else to do with those crooks.

In addition to the previous comment when I mentioned the better business bureau and BOA they told me that the Better Business Bureau could do nothing unless I had talked to BOA first. I listen to him complete that statement and say what is it you think I‘m doing right now. I have decided to test them on that by doing the contacting the following: the better business bureau (www.bbb.org), AARP (www.aarp.org) if a senior, local congressman (www.congress.org/congressorg/home. Since these groups can do nothing according the BOA employee who talked to me, we should all see if he is correct in that statement.

I received a letter from BOA a few weeks ago stating that my credit limit is being dropped due to payment history and large balances. In the past few months I have started to pay off all of my credit cards. I obtained a copy of my credit report and did correct two things that were wrong. Now my credit report shows nothing adversely affecting my credit except debt. Today I received a letter saying that my interest rate is going up 15%. When I called them they told me it was to stay competitive with other banks and that my payment history and late payments was the reason for this. When I mentioned that I had cleaned up my credit report and they may be using an outdated one I was told "sometimes we use older credit reports rather than get new ones, they don't change that much in a few months." Every time my credit score goes up BOA lowers my limit, and attempts to justify it by saying that since I wasn't using it I must not need it. Then my interest rate goes up but the two are not related to each other.

I received a letter from FIA yesterday stating my interest is going up 5%. I have never been late on ANY payments, have no debt except for a mortgage and car payment and just received my credit reports that all three gave me excellent scores. I called FIA customer service and was told the rate went up because of the ECONOMY ! I am mad. It is bad enough I have to pay some one else's mortgage and now I have to pay their other bills too. I will never use this card again. They are going to lose a lot of good customers and only retain the losers.

They should call it Bank of Israel. They raised my rate from 8% to 26.9 after they took TARP money and after the Fed lowered interest rates.

I never made one late payment on my CC yet they still hit me with a shylock rate that would be illegal in every other state except Delaware. Luckily, I have cash on hand so I'm writing out a check for the entire balance and placing in the memo section. "Take your shekels, Shylocks."

No more bailouts without more oversight of these jew financiers.

Shalom

the operators at FIA have been cruel and intentionally deceptive. They called my wife and said she, as power of attorney, is responsible for the debts of her decieased step father. They told my mother-in-law she owed over 55, 000 to bank of america. As it turns out, they never had a social security number for my mother in law. I am an attorney and have repeatedly asked to speak with legal counsel or resolve this in court. They could not connect me to an attorney and still continue to call depite promises that the computer can no longer call because they have erased my number from the the system.

The kansas office is especially malicious. they lie becuase they have no legal standing.

I just found out that Regions credit card was bought out by Bank of America. I called to ask if I could have the interest rate lowered.
I have an excellent credit history and payment history wit this company. The more then rude lady on the phone would not even allow me to speak with a credit annalist she stated "they won't answer the phone" WHAT ! What kind of company am I dealing with. I won't be using this racked anymore. FIA Card Services P.O. Box 15019 Wilmington DE [protected]-6299 I encourage everyone to call and ask if they can negotiate their interest rates just for the fun of it. Maybe the credit department will start taking calls.

I wish B0A go bankrupt in 2009. GOD.. please listen to my prayer.

Even former employees get it!

I am a former Merrill Lynch employee at the Private Client Department on 153 East, 53rd Street, Ny, Ny, 10022 who is currently in job transition to another company at the moment. I have 10 years banking experience as a Financial Advisor and hold the following qualifications:
BA (Hons) Law & Economics
MBA (Finance)
NASD Series 7, 63, 65, 52
Until yesterday I also had two Credit Cards:
1) Bank of America Platinum VISA Limit $16, 500
2) Merrill Lynch + Card VISA Limit $25, 000
Both fully paid with no balance every month.
Events: I called 1.800.732.9194 on Tuesday 27th of January 2009 Aprox at 6pm to discuss if it was possible to get a lower rate on my cards.
The representative on the phone started asking me a bunch of personal questions in a very conceiting manner and tone, and when I told him I was in job transition he said. "Oh, so you’re not working and we gave you such big limit! I'm closing your accounts!” And without letting me speak he clicked the phone. I thought this was a bad joke at first until I tried to use my card today and it was declined. I have since found out that both my cards have been canceled. This is preposterous, and to think I have had the card since 2002 with never a single late payment makes no sense. I tried calling a manager back and after I told him the story today he put me on hold said he would take care of it and eventually the phone clicked. I called back again and someone else started again the phone marathon, until I was clicked again. Enough, so that’s why I want to pursue different means through BBB. I was wondering what if these where my only cards and all of a sudden at a click of a button they canceled my credit after I spent 10 years building up strong credit and high limits. It must be illegal? I have not shown any cause to the company for concern and I'm definitely not a sub-prime customer that they have lent too and lost millions of dollars to date already.
Secondly, I was also informed that this affects my credit score negatively since it’s a card from 2002 with a long history.
Both this employee and manager should be fired and I should be written an apology and restituted to my full limits and they should inform the credit score companies that this is their mistake

The same thing has also happened to me and I have had two credit cards with Bank of America for over 15 years. Never a late payment, over the limit, etc. I also did a balance transfer from a high interest card to BOA with 0% interest for 12 months and then 7.9 for the life of the balance. Well just last month, they raised my interest to 21.99% because of "something" in my Trans Union credit report. It seems like it doesn't matter if you have excellent payment history or not, they will get you one way or the other. I am getting ready to transfer or to try to transfer to Discovermotiva. They sent an excellent offer in the mail of 0% until Dec. 2009 and 3.99 on bal transfers until 2012. I am glad to hear others with the same complaint. I thought it was just me.

i have gotten nasty via emails with customer service and tore into them with very profane language and i had a customer service rep tell me to that if i dont stop they will refer my emails to corporate security and have my accounts closed. i kept doing it and now one of them has told me that this is not acceptable and for me to find another bank but he or she this time unlike the other times didnt identify themselves, but just signed it "boa". This is a very pleasurable experience. Oh and hey ryan davis that posted up above, do you work for boa or do you just like to lick there shoes you pole glider.

They probably won't. They will tell you there is nothing they can do just so the can gouge you of more of your money. They just did it to me.

It is common credit card practice for banks to charge a delinquency rate, that is a higher rate for accounts that show 2 payments past due.

A payment is considered on time when the minimum payment is received in full by the duedate. While the branch may have made the payment, they may have been on the next business day. Also, even though it was only by a small amount, underpaying the minimum payment due to considered a late payment, because you didn't meet the minimum.

Technically, BoA is right. Whether or not they should take these things into consideration when reviewing the account is their decision.

I had something very similar happen to me with this company. I had a long relationship with this company holding a credit card. I received a notice that they were increasing my Signature Card interest rate from 3.99% to 24.99%. After calling to question why, I was told that the bank "reserves the right to increase the APR based on your payment history and credit score." After getting some information, I was told Trans Union was the reporting agency, and there was no history over the last 5 years of late payments, missed payments, over-the0linit fees, or any negative information.

When I reviewed my credit reports from all three companies, my credit score had stayed level or INCREASED, ranging in the high 790's to low 820's. What had occurred is that someone had opened a checking account in my name at a Bank of America, and that the account had been fraudulent. It was closed and taken care of through the authorities.

I closed the account, and payed or transfered the balance to other programs. Several months later, I started receiving multiple offers from this company to open a new "Signature Visa Card" at the new rate of 7.99%. When I called the company to ask if they would again raise the rates for no apparent reason, the representative reported, " [the bank] reserves the right to increase the APR based on your payment history and credit score."

I will not do business with this type of company, and obviously by the multiple reports of this bank's activities, this is a standard operating procedure. I would be very wary of this type of "customer service institution".

As a credit analyst, let me explain a little further the facts you've mentioned, and separate them from your perceptions and general myth. Firstly, you note the available credit lines and the balances at the time the credit bureau was pulled. Before getting into calculations, a general rule of thumb is that you should never utilize more than 50% of your available credit. That's really pushing it, a healthy percentage should be less than 40 at any given time. You say these are your only two debts you're carrying, and no other financing records to speak of, like mortgages, auto loans, etc. This speaks to a lack of credit references, which can bring down your credit score. Now, let's add up your credit lines, which is called "available credit." $8500 between your two creditors. Next, let's add up your balances at the time the bureau was pulled: $7695. Quick math? 90.53% of your available credit is used. Remember that you should never utilize more than 50%? You're almost 100% utilized, on two trades. Few trades to speak of. A lender will look at this and say you are poorly managing what little credit you have experience with ... keep in mind that according to Fair Issac, 30% of your credit rating is this ratio, called Utilization.

I'm not saying you're a bad customer, by any length. You say you've never had any delinquencies on your payment history, which is outstanding, and quite rare.

Also, a note about the numerous 'inquires' you speak of by Bank of America. Being a lender of their size and managing as many credit customers as they do, I can only imagine the level of sophisticated credit software they must employ to keep their heads above water. Keep in mind that anyone with whom you have an account can check your credit at any time; your opening the account authorizes them to do so. There are 9 permissable reasons to pull a credit bureau, some of which are Employment, Collections, Child Care, Application for Credit, Assessment of Risk, Insurance Underwriting, and Licensing. Also, there are two types of pulls to your credit, which are usually referred to as "hard" and "soft" pulls. A "hard" pull is you applying for something -- it will be on your bureau for anyone else to see when they review, and will impact your credit scoring. A "soft" pull, however, is allowed by anyone with whom you currently have an account and can only be seen by the lender themselves, as well as you, the person about whom the credit bureau is describing. So when you pull your own credit, of course you see many inquiries -- you'll see absolutely every time someone's requested it. If you were to apply for an auto loan, however -- that lender would not see those inquiries unless you are requesting credit. Also, inquires only count for 10% of your credit scoring, so don't worry so much about it either way.

Another large impact to your credit score, which is a numerical indicator of your credit worthiness, is how diversified your debt is. If all you have are department store cards, that's not a great way to decide if you can manage a major credit card or a 30-year fixed mortgage for $200K. Add a little spice to your credit report .. finance something! Show that you can manage an installment loan, a Gap card, your BOA credit card, your Discover credit card, AND a 15- or 30-yr mortgage! This is the way to make the credit bureau DEFEND you, not IMPEDE you. Keep in mind ... a lendor is not basing their decision on your character, or whether or not they think your attractive, or how much money you have. They want to know that when you borrow money, you pay it back as responsibly and as quickly as possible.

Scott,
You are misinformed on a couple of points.

"Also from what I've learned, the more companies check your credit report it actually causes your score to lower. Nice game they got going, huh?"

There are 2 types of inquiries.
1. Hard inquiries like applying for a mortgage, auto loan or credit card are one type.
2. Soft inquires. When you check your report or when open accounts check your report. All credit card companies run a check every month.

This DOES NOT effect your score.

Your credit score went down because it sounds like your debt to credit ratio is too high. And also since you do not have much credit history you aren't getting any points for establish history.

If you take 2 people with exactly the same credit report and one has a mortgage and one doesn't. The one with a mortgage will have a higher score, because it shows a history that you are capable of managing a monthly payment.

More people need to talk to their local news and continue talking to their local news about these things with Bank of America. Enough people can bring them down. Without continued business and creating outrageous rates that cause their customers the inability to pay them back...they will go under.

According to an article by Business Week dated just 2 days ago titled "A Credit Card You Want To Toss", Bank of America is indeed increasing rates for no apparent reason. I currently pay 16.25% with them and if they jack my rate up, I'll be done with them. I may cancel my account anyway just out of principle.

Whine, whine, whine... I highly doubt that your credit is "impeccable" if your rate was raised. Everyone thinks there credit it perfect, everyone thinks they deserve to pay 0% forever, and everyone thinks they are the "model customer". Interest rates aren't raised arbitrarily, they are raised because you have delinquency, extremely high amounts of debt, you use extremely high amounts of cash on your cards, and/or payment history. People like you make me sick that come on here to bash a company's name by telling complete lies. You know your credit probably sucks. You probably have 12 foreclosures or 100k in debt. Don't tell people you are better than you are.

The exact thing happened to me. The letter said I have the right to refuse the increase but I can never use it.