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I have had a First Premier Mastercard for 2 years with a $300 limit. Each month I have paid the full balance due to avoid fees. This week I paid them $320.67 through my bank's internet banking service, d rawing the funds directly from my account and sending via ACH (Automated Clearing House) which guarantees payments between financial institutions.
When I checked my balance by phone after the payment cleared my bank account I had a 0$ balance due but 'No Available Credit At This Time'. When I spoke with a Customer Service Rep they told me they can hold payments up to 20 days before releasing my credit line. I asked why they did this since my payment history is perfect with them. He told me they could not guarantee the funds were there! I asked for a Supervisor and when he took my call he said the same thing with an additional catch, they could not verify the funds were received.
I asked how they could credit my payment and not yet be able to see they had the funds? He said they use a third party and the third party only released payments to them once they received 'a bunch of payments because this saves time and is less expensive to First Premier'. I told him he was full of it and asked for his manager.
When the young lady gets on the phone (she would only give me her first name as they have a policy against employees using their last name) She asked me if she could help. I asked her if she had been briefed by the 'Supervisor' I just spoke to and she said yes. I then asked her his name and she stuttered (imagine that!) and gave me an incorrect name. I asked her what had he told her and she stumbled through it. Short end to the long story is this, she said they hold the monies that are paid up to 20 days to guarantee payment because they do not know when payments are cleared by the issuing bank. I told her you would know if I had not paid because I have received calls claiming late payments in the past when the due date on my statement was 6 days away.
I told her they were violating banking laws and that I would cut up my card and close the account. I asked her to close my account and she refused, saying I was a valued customer!
Cut up their cards if you have them, send them back, and make copies of the cut card and the letter you send. I hope there is a class action suit in the making here and they are ordered to pay everyone back for the monies they have ripped off and the management team gets prosecuted!
Do not use First Premier. Finally, my credit union rep where I do my banking asked me a few days ago why I had their card and I told her I had been rebuilding my credit. She told me with a decent rating (which I have) they could extend me a VISA with a $300 limit. Go to your banks and ask their in branch reps to work with you on getting a low limit card from them.
First Premier should be brought to justice for their practices!
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
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I wish I knew if Wachovia / Wells Fargo had a contractual agreement with them... If you know please message me.
Anyone who gets a Bad Credit Credit Card" does so for one reason and one reason only. They have "Bad Credit". You (and I) are a risk and a huge one at that. Regardles of our intentions now this is how they see us and rightly so. There is a price we all have to pay for bad decisions or wrong moves or unfortunate circumstances. A Ying and Yang if you will. With bad credit it's rediculously high fees. That's the game. Thats how they minimized the risk. Think about it youre getting an unsecured line of credit which the system says more than likely you will not pay back. So what do they do. They minimize theyre potential losses by making you pay up-front. What ever name they want to tagged on it (processing fee, service fee, participation fee, maintenance fee, etc) thats what theyre doing and so would you. You want to minnimize your fees? Get a secured card. It is what it is. Now in defence of First Premier Bank they specialize in these types of cards and to be honest they are one of the best and have on average the lowest fees. Now Cartman is right about the hold so let me tell you how to get around it. Pay online through your banking institution. Now if you pay online thru your bank via bill pay or whatever this is the issue. IF YOUR BANKING INSTITUTION THOSE NOT HAVE A DIRECT CONTRACTUAL AGREEMENT WITH THE CREDIT CARD ISSUER A 3RD PARTY IS USED TO PROCESS YOUR PAYMENT. Hence the hold. Which is why I have never had a problem with my payment getting there on-time every time and it post the next day electronically, automatically to my credit card account and my available credit is restored instantly. In other words no ACH, no hold, but a direct electronic transfer from my checking account to my credit card account as a payment. I have five "Bad Creidt Credit Card" including the infamous Contintental Finance and even with them it works the same way. My bank has contractual agreements with all my creidt card issuers and most others and I make sure this is so before I even apply for the card. Just some advice from one who knows.
Also, if you used Western Union Quick Collect or Moneygram, OR a debit card, those are guaranteed funds since the money is paid up front, which means your credit on your card will be available the next day to 2 days later. All of this I have learned by talking to the very helpful customer service reps! :) Yes, you have to pay a fee, but 12$ to send out a payment verses 50$ in possible fees that could get charged sounds better to me!
Ever heard of a bounced check? Same concept. Sure, the check means that you are paying for the merchandise, but if a few days later they cash it and the funds aren't there, the payment is no good. The payment is held to make sure that it comes through. I have a credit card with Premier and have always been a good customer as well, paying the balance in full, ect. and this happened to me as well. They call it a "payment float" and it can happen UP to 20 days, not for 20 days. It also happens at random which is probably why you were confused. Premier has helped me regain decent credit, and is still helping me. Also realize that those customer service reps talk to ###s every day about 75% of the time. (I used to be a customer service rep for Direct TV) I'm not saying you are one, but telling someone at a professional establishment that he is full of it, didn't help your case much.
Mistakes happen though, we are only human. Give them a break.