Bank of America Tells McMillan Group to Find Another Banker

[T3-OleMan]

Just a heads up! lightbulbYou may not want to cancel those cards......just don't use them but make one small purchase each year. If you cancel them it will hurt your credit rating to some degree.gun)
Good luck.

 

[Dr. Vette]

Just a heads up! lightbulbYou may not want to cancel those cards......just don't use them but make one small purchase each year. If you cancel them it will hurt your credit rating to some degree.gun)
Good luck.

Not correct.

Just cancel them and enjoy.

 

[ELR Researcher]

Dr. Vette:

Unless you're willing to possibly have no VISA or MC, and you're willing to leave your points money behind, I suggest you modify your admonition to, "Just get a replacement card (if needed), cash out your points, and THEN cancel and enjoy."

Seems no good reason to be without a card BRAND (like VISA or MC) or to throw away the money you've earned in the form of points. If you're not using the card in the interim, its win-win - they get no fees and you get your points turned into money (or the various "products" if that makes sense for you).

 

[azgutpile]

Not correct.

Just cancel them and enjoy.

Unless you replaces the credit cards with other cards with the same credit limit, then he is correct.

 

[Dr. Vette]

Dr. Vette:

Unless you're willing to possibly have no VISA or MC, and you're willing to leave your points money behind, I suggest you modify your admonition to, "Just get a replacement card (if needed), cash out your points, and THEN cancel and enjoy."

Seems no good reason to be without a card BRAND (like VISA or MC) or to throw away the money you've earned in the form of points. If you're not using the card in the interim, its win-win - they get no fees and you get your points turned into money (or the various "products" if that makes sense for you).

ELR,

You're thinking a different direction. I did not comment on that whatsoever.

Keeping credit cards open and buying one item a year is probably worse for your credit rating because it's $XXXX potential debt you can get into in the eyes of a lender. Potentially, if people didn't like a card but kept it open because they heard that a cancellation would hurt their rating they'd eventually have a stack of cards they don't use. That is silly.

Cancelling one credit card does Zippo for your credit rating - and that's what I was addressing. Just cancel the card you don't like and enjoy cutting it up.

And, most of us already have more than one card, so getting a replacement is not really a necessity or an urgency when you cancel an account.

 

[ELR Researcher]

Dr. Vette:

You have me confused with another poster, I never suggested keeping a card open and just doing one transaction a year.

I noted that (IMHO) BEFORE you cancel your BofA card you "probably" want to:

1. Make sure you have that BRAND of card covered (either by another current card or by getting a new one - like I did to replace my only VISA (which was a BofA through my college) with the NRA VISA) and

2. Get your money or product/services OUT by converting your points to cash or product/services.

As I found out with my BofA VISA, I would have "lost" $80 in converted points if I had simply cancelled the card. As is, the BofA VISA card is set aside, the NRA VISA card is in my wallet, and I'm waiting the approx 10 working days to get BofA's check for $80. Once that check is received and cashed, I'll call BofA and formally cancel the BofA VISA card.

In regards credit rating, I have no idea whether getting a new card offsets (or possibly more than offsets) the subsequent cancellation of another card.

Best!

 

[Catfur]

ELR,

You're thinking a different direction. I did not comment on that whatsoever.

Keeping credit cards open and buying one item a year is probably worse for your credit rating because it's $XXXX potential debt you can get into in the eyes of a lender.

That's not the way it works. One of the factors (roughly 1/3) that goes into your credit score is the utilization ratio. The credit bureaus add up your total revolving debt and divide that by your available revolving credit, the lower this number, the better your score. So it's better to have $10,000 in credit card debt and available credit of $100,000 than it is to have $500 of debt and a $1000 credit limit. The bureaus don't dock your score for having a big credit limit, it's actually the other way around.

 

[Scot E]

I think his point was that it could cause ones scores to drop and this is true. If the cancelled card had a high limit with a small balance then the utilization % goes up and your scores will drop.

In addition if it happened to be your only revolving account then your scores would drop as well.

The whole credit score system is screwed up. You have to have credit accounts with balances to keep good scores. I have seen many families pay off all or most of their debts and there scores have tanked. Credit bureaus mess with the formulas all the time but in general you need around 4-7 active accounts ideally with a couple of those being revolving to get the highest scores.

Scot E.

 

[SidecarFlip]

Interesting.

I had/have a Capital One card for the business with a 50K limit on it but the Cabelas card is so much better that I parked the C1 card in the drawer. I have a much less than 50 limit on the Cabelas card and I regularly take it over limits but I pay the balance in full every month and if I do take it over, I call in advance (Cabelas) and tell them....

Just happened a week ago. The wife wanted a pair of diamond earrings with emerald centers. Gave Cabelas a jingle on the cell phone while I was at the counter in the jewelry store, shot them the price and charged it. The wife has a thing for emeralds.

Last time I checked my Trans-Union credit score, it was well above 800 so having a card unused with a big open balance don't seem to have any ill effect on my score.....

Don't need air miles, don't like to fly anyway, at least not commercial. Private jet is so much easier. No baggage check, no x-ray machine, no waiting and good liquor in real glasses and if you happen to forget to leave your pistol at home, no biggie.

Bad JuJu on a commercial carrier.....

 

[Scot E]

Interesting.

I had/have a Capital One card for the business with a 50K limit on it but the Cabelas card is so much better that I parked the C1 card in the drawer. I have a much less than 50 limit on the Cabelas card and I regularly take it over limits but I pay the balance in full every month and if I do take it over, I call in advance (Cabelas) and tell them....

Just happened a week ago. The wife wanted a pair of diamond earrings with emerald centers. Gave Cabelas a jingle on the cell phone while I was at the counter in the jewelry store, shot them the price and charged it. The wife has a thing for emeralds.

Last time I checked my Trans-Union credit score, it was well above 800 so having a card unused with a big open balance don't seem to have any ill effect on my score.....

Don't need air miles, don't like to fly anyway, at least not commercial. Private jet is so much easier. No baggage check, no x-ray machine, no waiting and good liquor in real glasses and if you happen to forget to leave your pistol at home, no biggie.

Bad JuJu on a commercial carrier.....

There are a lot of other factors that go into score too, credit history, length, individual account length, etc. The open line with little to no balance is fine but if you don't use it for a certain amount of time it will no longer be an advantage on your score. So if you aren't using it now you actually may be able to get your score higher by using it once in a while. Not sure how many other revolving accounts you have but my guess is that if you closed that account you would see your scores drop. Strange but true.

Scot E.

 

[ELR Researcher]

I just confirmed that BoA's check (to cash out my World Points) had cleared, called and cancelled my VISA card account with them, and shredded the card.

Of note… once I identified the reason I was cancelling the card, I was immediately transferred to a BofA representative (one Elaine Higgins) who was VERY knowledgeable about the McMillan account termination matter. She was ADAMENT that the account relationship with McMillan was NOT being terminated because they are a firearms manufacturer. When I said I had no reason to disbelieve Mr. McMillan, she proceeded, in good order, to process my cancellation request.

Communications problem, "rogue" local VP, or?

 

[ATH]

Communications problem, "rogue" local VP, or?

If that were the case, it would be a simple matter to publicly apologize to McMillan and welcome them back with open arms. Since that hasn't happened....I would guess it's more likely that they did not expect the backlash they are receiving and are now trying to muddy the waters.

I have had no BoA business in years, but if I did or owned any stock, it would be gone....

 

[Joaquin B]

I never had a credit card with those preeks, since I've had a Cabelas visa for a while. I closed my savings and checking accounts and moved them to Wells Fargo. I made sure to tell B of A why I was closing my accounts and that I am encouraging everyone I know to do the same. They were not very pleased.

 

[SidecarFlip]

I never had a credit card with those preeks, since I've had a Cabelas visa for a while. I closed my savings and checking accounts and moved them to Wells Fargo. I made sure to tell B of A why I was closing my accounts and that I am encouraging everyone I know to do the same. They were not very pleased.

I believe you are treading thin ice with Smells Fartgo. Been stated previously (I believe) that Smells Fartgo is acting along the same tack as BoA.

Myself, I have my personal accouts with a local S&L and my company account with a local commercial bank in as much as S&L's can't carry corporate accounts or provide commercial lines of credit which I have both.