Bank of America opened a credit card without asking me?

Question

I have a Bank of America Gold (Visa) Credit Card. I've had it a long time ago...it started as a secured card and it has been a regular credit card for probably about a year and a half or so now. Great payment history with them and my credit score is roughly 749. Well...I checked recently and they've "added" a credit card to my account without asking me. It's a "WorldPoints Platinum Plus Visa" card. The logical thing I thought to do was check on their website to find out what the credit card is...because it sounds like one of those "travel rewards" cards. But I couldn't find one on their site with that name...I thought it was odd. They just 'opened' it without asking me...I have enough credit cards and my credit is pretty good, so I didn't need this. I know the thing to do is call them Monday morning and ask them why it's there and why they opened it without asking me. This could affect my credit score oddly. Any idea what this card actually IS, and isn't this illegal for them to do?

Thanks for the info. Well...the crazy thing is my Gold card has made it up to about $3,800 credit limit. It looks like this card they gave me has only $2,500 limit...seems like a pretty dumb thing to do. Give me another card and 'lower' it in credit...which also opens another revolving account on my credit report.

I don't send back 'offers' in the mail, so there is no fine print. I pay all bills online...so nothing through snail-mail gets mailed back. Couldn't have been any offer that I opened myself.

I shred my stuff with a diamond cut shredder...I doubt any 'identity theft' person could have gotten enough information to get such a thing going. Particularly since when I log in to the bank of america website...my Gold card, checking account and this new card are all on the same bank of america account page together.

Okay, so I called Bank of America today. Talked with somebody there...the account is being closed and still has a 0 balance. One of the ladies told me that she didn't believe it's 'fraud' or 'identity theft', but that Bank of America likely opened it as a 'courtesy', because I was a good customer. They're closing the account...and they are going to contact the credit bureaus to get all of the information taken off as if it was never there (according to them...I'll check it in a month or two and dispute it if it's not). I've also placed a 'fraud alert' on my credit report for 90 days, and they'll contact me first before allowing any other accounts, loans or whatever to be opened. So...all is good. I thought it was pretty dumb that one of the Bank of America associates basically said that my information might be "floating around out there somewhere". haha But...all is good, thanks for the info. :-)

Answer 1

It is possible that they upgraded the card you have. I've had credit card companies do that. They decide I'm just such a great credit risk that they "give" me a higher limit or they "give" me a Platinum card instead of my Gold card that I already had.

I've got one card that I don't think I've ever had more then $1,000 charged on it at one time, ever but I've had the card for years and they keep upping my credit limit on it. The last time I looked, I had a $50,000 limit. That is so insane it's not even funny. If I ever managed to actually charge that much money on that card, I would never be able to pay it off.

Answer 2

Are you sure YOU opened it, by the time it shows up on your credit report there is a good chance it has been opened for at least a couple of weeks. You should have received the card in the mail by this time. Not to put a scare into your or anything, is it possible that someone else opened up the card in your name?

Are they different account numbers? Are you sure it is a Bank of America Credit Card. The term WorldPoints seem to be associated with several different companies. This is a link that has 5 different banks with the term WorldPoints.

http://moneycentral.msn.com/banking/services/CreditCard.asp?iSearchId=5


They can not open an account without asking you, but a lot of times they get sneeky by putting an offer out there that in the fine print it authorizes them to do things like that.

Answer 3

Due to new interchange regulations April 2007, banks are moving regular credit cards to reward cards without having to change the credit card number. The issuing bank makes way more money on the reward interchange that regular retail interchange. You can check Visa or MC web site or green sheet to get the specifics. They may have moved your card to a rewards card.

Answer 4

I would call B of A (crooks) and find out more info about this account....let them know you didn't apply for this card. THEN I would contact all 3 credit bureaus and dispute the account as one you did not open. B of A may tell you something like, we'll look into it, but they're full of b.s. Make sure they send you and Affadavit of Forgery/Fraud about this account and make sure you fill it out & mail it/fax it back to them & keep a copy for your records.

B of A was recently bought or merged with MBNA...duplicate entries on my credit report, the credit agencies refusing to delete the line b/c it shows up as 2 different banks.

Answer 5

often after 12 months, the economic business enterprise will refund the secured deposit. The economic business enterprise won't boost your minimize with a secured card. merely call and ask for it. this is going to result your credit as lengthy as you paid as agreed.