Business Owner alert -- Advanta Platinum Business Card

[emcoasthvacr]

I've had an Advanta Platinum Business Card @ 7.99% for nearly 2 years and it raised my interest rate to 20.5% despite having excellent credit & no late payments -- My bookeeper caught them raising my rates in the last statement.

Business Owners watch out -- the next month they sent convenience checks which would cost 30.5% APR if cashed.

What a scam -- I closed out the account & will report them to the BBB(Advanta has previously pleaded out to a class-action suit).

[dash]

Originally Posted by emcoasthvacr

I've had an Advanta Platinum Business Card @ 7.99% for nearly 2 years and it raised my interest rate to 20.5% despite having excellent credit & no late payments -- My bookeeper caught them raising my rates in the last statement.

Business Owners watch out -- the next month they sent convenience checks which would cost 30.5% APR if cashed.

What a scam -- I closed out the account & will report them to the BBB(Advanta has previously pleaded out to a class-action suit).

Same here,plus I cashed he points for a debit card,and have been waiting weeks to get it,several inquiries and no response!

[emcoasthvacr]

Probably shouldn't be posted in Residential -- Anyone with Advanta Business Cards need to be aware that Advanta raises its rate from 1-3 points above prime to 15-20 points above without the business owner knowing it.

[flange]

Business owners should not be carrying balances. They can charge me whatever rate they want, I pay all cards off each month. I only allow my guys to use em for gas and small parts, no big ticket stuff. Each averages about fifteen hundred per month.

[DeltaT]

The banking industy is one of the most corrupt industy in the world now. It's been that way for a number of years especially when it comes to credit cards. I had some of the same experience over 10 years ago and found that the banks were charging me extra charges on purpose...me and 3 million other people.

So one day I'm talking to an attorney friend and this subject comes up. He deal in handling the final adjustment is estates and tells me horror stories of what banks put the relatives of dead people through. They literally will do anything at anytime to get money from consumers. And there is no one there to stop them.

[emcoasthvacr]

Today's prime is 5% -- your business card should be 6 to 8% if you have good to great credit.

I know in business, the sky is the limit, but Capital One & American Express always had rates tied to the Prime.

Those Advanta scammers raised my rate from 6.99 to 20.5 despite great credit without my knowledge -- I paid off the balance & won't use the card.

[MrMcGoo]

Close the accounts of the crooked financial institutions. They got in trouble due to their own bad business practices, so now it's time to rip off their customers.

If you do not close the account, they will find other ways to rip you off. For example, record on time payments as late and charge a late fee plus interest. Then, when you try to leave, your credit is not so good. Nice folks.

Bill

[sjc1014]

Everyone needs to be very wary of doing business with Advanta. This month my interest rate was increased from 11.99% to 25.39%. When I questioned why this was since I was an excellent customer and have excellent credit, I received the following reply. It seems now it doesn't matter how good you are at paying your bills, you are punished for what the rest of the country does. I am paying off this credit card immediately and cancelling my account. Buyer beware!!!!


Thank you for contacting us about the terms of your Advanta account.

Your Advanta rates are based on a variety of factors including information about your Advanta account, such as credit line utilization and payment history and information we obtain from credit bureaus about your personal and business credit. The information we obtain from the credit bureaus can include your activity on any other accounts you may have including mortgages and other credit cards.

In addition to factors such your account history with us and your credit scores, our evaluation also considers the economy. Given the current difficult economic environment, we expect accounts with similar behavior and credit profiles to your account to now have a greater likelihood of defaulting than before and your new pricing reflects that higher risk.

We appreciate the opportunity to serve you and your business needs. If you have any other questions or concerns, please feel free to contact our Customer Service Center. You can visit us online 24 hours a day at www.advanta.com or call us toll free at (800) 705-7255, Monday - Friday 8:00 am to 8:00 pm and Saturday 8:00 am to 5:00 pm Eastern Time.

Charles Regazzi
Account Manager
Advanta

[DeltaT]

As an extension of this subject and my points on dealing with a lot of large banking institutions these days, here's my latest.

For years I have hated Bank of America and for good reason. However I inherited them as they took over Seattle First so I pretty much had not choice. Plus I have all my business accounts with them and more. So from time to time they dock me with fees for this and that.

Now for the 50 plus years I've had a checking account in some form or another I can not remember bouncing one check. If I ever did it was just one or two checks, but I doubt it.

Last month Bank of America charged me $228 in fees for 5 or 6 checks in a row bouncing or overdraft. I went to a local branch manager and complained and he removed the fees. Meanwhile one of the returned checks cost me another $110 in late fees and NSF fee.

Keep in mind I had plenty of money in my account but I has electronically transferred the money - as I have been doing for years - from my business account to my personal account before I wrote the checks.

Five days later the money showed up in my account according to their local number that give out account info through a computer generated voice. So all my checks bounced or went into overdraft.

Then I get my statements so I can prove this happened and guess what? Not only did all the fees show up on my statement but the electronic transfer said it was done the same day.

I've closed and am closing all my accounts with Bank of America. It's going to take me a lot of work and time but enough is enough.

Anyone doing business with Bank of America is foolish considering my experience.

[HeyBob]

I moved all my accounts into a bank one block from the office. Great service, close, what more could I ask for.

Bank of America bought them 6 months later, now I wait 10 minutes to make a deposit because they only have two tellers and two customer service reps in this huge empty building since they got rid of everyone else.

Yea.........I just love Bank of America.

[vmc1161]

I bought a new washer and drier from sears for my oldest son at Christmas. I get my bill and they have changed my rate to 28.98%... I call them up and ask why...they say we reviewed your account and made an adjustment...hmmm that's interesting, I have had a sears card since 1976 and not missed a payment...so my rate should have gone down...well sir that's not the way it works...we review the account and make adjustments umm OK...so why would it go up...sir I've told you we reviewed your account...umm I know you did, so why would it go up if I have never missed a payment in over thirty years Sir I've explained it to you, we did a review...I continued to pursue it but it only got worse the more people I talked to. I have sent them many letters and made at least a dozen calls and gotten no answers and I actually have gotten an attitude on a number of calls.


.

[JRINJAX]

The financial adviser, Clark Howard says that 30% of the Bank's income comes from "junk fees".

Good advice: Operate your business with no debt so you can change banks "at will". You will get much better service from them.

[bootlen]

My BOA AX did the same thing. I called to ask what was up and they did not have a record of my last month's payment. I pay in person at the local branch and they apparently lost it. I went down had a talk, they asked me to pay last month's payment by end of business and they would go back to the 6.3% and reverse the late charges. Done on my end. Waiting to see next month if done on theirs.

Maybe a simple mistake in your case as well.