Just when I thought the credit card companies couldn't sink any lower, I saw this in today's Wall Street Journal.
In addition to the now routine slashing of credit lines, issuers have been closing accounts - leaving it to their (ex-)customer to find out the hard way when using the card.
In March, Mary Horowitz was trying to pay for a birthday spa treatment when she learned that American Express had canceled her card.
A few days later, Ms Horowitz received a letter from American Express. Gee thanks! (And yes, it is legal for issuers to notify by mail after the fact - or, in the case of inactive accounts, not notify at all.)
There is nothing in the pending regulations to force a change in notification practices:
New regulations from the Federal Reserve, the first of which go into effect Aug. 20, and rules from Congress that unroll in February 2010 will still permit card issuers to cancel accounts without providing advance notice.
This is especially aggravating for online users - why can't credit card companies e-mail notification immediately? I've had credit limits slashed by Chase and Bank of America. In both cases, I noticed online way before they notified me - thus avoiding the embarrassment of having my card declined. Chase has online alerts available for all kinds of things, but not for reduction in credit limit.