Cannot be more irritated with the Santander ZERO card

BartyBoy

Hello everybody

Some years ago, I read some positive reviews about the Santander ZERO credit on this website, it all sounded brilliant to me so I decided to apply for one. It all went through successfully back in February 2010 when I applied for this card.

I believe it was just over a year ago, Santander sent me a letter to inform me that the interest rate on my ZERO card would be increased, I had an option to refuse/reject the increase if I wanted to, and by doing so I would not be able to use my ZERO card again. I did contact Santander then to tell them that I disagreed with the increase of the interest rate, so my ZERO card was suspended then.

I paid off the outstanding balance in May 2012, and I thought my account with Santander would have been terminated completely by then.

And now, out of interest I am doing a proper full credit report about myself, and I am surprised (and a bit shocked) to see that the ZERO card is still attached to me as an on-going credit card. So I phoned Santander to try to find out what was going on.

Talked to two different guys from Santander. I was told that the system does show I disagreed with the interest rate increased so my ZERO card has been suspended, but the account was (is now) never closed. I asked one of the two guys why was that. Then he told me customer needs to ring Santander to close the account, but I said to him the card was suspended, I can't use it anyway, so what is the point to leave it open? Then the guy said the card might be suspended, but if there was an outstanding balance on the card, the account cannot be closed until the customer has paid it off in full. So I said to him my card went all the way down to zero in May 2012, why wasn't the account closed then? I could tell the guy started to get irritated on the phone with my questions. In the end he just said that is the way it is. How pathetic!

So in truth, what does Santander expect me to do with a suspended credit card with no outstanding balance on it? Surely I cannot use the card, so why wouldn't they just close the account altogether for me automatically?

And now, because of this suspended credit card attached to me as an on-going credit card, Experian suggests that I may be seen as a high risk for having too many credit commitments. I really only use two credit cards, and one of them has just been suspended now due to an increase of the interest rate. I am just so annoyed with the mess up Santander has made to my credit report...

Just thought it's worth to mention it here if some people out there didn't know they need to phone Santander to close their suspended credit card accounts. Good luck!

Hominu

Typically they can't close it straight away as there might be pending transactions of CPAs on the account, so all they can do all stop you from creating new transactions (ie, suspending the card). If a pending transaction or CPA is presented months after the card is suspended, it'll still be paid and you'll still be liable to pay the bill.

This happens with all credit card providers, not just Santander.

However, I would expect them to stop marking your credit report a few months after it has been suspended, and just reopen if a transaction occurs. I suppose it depends on their systems can do this.

matttye

You might have decided to change your mind and accept the interest rate hike?

You should check your credit reports more often than every three years. If you had done so, you would have seen the account was still open.

I don't think Santander has made any mess up to your credit report... it's your responsibility to make sure you close unwanted accounts.

chattychappy

Understandable really. Rejecting an interest rise and paying down the balance isn't quite the same as closing an account though I agree it usually would be. Anyway hardly earth-shattering. Yes it might have a negative effect on your rating, but it could have a positive effect. I wouldn't take Experian's "suggestion" either way.

Then he told me customer needs to ring Santander to close the account, .... So I said to him my card went all the way down to zero in May 2012, why wasn't the account closed then? I could tell the guy started to get irritated on the phone with my questions. In the end he just said that is the way it is. How pathetic!

Pathetic? Why not tell them it's closed then instead of arguing with the poor bloke who answered your call? If it isn't marked as such by Experian after a couple of months, then query it.

As you say, you "could not be more irritated" and it looks like you irritated the phone op. Really don't see the point of that over something so trivial.

I think Zero's great. Yep I got jacked up to 35% but no matter. I get loads of 0% offers and I use it all the time for foreign ATM withdrawals. A few days' interest is peanuts even at 35% APR.

lynz68

I recently paid off 3 credit cards 2 of which had been suspended but I still had to ring up and close all three. Never make assumptions about anything especially in banking.

BartyBoy

Hominu wrote: »

Typically they can't close it straight away as there might be pending transactions of CPAs on the account, so all they can do all stop you from creating new transactions (ie, suspending the card). If a pending transaction or CPA is presented months after the card is suspended, it'll still be paid and you'll still be liable to pay the bill.

Totally understand and that's what the guys told me on the phone. But why wouldn't the account be closed once it's settled? What is the purpose to keep the account running while I don't owe Santander any money and the account is suspended?

I think this is what I don't understand.

BartyBoy

matttye wrote: »

You might have decided to change your mind and accept the interest rate hike?

You should check your credit reports more often than every three years. If you had done so, you would have seen the account was still open.

I don't think Santander has made any mess up to your credit report... it's your responsibility to make sure you close unwanted accounts.

As far as I understand, once I rejected the interest rate increase and the card/account is suspended, I cannot go back to Santander to say I have now changed my mind. Basically the account was half dead, then completely dead when I paid off every penny.

The account has been suspended sometimes last year, and now I discovered it wasn't closed completely, so I didn't really wait and check my credit report every 3 years. Besides, how often should I check my report in a normal circumstance?

I had credit cards with Halifax, Egg, Marbles, MBNA and American Express. Most of them were cancelled by the issuers after no activity made for 6 months or so, or the settlement was made after I rejected the interest rate increase.

BartyBoy

chattychappy wrote: »

As you say, you "could not be more irritated" and it looks like you irritated the phone op. Really don't see the point of that over something so trivial.

You are probably right about my reaction, cos the guys on the phone didn't seem to understand how bad this 'dead' account has affected to my credit report.

I tried to apply for a personal loan last week, and the lender rejects me straight away. I phoned them to find out why. As typical, the lender didn't give me an exact reason for the decision, but they did say they were concerned about the numbers of 'active' credit card accounts on me. Obviously to their understanding, they didn't know my Santander card was dead and unusable, so they always thought I had several thousands pounds on this card waiting for me to spend. I can't blame the lender to think about me like that to be honest.

BartyBoy

lynz68 wrote: »

I recently paid off 3 credit cards 2 of which had been suspended but I still had to ring up and close all three. Never make assumptions about anything especially in banking.

If I had the same situation before, I would definitely have phoned Santander last May to close the account manually, but all my other old credit cards were cancelled and closed by the issuers after no activity made for 6 months or so, or the settlement was made after I rejected the interest rate increase. While 6 other credit card issuers did that to me, I wouldn't think Santander wouldn't do the same.

BartyBoy

Anyway, a lesson learned and thank you very much for all your comments and advice!

SnowTiger

BartyBoy wrote: »

Totally understand and that's what the guys told me on the phone. But why wouldn't the account be closed once it's settled? What is the purpose to keep the account running while I don't owe Santander any money and the account is suspended?

I think this is what I don't understand.

Maybe one of the people who work in the Credit Card industry will be able to let us know how long it takes for a credit card account to be completely closed to new transactions.

IIRC traders have up to six months to push through a transaction, therefore I wonder why a 'closed' account would still be 'open' after that time.

I suppose there are CPAs to consider, but if none are active on an account after six months, should it be left open 'just incase' one crops up?

Perhaps CPAs should be terminated when an account is closed, as customers can end a CPA by contacting their card provider.