A concerning comment was left on our article about the new Merrill+ link last night, and it mirrors some recent data points that have popped up on r/churning. While I don’t want to unduly worry you, our readers, I think it’s worth discussing.
Unfortunately, some folks are about to find out soon that their cards were “approved in error.” Particularly those who tried to combine apps into one pull.
Wait for this developing story.
Now – anybody can say anything on the Internet. Here’s why I choose to take this at face value:
- Bank of America (BOA) has recently instituted a limit on the number of credit cards, for some people, and closed accounts that have been open for a lengthy period of time.
- There are multiple recent reports of BOA refusing to approve a business card unless you put $1,500 in a CD with them. (See this reddit thread for an example.)
- There are multiple recent reports of BOA closing cards after approval due to the card being approved in error. (See this reddit thread for an example.)
Taken together, these reports indicate that BOA is an issuer in flux and is in the process of implementing new rules. And given how freely BOA was dishing out cards, some change was probably needed on their part. (Of course, if BOA is having problems, the stupidly obvious fix is to not approve people for seven cards in one application spree (FrequentMiler link), since they are the lone issuer that rewards people for super aggressive credit seeking at one issuer.)
For now, be a little more careful with your applications – especially multiple ones – until more data points roll in. You probably want to limit yourself to at most 2–3 BOA credit card applications at once, and maybe just 2.
