Advanta, formerly one of the country’s biggest credit card issuers, will be closing all of its customers’ credit cards on May 30. Yep, that’s this Saturday. Consumerist has one customer’s story:
(Advanta) told me that notices had been sent out to all cardholders, but due to “postal problems” we will not get them until the end of the month. That gives cardholders just 10 days to get new credit cards for their employees and make changes to any automatic payments which may be attached their Advanta cards. I suggested they post a notice on the website, but was told they don’t plan on doing that because they are not required by law to do so. My business isn’t carrying a balance, and this is only a small inconvenience for me, but it’s just bad business to leave their customers in the dark until the very last minute.
Unfortunately, that kind of bad business seems to be a new standard among fearful credit card companies. Wikipedia has a copy of the full notice:
Dear Customer,
Your Advanta Business Card account is funded by an independent trust which owns the balances you owe on your account and provides funding for new transactions. We expect the trust to stop funding activity on our accounts. The trust also restricts our flexibility to fund activity on your account. Unfortunately, as a result, effective May 30th all Advanta Business Credit Card accounts, including your account, will be closed.
This means that you will not be able to use your card or account for new transactions, including purchases, checks and balance transfers beginning on May 30th. We understand that you may have written checks on your account before May 30th and we will make every effort to honor those checks that are presented to us for payment by June 3rd. If you use your Advanta card to make automatic recurring bill payments, you will need to make alternative arrangements for those payments promptly.
It is important to understand that you are not required to pay your entire balance at this time. You may continue to pay down your account balance over time, as allowed under your Advanta Business Card Agreement.
You will not lose the rewards that you have earned. If you participate in a Cash Back program, you will receive a check for the amount of any accrued rewards more than $1.00 as long as you make the required minimum payments and your account remains in good standing. If you participate in a Business Rewards program, you will have at least 60 days to redeem your points as long as you make the required minimum payments and your account remains in good standing.
We deeply regret the impact this action will have on your business and very much wish it was not necessary.
We are committed to assist you through this process. Additional information will be available at www.advanta.com/notice. If you have any other questions or concerns, or if we can assist you in any other way, please feel free to contact our Customer Service Center. You can email us your questions 24 hours a day at www.advanta.com/secure 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.
Sincerely,
