In 2021, I was excited when Capital One finally approved a new card application for me. After years of trying, I was approved for the Venture card which had a 100K offer at the time. Two months later, though, Capital One suddenly shut down my account. I hadn’t done anything suspicious with the card, I had simply used it for everyday spend, but they shut me down anyway. As a further kick in the teeth, they cashed out the rewards I had earned to-date for only a half cent each. Ouch.
Now, they’ve done it again. My wife has the Venture X card and she had added me as an authorized user. A month later, Capital One said “not so fast!” and shut down my new card. For some unknown reason, they really, really don’t like me.
My 2021 Venture card closure
Two months after signing up for the Venture card, the card suddenly and without warning stopped working. When I logged into Capital One, I saw that my account was labelled as “Restricted”. The notice came by mail a week later. It said that they didn’t like activity observed on a past or present Capital One account:
We’re writing to let you know that this Capital One credit card account has been closed for the following reason:
Capital One has observed activity on a past or present Capital One account that is not consistent with the bank’s expectations for account activity.
Unfortunately, it can’t be reopened, and we are not able to offer additional information about this decision.
You can read all about my first shut down experience here: Capital One shut down my account and gave me only a half cent per mile.
Following the shutdown, I tried many avenues to get Capital One to clarify why they shut me down and to try to change the cash out from half a cent per Mile to 1 cent. All of those efforts went nowhere.
My 2023 Venture X (authorized user) closure
In October, my wife added me as a free authorized user to her Venture X card. The purpose was simply so that I would have access to Capital One Lounges when not travelling with her. I tucked the card into my travel wallet which resides in my go-everywhere backpack and figured that I would take it out only when visiting an airport with a Capital One Lounge. Then, a month after opening the card, my wife received a curious email from Capital One:
Subject: A recap of your request for a new card
We’re working on your new card request.
Thanks for calling us to request a new card for your account ending in XXXX.
Because of This
We immediately shut down your card and issued you a new one.Don’t Worry
Your card number has been deactivated so fraudsters can’t use it. You’ll receive an email when your new card is on its way.
Weird! She certainly hadn’t requested a new card. The account number referenced was the one associated with my authorized user card, so I started to worry that they may have shut me down and that it resulted in this strange email.
Later the same day, Capital One sent another email:
Subject: You’ve removed an Authorized User
You’ve removed an Authorized User.
Hi XXXXX,
You (or an Account Manager) have successfully removed an Authorized User from your credit card account ending in XXXX.
As a follow‑up, you should confirm that the Authorized User’s card is destroyed.
If you have questions, please call 1‑800-CAPITAL (1-800-227-4825).
At this point I was pretty sure that my authorized user card had been shut down. We logged into my wife’s account to see if there was any info there, but there was not. I didn’t see any point in calling.
About two weeks later, a snail-mail letter finally arrived:
Dear XXXX,
We’re writing about a recent change to your Capital One credit card account. GREGORY DAVIS-KEAN has been removed as an Authorized User of this account for the following reason:
Capital One has observed activity on a past or present Capital One account that is not consistent with anticipated account activity based on Capital One’s account opening and ongoing due diligence.
Please inform them to stop using the account immediately and to destroy any cards associated with it.
Here’s what you need to know:
- The decision is final, and you should not attempt to add GREGORY DAVIS-KEAN back to the account.
- As the Primary account holder, you can continue using your account as described in your Capital One Account Terms.
If you have questions, feel free to call us at 844-710-0373. Thanks for being our customer.
Sincerely,
Capital One
Customer Care Team
There you go. Whatever “observed activity” got my Venture card shut down apparently was egregious enough to cause this authorized user card to get shut down too. Something about my name being in all caps seems extra-ominous. And the letter came with a veiled threat towards my wife “you should not attempt to add GREGORY DAVIS-KEAN back to the account.” I imagine “OR ELSE!” at the end of the statement.
Why do they keep shutting me down?
I don’t know why Capital One hates me so. I didn’t use the Venture X at all, and I didn’t use the Venture account in 2021 in any questionable ways. And I don’t have any other Capital One products. The only other Capital One product I’ve ever had was an ING Orange online savings account that was bought by Capital One whereby it became a Capital One 360 account. Years ago (Jan 4, 2015), Capital One forcibly shut down that account. That time I did do some weird stuff completely by accident and so they shut me down without giving me a chance to explain my error. Fair enough. Today, are they continuing to punish me for my (accidental) sins from 7 years ago? That’s my best guess. That’s my only guess.
Mixed Feelings
Obviously I’m disappointed about Capital One shutting down my authorized user card. But its not a big deal. The only time I expected to use it was when I was at an airport that has a Capital One lounge and when my wife (or a friend with a Venture X card) isn’t with me.
On the plus side, we were previously walking on eggshells with my wife’s account. I wondered if they would figure out that we’re together and punish her for my 2015 sins. We made sure to cash out her rewards at a penny per Mile as soon as they were earned so as to avoid the possibility of only getting half a cent per Mile as was done to me in 2021.
Now, though, they seem to have implicitly accepted my wife’s account as legitimate. The fact that they only shut down the authorized user card and not her primary card was great news. As long as she doesn’t try to add me again as an authorized user, or fraternize with me in any way, her account should be safe. Whew.
Want to learn more about miles and points? Subscribe to email updates or check out our podcast on your favorite podcast platform.
Reading some of this brought back a situation I had – not even sure if it was C1. But what I learned of that bank was that there were 2 databases that did not talk with each other. Old address information from a savings account kept popping in, even though it was closed. The ‘credit’ side had recent info but it kept getting changed to old info. (I’m rather vague in my memory, sorry) At the time, I think I only had a Quicksilver + perhaps a C1 CD or savings.
But I finally got to a 2nd or 3rd level person who told me about the multiple databases + they had to put in special request/paperwork for the old to be deleted or corrected. That seemed to take a couple of weeks.
I also had had an old ING account at some point past so I don’t know if that was part of the issue. It took me several weeks + calls but it seemed to have gotten resolved.
I also was a victim of identity theft in 2012 but I don’t recall that that C1 was involved. (Best Buy, Sears, T-Mobile were the prime hits)
Just had my Capital one Savor card closed within about 2 months of opening, and they sent out this email “Capital One has observed activity on a past or present Capital One account that is not consistent with anticipated account activity based on Capital One’s account opening and ongoing due diligence”
Wow same thing happened to me…almost to a “t”. I had a previous credit card with Capital One from 7 or 8 years prior that I paid off and closed and was linked to an old closed US bank account. In 2020 Cap One offered me a pre-approved card and so I said sure why not. I set up an online account and much to my chagrin they had kept my old personal info as if that would somehow be valid 7 or 8 years later ok a new card? Plus the bank account info that I no longer had, even an old password that I had to inconveniently try and figure out. It even had my old married & divorced name as my username. I tried to change all of that including removing the old bank account and it wouldn’t let me. I believe I even called and asked them to remove it. Nope. All I could do was add my new bank account. But every. Single. Damn. Time. I made my payment I had to manually click on my new bank account because it was still set to default pay from the old closed bank account from my previous credit card 7 years earlier. Long story short, last year I was sick as a dog with pneumonia and my pymt was due. I went online in my stupored feverish state and made the payment. For days I couldn’t figure out why the money was still sitting in my bank account. Finally it crossed my mind what might have happened. I logged in and sure enough, I had forgotten to manually click on my current bank account. I tried to fix it. I called and explained the situation with a supervisor, even asking why they didnt call me when this happened, especially during covid America. But nope, they refused. And then of course magically all of a sudden they figured out how to get the old closed US bank account off my cap one online account. I asked him if this is how they treat all their good customers, since i had previously paid off and personally closed an old credit card with no late payments, and with no late payments on this current card either. Until now. Because of their mistake of leaving an old bank in there from a previous card. And then not calling me when a problem arose..they broke every customer service rule in the book. Anyway, I paid it off and got a pre-approval offer and was denied with the same wording. Absolute bullshit.
Also, in relation to my post below, a full year and a half later, my second Capital One card remains open just fine after I told them to keep their restricted card ( the first card) since they had made me jump through many hoops and still wanted more.
My fraudulent audacity of having two bank accounts in my own name ( and they are not fraudulent, by the way, tongue in cheek) apparently only applies to one Capital One card and not the other, since one card remains fully open.
That’s accurate fraud prevention for you. Not.
To those who read this, I would recommend not adding more than one checking account to your Capital One cards for payment purposes, because Capital One is completely crazy.
Please see below for additional detail.
Sorry to hear this happened to you. It’s frustrating. Capital one restricted only one of my two cards with them. The other one has remained open just fine. The reason? I added a second bank account ( both my own) to make payments.
After sending letters to Capital One from both bank managers and providing statements proving both accounts were my own, they started wanting more. No, I said. I have plenty of other good cards and credit unions who trust me. Go ahead and restrict the one card because you’ve already made me jump through major hoops with you.
And no unusual spend, no gift cards, always made payments of 6x the minimum, and nothing unusual about the account. Never made unusually large charges, and never had a single charge from a questionable source.
I’d love to know what kind of “fraud prevention” restricts one card and lets the cardholder keep their second card open with no issues.
“Fraud” in their opinion must be a customer having two bank accounts in their own name as many people do. They’re crazy.
And to clarify for those who are interested, these were 2 regular checking accounts with 2 major banks. Both had been established in my own name for 10 years.
No crazy large payments of $5,000 at one time or anything like that either.
No bluebird, no prepaid accounts nor any of that. I don’t do MS nor anything off the radar.
Their fraud protocols are badly broken, and I’m posting this to help others be aware.
My additional concern is that they may also miss real fraud if their fraud protocols are broken. They seem to spend a lot of effort pursuing non-fraud, and they alienate loyal customers in the process.
Exactly. They alienate loyal customers through a broken fraud protocol pursuing non-fraud issues. I wish they could be held accountable for this..like can we report these issues to the credit bureaus? Its just absurd that corporations such as this get away with this bs.
I’ve had several poor experiences with CapOne credits cards over the years. After being a customer in good standing for a decade, I missed sending in my monthly payment (this was long before bank transfers were common). They had no interest in waiving the late payment fee, so their card moved to the end of my list.
A few years ago they declined a small ($14) transaction with a local restaurant. I literally had to sit on the phone for 40 minutes with a rep who clearly hadn’t verified a user before. Needless to say, I don’t do business with CapOne anymore.
Hope you’re doing well, GDK!
My husband was shut down by Cap 1 earlier this week…new Venture card w/ no MS or erroneous spend. First C1 card ever, no other history with them. Called and was told account was “under review” and a case manager would be calling in 7-10 days. Asked that he send in copy of SS card, DL, etc. Said they had reason to suspect fraud but did not address any specific transaction. Card only open for 2-3 weeks, had just paid the AF from first statement. Points earned so far not available for redemption. I did install the C1 Eno browser extension at the time the account was open, might they be spying on me reading FM?? I only did so to checkout fast when attempting to get Taylor Swift tickets (HA). Actually the only reason the account was opened at all, and we all know how that went. What a joke, no thanks.
They have a picture of Greg at Capital on HQ in the mens bathroom. It says dont let this guy be a card member.
This is so lame. Makes me lose interest in them, for a multitude of reasons, one of which being they are simply risky to do business, particularly due to how they cashed you out.
I never had any issues with them. I hold no grudges if a program is good. Chase screwed me over many yrs ago. I fought them hard and won and got what I was entitled to.
Aye seconded. Chase shut down my wife’s and my mom’s account…after I opened a checking account they sent me an offer for….
Wow. That is really weird. Your mother as well. Does she live in the same address as you? I use Chase cards because they have very strong programs for me in personal and business. No MS here and all of my charges are proper. With that in mind I had some weird situations with them in the past.
INKer 4 ever only had 5 their nice people like me. V Bernie
No idea what this means. The mustiness of the cave must be getting to him
Get an INK Fool and cancel the other junk. I’m sure u have been in the Lounges to long too.Try Cheap United lounges I’m sure they will work for u. LOL and V Bernie
Seems like Capital One is doing it’s best to piss of the points and miles community.
I mean they don’t want the business. That’s their right. Chase holds 5/24, that’s their right.
People get pissed off for a lot of things these days, but I think Greg is taking this like a champ. He also joked about getting shut down by C1 earlier this year, so I think he saw this coming.
C1 does spend a lot of money on their risk management side of their business though.
Cap1 issues more CCs to sub-prime customers than any other bank. I guess that is how they make money. Treat good credit customers like crap, that is a good business model for the long run.
I think if for any reason (even once if caught) doing manufactured spending of any kind, gift card purchase, making multiple payments especially from accounts like bluebird, or prepaid non standard banks and caught then they dont all any relationship as its tied to SSN. I am in dog house with Capital one, Chase for same reasons and it doesnt matter they will either imeediately deny or 1-3 months they dont want to do anything with you. Its like permament naughy list !
Interesting point. I never have dome any MS spend. They see such activity as money laundering.
Chase shut me down in 2013, and then ten years later with no unusual activity on accounts open 10 years. My conclusion is they all have security departments with too much authority.
Mr. Gregory, per Capital One, you are longer approved to cohabitate with your wife. Only kidding!
I have only applied for the Venture X CC. I was denied because they stated that I had too much credit. When I called, the agent was not allowed to tell me the real reason.
I have written off Capital One! Cap1’s primary business is credit cards for sub-prime borrowers. Over 90% of the Cap1 CCs issued are for borrowers that have blemished credit. Cap1 pulls all 3 credit reports. So you get 3 hard pulls.
Then Cap1 recently announced that Cap1 VentureX will lose Priority Pass restaurants. With this news, I have totally written off Cap1. I ignore all the blogger posts that the VentureX is so wonderful! VentureX is a con game that makes me distrust bloggers who promote it!
Did you buy any gift cards? Chase did the same thing to me which has been brutal since they have all the great cards. Most likely it’s because of that or some other type of manufactured spend.
Nope. No gift cards. No shenanigans of any kind.
Hmm. There has to be some logical reason. Something in the algorithm that made you non-desirable to them. It’s been 2 years and I’m hoping Chase comes around. But same thing, they cancelled my authorized card with my wife as well.
But I do admit, I was going crazy with Simon Mall gift cards. The Capital One Venture X is a great card. I got it for all the SUB points but the card pays for Itself with the various bonuses.
No , there does not have to be a logical reason. Stop looking for one.
VEEEEERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRY Interesting
I know nothing . . . Nothing.
There’s a reference for the kids 🙂
Greg, You having the wrong account on a transfer doesn’t pass the smell test. It has to be some other reason. Did you know anyone that works or use to work at Capital one(holding a grudge)? It seems someone has put you on a list that is typically reserved for risky individuals. Certain customers get a lot more scrutiny because of their business, job or reputation.
Anyway just a thought! You are unlikely to change Capital One’s mind!
Agreed: Your 1st shut down would been enough for me. In fact your previous shut down help my decision to stay very clear from Cap1 even though almost daily they are throwing apps at me. The aggravation factor is just too much. Screw’em.