Hi Folks. A little background on me. I owned a food manufacturing company for 23 years. We took on an investor and moved the business closer to our customers-which you can imagine was an expensive venture. Unfortunately the credit crisis hit and our investor backed out. Things went downhill from there and we were forced to declare bankruptcy a few years ago. Up until that time we had excellent credit and enjoyed 27,000 credit limits on our various credit card accounts. Anyway, I get a letter from Capital One explaining a new program they were launching to help people such as myself to regain my credit rating. It explained we were a good candidates for this special program and that we would enjoy a sizeable credit limit that would grow every six months. But what really caught my eye was that the interest rate would be lowered from 24% down to 16% after the same amount of time. I had the letter that explained all this (I can't find it now). This was due to our former credit rating which had been excellent with Capital One. Anyway, sure enough they increased the credit limit but did not lower the interest rate. Now they claim they cannot lower the interest rates. Is anyone familiar with this program from Capital One. I would NEVER sign up for such a high interest card and I feel I have been hoodwinked.
Welcome to Creditnet maddyg! When did you receive this offer? I haven't heard of this specific program, but what I can tell you is according to the CARD Act of 2009 credit issuers can still charge any interest rate they want as long as they don't increase the rate during the first 12 months. Promotional rates must stay in effect for at least 6 months too, but there's nothing in the law to my knowledge that says they have to reduce rates after a certain period of time. That said, if they marketed the program this way, then they should be held accountable for that. The difficult part would be actually proving that they did if you don't have the original letter/marketing materials. What reason do they give you for not being able to lower your interest rate as promised?
I received this offer back in May. It was a letter inviting me to participate and that I was the right candidate. It was called a "plus" account but I just don't remember. The 3 items that caught my eye was an increase in credit and after paying on time for 6 months the interest rate would drop to 16% and there was no annual fees. They gave me a credit limit of 3000.00 and just raised it to 3500.00. Mind you I have just come out of bankruptcy and most cards were around 800.00, high interest rates with annual fees. It was some kind of special offer by invitation. My husband took the brunt of the bankruptcy so he had a lean on his credit report. The card was not offered to him. I am so upset I cannot find that introductory letter.
I tried to up load a link but this forum won't let me since I am too new. However, I did find the name of the program. It is called NEXT sm from Capital One. I have a screen shot I can show you with that info.
Can you PM me the link, or type it out? I can then post it since you don't have enough posts yet to include a link.
I finally got through to Capital One and all is well. It is a program they call NEXT sm. You can go on the Capital One website and type in Next sm in the search bar. It will take you to a page that briefly describes the program. It does raise your credit limit periodically. It also gives you cash back on purchases but the real kicker is that it drops your interest rate by 8 points if you pay on time the first year. I will go from 24% to 16% which is the reason I signed up in the first place. I requested they send me a letter describing in detail what this program offers. Anyway, I am now Capital One's biggest fan!
Nice- glad to hear they were helpful. For others who are interested, here's Capital One's description of the NEXT Program: "NextSM is a new program from Capital One that recognizes and rewards you for making smart financial decisions. With Next, you may earn upgraded features such as a reduced APR, cash rewards, access to more credit and other benefits on your Capital One Platinum MasterCard just by paying your bill on time each month."
