LAS VEGAS—A fast-growing credit card issuer is also quickly racking up complaints, with consumers grousing about high upfront annual fees, big delays in the processing of payments, and no grace periods.
The dubious honor of most complained about bank goes to Credit One Bank, which is said to be America's fastest-growing credit card issuer. Customers filed more grievances about Credit One last year than Citigroup and JPMorgan Chase combined, although Credit One has issued one-thirteenth as many cards, according to Federal Trade Commission data. On a per-card basis, Credit One was the subject of twice as many complaints as Wells Fargo, even though that bank's numbers include unrelated issues, like its fake-account scandal, Bloomberg reported.
The gripes run the gamut: Some cardholders lamented that they had trouble logging in to the company’s website when it came time to pay their bills, which forced them to pay by phone and incur a fee. Others said they were deceived by Credit One’s logo, which looks similar to that of Capital One Financial Corp. There was also lots of grousing about the company’s other fees, Bloomberg stated.
“Credit One sometimes charges an annual upfront fee of $75, even on accounts with credit limits as low as $300. Payments take as long as a week to be credited, unless customers pay a $9.95 express-payment charge. But don’t be late: That costs $35. Optional ‘credit protection’ costs about 1% of the balance per month. Interest rates are around 24%, and some accounts don’t have a grace period, meaning Credit One charges interest even if the balance is paid in full every month,” Bloomberg said.