We are rapidly approaching a point where you cannot do commerce without a bank card of some sort. My daughter is old enough to walk to the ice cream store with her friends, but they will not sell her any ice cream unless she pays using a card. They are unable to except cash.<p>I tried getting her a card, but none of the local banks would do it, and even the prepaid cards that you buy at supermarkets will not allow you to activate in your name unless you are a certain age. I finally found a card with FamZoo that worked for her, but it was way more difficult than it should have been finding a way for her to legally buy ice cream from that store.<p>I am paying closer attention when I go to a brick and mortar store these days, and I am seeing more and more signs advising customers that their cash is no good there.<p>This is a scourge that is starting to get out of control. My HOA advised me that I would only be able to pay them using a money transfer app. When I tried using it, it rejected my bank account information for some reason. I sent them a check with a letter explaining that their required method of payment didn't work for me. They didn't deposit the check, and then they tried charging me late fees. I had to go out of my way to escalate to resolve that.<p>This is getting to the point that we will need some regulation to protect the right to pay for ordinary things like ice cream and HOA dues with cash and checks.
The Wikipedia articles about credit scores mention the Chinese social score that is criticized a lot. I think a lot of arguments against the social score are valid against the credit score.
The credit reporting triopoly in the US really needs to be looked at, and likely restructured in some fashion. Three private enterprises should not have this much control over a consumer’s ability to interact with the economy.
Surely the drop in credit score is attributed to opening a load of accounts in a short space of time - it's something that people generally do when they're desperate for credit so is used as an indicator.
Why do we need credit cards, or a credit score? Seems to me we'll all be in better shape if we called them 'debt cards' so we'd be less inclined to load on debt.<p>Can't we architect an asset-based economy, rather than debt-based? It would be more resiliant, and the trifecta of credit reporting agencies wouldn't hold any particular power over our economy.
Which is why you should treat the banks and credit cards legally but extremely selfishly: e.g. Sapphire 80K reward points if you open and spend $XX/time_interval = done, then paid in full, no more touch unless promotions, same with Freedom, then move onto CapitalOne Quicksilver ($200 f/$500 spent in 3months), etc., etc. Temporary minute drops in credit score when applying for new card, recover once the balance payments happen in full. And keep an eye on sites like <a href="https://www.nerdwallet.com/best/credit-cards/rewards" rel="nofollow">https://www.nerdwallet.com/best/credit-cards/rewards</a>, for any new opportunities.
Is having 5 cards at one bank something a lot of people do?<p>I have less (consumer financial) accounts than that spread across multiple institutions, never mind credit cards.
1. Never call a bank if they close your account. They will never give you a reason for legal reasons and their ToS allow closing it.<p>2. Just open a new one. If you really can't get one, try here: <a href="https://myfirstcenturybank.com/" rel="nofollow">https://myfirstcenturybank.com/</a>
They open Bank Accounts for Russian criminals. Hence, should be hard to open one yourself.
If anyone wants to read the first HN thread 6 months ago about the termination it's here<p><a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24988301" rel="nofollow">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24988301</a>
<i>Second, PLEASE diversify your credit cards across different financial institutions.</i><p>ABSOLUTELY.<p>There is an old saying "Never stay with with the same Bank, Insurance Company, or lawyer for more than two years. Otherwise they think they own you."<p>While I think that 'two years' is a little paranoid, I like the overall gist of the saying.
<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/10/19/7point1-million-american-households-didnt-have-a-bank-account-last-year.html" rel="nofollow">https://www.cnbc.com/2020/10/19/7point1-million-american-hou...</a><p>Just some food for thought.
I'd just get a new card or two with different banks and wait for the score to go back up. It doesn't take that long and isn't even a big deal unless you're applying for mortgage or something similar. Or am I mistaken?
Well first you wouldn't be able to access your account, all of the account assets will be frozen, more than likely your credit score will go down.
Chase is hot garbage. One time they robbed me of all of the money I had in the world: with no evidence whatsoever of any wrongdoing on my part, they charged me a $150
legal fee to process a tax warrant from Indiana and completely emptied my account.<p>Bank accounts are guilty until proven innocent in the USA.