Introduction
Before we get started, note that this page is a work in progress and I’m hoping readers will contribute their data points. Recently readers and people across the web have reported that Bank of America have either denied or approved their Merrill+ cards, that’s obviously nothing new but what is new is that some people who received approvals have been contacted and told their application was “approved in error”. Reader Darv was the first to mention this and Sirtheta put together a warning post found here.
The Rule
Shortly after this reddit user Kilifi posted the following “rule”:
Merrill+ cards will be denied (or approved and then denied) if:
- You’ve had 4 or more Bank of America applications in the last 12 months
- You’ve had 5 or more Bank of America applications in the last 24 months
- Currently hold more than 8 existing Bank of America cards
I’m going to call this the approved in error (AiE rule). Seems to be affecting more cards than just Merrill+.
The Data Points
As everybody knows, it’s never a good idea to take everything at face value on the internet so let’s see if the data points back up this rule or not (please remember to share yours in the comments).
Confirms rule:
These data points show denials or approved in error for people in accordance with what the rule states.
- Approved in error with 4 accounts in the last 12 months, hit the spend requirement and received the bonus and then was told the account was approved in error (they redeemed their points)
- Denied with 6 in the last 12 months
- Denied with 5 in the last 12 months (specifically 5 in one day)
Slightly confirms rule:
These data points show approvals for people that should be approved according to the rule.
- Approved for Merrill+, Alaska Personal & Business (first Bank of America cards)
- Approved with 2/12 and 3/24
Goes against rule:
These data points show people that were approved when they should have been denied according to the rule.
Other data points:
- Denied with 3Â accounts in the last 24Â months. Slightly odd data point, would have possibly been more interesting if it wasn’t for one of the cards being in 2015.
- Denied with 2 accounts in the last 12 months
- Approved in error with 4 cards opened in 2015
- Approved in error with one in the last 24 months
Our Verdict
Honestly I’m not 100% sure what’s going on here, I have a few random thoughts:
- Approved in error seems to be more likely to happen when the Merrill+ application was done on the same day as other applications
- Bank of America might not have finished processing all of the “approved in error” cancellations, thus causing some false negatives or similar.
As always, I know my readers will come through with some data points to help us work out what’s going. Please try to provide as much information as possible if you were “approved in error” at minimum the following would be great:
- Bank of America cards in the last 12 months
- Bank of America cards in the last 24 months
- Current Bank of America cards
- Did you apply for multiple cards at once?
- Did you received the approved in error notification? If so, when?
- When did you apply?
I’ll add to the above if I think of any other useful questions.
How long do you have to wait until you are “safe” from the approved in error call?
Dammit, I was able to squeeze app on 9/18 and approved on 9/19
Today, 9/20, got a call from Boa that I was approved in error.
so sad after I was excited to use the card today too!!!
I was “approved in error” and the reason cited was my 3 accounts opened in the last 12 months.
AS personal – opened in 2003
TR, opened 17-March-17
M+, opened 17-April-17; cancelled 1-July-17
M+, opened 28-May-17
July 3th:
Applied for both CR and second AS. Denied both (“too many hard pulls”).
July 6th:
Called recon, CR approved (with minor reallocation of credit).
Called recon, AS denied. Explanation: too many hard pulls.
July 10th (ish):
Called recon on AS again, denied again — “too many hard pulls”. Discussion of CR and the hard pull thing being over-comable there, why not for AS? Answer: you already have that card.
July 20:
Called to PC the AS to a no-fee card. “Not available”
July 23:
Called to PC the AS to a no-fee card. “Not available”.
Bank of America cards in the last 12 months: 2 (MLB and 2nd Alaska opened 6/2016)
Bank of America cards in the last 24 months: 4 (TR and 1st Alaska opened 11/2015)
Current Bank of America cards: 3 (Closed 1st Alaska in 12/2016)
Did you apply for multiple cards at once? Yes, ML+ and 3rd Alaska personal
Did you received the approved in error notification? If so, when? No letter saying I was approved in error, just 10 days of no card being mailed until I called to find out they had been closed ‘by my request’
When did you apply? Applied and approved on 3/29 for both with one recon call
Shifted $5k from MLB to ML+ and $6k from 2nd Alaska to 3rd Alaska. ML+ appeared online for a few days but disappeared shortly after. MLB credit was returned. Called today to find out ML+ and 3rd Alaska were closed but 3rd Alaska’s credit line won’t be returned. This was due to a secondary review and ‘policymakers’ in the credit department. The credit analyst I was on the phone with wouldn’t disclose what this policy was despite me offering the ‘hypothetical’ rules outlined in DoC’s post.
I’ll wait to make sure the accounts don’t appear on my CR (if it does, I’ll CFPB). If it doesn’t, I probably don’t have much recourse for my loss in $5k credit line unless someone can point me to some regulation where I might have standing…
Correction: $6k loss in credit (from the 2nd AS to 3rd AS that was then closed)
Also received two letters in the mail confirming approval, and a third explaining the MLB credit line shift had been made erroneously (no mention of the ML+ being opened)
A phone rep suggested their was another letter sent, but I haven’t received it
Other info:
8 EX inquiries in last 12 (18 in last 24)
6 new accounts in last 12 (13 in last 24)
other inquiries went towards business accounts not on the CR
Have a BofA checking account opened 3/2015 when there was a $300 bonus but kept it open and made it one of my more oft-used checking accounts. Been thinking about moving money for ML preferred rewards and may go in to talk to a banker and see what can be done wrt this recent mini fiasco
So finally got around to trying to activate my card today. Same as many here the card is now closed. What really is a disaster in my case is that I had moved the credit line from 5 other bofa cards and closed them bringing the credit line on the Merrill Lynch to around 25k. So not only is that card not approved, but 5 other accounts now closed losing 25k in credit line and a hard inquiry to boot. Devastating.
I want this hard pill and account history removed from my credit history more than anything. If I’m not going to get my bonus I don’t want to lower my aaoa. Hope they can do the right thing since they clearly said it was “approved in error”. Funny because it was manually approved
Bank of America cards in the last 12 months..0
Bank of America cards in the last 24 months..3
Current Bank of America cards..At the time of applying, 2. Closed 1 on the day of applying Merill+. As of today 1.
Did you apply for multiple cards at once?..Yes, M+ in the morning and Travel Rewards in the evening.
Did you received the approved in error notification? If so, when?..No
When did you apply?..3/29
Btw, both M+ and Travel Rewards applied that day are gone now. I guess BofA called me am hour back but missed the call.
Reached out to BofA, asking to look into the closed accounts. Was told accounts closed as there were too many accounts opened in the last 12 months. Accounts will not be reported to Credit bureaus but the hard inquiry stays. Guess BofA is in its rights to close accounts at anytime it desires as well. I did ask further research to be done and provide update.
What is the best way to liquidate Merrill+Visa pts quickly other than buying $1k in flight? does United travel bank work? Thanks.
Do the data points indicate if approved BofA business cards count towards the number of BofA cards within the last 12 and 24 months? Does it seem that the rule gets used as part of the approval process for new BofA business card applications?