Very grateful for your post. I have about $2.5K to gain if I can keep my card up and running for another three weeks. Seems to me, if they’re smart, Discover will be conducting one of their “regular” reviews of my account just before paying out that kind of dough. And my transgressions on the card far exceed yours.
This is gonna be interesting. And it could become very expensive. Hope for the best, prepare for the worst.
I have a business card with literally nothing but 1 $1.99 purchase every month, for more than ten years.
But as we always say, it’s all good until suddenly it isn’t.
The bigger question is, after being closed can you open a new account or are you put on some form of a blacklist?
In light of @scripta’s comment about a banking relationship, it might not be a bad idea to open a Discover savings account. If you’ve never had one, Willie’s site lists a $200 bonus for a $25k deposit by 7/15/19, and it pays 2.1%. It could be a small effort to possibly sway anyone on the fence about your bonus. Unlikely, but I don’t think it could really hurt.
I also have a Discover card 1.5% bonus coming in August, but it’s barely half the size of your bonus.
Doing so now could also draw unnecessary attention to his credit card. I wouldn’t risk it.
Received letters today that they are also closing my checking and 2 savings accounts and sending me checks for the balances. Unfortunate, as the checking was a great hub. Good luck to you!
Thanks. I’m gonna need it. Sorry about your closures. When the guillotine falls there is blood everywhere. And it is too late to do much about the situation.
Might this have been the catalyst? Just because the credit cards were closed first doesnt mean they were the cause.
How many months in a row did you put a only a $2 charge on the card and pay nothing for it?
As a reference point, I looked back and received small balance credits on my 2 Discover cards with no negative consequences for 11 months straight. Since then, I have been actively using my Discover cards as I am selling my Discover tradelines.
I agree. I think usually when most banks sever all ties it’s related to liability to the bank (some major underlying issue with the customer, or suspected financial crimes), not just an unprofitable customer in one division of the business.
It’s not uncommon for banks like Chase to shut down all credit cards for rewards seeking activities, but have no problem with them having deposit accounts. That said, Discover has a different model.
I have one Discover card I’ve been doing $1.99 every month for over 10 years, with absolutely zero other activity.
Have you never paid a single dime to Discover for any of those charges for the past 10 years?
There’s nothing to pay, as the outstanding balance <= $2.00 is credited to the account on the statement date, and the statement shows $0 balance. That’s how all small balance credits work.
I understand how it works. It just baffles my mind that Discover is dumb enough or oblivious enough to give away $2 a month to someone for 10 years.
Well it’s not really like they’re giving away $2. The cost of mailing a statement and processing payment is probably around $0.75. So maybe they’re giving away more like $1.25 but for these large companies that doesn’t even register. And it’s a nice benefit they offer their customers. Of course then the FW crowd comes along and finds a way to exploit! 
Many large companies have a “paid in full” policy amount threshold. For example mortgages, when down to the last 50 dollars or so, will likely accept a paid in full check for the amount due minus 50.
Student lenders are almost certain to have this.
Curious why they would do this.
For many of the same reasons companies cancel a bill if it’s too small. If you are a business and have a multi year contract for 50000 and someone claims pif at within say 50 dollars, you could muster the administrative resources to contest it or you could just accept pif and close out the account. It’s not worth it to fight it.
Or they could just cash the check and still keep the balance of 50 outstanding. There generally has to be a legitimate dispute as to the amount owed for a pif memo line on a check to carry weight.