Chase Bank appears to have devised an underhanded way to increase profits at the expense of their credit card customers.
I received a statement from Chase indicating a $29.00 debit. The card had been paid off and no additional purchases had been made. So, what was the $29.00 dollars for? I discovered that Chase was trying to charge an annual "REWARDS PROGRAM FEE." I had NOT signed up for this program and upon calling Chase, that fact was confirmed.
So, why was I enrolled and charged? It turns out that Chase enrolls and charges everyone AUTOMATICALLY on the first year card anniversary and, if not noticed, charges each year thereafter.
The following was included on the statement:
Remember: The yearly program fee shown above is for your Flexible Rewards Select rewards program. If you would like to cancel your participation in the program, please call Cardmember Services. We can credit the fee to your account if cancellation is requested within 30 days of billing. All points will be forfeited immediately upon program cancellation.
A Translation:
Chase Bank will automatically enroll everyone in our Flexible Rewards Select rewards program, even though no request for enrollment is being made by the cardholders. Statistically, we know that a significant percentage of cardholders will not notice and pay this charge without question, thus greatly increasing our profit at no cost to Chase.
Our attorneys demand that we include a so-called Reminder statement on the bill in order to cover ourselves within the legal system. If it so happens that cardholders don't notice the additional charge and reminder statement until after the 30 day cancellation period, tough! We get to keep those hundreds of thousands of dollars!
Of course, I have to wonder whether the interest rate will be increased for those of us who caught these bogus charges and didn't fall for the Flexible Rewards program. We'll see!
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