Chase Arbitration Update: Chase Says They Will NOT Close Your Accounts Upon Refusal
Note: This is not legal advice. Please consult your own legal professional for information based on your own personal situation.
This past weekend we posted Bethany Walsh‘s thoughts on Chase’s recent changes to their terms. Chase had updated cardmember agreements that required you to use arbitration if any issues should arise. If you didn’t want to accept these changes Chase gave you an option to opt out of said change. Bethany shared her thoughts on why she believed that was the way to go. That is when a debate struck out about whether or not Chase would close your accounts for doing this. Chase may have ended that debate a few days ago.
Chase Confirms on Twitter
A curious Chase customer reached out about this on Twitter and here was Chase’s response:
Thanks for reaching out. Your account will not be closed if you opt out of this provision. ^DS
— Chase Support (@ChaseSupport) June 4, 2019
Now we all know that Twitter teams are not always accurate but this situation has been covered by a lot of people so I have to think they were prepared for it. Also most people’s comments saying they would shut down accounts were based on past experience with other institutions. And most people said that it WAS in the terms for those other institutions. There was nothing in Chase’s terms that said anything about refusal leading to closure.
Other’s Coverage of the Situation
This has gone more mainstream then I thought it would since our coverage. Here are a few articles on the subject:
How to Opt Out of Chase’s New Binding Arbitration Rule – Life Hacker
Chase just tried to screw its credit card holders. Here’s how you can fight back – Think Progress
The Think Progress piece is written by an accomplished Duke grad with his JD, worth a read for sure. These both give good reasons why you should opt out but they don’t answer the most important question, will this get you shut down?
Is The Juice Worth the Squeeze?
This is the all important question that you have to answer yourself. Chase has come out in public and said they won’t shut you down. That goes in line with our thoughts when we published the original piece. But Twitter teams have been wrong in the past so it isn’t a sure thing. I do think with how much press they have received on this that it would be a terrible PR move to close down accounts because of it.
Will it put eyes on your account that could lead to a shut down for something else? That is another question to consider. I think the chances are there that it could.
So you have to decide whether or not it is worth the risk. Some will send a letter out of principal while others won’t out of pure laziness (guilty as charged). If you value your relationship with Chase is it worth just ignoring this all together? That is something only you can answer.
Final Thoughts
It is good to have something on the record from Chase on this situation. The confirmation, while not set in stone so to say, will make the decision easier for some. There are still risks involved so you have to weigh the pros and cons and decide if the juice is worth the squeeze.
Share your thoughts below.
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While Chase support can give that assurance now, are there 100% guarantees to it? I don’t think so.
It requires personal judgment to assess our risks and how much we value our Chase accounts. Chase is notorious for viciously closing other accounts when they close one so we should ask ourselves, am I ready IF (big IF) that happens to me? They can possibly shutdown another Chase account different from the CC# they entered when they opt out and closure of account(s) may happen sometime later. As we all know, shutdowns can happen in a blink and ALL CC issuers reserve the right to close any account for whatever reasons known only to them.
M2c.
[…] Chase Arbitration Update: Chase Says They Will NOT Close Your Accounts Upon Refusal by Miles to Memories. […]
I’d like to know what Alex Bachuwa thinks. The guy does arbitration for a living and helped me out when I was getting burned by a major credit card company. It worked out favorably. As a result, I trust his judgment on these things. He’s also a no bs lawyer, which is nice. JMTC.
He does arbitration for a living so it isn’t hard to see which way he would lean.
I’ll ask you this – if you are not worried about Chase shutting you down (a big if) then why wouldn’t you want to have both options available?
The truth is he or I don’t know for sure. Chase is saying they won’t but who knows if they will keep their word. You have to weigh the risks and decide for yourself on that.
Yep. And as you said in your article, social media handlers from companies have been wrong before. I’ve saved a tweet saying they won’t close my account and will still let me use it. But just because they say it doesn’t mean they are bound by it.
Nope and that is the risk you have to weigh. You could try calling in and getting them saying it on a recording and write down the time and day etc. I think they know this is out there and know what would happen if they did that but no one can guarantee anything since no one has tried it yet.
Alex is a friend of mine (and he wrote his own article below) but contrary to popular belief, no one has ever been shutdown due to opting out. Chase did not invent opt outs- cardmembers (mostly at myFICO) have been opting out for years to no ill effect. A quick Google search would prove as much. In fact, many arb agreements expressly permit opt outs so exercising that right is not a quote/unquote breach of contract anyways. I agree it is confusing to use the term “reject” since almost any other rejection of terms will result in account closure but this is business as usual until we hear otherwise. And I’d take any CSR/tweet with a grain of salt.
https://thepointsoflife.boardingarea.com/chase-mandatory-arbitration/
Thanks Sexy_kitten7. Seems like he backtracked some in the comments there on what Chase would do.