Creation cancelling credit cards which have been used with a Curve Card

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Creation Financial Services, issuers of the IHG Rewards and (closed to new customers) Marriott Visa credit cards, made a very aggressive move on Friday in its dispute with Curve Card.

It appears that the majority of credit cards which had been used with a Curve Card are being closed.

One call centre agent said that 1,800 cardholders were impacted. We cannot confirm this number.

Creation closing IHG and Marriott credit cards used by Curve Card holders

The closure letter states that cards are being closed on 3rd December.

Based on reader discussions with the call centre, but not confirmed in writing by Creation:

annual free night vouchers on the IHG Rewards Premium credit card will still be desposited if the cardholder spends £10,000 before their card is closed

there will NOT be a pro-rata refund of the £99 annual fee on the IHG Rewards Premium credit card – although you would be free to dispute this with the Ombudsman

If you cannot trigger your free night voucher by 3rd December but would otherwise, you arguably have a case for a full refund of your IHG Rewards Premium £99 fee for the current year.

Why is Creation banning Curve Card holders?

It isn’t entirely clear what is driving this, although I was told by an independent industry consultant that it was being pushed by National Savings.

Curve Card, for those who don’t have one, is a debit card which allows you to recharge transactions to a linked credit card. You can learn more about Curve Card in this article.

This meant – most specifically – you could deposit money into National Savings and have it charged to a miles or points earning credit card as a purchase. Most Curve Card holders had a £9,000 daily limit albeit capped at £1.8 million per year.

Whilst Curve Card had always had blocks in place for payments to banks, there were certain grey areas such as National Savings, HMRC and various investment firms such as Hargreaves Lansdown.

Creation had initially sent out text message to cardholders a few weeks ago saying that its cards could no longer be used with Curve Card. I was told at that time that mass account closures would follow, and here we are.

One problem is that the ban is catching many people who used Curve Card purely for Apple Pay functionality. It was the only way to add your Creation card to Apple Pay.

For clarity …. the free IHG Rewards credit card is still open to new applicants. Creation is not pulling out of the UK and is only closing these 1,800 (TBC) accounts.

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Category

IHG Rewards

This article is closed to new posts. Discussion continues in the HfP Forums.

yorkieflyer says:

1 Oct1 October 13:47

On what basis can they close accounts if I haven’t breached any T&C’s? No MS here.
- Rui N. says:
  
  1 Oct1 October 13:48
  
  All credit cards can be cancelled at will by the issuer. Nothing new on that.
- CarpalTravel says:
  
  1 Oct1 October 13:58
  
  Much the same basis in which they can decline to accept your application in the first place. The are not obligated to have you as a customer.
- Blenz101 says:
  
  1 Oct1 October 13:58
  
  If you added it to Curve you can take out cash on it without charges. If you paid into NS&I you effectively took out cash.
  
  What unsecured lenders wants that type of customer?
- CarpalTravel says:
  
  1 Oct1 October 15:38
  
  It’s as if some people here think they won’t have already checked this with their legal team first.
  - Roy says:
    
    1 Oct1 October 19:59
    
    I suspect that the ones profiting here will be the highly-paid lawyers (on both sides).
    - CarpalTravel says:
      
      1 Oct1 October 22:16
      
      ’Twas ever thus….
Phil W says:

1 Oct1 October 13:47

Just for fun, we should all submit DSARs.
- Paul says:
  
  1 Oct1 October 13:59
  
  Ha, agree! That’ll keep them busy! I might just do it annoy them like they have me!
- Sina says:
  
  1 Oct1 October 14:22
  
  Haha! I love the way you think! 😛
  - Sandgrounder says:
    
    1 Oct1 October 15:18
    
    Yep, every single last person should do this.
- xcalx says:
  
  1 Oct1 October 16:22
  
  We have had our fun. Move on. No need for sour grapes. Remember it’s a game.
  - Alex Sm says:
    
    2 Oct2 October 08:14
    
    Well, now customers / minority shareholders can play a visible role. Remember GameStop?
- Chrism20 says:
  
  1 Oct1 October 16:59
  
  They cocked up a DSAR from me about 18 months ago and forgot to process it.
  
  It was eventually delivered next day by courier in a box as there was that much paper. Must have run to around 400 pages.
  - Chrism20 says:
    
    1 Oct1 October 16:59
    
    4000 pages not 400
LS says:

1 Oct1 October 13:49

Push for a full refund of the annual fee – if they try to pro-rata, make sure you pro-rata the value of the voucher (£xxx spend/£10,000 * £250/night) as well.
- Genghis says:
  
  1 Oct1 October 14:06
  
  What if you’ve spent £1m? £25k in lieu of the voucher? 🙂
  - LS says:
    
    1 Oct1 October 14:50
    
    Nah. If you’ve spent £1m, you have the voucher!
  - Jez says:
    
    2 Oct2 October 08:38
    
    That is a lot of recycling Genghis good work 👍😂
Paul says:

1 Oct1 October 13:51

The free night voucher is received on the card anniversary (renewal) right? My anniversary is in Feb, however I’ve exceeded £10k+ spend this year – can I expect the free night?
J says:

1 Oct1 October 13:52

How many points are needed for Spire Elite this year? Is it 56,250 (0.75 x 75,000)?
- Sean says:
  
  1 Oct1 October 13:54
  
  55000
  - J says:
    
    1 Oct1 October 14:05
    
    Thanks.
Andrew says:

1 Oct1 October 13:56

Would a card company closing the account result in anything being added to one’s credit file?
- jil says:
  
  1 Oct1 October 13:59
  
  no, credit bureau will see you have 1 less credit card and also see your total credit limit reduced
- CarpalTravel says:
  
  1 Oct1 October 14:02
  
  Varies a bit, but the only real potential impact is the same as if you had closed any account – average age of open accounts.
  - CarpalTravel says:
    
    1 Oct1 October 14:04
    
    Hit enter too soon –
    
    *And %age used of your of the total credit available to you.
- Blenz101 says:
  
  1 Oct1 October 14:05
  
  Not to your credit file as such, beyond the account being closed.
  
  They may well add a CIFAS markers under “Misuse of Facility” for those who have taken out cash at an ATM, paid into NS&I or similar. They should be warning other financial institutions that they think a particular customer presents an unacceptable risk to its business.
  
  Those just adding their card to Curve may well be spared the CIFAS marker but who knows given the blanket treatment.
  - stevenhp1987 says:
    
    1 Oct1 October 14:21
    
    I doubt anyone will get a CIFAS marker.
    
    If they seriously considered any of it actual fraud then there wouldn’t be a 2 month notice period.
    - Blenz101 says:
      
      1 Oct1 October 14:33
      
      I didn’t say fraud. There are specific CIFAS markers covering a wide range of activity including fraud, identity theft and also misuse of facility.
      
      The latter is a possibility given they are actually closing accounts and in my previous experience in insurance they may actually be required to report. I’m not fully up to speed with how they now work but certainly 10 years ago this would be a marker.
      - Rui N. says:
        
        1 Oct1 October 14:50
        
        How exactly is using Curve a “misuse of facility”? If using Curve is not allowed at all, then Curve is defrauding all their customers and investors, and Mastercard and all the regulators that gave them permission to operate (in the UK, EU and US) are in on the game as well I’m guessing. Quite the big conspiracy theory, no?
      - stevenhp1987 says:
        
        1 Oct1 October 14:57
        
        If you topped up NS&I via Curve then it could be considered a cash advance.
        
        Cash advances are specifically allowed in the CCA. Section 5.2
        
        No rules have been broken.
      - Rui N. says:
        
        1 Oct1 October 15:01
        
        @stevenhp1987, exactly. Same for withdrawing from ATM via Curve. Is not exactly the customer’s fault that Creation can implement the fees they list in their T&Cs. And Curve has been passing down the MCC for a few years now, so they have had plenty of opportunity to implement any charges.
        But Blenz101 even goes further than that and claims that using Curve is not allowed in any case, even to buy gum at Spar. I’m sure that someone in the FCA or Mastercard would have thought of that earlier, no?
      - JSemity says:
        
        1 Oct1 October 15:05
        
        not going to happen, if they did, HfPers on mass would be lodging legal action / FOS. They have zero grounds to put any marker on files. Their cards were just being used and they didn’t like it!
      - Rui N. says:
        
        1 Oct1 October 15:10
        
        Also, some people used Curve with IHG just to be able to use Apple Pay. How on Earth can that be construed as a “misuse of facility”?!
      - Blenz101 says:
        
        1 Oct1 October 15:49
        
        I’ve said there is potential to mark accounts given they are closing them for misuse.
        
        How that holds up if challenged is anyones guess but they have taken a view that not using the card as intended and masking transactions is unacceptable.
        
        There is a CIFAS marker for misuse and they may or may not apply one.
      - Rui N. says:
        
        1 Oct1 October 15:54
        
        Curve transactions have not been masked for several years now. The MCC is passed fully onto the underlying card. And how do you know they are closing the accounts for misuse? The letters offer no explanation of the reason.
      - Rui N. says:
        
        1 Oct1 October 15:57
        
        But if they put a CIFAS marker just because someone used Curve to be able to use Apple Pay, I’m sure the regulators will look very kindly at that misuse of CIFAS’ resources.
      - patrick C says:
        
        2 Oct2 October 09:35
        
        Well 10 years ago no one cared enough about consumer rights. None of the ards gets banned for misuse .
        They just close them. And that’s actually a much easier route with less potential for lawsuits
      - George says:
        
        3 Oct3 October 16:22
        
        Bank fraud investigator here: I would be seriously surprised if they were to make any CIFAS loadings off the back of this – the threshold for making a loading is you have to be so sure that fraud has occurred that you could report it to the police. Violation of terms and conditions is not fraud and would not reach that threshold
LS says:

1 Oct1 October 13:57

Well I’ve got bored, and put a FOI request in to NS&I to see what pressure they have been exerting on curve or creation on this subject.
I shall of course keep people updated.
- BP says:
  
  1 Oct1 October 14:01
  
  Ohh… good idea as they are a government organisation!
  - Blenz101 says:
    
    1 Oct1 October 14:09
    
    Almost any of the FOI exemptions will apply and prevent you getting a response.
    
    Given there are still plenty of cards and routes to pay into NS&I it seems rather silly to have bothered poking the beast. Anyway.. we all look forward to you being told ‘sensitive business information’ or similar means they won’t be responding.
    - Ls says:
      
      1 Oct1 October 16:02
      
      Well I also asked for the latest summary or plan given to the executive team regarding this, so if the communications are ‘commercially sensitive’ then this summary probably won’t be.
    - ThePenguin says:
      
      2 Oct2 October 15:02
      
      yes, we need to know all about HSBC
  - Super Secret Stuff says:
    
    1 Oct1 October 14:14
    
    Once they admit to it sue them for loss of earnings 🤣
    - Blenz101 says:
      
      1 Oct1 October 14:25
      
      Haha, exactly.
      
      Dear LS, yeah we have noticed it’s costing us a fortune in card processing fees with people paying in £1000’s often with commercial debit cards and then 7 days later withdrawing the lot only to top up again the next week. Seems to have been a link with points earning credit cards and something called ‘bendy’. We have had a word and told them to pack it in. What is it you wanted to know again?
      
      Love,
      NS&I
      - patrick C says:
        
        2 Oct2 October 09:38
        
        Dear NS&I,
        As such you excerted illegal pressure on a private company without proving anything illegal.
        Best
        The people
Mr(s) Entitled says:

1 Oct1 October 13:57

I love the tag on of the Virgin Credit card at the end of the article. Very much like David Brent when he tells staff there will be redundancies but he is going to be okay. He is then genuinely surprised that everyone else is still focusing on the bad news.
- Chris says:
  
  1 Oct1 October 14:18
  
  “The bad news, some of you will be losing your jobs. The good news, I’ve been promoted.”
  - Mr(s) Entitled says:
    
    1 Oct1 October 19:06
    
    “But David, that’s just bad news and irrelevant news.”
    - Allthepieces says:
      
      1 Oct1 October 20:33
      
      That’s not a phrase though is it
      - Kevin D says:
        
        3 Oct3 October 23:47
        
        Come on Creation, before he bans you from manufactured spend.
        They are banned.
        Oh see, taking it out on pre-paid debit cards.
        Cos the NS&I regime don’t like it man.