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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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Comments (860)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • J says:
    1 Oct1 October 13:42

    The big question now: Where did I put those Horizon cards?…

  • BuildBackBetter says:
    1 Oct1 October 13:46

    Next step… cancel the cards and re-apply in 3 months?

  • 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.

  • 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! 😛

    • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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)?

  • 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

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

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