Chase Bank Forgives All Debt Owed by Canadian Customers
In a surprising turn of events, Chase Canada has decided to forgive all outstanding debts owed by former cardholders of the Chase Marriott and Amazon credit cards. Just to recap, back in 2017, Chase Canada shut down two of its most popular credit cards, and then in January 2018, they down the grandfathered cardholders’ accounts.
Even though cards were discontinued, it meant that we can no longer use those cards. However, any outstanding balances are still owed. Chase continued to collect any debts owed to them until now. Seems like Chase has decided to call it quits and leave Canada completely, forgiving any remaining balances.
At first glance, this seems like such a generous move. I am sure that the customers that still have balances owing are thrilled (as stated in the article). But as Patrick Sojka (of Rewards Canada) said, they probably feel like it is less costly to completely shut down. It costs money to keep operations going to collections. Letting go of the balances may be the cheaper option. So I would not worry too much about Chase Canada.
What I am extremely disappointed about is that they could not survive in Canada. They offered competitive products that just couldn’t catch on.
Just for old times, here is what their top two cards offered at its peak:
Chase Marriott Rewards Premier Visa
- $120 annual fee (waived the first year)
- No charge for additional cardholders
- Earn 50,000 points after your first purchase
- Earn 5 points for every $1 spent at Marriott hotels
- Earn 2 points for every $1 spent on airline tickets, car rental agencies and restaurants
- Earn 1 point for every $1 spent on all other purchases
- Earn 1 Free Night Stay at a Category 1-4 location after account approval
- Earn 15 nights credit every year
- Receive 1 anniversary bonus free night stay at a Category 1-5 hotel every year
- No foreign transaction fees
Canada Chase Amazon.ca Rewards Visa Card
- No annual fee
- Earn $20 Amazon.ca sign up bonus gift certificate
- Earn 2% cash back on Amazon.ca purchases
- Earn 1% cash back on all other purchases
- No foreign transaction fees
The card I had through them was partnered with IHG. It was a good card with good package.
What saddens me more is IHG still does not have a partner card in Canada. They are losing out on a fair bit of business as a result.
Hmm… I don’t remember a Chase IHG card in Canada. Only the Capital One IHG cards: https://pointshogger.boardingarea.com/both-capital-one-ihg-credit-cards-discontinued
It was a good card with good package.