TORONTO -- A Pickering, Ont. woman says that due to the pandemic she was planning to do more online shopping as she has to stay home and care for her mother. But when she recently went to order groceries online, she was shocked to find out her credit card had been cancelled.
“It was an account in good standing, why would it be closed just like that?" Lisa Wedlake said.
“It came as a complete shock to me because I’ve never had a card declined before and I was just trying to buy groceries."
Wedlake has had a Walmart MasterCard for the past 10 years and accumulated $586 worth of Walmart reward dollars. When the credit card was cancelled the reward dollars disappeared too.
Wedlake said she has a good credit rating and has not missed any credit card payments. She had not used her credit card for about eight months.
“I would like my account restored and I would like my reward dollars back. I think that's fair," Wedlake said.
The Walmart Rewards MasterCard is issued by Duo Bank. A spokesperson for Duo Bank told CTV News that, “it is industry standard practice to close credit card accounts which have not been used for a period of time."
“We have reached out to our customer…and are confident we have satisfactorily addressed the issue."
Wedlake said that after CTV News Toronto contacted Walmart about her cancelled credit card her account was reopened, her reward dollars were re-instated and she was given an additional credit as a goodwill gesture.
Now she can use the card to do online shopping for her and her mother.
While a credit card company may tell you in advance they're going to cancel your card – they may not.
You might have to occasionally use a credit card to keep it active. if you're not sure, you can check with your financial provider to see exactly what their policy is.
