Credit One Bank

Credit One Bank, N.A.
Company typePrivate
IndustryFinancial services
Founded1984; 40 years ago (1984), in San Rafael, California
HeadquartersLas Vegas, Nevada
Key people
Robert DeJong (CEO)
ProductsCredit cards
CDs
Savings accounts
RevenueUS$1.522 billion (2023)
US$453 million (2023)
Total assetsUS$1.616 billion (2024)
OwnerSherman Financial Group
Websitewww.creditonebank.com
Footnotes / references
[1]

Credit One Bank, N.A., headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada, is a bank specializing in credit cards for borrowers with low credit scores.[2] It is owned by Sherman Financial Group, which runs one of the largest buyers of consumer debt in the United States.[3] Despite the similar names and "nearly identical" logos, Credit One is not affiliated with the much larger Capital One.[4]

History

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The bank was founded on July 30, 1984, as First National Bank of Marin in San Rafael, California.[1] It received the designation of "credit card bank" in June 1996.[1] In November 1998, the bank moved from San Rafael to Las Vegas, Nevada.[1] At that time, the bank was owned by Kjell Qvale.[5]

In 2005, the bank was acquired by Sherman Financial Group. On February 1, 2006, FNBM changed its name to Credit One Bank, N.A.[1][3] In that same year, the bank continued its rebrand by changing its logo to have an arcing "swoosh" above the name of the bank. Capital One underwent a similar rebrand in 2008, displaying a "nearly identical" logo to Credit One, leading to confusion among consumers. Marketing by Capital One led to an increase in customers for both itself and Credit One, some of whom were unaware that the two were different companies.[3]

The bank moved its headquarters to a new facility in 2018[3][6] which was expanded in 2021 to include a second building of 150,000 square feet.[7]

Litigation and settlements

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In 2001, to settle an investigation by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the bank repaid $4 million to customers who cancelled their cards after realizing that the credit limit that they received, after paying annual fees and security deposits, was too low to make any purchases. In 2004, the bank paid $10 million for allegedly encouraging people to charge security deposits to new cards, leaving them almost no available credit. In both cases, the bank did not admit wrongdoing.[3]

In 2015, a lawsuit was filed after a customer received 465 robocalls from the bank, in violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, for debt collection of $657 in debt. In 2020, plaintiff was awarded $232,000, or $500 per call.[8]

In January 2019, Riverside County, California district attorney Mike Hestrin attorney began an investigation of a third-party vendor of Credit One for making harassing debt collection calls in violation of California law. The bank sued the district attorney, claiming that this matter was in the jurisdiction of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.[9]

A lawsuit filed in 2020 alleged that Credit One Bank was in violation of the Truth in Lending Act, following a practice of frequently failing to post customer payments to their accounts within the required and or expected time frame unless the customer pays an "express payment" fee.[10] In 2021, the case was referred to arbitration.[11]

In June 2022, a bankruptcy judge found Credit One Bank liable to roughly 288,000 credit card customers for attempting to collect debts after such debts were discharged via bankruptcies.[12] In January 2024, the bank filed to decertify the class action status of the case.[13]

In 2023, the bank was sued for reporting disputed information to credit reporting agencies. Summary judgement was granted in favor of the bank, which was appealed.[14]

Reception

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The Ascent (a service of The Motley Fool) gave a one-star (out of five) review to Credit One Bank's credit card. The review praised the bank for making the card available to customers with poor credit and for offering cash-back incentives, while criticizing the card's complicated application process and high fees.[15]

As of September 2024, the Better Business Bureau's (BBB) profile for Credit One Bank noted its accreditation by the BBB with a rating of A+, but the company held a customer review score of 1.1 out of 5 stars.[16]

Sponsorships

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Time period Organization / Team Notes Ref
2016–present NASCAR Issues affinity credit card [17]
2016–present Chip Ganassi Racing 2017: Jamie McMurray
2018-2020: Kyle Larson 		[18][19]
2017–present Vegas Golden Knights [20]
2019–present Las Vegas Aviators [21]
2019–present Las Vegas Raiders [22][23]
2021–present Charleston Open; naming rights to the Credit One Stadium [24][25][26]
2021–present WWE Championship Issues affinity credit card [27]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e "Credit One Bank, National Association". Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.
  2. ^ Thomas, Reena (May 22, 2024). "Credit One Bank® Platinum Visa® for Rebuilding Credit review: An expensive way to rebuild credit". Bankrate.
  3. ^ a b c d e Surane, Jennifer (December 5, 2017). "The Strange Case of the Look-Alike Credit Cards". Bloomberg News. Archived from the original on December 9, 2019.
  4. ^ Zarrugh, Nouri (February 16, 2022). "Credit One vs Capital One: What are the differences?". CreditCards.com. Bankrate.
  5. ^ "Calif. Bank Moves Operations to Nevada To Capitalize on Its Card". American Banker. November 12, 1998.
  6. ^ "Office/Retail/Mixed Use Best Project: Credit One Bank Corporate Headquarters and Campus". Engineering News-Record. November 6, 2018. Archived from the original on December 9, 2019.
  7. ^ Segall, Eli (September 14, 2021). "Expansion of Credit One Bank's Las Vegas campus finishes". Las Vegas Review-Journal.
  8. ^ Bremner, Jade (July 31, 2020). "$232k Awarded in Court to Woman After Bank Robocalled Her 465 Times". Newsweek.
  9. ^ "UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH" (PDF).
  10. ^ "Waldon et al. v. Credit One Bank, N.A. - 7:20-cv-10003" (PDF) – via Classaction.org.
  11. ^ "Waldon v. Credit One Bank 7:20-cv-10003-CS S.D.N.Y." – via Casemine.
  12. ^ Randles, Jonathan; Matsuda, Akiko (June 9, 2022). "Credit-Card Issuer Credit One Rebuked in Debt-Reporting Lawsuit". The Wall Street Journal.
  13. ^ "Credit One Bank Wants Class Nixed In Consumer Bankruptcy". Law360. January 16, 2024.
  14. ^ "FTC Joins with CFPB in Filing Amicus Brief Urging Reversal of Decision Misinterpreting FCRA's Requirement to Remove Disputed, Unverified Credit Information" (Press release). Federal Trade Commission. September 29, 2023.
  15. ^ Daly, Lyle (December 30, 2020). "Credit One Bank: What You Need to Know". The Ascent. The Motley Fool. Retrieved June 7, 2022.
  16. ^ "Business Profile for Credit One Bank". Archived from the original on April 15, 2022. Retrieved June 3, 2022.
  17. ^ "Credit One Bank unveils new NASCAR American Express with exclusive benefits for racing fans" (Press release). NASCAR. February 5, 2022.
  18. ^ "Credit One Bank becomes primary sponsor for Larson's #42 Chevy". ESPN. Jayski's Silly Season Site. November 28, 2017. Archived from the original on December 9, 2019.
  19. ^ Long, Dustin (April 13, 2020). "McDonald's, Credit One Bank, Clover terminate sponsorship of Kyle Larson". www.nbcsports.com.
  20. ^ "Credit One Bank Announces Partnership With Vegas Golden Knights". National Hockey League. August 1, 2017. Archived from the original on December 9, 2019.
  21. ^ "Credit One Bank & The Howard Hughes Corporation Announce New Las Vegas Aviators Multi-Year Founding Level Partnership" (Press release). Minor League Baseball. December 17, 2018. Archived from the original on December 9, 2019.
  22. ^ "Credit One Bank becomes an Official Sponsor and the Official Credit Card of the Raiders, and a Founding Partner of Allegiant Stadium". Las Vegas Raiders. August 27, 2019.
  23. ^ Kudo, Hikaru (August 31, 2021). "Raiders, Credit One Bank Launch 'One for the Community'". Sports Illustrated.
  24. ^ McGrogan, Ed (June 29, 2020). "Mattek-Sands doubles down on doubles, and it pays off in Charleston". Tennis.
  25. ^ Huechtker, Summer (June 23, 2020). "Credit One Bank Invitation gears up on Daniel Island". WCSC-TV.
  26. ^ Bilodeau, Kevin (July 21, 2021). "Credit One Bank to take over as title sponsor of Charleston tennis tournament and stadium". WCSC-TV.
  27. ^ Feldman, Jacob (June 16, 2021). "WWE, Credit One Tag-Team On New Credit Card". Penske Media Corporation.
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