I received a letter from
JP Morgan/ Chase [they have now merged]. It is one of those things I usually don't open and go directly into the recycling bin. But this one I read and its contents need to be shared.
I have a Chase credit card. This "
Important Information" letter tells me that the
terms will be changing unless I opt out. I will loose my right to a judge and jury in the case of a dispute with Chase. I will forced into binding arbitration with an arbiter they agree to use. Chase and other banks were prohibited from requiring forced arbitration under an agreement they accepted in a previous legal action where the banks "misbehaved" But that agreement has expired. And the Consumer Protection Agency, doing you know what its name suggests they might do, Protect Consumers, had made a rule saying that banks could not force powerless consumers into arbitration.
However in early 2017
that policy was reversed and the banks got the protection they wanted and are now acting upon.
So if Chase accidentally enrolls you in their monthly $2.99 recurring credit monitoring program which you never signed up for, as well as say 1 million other customers making them a cool 36 million dollars a year in profit there is nothing you one million people can do except try to individually get your $36 back. No one is going to file an arbitration claim for $36 dollars or at least almost no one. And of course the fine print said if you didn't dispute the charge in the first 60 days it is final. Only class action litigation can address these "accidents" which if you keep abreast of the news happen a lot in many industries. See VW and mileage fraud. Or a very recent up to multibillion
fraud by a bank
Forced arbitration is a get out of jail free card for huge corporations at the expense of consumers. You can opt out of this forced arbitration by Chase. Online sources indicate they will not cancel your credit card although I don't see that in the paperwork they sent me.
You must send a snail mail letter "stating that you reject this agreement to arbitrate and include your name, account number, address and personal signature...mailed to P O Box 15298, Wilmington DE 19850-5298." Be sure that each card holder sign this notice of rejection. Fax and email are not accepted, just a snail mail letter. Your rejection must be received by Aug 23, 2019.
It is possible that different cards have different required addresses and deadlines. Call the 800 number on the back of your card for specific information. Some consumers may be receiving this notification by email only depending on how you interact with your credit card provider.