Calling the number on the back of your card is usually the fastest way to get in touch with the bank. However, when you call, you may end up dealing with all kinds of customer service representatives with varying levels of training, and if you are unlucky, you may get bounced from one rep to another. Some banks' Secure Message systems do a great job of addressing this problem. In this article, we will introduce Chase's secure message system.
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What Is the Chase Secure Message System?
The Chase Secure Message system is a contact feature inside your Chase online account. It is generally used to ask questions about checking accounts or credit card accounts. In most cases, you will receive a response within 1-2 business days.
Why use this system instead of just calling? Personally, I think it is sometimes easier to get brushed off or passed around when you call customer service. With Secure Message, if the representative is not sure about the answer, your question may be forwarded to a specialist in another department. Also, the written reply you receive in a Message can be saved as a record, which gives you useful documentation if any issue comes up later.
If your issue is urgent, such as credit card fraud, just call directly. Secure Message is not an instant-resolution system; it is only suitable for issues that can wait.
How to Use Secure Message
This system is very simple to use:
- Log in to your Chase account and you will find the Secure Message Center. If there are new messages, the number will be displayed directly.
- You first need to choose the topic that matches your question.
- Select the credit card related to your question, write your message, and attach files if needed.
- Usually within 1-2 business days, customer service will reply to your message and help resolve the issue.
What Can Secure Message Be Used For?
Basically, Secure Message can handle many of the issues you can think of, such as product changes, card closures, lowering your credit limit, reallocating credit limits, and welcome bonus questions. Here are a few common examples:
Credit Limit Related Issues
Lowering the limit on a Chase credit card or moving credit limit between Chase cards does not require a pull on your credit report and will not affect your credit score, so using Secure Message is very convenient. If you want to increase the credit limit on a card, it is still better to call first and confirm whether a credit pull will be required.
Lowering your credit limit: If you feel your current Chase credit card has too high a credit limit and that may affect your ability to get approved for a new Chase card, you can send an SM to reduce the limit. Just select the card, explain what limit you want it reduced to, and that is usually enough. In many cases, you can get a reply the same day, like this:
Reallocating credit limits: If you think one sock-drawer card has too much credit limit while a card you use often has too little, you can ask Chase to move part of the limit from one card to the other. Just make sure you clearly state which card the credit limit should be moved from and which card it should be moved to. A typical reply looks like this:
Welcome Bonus Related Issues
When will the bonus post? If you have completed the required spending and want to know when your welcome bonus will post, you can send an SM to ask. A common reply looks like this:
Matching a welcome bonus: If you applied for a Chase credit card and then saw a better welcome bonus within three months, you can send an SM to request a match to the better offer (see also: Summary of welcome bonus matching). When sending the message, you can attach a screenshot of the better offer or simply include the application link in the message. A common reply looks like this:
Minimum spending deadline: If you are not sure about the deadline for meeting the spending requirement, it is a good idea to send an SM and ask customer service for the exact date. If you spend slowly or are new to credit cards, it is especially helpful to send an SM as soon as you receive the card so you have a written record and do not accidentally miss the deadline. Based on your account opening date, customer service can calculate the exact date for you, which is very convenient.
Account-Related Issues
The account linked to a co-branded card: Chase has many hotel and airline co-branded cards. If you did not provide your rewards program number when applying, Chase may have the hotel or airline create a new number for you, and your airline miles or hotel points earned from the credit card will be linked to that number. So after you receive the card, it is a good idea to ask what that number is, then use it to activate your account on the corresponding hotel or airline website.
Getting a check for a negative balance: If your credit card account has a negative balance, you can use SM to ask customer service to mail you a check. Very convenient.
Product changes: Product changes can also be handled through SM, provided that your card is eligible to be converted to another Chase card. For example, you generally need to hold the card for one year before changing it, and to convert to a Visa Signature card, the minimum credit limit needs to be 5000. (See also: Summary of credit card product changes)
What Issues Are Not Suitable for Secure Message?
Although Secure Message is very useful, there are still many things that are not a good fit for SM. For example:
- Urgent situations: If your credit card has fraudulent charges or your purchase is being declined, call the number on the back of the card directly and get it resolved as quickly as possible. (See also: Credit card fraud)
- Asking for retention offers: In general, getting a retention offer requires talking with customer service, and sometimes people even threaten to close the card to get one. If you try to threaten cancellation through SM, you might accidentally end up actually closing the card, which is not worth the risk. See also: Introduction to retention offers
- Credit limit increases: With Chase, lowering your limit or moving limits between cards usually does not require accessing your credit report and will not affect your credit score. A credit limit increase is different and may require a Hard Pull, which could affect your credit score. So it is better to call and confirm whether a Hard Pull is required before deciding whether to proceed.
- More complicated issues: For example, if you are unhappy with a merchant and need to dispute a charge, calling is usually better because the back-and-forth is clearer.
- Using benefits: Some Chase credit cards have travel protection. If your flight is delayed and you want to use this benefit, it is usually better to handle it by phone, since these claims often require a large amount of supporting documentation.