Citizens Bank bailing on Wyndham?

[Newsworthy]

So I recently rescinded a purchase of additional points from Wyndham (thanks, TUG!) which I was partially financing with the temporary 0% interest loan they offered though Citizens Bank. It would have, of course, jumped up to a much higher interest if not paid off in nine months. Anyway, I was able to rescind with no problems thanks to the guidance on here, and my loan was cancelled before a single payment was due. However, my account is still active with Citizens for another month or so while things clear out (even though I don’t have a balance), and I got the note below yesterday via email. Yes, I have confirmed I definitely don’t have a balance anymore.

I thought it was interesting… and I wonder if so many people cancel after purchasing that it’s just not worth it to Citizens anymore… or is it something on Wyndham's side? Anywho… just sharing here for general info.

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Information regarding a change for your Citizens Pay® account with Club Wyndham-Worldmark

As of July 31, 2024, Citizens Pay is no longer accepting new purchases from Club Wyndham-Worldmark. If there is an outstanding balance on your account as of July 31, 2024, it will continue to be serviced in accordance with the terms in the financing agreement provided to you at account opening. If there was no outstanding balance, your account has been closed. 

We sincerely thank you for being a valued customer and we look forward to serving your financing needs in the future with one of our many participating merchants.

If you have any questions about the servicing of your Citizens Pay account, call us at 888-522-9881.

 

[weems637]

It's kinda like buying furniture on a 12 months free interest deal. The Bank plays the odds that you will still have a balance after the 12 months, thereby kicking in all those deferred interest charges that are now gold to them. Sometimes they win, other times they lose, like Citizens Bank.

 

[Newsworthy]

Looks like that relationship lasted less than a year.. https://investor.citizensbank.com/about-us/newsroom/latest-news/2023/2023-08-03-130008716.aspx

 

[HitchHiker71]

I'm rather certain once Citizen's bank started receiving the negative feedback from purchaser's about being duped with false advertising and deceptive sales practices after loan fulfillment, they quickly realized that what they had signed up for with Wyndham wasn't what they thought it was (much like many of the buyers of developer points after the fact). There's a reason it's difficult to finance any timeshare using legitimate loans - the underlying product has no resale value on the secondary market - doesn't make for good collateral for any bank.

 

[geist1223]

I am surprised that any Bank would enter such an arrangement after doing it's due diligence. I wonder how much Citizen's Bank lost in this 1 year program?

 

[Fido Chuckwagon]

I'm rather certain once Citizen's bank started receiving the negative feedback from purchaser's about being duped with false advertising and deceptive sales practices after loan fulfillment,

Yeah, I'd say it's definitely this.

 

[RX8]

It is often said on TUG that financing a timeshare was a bad idea and that one shouldn’t buy a timeshare if they couldn’t pay cash for it. This was a partnership that was doomed to fail because they dealt with a segment of customers who didn’t have the resources to pay cash even if only for the down payment. These customers had a loan for the down payment and a loan for the purchase price. Bad enough but made even worse when the monthly down payment loan increased after the first 12 months.