Regarding the Alliant 2.5% cash back signature card…

TL;DR: Credit card is good. Alliant credit card services and support is extreme amateur hour. Have a backup card at another bank.

Got their signature credit card because it is one of the few that offer 2.5% cash back (refuse to bank with Wells Fargo). The stipulations to qualify for the rate is to maintain at least $1K balance in one of their checking accounts, and have any type of monthly direct-deposit.

Situation 1: Setup a linked account from my other bank, and queued a payment. I forgot to transfer funds into that account to make it cover the payment. Yes, this was 100% my mistake. I quickly realized my mistake but there was no way to cancel the payment. Then, after the insufficient funds was reported (took 3 days to complete), Alliant locked the account for 7 days. I couldn’t make a payment for 7 days. Not one of the 3 people I talked to, including a high-level supervisor, could tell me why they couldn’t accept a payment for 7 days. That was just the system’s behavior.

Situation 2: I lost my credit after returning from travel. Again, 100% my fault. Went on the app and reported it lost. First, when you report your credit card lost, Alliant will not automatically replace it. That is a separate step. There is no indication that additional action is needed. I would of waited indefinitely for a replacement card that would have never came. Second, they cancelled my wife’s card too. She didn’t lose hers; I lost MINE. Now we have no usable credit card for that account. Third, they completely cutoff all of our access to the account. I couldn’t see past transactions, make a payment, nothing. The account just disappeared from the stie and the app. When I called, they told me that they would have to create an entirely new account and then send the new cards. I wouldn’t have access to the account until my cards arrived. When the new account was finally accessible on the site, all it showed was a balance transfer from my old account. All history lost. No transactions to see. Just “Balance Transfer”.

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