Does Chase only do the right thing when the media gets involved?
This story follows a very typical pattern with Chase:
- Borrower is mistreated in some way
- Borrower exhausts all attempts to resolve the issue with Chase
- Borrower complains to the media which does a story
- Chase does an about face
JPMorgan Chase, which already is under fire for overcharging troops on active duty, decided two months ago to end a program which has helped hundreds of service men and women by allowing them to defer student loan payments while on active duty, NBC News has learned.
Chase’s decision to end the voluntary program came to light when the bank was contacted by the wife of a soldier serving in Afghanistan, and she was told the bank decided in December to stop allowing active-duty troops to delay paying their student loans.
“They informed me that they are no longer deferring private student loans for active duty military personnel,” said Kerri Napoli, whose husband, Army Pfc. Andrew Napoli, is now serving near Kandahar.
“The first words out of my mouth were, ‘How could you do that during a war?'” said Kerri Napoli.
After repeated conversations with Chase, Napoli says she told the bank last month that she had contacted NBC News. The next day, she says, the bank told her it would grant her husband an exception to the new policy and defer his loan.
The bank also has had second thoughts about ending a program aimed at helping U.S. troops with their family finances.
And here it is …
After NBC News contacted the bank about why it had stopped allowing deferred payments, a Chase official said that decision was being reversed and the program would be reinstated.
“Upon review, we have decided to reinstitute the loan deferment for all active-duty service members who request it,” said Kristin Lemkau, a Chase spokeswoman.
Bad bad Chase | admin February 7, 2011
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