When Paying Your Bill on Time Isn't Enough

'David Against Goliath'

The card that was canceled was a backup card that had a zero balance. Lee said that's part of the game the banks play. And she's not a typical credit card holder.

Before retiring, she worked for GMAC -- the financing arm of General Motors -- for 34 years, helping people obtain car loans.

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"It's David against Goliath," she said. "The bank card companies, they are writing their own rules. And we have to live by them or take our business elsewhere. And I would say the majority of the people, they are stuck. It's kind of a conundrum. Where does it end?"

Though Lee said she didn't need that card, she was still angry. She said she wrote a letter to the CEO of Chase and got a phone call in reply from the company.

She said the company offered to reinstate the card but only after doing another credit check.

When contacted by "Nightline," Chase would not comment on a specific customer's case but issued this statement: "We constantly evaluate the cost of our business, including the risks and funding associated with credit card loans. When necessary, we make changes to credit lines, pricing or terms based on the costs to us of making loans, including borrower risk and market conditions. We are working hard to provide consumers impacted by these changes with alternatives."

"It's kind of at a tipping point, and if enough people feel, stand up and say enough is enough something will be done about it," Lee said.

And people are speaking up. The Federal Reserve proposed changes to credit card rules this past spring and received more than 62,000 comments on its Web site from the public -- the most ever on any issue.