Well, it's not the same customer service number and not the same customer service people, I expect, nor the same customer service rules. Just because Toyota sells both Lexus and Scion cars doesn't mean that people buying one car deal with the same ones selling and supporting the other.

In the same vein, by moving from the 'FIA' card to the 'BOA' card, you could be moving from the Scion service to the Lexus service, couldn't you?

Who thinks while mergers or consolidations may benefit the business, they don't usually bring added value to the consumer...

Again, this appears a 'rebranding', not a 'merger' or 'consolidation'. The 'merger' or 'consolidation' took place several years ago, when BOA purchased MBNA.

BOA seems to be exiting a significant part of their card portfolio, which would indicate that the customers it is keeping are customers that they have cherry-picked, making it more likely that you will move up in service level, rather than down: http://www.startribune.com/business/136024838.html

Minneapolis-based U.S. Bank said Wednesday that the portfolio being acquired by its Elan Financial Services unit includes small business and consumer cards from 28 banks, credit unions and other financial institutions, including Edward Jones, a financial services firm. It's one of the largest credit card acquisitions Elan has made in its four decades.
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Elan plays a behind-the-scenes role supporting and marketing credit cards issued by other institutions. It will own the credit card assets of the new portfolio, it said, but continue branding and marketing the cards under the names of the 28 other banks.

That's a business that Charlotte, N.C.-based Bank of America, looking to raise money, wants out of. Its card-issuing arm, FIA Card Services, plans to exit the agent bank credit card business by the end of 2012, although it will continue to issue other sorts of cards.

AJ