A card I have had for many years decided to cut the credit limit significantly. I have not had anything on it for a while and I guess they felt someone else needed that credit extension.

What they have done is turn a card with a nice usable limit into something I will not even consider using in the future.

Call them,
Talk to them
I did,I had not used a card in many years.

The offered me a years service w/o any interest rate, zero .

I've used it more in the last 8 months than I had in the previous 8 years.

They are making money ,from my use, from the retailer, not
My interest payment.

And! My credit score as gone up15 points !


Unless you have other concerns with the company, I say call'em and chat,
You may be surprised. I was

I had a Discover card that I got in college. So many many years of history. The limit had gone up over the years but I almost never used the card. About five years ago we were putting in an outdoor kitchen and I had just gotten an email from Discover about the cashback whatever bonus. So when I went to buy the grille, side burner, sink, fridge, etc from a specialty store I said what the hell and put it on the Discover card.

A week later I get an email that my credit limit is being decreased. WTF? I use your card and you ding me? I call them up and the guy tells me that normally when people put a lot on a card that is not used it indicates financial distress. Ummm, OK then. I paid it off and canceled the card. I'll take the short term credit hit to get rid of shitty service like that.

I intentionally use each of my cards to make a small purchase once or twice a year

I took a significant hit to my credit score not too long ago when a card I hadn’t used in forever dropped my limit just enough to put me over 30% utilization/available.

There are a couple of mine that I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Cut it up, who cares....

Easy to say for a guy who is dead...oh wait.

quote:

Originally posted by Aeteocles:
I intentionally use each of my cards to make a small purchase once or twice a year

I need to do this..
I have $64000 in available credit on cards with a zero balance.
Actually all my credit cards have a zero balance.
I should probably use them all once or twice a year to keep my score where it is and prevent them from closing the account.
Never know when the wife wants to move and get another mortgage....

Really didn't think much about it after I paid them all off a few years ago...

Never had a problem.

Cut it up... move on.

Haven't had a credit card or used one in about 10years now.

Yes, I have a check card. But no credit card.
Have had no issues.

Andrew

My three cards have high limits and are paid off monthly.

Earlier this year we had the roof replaced on our home as well as the boat dock. When the roofer sent me the invoice I noticed that he allowed payment by CC. I have been playing the game with credit card companies accumulating literally several hundred thousand airline miles (for that time when travel resumes) and so I payed the 25K with my CC and set it up to be paid the day before it was due.

A week or so later I got a notice from Credit Karma that my FICO score had changed so I logged on and see it dropped 60 points! I almost had a cow! Fortunately my wife calmed me down and within 2 months my score had returned to its 800+ rating.

What a croc of chit...

A card I paid off last year and never used dropped the limit recently. I've had it for over ten years.

I thought about just closing it but I'm in the market for a new car for my daughter so I'm not trying to hurt my credit rating right now.

I just paid off every credit card I have and hope it doesn't hurt me. I'm actually looking to finance the car so my daughter can be on the loan and start building her credit. We're waiting for her to turn 18 next month before we go shopping. Hopefully there's some deals out there. I made her an additional card holder on one of my cards with the explicit instructions it's for gasoline only.

quote:

Originally posted by smlsig:
My three cards have high limits and are paid off monthly.

Earlier this year we had the roof replaced on our home as well as the boat dock. When the roofer sent me the invoice I noticed that he allowed payment by CC. I have been playing the game with credit card companies accumulating literally several hundred thousand airline miles (for that time when travel resumes) and so I payed the 25K with my CC and set it up to be paid the day before it was due.

A week or so later I got a notice from Credit Karma that my FICO score had changed so I logged on and see it dropped 60 points! I almost had a cow! Fortunately my wife calmed me down and within 2 months my score had returned to its 800+ rating.

What a croc of chit...

If you are going to play the game, you need to understand the rules.

The reason your score dropped is because your debt-to-credit ratio changed. For the month that you had the large purchase on your credit card, your debt-to-credit ratio spiked. If your debt-to-credit ratio crosses over certain thresholds, your credit score will drop significantly: 5%, 10%, 20%, 30%.

Your debt-to-credit ratio does not consider whether or not you carry this debt over from month to month. If you have the debt on the books on the date your credit card company reports the data, it is counted towards your debt.

So, knowing the rules, you proceed to play the game. For example, if you know your credit card company reports your debt on the 24th of each month, then you pay off your card by the 23rd (instead of waiting to pay when the statement says its due). So, even though you actually had $25k worth of debt during the month, the credit bureau sees your reported balance on the 24th as 0, and your debt-to-credit ratio is protected.

This is also the reason why you should ask for period credit limit increases. Running $1k-2k a month through a credit card when you only have $10k of total available credit looks a lot different than running $1k-2k through your cards when you have $100k of available credit.

Credit card usage is unpopular on Sigforum. We still have people on this forum using debit cards as if they were being clever avoiding credit cards. Fact: debit cards getting compromised sucks way more than getting your credit card compromised--if you are going to swipe a card (or use one online), it should be a credit card, not a debit card.

Obviously, carrying a balance and paying interest is stupid. But having a couple/few cards from reputable banks with no fees that you can use to curate a long credit history with high limits has no downside. I have never, ever, once thought to myself, "Gee, schucks, I really wish I had worse credit."

quote:

Originally posted by 1lowlife:

quote:

Originally posted by Aeteocles:
I intentionally use each of my cards to make a small purchase once or twice a year

I need to do this..
I have $64000 in available credit on cards with a zero balance.
Actually all my credit cards have a zero balance.
I should probably use them all once or twice a year to keep my score where it is and prevent them from closing the account.
Never know when the wife wants to move and get another mortgage....

Really didn't think much about it after I paid them all off a few years ago...

An easy way to do it, if you can guarantee that your checking account used to pay the card will never get overdrafted, is to put a small monthly recurring expense on each of the card. Cable bill on one, water bill on another, Netflix on the last, etc., and have each of the cards set to autopay the full amount each billing period. This use to be the method I used for many years, but instead I now make my card purchases selectively to maximize points.

I use my debit card a handful of times a year, always at the grocery store to get cash out with no atm fees. Otherwise, I live on my Amex, pay it off every month and usually have enough points to get a free flight to Europe once a year.

I had this happen few months ago. I called customer service and said I would like the credit to remain. CS stated ok and the call was over in less than a minute.

Meh, who cares?
Trust me if you wanted to spend a bunch of money and you haven't fucked up credit-wise ~ they will make it happen.
Who needs debt anyway?

AmEx cut my limit two years ago. I called and said i keep their card for big purchases which I was about to do.

I turned it back up in the same day. I went and used it.

quote:

Originally posted by smschulz:
Meh, who cares?
Trust me if you wanted to spend a bunch of money and you haven't fucked up credit-wise ~ they will make it happen.
Who needs debt anyway?

A credit limit is better to have and not need it than to need it and not have it. And when you're in a situation to need credit, that's when your situation most likely not warrant extending you credit.