HSBC (Direct Merchants Bank mastercard) - been a cardholder since early '01, never late. I have a 720 fico score. Original CL has been 10k since the card was opened, they sent me a letter saying it's going down to 3k because of infrequent use. Well that's b.s. I use it at least 3 times a month, keep a $500-700 balance and always pay more than the minimum. My other cards have even higher limits with no balances, and I hardly use them. I'm afraid they'll start cutting my CL's when they see this one got cut by more than 2/3! This really sucks!
I agree...it does suck. It's tough to really know what their specific criteria is for credit limit cuts these days, but the balance you consistently carry may have been one concern. You would think they would like that, but all they are concerned about now is potential defaults.
This is why I advocate NOT paying off a credit card if you are depending on another credit line as you never know when you will be shut off. A friend of mine had a credit line with BoA (not for much 5K)and her balance was around 2K, she decided to pay it off with some savings recently, and within a few days of payoff she had called on the 800 number for her balance and they had closed her line of credit! !She did not get anything in the mail about the closure for over a month later. Now this credit line was hooked into her checking account and thankfully she had not written any checks as she would have thought they would have been covered by the credit line. So before anyone starts to pay off their lines of credit or credit cards , be forewarned, much better for YOU to have that money in your pocket right now then pay off a debt, in total! Woofer
It's spring and the snakes are starting to stir and ready to strike your ratio down the sink,so you can't apply for anything.As for me I'm sharping the tines on my pitchfork and its not to pitch hay.lol
Yes, cash is always King, but I still argue that the answer will always depend on individual financial situations. It's not worth paying high-interest credit card debt if you've done things right, have an emergency fund, and hold multiple credit cards and lines of credit. For those who find themselves in a difficult financial position due to unemployment, illness, etc., it's a whole different story.
I believe that anytime I answer a post like this it is with the understanding that the person ONLY has one chunk of cash, AND credit card debt, and usually asks should they pay off their debt or not. I do always say NO as you need that cash for emergencies, at least a few thousand anyway, but do pay off some of it without leaving yourself helpless. My friend didn't have any other debt ,HOWEVER the little chunk of cash she had was her cushion... Now that chunk of cash is GONE and she has NO cushion, but true she has the credit line payed, but no use of her credit line... If she gets into a jam she will not have any money to take care of it. She used that credit line as a credit/debit card as like I said it was all tied in to her bank account. Oh here is a kicker.. Just checked her credit reports and guess what??? The account is listed AS CLOSED.. So to round it out, I am not advocating not paying your debts, but sometimes you have to decide especially in these times what is your best move.. Bottom line if you are financial stable but have debt, I WOULD pay it off, BUT I also say PAY IT OFF in a few statements NOT all at once as I feel it kicks something in... I don't have any reference to back that last statement up, but I can tell you that I just paid off a credit card in full and NEVER have been late or up to the limit AND used it a lot and my credit is a LOT LOT better than it was several years ago, and my card got closed. Just like that... Thankfully it was not a biggie for me as now I am financial more than stable. I just want others to watch out for themselves as noone else will! Woofer
