My wife just pulled her credit report for the first time. Her only major credit card is a Citibank AAdvantage Mastercard and I noticed that Citibank is not reporting her credit limit or high balance. The limit on the card is $15,000, I believe her highest balance was roughly $7000, and her average monthly balance is about $1000. She pays the account off in full every single month and has never had a late payment. What steps should we take to request that Citibank report her credit limit to the bureaus? She is also going to request to make me an AU on the account so I inherit her payment history, however we want to wait until they begin to report her credit limit. Also, one more question. She had an AMEX account when she was in college more than 7 years ago, but she closed the account right after she graduated not realizing that it would be more hurtful than helpful. Do you think that if she called AMEX to request the account to be re-opened that they would do so? Thank you!!
I've never heard of anyone getting an account reopened. But there's no harm in calling and asking. As far as Citi reporting CL, I would complain to them and the FTC on the basis that without the CL, her debt/available credit ratio can't be accurately calculated (a drop in her score at these numbers). [edit] Woohoo, 100th post! [/edit]
We just spoke with Citi. Since it is an AAdvantage card with no pre-set spending limit (although her statement says the limit is $16500), they do not report her Credit Line or High Balance. That stinks! What are some options for her to apply for to get another card with a high CL that will actually report it? Her scores are in the mid-660's. She has a single 30-day late payment on a Saks Fifth Avenue card that we just sent out a goodwill letter to. But other than that she is clean as a whistle, just not a lot of history. Please recommend a Citi, Chase, BOA or other solid card with low APR and high CL. Thank you!!
What credit card offers has she been receiving recently? At what rates, and from whom? Has she applied for new accounts in the last 6 months, and how many inquiries are showing on her reports? What is your own credit picture and FICO scores?
She doesn't really get a lot of credit card offers in the mail because we both went on the opt-out list. She has gotten from AMEX and Chase and Capital One and some others in the past though I think. She only has 1 inquiry in the last 6 months. Her FICO is 650. She has the Citibank AAdvantage card with a $16,500 limit, a Barneys (dept store) card with a $5,000 limit, a Saks Fifth Ave card with a $3,000 limit, a Citgo card with a $600 limit. She also has a closed AMEX and another closed Citibank account. One late on Saks from last year after our wedding b/c we were on honeymoon and we just sent goodwill letter. I have an average of about 595-600 right now, it was closer to 550 about 6 months ago. Just opened Capital One ($300), BOA ($500 w/ $99 deposit) and Bloomingdales ($200). Also was just made AU on her AAdvantage and my dad's business Visa.
To cut back on junk mail Should she just apply for another (but different) Citibank card since she already has a relationship with them and a card with a high limit? The problem is that they don't report it to the bureaus because it is revolving. They don't even report the high balance (which I believe was $7000, and paid off at once, as always). She needs another card with a high balance that will report it!
The problem with trying out the market by applying is that you get inquiries with each application, without knowing what terms you are likely to be offered. If you cancel your opt-out, you get offers with terms to compare, but only promotional inquiries that don't affect FICO, are used until you actually apply. Unless you have a security reason to opt-out, it may be worth opting-in for a short while to establish a couple accounts on good terms obtained by comparing offers.
If you don't need the AAdvantage card, call and ask to have it converted to another card like the Platinum Select, Diamond Preferred, etc. Then you'd have no further inquiries on your record and you'd have a card that would report the line to the CRA's. Otherwise, ask them if they can split part of your credit line from the AAdvantage card and open a new account for you. Last time I knew, Citi allowed you to have three open accounts with them, which I currently have. I've changed the type of card many times but have never had them open a new card by reapportioning part of the credit line. Good luck!
