Orchard Bank Good Morning Everyone! I just got the Orchard Bank $300 limit mastercard. Has anyone tried to get them to raise the limit by trying the "I'd hate to have to close the account" routine to get them to raise the limit? I The only card I have with a small limit is FNBM with $250 and I'm dumping that when a year is up in June. I was hoping to replace that card. All of my other limits are at least $700.
A family member has an Orchard account. They also started with a $300 limit. He called about raising the limit, but they would not budge. It is probably best to use the card for 6 months and then call back to negotiate the limit. He has had no problems with them and customer service has been great. Good luck to you!
Well, I got a $300.00 initial limit from Orchard. I made a $200.00 transaction and then paid it off again within a few days. The only thing left on my account was the annual fee. I called retention and asked them "If I close my account, will I get the annual fee refunded to my account?". The Rep. said "yes", and then asked me why I wanted to close. I told her the $300.00 CL was by far my lowest, and that I decided to close the account. She offered me a $200.00 increase on the spot and said more increases would be forthcoming. She claims it doesn't take 6 months to get an increase like with some companies (CapOne). I plan to call back in 4 months and ask for another increase. Good Luck. MikeB
You were lucky, or that was a nice rep. Or maybe they are getting so many complaints about low limits and losing customers that they are easing up a bit. I still recommend them however. I only received a $100 for $10 increase after 6 months. I closed the account at 1 year b/c I had better cards with much higher limits. Orchard is a credit builder and a credit report fluffer. I wouldnot look to use them for major purchases. I hear they really up the limits after 1 -2 years. roni
Well, the Rep sounded nice. Anyway, I just accepted the Orchard to get another tradeline to establish more credit. The card will have to have a much higher CL and much lower APR and no annual fee at the 1 year mark, or I will be closing it. MikeB
Thanks Everyone, The only reason I appliedfor this card is to get rid of fnbm that has a $250 limit and 200 of it is secured. Plus I hate the fact that after you make a payment they hold the amount of my payment for 10 days. If they won't budge I think I'll cancel the card. It doesn't make sense to me to open a new account when I could let the fnmb age. OR should I just leave the orchard card? If i close fnbm at least I'll get my security deposit back. I don't know. I'll see what happens when I call orchard on Monday. anyone know the 800 number? camille
I don't have an Orchard bank card - but I have a subprime Household card - the same company. - In fact TU reports the card as Orchard bank. I had it for a year - no increase - I called and they increased the limit and reversed the annual fee. Just the other day (4 months later) - I received notice that they increased my limit again - - maybe things are changing - or maybe it's cuz I had a 0 balance <shrug> Kelly
I had an orchard account, but closed them because of the low limit. I didn't have any problems with them while it was active, though.
Thanks for the phone number Mike. I was able to get them to increase the limit to $500. I guess I'll kept that card and get the deposit back on the other card. The rep said I can get the limit increased again in 4 months. We'll see what happens then. Thanks guys
Re: Orchard bank Increases come slowly in the beginning but after a while they give regular increases every three months. On one of my accounts (opened in 94) the limit is 5K. I noticed that I didn't get my regular quarterly increase on this account which should have happened on May 16. It could be that 5K is the maximum for the card I have. The other account opened 11/98 with a $300 line is now at $2200 and due for an increase in the next few days. The APR on these accounts is at 15.9 for purchases and cash advances. It is the low cash advance rate that makes me reluctant to close them. They are also the oldest trade lines I have.
