Discussion
It's time to switch off my Interest free card and I've played the balance game this year by putting in a good savings account to get some money back.
Credit limits on pre approvals looks very low, too low to be honest, offered 1200 quid on one which won't suffice doing what I've done this year.
I've just cleared off most of the balance on the existing card so wondered if this will help with getting more credit limit and if yes how long will it take to show on credit checks?
Credit limits on pre approvals looks very low, too low to be honest, offered 1200 quid on one which won't suffice doing what I've done this year.
I've just cleared off most of the balance on the existing card so wondered if this will help with getting more credit limit and if yes how long will it take to show on credit checks?
I've got two cards which both had about a £7k limit for many years, which I never really go near.
I basically put about a grand of household expenses a month on a credit card to earn loyalty points, and always clear it.
About three years ago both wrote to me and said "we are cutting credit limits across our customer base, you've got more than you need, but if you want t increase it just call us". I did need to for one of them, to put a few expensive large items on it, so called them to get a temporary credit limit increase but they just gave it me permanently.
So my experience is that they will initially low ball everyone. but bump it up if you have good credit history. I never pay any interest so am probably bad for business!
I basically put about a grand of household expenses a month on a credit card to earn loyalty points, and always clear it.
About three years ago both wrote to me and said "we are cutting credit limits across our customer base, you've got more than you need, but if you want t increase it just call us". I did need to for one of them, to put a few expensive large items on it, so called them to get a temporary credit limit increase but they just gave it me permanently.
So my experience is that they will initially low ball everyone. but bump it up if you have good credit history. I never pay any interest so am probably bad for business!
PurpleTurtle said:
I've got two cards which both had about a £7k limit for many years, which I never really go near.
I basically put about a grand of household expenses a month on a credit card to earn loyalty points, and always clear it.
About three years ago both wrote to me and said "we are cutting credit limits across our customer base, you've got more than you need, but if you want t increase it just call us". I did need to for one of them, to put a few expensive large items on it, so called them to get a temporary credit limit increase but they just gave it me permanently.
So my experience is that they will initially low ball everyone. but bump it up if you have good credit history. I never pay any interest so am probably bad for business!
Interesting, I will check in a week or so if I've registered updates on my history file. I basically put about a grand of household expenses a month on a credit card to earn loyalty points, and always clear it.
About three years ago both wrote to me and said "we are cutting credit limits across our customer base, you've got more than you need, but if you want t increase it just call us". I did need to for one of them, to put a few expensive large items on it, so called them to get a temporary credit limit increase but they just gave it me permanently.
So my experience is that they will initially low ball everyone. but bump it up if you have good credit history. I never pay any interest so am probably bad for business!
I've just opened a Current account with lloyds and the overdraft was 4500 quid off what I had before so maybe this is a new trend.
It is all a bit bizarre.
I knew I had a large purchase coming up, and I intended to use Amex to pay for it - but the purchase was almost my entire allowance on that card. Not the end of the world, but since I use it as my daily card it would be nice to have a bit of breathing space so I don't have to swap to a different card for one month.
I asked them if I could increase my credit limit - flat "no".
A couple of weeks ago, we made the purchase. About two days later, I get an email from Amex : We'd like to increase your credit limit - let us know if that's OK.
It seems very much like they refused before I made the purchase - but once I made it, and took up most of the available credit - it triggered an increase. Strange, but worked out OK I suppose.
I knew I had a large purchase coming up, and I intended to use Amex to pay for it - but the purchase was almost my entire allowance on that card. Not the end of the world, but since I use it as my daily card it would be nice to have a bit of breathing space so I don't have to swap to a different card for one month.
I asked them if I could increase my credit limit - flat "no".
A couple of weeks ago, we made the purchase. About two days later, I get an email from Amex : We'd like to increase your credit limit - let us know if that's OK.
It seems very much like they refused before I made the purchase - but once I made it, and took up most of the available credit - it triggered an increase. Strange, but worked out OK I suppose.
I've got a Santander Edge account. I have another credit card with over £10k limit but Santander will only give me just over £2k.
The annoying thing is that I get 2% cashback on that up to £15 per month so I spend the first £750 on this card then start using my other credit card. I don't want to go too far over £750 because then I might not have enough limit to get the cashback on the following month's spending before paying off the monthly bill.
After one year, the cashback reduces to 1% so I would need to spend £1500 per month to maximise that. I will try to asked for an increased credit limit when that happens.
The annoying thing is that I get 2% cashback on that up to £15 per month so I spend the first £750 on this card then start using my other credit card. I don't want to go too far over £750 because then I might not have enough limit to get the cashback on the following month's spending before paying off the monthly bill.
After one year, the cashback reduces to 1% so I would need to spend £1500 per month to maximise that. I will try to asked for an increased credit limit when that happens.
I used moneysavingexpert's eligibility checker which allows you to put in a desired minimum credit limit.
Most companies say 'calculated after approval' but NatWest were up front about their credit limits in the eligibility checker. Bit of trial and error and I found that I was pre-approved for a Natwest card 0% for 19 months with a £8,000 limit. Coincidentally-or-otherwise this limit is very similar to the £7,500 limit I have on my Santander day-to-day spending card.
Pretty sure that if I had just applied for the top rated Barclay card I would've got a £1,200 limit which would've been pretty useless.
I like to have high credit limits because I usually try to keep my credit utilisation below 25%.
Most companies say 'calculated after approval' but NatWest were up front about their credit limits in the eligibility checker. Bit of trial and error and I found that I was pre-approved for a Natwest card 0% for 19 months with a £8,000 limit. Coincidentally-or-otherwise this limit is very similar to the £7,500 limit I have on my Santander day-to-day spending card.
Pretty sure that if I had just applied for the top rated Barclay card I would've got a £1,200 limit which would've been pretty useless.
I like to have high credit limits because I usually try to keep my credit utilisation below 25%.
Gassing Station | Finance | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff