Jeez - credit card companies / banks really want me in debt!

Raider

Raider

Raider

Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
4,576
Location
Leamington Spa / Oxford
I'm sure this is happening to everyone these days, but i'm finding it ridiculous now. In the space of a week the following has happened:

1) John Lewis Mastercard has upped my limit to £4000 (from £3000, despite never having more than £1500 on my card)

2) Natwest has upped my overdraft from £1500 to £2500, despite only ever accidently using £200 of that when I had to pay an unexpected car repair bill.

3) Barclaycard has upgraded my Gold card to a Platinum card with a £3000 limit, despite me having NEVER used this card since I got my John Lewis one 8 months ago.

I always pay off my credit card bill every month, I never use my overdraft (except once by accident), yet they continue to extend my limits. It's almost like they're tempting me to finally buy that 65" Plasma...

Don't get me wrong, I'm not one of these people that blames debt on banks / credit card companies for providing the facility to do so, if you get into debt by spending too much it's your own fault. But I have to question why on earth they're all doing this. I could understand if I was consistently spending close to my limit each month, but I do the complete opposite.. :confused:
 
No they can increase it but you can then request not to take that increase by phoning them. They should send a letter to say they are ‘rewarding you’ with extra credit, but they are really looking for the people that can pay to pay more.
 
They aren't bothered either way about you getting in debt. They make a judgement as to what amount of credit you can handle based on your performance, nothing more.

You control entirely whether you are in debt or not.
 
Phone them up and ask them to lower the limit- easy. I keep my halifax at 500GBP, but it could be up to about 1500 by now.

In switzerland it is interesting though. There is no such think as credit history. Your credit limit is based entirely on your annual income, if you are married, your monthly rent/morgage and how many children you have. They just plug the numbers in and you end up with a certain % of your monthly.
 
dirtydog said:
Don't worry about it - just be glad the money is there to call upon if you need to, that's how I look at it.
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Same here. I have a few cards but only use them for one offs each year - insurance etc.
 
Windle said:
You've got a bad bank then, my bank actually cut my overdraft from £500 to £250 as i never used it.
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Funnily enough if my bank cut my overdraft without asking me I'd call it a bad bank. I have a £1000 overdraft facility which I never use but I might need to one day.
 
Sue them for "Putting temptation your way".
Alternatively max them all and then find a site on the internet telling you how you never need pay them back as it's all the banks fault.
 
Little bit of advice.

If you're not using the barclaycard anymore, phone up and get them to close the account. It'll slightly improve your credit rating.
 
I once asked NatWest for an overdraft and they said no, but offered me a credit card. Now being a whuffo, can someone explain to me how credit cards work? If for example, I use my credit card to buy something worth 100 pound, will I have to pay 100 pound at the end of the month? Or can I pay the money over a period of time?
 
pyro said:
I once asked NatWest for an overdraft and they said no, but offered me a credit card. Now being a whuffo, can someone explain to me how credit cards work? If for example, I use my credit card to buy something worth 100 pound, will I have to pay 100 pound at the end of the month? Or can I pay the money over a period of time?
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You can pay it over a period of time.. interest applied obviously.
I'd rather use a credit card then have an overdraft tbh.
 
It'll be the credit score of the original poster because (s)he pays off the credit cards every month so seems like a good customer, or at least someone who won't go into IVA quickly. They're also just trying to get you to spend more since you don't seem to have trouble paying it off.
 
ScoobyDoo69 said:
You can pay it over a period of time.. interest applied obviously.
I'd rather use a credit card then have an overdraft tbh.
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So is there a specific time I have to have all the money in the card paid or can I keep on paying the interest instead?

dirtydog said:
Aren't you at university or something?
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But I am not getting an overdraft because I am a dirty foreigner.
 
HSBC recently approved increasing my credit limit to £10k. Now I'm sure I have a good credit rating since I always pay everything off in full at the end of each month. However I do not have a job and they asked me to confirm this when I phoned them. It seems a bit irresposible to me to be giving that sort of credit to someone with no job :confused: Not that I'm complaining :)
 
pyro said:
So is there a specific time I have to have all the money in the card paid or can I keep on paying the interest instead?



But I am not getting an overdraft because I am a dirty foreigner.
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No time limit, just have to pay the minimum payment per month. Wouldn't advise it tho, because it'll just be there bugging you !
 
ScoobyDoo69 said:
No time limit, just have to pay the minimum payment per month. Wouldn't advise it tho, because it'll just be there bugging you !
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Well untill I get a job I'd like to have something on the side, "just in case", so I have been thinking about it.
 
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