Today I received a letter from one of my credit card companies telling me that they had reviewed my card usage and based on my history were cutting my available balance in half. Since I rarely use this particular card, because it's got too high an interest rate and because the balance was so ridiculously high that I was afraid to carry it around with me - my initial reaction was that this was good news. Even at half what it was, it's still several times more than I will ever charge.
I began to get concerned though when I read a paragraph down toward the bottom though. It said that the decision was based in part on information provided by Equifax. As far as I know, I don't have any blemishes on my credit record. I always pay my bills on time and I don't usually carry balances on my cards. So now I'm concerned about what might be on my credit report.
So, friends with a banking background, how concerned should I be by this? As I understand it, if I order a credit report myself, it will show up as a soft hit, what are the potential negative repercussions? If I find something there that shouldn't be there, how difficult is it to clean up? Thanks in advance for any information you can provide.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
Lots and lots of banks are being aggressive right now when it comes to circling their credit wagons. Credit card defaults (along with commercial real estate, Alt-A and prime mortgage defaults) are going to further stress the already on the brink of collapse banking system. That's the main reason Obama played tough guy with the major credit card issuers earlier this week...it isn't about putting the smackdown on 'predatory credit', but painting them as bad guys before bailing them out (again) this summer to cover their losses with taxpayer dollars, a bait and switch if you will.
The equifax verbiage is just cover for the credit card issuer. Their is nothing in your credit report that lead them to cut your available credit. All this particular bank is doing is minimizing their exposure to the possibility of you losing your job, running up the card, and then defaulting on paying them back. American Express has been particularly harsh, going so far as offering customers that carry balances a $300 rebate if they pay off their cards and close them.
What sucks is that you might take a small FICO hit over this. If you have other cards be prepared to receive similar letters soon, even if you don't carry a balance. Keep in mind if you don't carry a balance you aren't making the card issuer any money, you are just a potential default.
The credit card default rate is going to hit 15-18% this year, up from the norm of 6%. This means that for every dollar banks lend, only eight-five cents will get paid back. Plus, it costs them about another 6% to borrow the money, print and mail statements, maintain customer service call centers, etc. In other words, they need to be earning 21% in finance charges just to break even. On top of this, new credit card lending rules make it much harder to raise interest rates. In other words, no bank want’s to be in the credit card business right now. Just about every bank I know of is looking to unload their credit card receivables so that they can lesson their exposure to the sky high credit losses they are experiencing in the current economy...you just got caught in the crossfire.
Thanks for the info Jesse, I appreciate it. I'm hoping that less available credit might actually make it easier to get a home loan if I can afford to take advantage of the $8k first time home buyers credit later in the year. And as long as it's not an issue with my credit report, then I'm happy with the reduced limit. I'm still never going to get anywhere near what it is now.
And I do have a second card that also has a higher limit than I'll ever use, but not nearly as outrageous as the other one was. I guess I'll wait and see what they do with that one.
I believe having a larger credit line (and not using it) helps your FICO score.
So there's some advantage to having a credit line that you don't use.
You may want to check your FICO score, which you can check for free every so often.
Post a Comment