Question re NPSL (Flex spend) Visas/ MCs.
I have a MC (25k) and Visa(18k) flex-spend as well as an Amex charge card. I always pif but put large charges on the Amex. In some cases, typically once a year or so, those charges were more than all my revolving CLs together. Anecdotally, flex-spend cards don't get approved for spend that much over their CLs. I would really like to be able to use non-Amex cards for those charges but have been reluctant to do so since I don't want to mess with a decline then use the Amex.
Amex has a "Check your spending level" at their web site which I've used when I had a sudden need to charge more than 2 or 3 times more than I had ever used it previously so I knew the charges would go through before I made the purchase. I've since made the occasional >50k charge without checking Amex. Never had any issue with them and their spend level service seemed to be perfect for my comfort.
Is there any way to check this on Visa or MC NPSL cards? Perhaps by calling in? Do issuers typically allow the kind of large purchases that Amex allows?
Why do major CCCs take a dim view of store cards? I understand that many are fairly easy to obtain, but there are other benefits.
The rewards I receive from Loft and, especially, VS far exceed anything I would get from Amex/Visa/MC/Discover. I receive hundreds of dollars in rewards cards from VS and an impressive amount of discount coupons from Loft. Keeping these cards is prudent fiscal management.
Because of their ease of approval I could understand why they wouldn't be consider on par with major CCs but I'm having difficulty understanding why they are, in general, viewed as a negative. To me, it seems a rather arbitrary assessment.
@FocusedAndDetermined wrote:Why do major CCCs take a dim view of store cards? I understand that many are fairly easy to obtain, but there are other benefits.
The rewards I receive from Loft and, especially, VS far exceed anything I would get from Amex/Visa/MC/Discover. I receive hundreds of dollars in rewards cards from VS and an impressive amount of discount coupons from Loft. Keeping these cards is prudent fiscal management.
Because of their ease of approval I could understand why they wouldn't be consider on par with major CCs but I'm having difficulty understanding why they are, in general, viewed as a negative. To me, it seems a rather arbitrary assessment.
I think you said it yourself: They're very easy to get so they don't carry as much weight. Sure, you (as the user) get befefits from using store cards, but the bank obviously doesn't get benefits from you having them, and they're easy to be approved for. Also, the damage you can do with a store card is rather limited to the damage you can do with a general purpose (AMEX/Discover/MC/Visa) card, since you can use those cards almost everywhere, and therefore, can (if you so choose) rack up large balances much more easily (more opportunities to overextend yourself). In general, general purpose credit cards have significantly higher credit limits, so yet again, more opportunities to overextend yourself. You have to show a fair amount of self control with anything credit related, but general purpose cards require more self-control than store cards given the higher limits and the fact they can be used everywhere.
@chwebb1 wrote:
@FocusedAndDetermined wrote:Why do major CCCs take a dim view of store cards? I understand that many are fairly easy to obtain, but there are other benefits.
The rewards I receive from Loft and, especially, VS far exceed anything I would get from Amex/Visa/MC/Discover. I receive hundreds of dollars in rewards cards from VS and an impressive amount of discount coupons from Loft. Keeping these cards is prudent fiscal management.
Because of their ease of approval I could understand why they wouldn't be consider on par with major CCs but I'm having difficulty understanding why they are, in general, viewed as a negative. To me, it seems a rather arbitrary assessment.
I think you said it yourself: They're very easy to get so they don't carry as much weight. Sure, you (as the user) get befefits from using store cards, but the bank obviously doesn't get benefits from you having them, and they're easy to be approved for. Also, the damage you can do with a store card is rather limited to the damage you can do with a general purpose (AMEX/Discover/MC/Visa) card, since you can use those cards almost everywhere, and therefore, can (if you so choose) rack up large balances much more easily (more opportunities to overextend yourself). In general, general purpose credit cards have significantly higher credit limits, so yet again, more opportunities to overextend yourself. You have to show a fair amount of self control with anything credit related, but general purpose cards require more self-control than store cards given the higher limits and the fact they can be used everywhere.
I can except them not being weighed as heavily as major CCs because of their ease of obtainability, although even that varies. My Comenity cards started out fairly low, but all are (within 2yrs or less) in the four figure range. I could probably push the J. Crew to 5 figs., but that is the card I use the least.
My point is I don't like the simplistic approach to ranking store cards. If a person has 10 store cards at $250 - $500, I see why that isn't favorable, but that's not the same as someone who has a few with much higher limits. Holding 3 Comenity cards has not hindered my ability to obtain good cards, so I'm not speaking from personal negative experience. I'm merely responding to other posts I have read, including some on this thread.
If someone wanted to close/consolidate credit cards from multiple banks, how long should they wait between closing them to prevent the closures from being seen as a negative?
