cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

Does Citi care if I BT near max limit?

tag
Anonymous
Not applicable

Does Citi care if I BT near max limit?

Hey guys! 

I have a purchase on one of my Cap1's that I'm paying down, but the 0% intro APR just expired so I app'd for a Citi DC card to BT and avoid that interest. Was approved (yay!) for the DC and given my BT checks, but was only approved for $1.5k, which doesn't cover the entire balance. 

I'm wondering if Citi is likely to get spooked if I instantly max the card with a BT, or if it's all good. 
I'm not concerned with Fico score / my util as I'll be paying it all off and going to be in the garden for a while any way.


.... As a follow up, for anyone that has experience with this. Do I just write the check to my bank, and then pay Cap1 as usual, or do I send Cap the check?  

Thanks so much

Message 1 of 34
33 REPLIES 33
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Does Citi care if I BT near max limit?

It will cost you another HP, but you could call and see about getting an increase. Mine was approved for $2600 and I called and got it bumped to $15,000.

Message 2 of 34
JSS3
Valued Contributor

Re: Does Citi care if I BT near max limit?


@Anonymous wrote:

Hey guys! 

I have a purchase on one of my Cap1's that I'm paying down, but the 0% intro APR just expired so I app'd for a Citi DC card to BT and avoid that interest. Was approved (yay!) for the DC and given my BT checks, but was only approved for $1.5k, which doesn't cover the entire balance. 

I'm wondering if Citi is likely to get spooked if I instantly max the card with a BT, or if it's all good. 
I'm not concerned with Fico score / my util as I'll be paying it all off and going to be in the garden for a while any way.


.... As a follow up, for anyone that has experience with this. Do I just write the check to my bank, and then pay Cap1 as usual, or do I send Cap the check?  

Thanks so much


Write the check to yourself and put it in your bank account. Pay Cap 1 from your banking account.

Message 3 of 34
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Does Citi care if I BT near max limit?

Yes, Citi will care if you get the card immediately and max it out.. Aren't there other options for you?

Message 4 of 34
elim
Senior Contributor

Re: Does Citi care if I BT near max limit?

I would definitely call Citi before writing a check to yourself and maxing a new card (screams fraud).    Ask them for an increase while letting them know your intentions. 

Message 5 of 34
NRB525
Super Contributor

Re: Does Citi care if I BT near max limit?


@Anonymous wrote:

Yes, Citi will care if you get the card immediately and max it out.. Aren't there other options for you?


What's the basis for this conclusion, given that OP has a $1,500 limit? Predicting specific AA is a very difficult business.

 

OP, I maxed out a brand new Diamond Preferred card, $1,000 limit with a $940 BT from another card in 2012. I then proceeded to pay that down. No AA, because I had already had account closures and CLD on my other Citi cards. But more importantly, it's only $1k or in your case $1,500 and they aren't going to care unless you just don't pay. I also did another $700 BT onto this card earlier in 2015. They keep sending me BT offers and 5% spend bonus offers on the card, so I must be doing something right.

 

YMMV, but if you want to save interest cost, I'd go ahead and put $1,300 on the new card, and continue (you should already be) paying the amount down at a pace which puts it at zero by the time the 0% expires.

 

However, I would not write a check to myself. I would go online and use the code, use the on line balance transfer method, to have Citi just pay Capital One the $1,300. It's cleaner that way and keeps you disciplined about where the BT is going, it doesn't get waylayed by some other non-focused spend out of your cash.

High Bal Jan 2009 $116k on $146k limits 80% Util.
Oct 2014 $46k on $127k 36% util EQ 722 TU 727 EX 727
April 2018 $18k on $344k 5% util EQ 806 TU 810 EX 812
Jan 2019 $7.6k on $360k EQ 832 TU 839 EX 831
March 2021 $33k on $312k EQ 796 TU 798 EX 801
May 2021 Paid all Installments and Mortgages, one new Mortgage EQ 761 TY 774 EX 777
April 2022 EQ=811 TU=807 EX=805 - TU VS 3.0 765
Message 6 of 34
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Does Citi care if I BT near max limit?

MrPTato,
I'm a little worried that I'd get denied.
My scores were 650-700, with high util, and then I app'd and was approved for Venture + VentureOne (same pull) and then this Citi DC. I have 7 pulls on my EQ (all from 2015, 3 in the last 6 months)
Think it's worth the pull in my situation?

JSS3, thank you.


Yes-Its-Me,
Sure, I am not in a jam here. I just want to pay as little interest as possible.
I maybe should have phrased the question as "how much can I BT without spooking them", that would have been the better question.


elim,
same as my reply to MrPTato. Would you still recommend that for me? don't mind the HP on it's own but would hate to add another one if it's unlikely to help.

Thanks so much guys!

Message 7 of 34
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Does Citi care if I BT near max limit?


@NRB525 wrote:

@Anonymous wrote:

Yes, Citi will care if you get the card immediately and max it out.. Aren't there other options for you?


What's the basis for this conclusion, given that OP has a $1,500 limit? Predicting specific AA is a very difficult business.

 

OP, I maxed out a brand new Diamond Preferred card, $1,000 limit with a $940 BT from another card in 2012. I then proceeded to pay that down. No AA, because I had already had account closures and CLD on my other Citi cards. But more importantly, it's only $1k or in your case $1,500 and they aren't going to care unless you just don't pay. I also did another $700 BT onto this card earlier in 2015. They keep sending me BT offers and 5% spend bonus offers on the card, so I must be doing something right.

 

YMMV, but if you want to save interest cost, I'd go ahead and put $1,300 on the new card, and continue (you should already be) paying the amount down at a pace which puts it at zero by the time the 0% expires.

 

However, I would not write a check to myself. I would go online and use the code, use the on line balance transfer method, to have Citi just pay Capital One the $1,300. It's cleaner that way and keeps you disciplined about where the BT is going, it doesn't get waylayed by some other non-focused spend out of your cash.


My response is not predicting AA..  Common sense should dictate such matters if you look at it from the banks perspective.  Just because you did that and it worked for you does not mean it will work for someone else.

 

We have become a community of where something is clearly wrong, one is still egged to do that.  Bear in mind we don't have OP's credit profile in front of us to evaluate what will work and what won't work.  Also, stating it worked for you does not mean it will work for OP.  All credit files are not the same.

 

We make suggestions and it up to OP to dicipher what will work best for them.

Message 8 of 34
JSS3
Valued Contributor

Re: Does Citi care if I BT near max limit?

I love writing checks to myself. I've done it with a few banks(Cap 1, BofA, Chase, Citi, Barclays) without incident. Checks clear faster and I know they go to the right accounts. Direct Depsosits are cool too, but they can take up to 10 days(ie first one with a new BofA card). BT from credit card to another credit card takes the longest(although I've heard Cap1 can be fast).

 

One thing I do when I use a lof ot my limit is pay down a little BEFORE my statement closes. I do this mainly because I want an even number to report but it seems to help me...especially with Barclays. For example, I've used 2884/3,000. I will pay 384 before statement cuts so that It reports 2500. Some banks(Barclays) will even credit you back a little of your BT fee if you pay some back before statement cuts.

 

If you're close to your limit, tackle your balance aggressively. I don't hesitate to throw 1,000 the next month just to set the tone that I'm good money and they don't have to worry. After a couple of those, then you can go to 200-400/month.

Message 9 of 34
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Does Citi care if I BT near max limit?


@Anonymous wrote:

MrPTato,
I'm a little worried that I'd get denied.
My scores were 650-700, with high util, and then I app'd and was approved for Venture + VentureOne (same pull) and then this Citi DC. I have 7 pulls on my EQ (all from 2015, 3 in the last 6 months)
Think it's worth the pull in my situation?

JSS3, thank you.


Yes-Its-Me,
Sure, I am not in a jam here. I just want to pay as little interest as possible.
I maybe should have phrased the question as "how much can I BT without spooking them", that would have been the better question.


elim,
same as my reply to MrPTato. Would you still recommend that for me? don't mind the HP on it's own but would hate to add another one if it's unlikely to help.

Thanks so much guys!


Are these your current scores? What is your current util? If you scores are around 700 and you are on the lower end of util, then it may be worth it. Never a guarantee though.

Message 10 of 34
Advertiser Disclosure: The offers that appear on this site are from third party advertisers from whom FICO receives compensation.