Monthly Purchase Breakdown?

[natasjlp]

I just opened a Citizens Bank CC and I am receiving a monthly purchase breakdown with a pie chart explaing what I spend my money on: i.e. "Retail & Groceries", "Travel & Entertainment", "Restaurants" etc...

What is this and will this affect how they decide things like CLs, CLIs, interest rates etc...?

[Creditaddict]

it shouldn't effect your cl and cli but it's kind of nice to see where your spending your limit, usually you only see stuff like that on the annual reports.

do you earn different rewards in those areas?

[natasjlp]

not exactly sure if I am earning rewards based on certain spending habits - just opened it. Guess I should ask Citizens what's up. I figured I would ask here because Citizens might not want to reveal that they might make certain CLI or rate decisions based on your spending habits.

I have read articles other places saying that depending on your spending habits it does affect things like that. I believe someone wrote CCAs don't like to see you using your CC on things like groceries - something like it shows that you don't have enough cash to cover basic things like groceries. I am not exactly sure though, that is why I am asking here. I am trying to use it all the time though so I can reap the miniscule rewards you get like 1% cash back etc... Think the particular CC I have is 30 cents per transaction up to $360 a year or so. So why not max it out as long as I pay it off?

[Creditaddict]

Yes where I should and shouldnt use a credit card is not something I believe in, if they don't like me using my card in a bar, then they can close it, but amex doesn't seem to mind one bit

[Anonymous]

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@natasjlp wrote:

I just opened a Citizens Bank CC and I am receiving a monthly purchase breakdown with a pie chart explaing what I spend my money on: i.e. "Retail & Groceries", "Travel & Entertainment", "Restaurants" etc...

What is this and will this affect how they decide things like CLs, CLIs, interest rates etc...?

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It is just like what I see on my Discover card.  They have "Spend Analyzer" tool (online acct) and I can view it up to 24 months.   It come with Spending History in bar graph also, and gives you Last 24 Month Total, Last 12 Month Total, Year-to-Date Total, and Avg. Monthly Spend amount.   On the monthly statement, they list the charges by the categories too.  I do love this service, because I can see where I am spending my money and figure out my rewards easily.

[Anonymous]

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@natasjlp wrote:

I have read articles other places saying that depending on your spending habits it does affect things like that. I believe someone wrote CCAs don't like to see you using your CC on things like groceries - something like it shows that you don't have enough cash to cover basic things like groceries. I am not exactly sure though, that is why I am asking here. I am trying to use it all the time though so I can reap the miniscule rewards you get like 1% cash back etc... Think the particular CC I have is 30 cents per transaction up to $360 a year or so. So why not max it out as long as I pay it off?

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It does not make any sense to me.

[haulingthescoreup]

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@natasjlp wrote:

not exactly sure if I am earning rewards based on certain spending habits - just opened it. Guess I should ask Citizens what's up. I figured I would ask here because Citizens might not want to reveal that they might make certain CLI or rate decisions based on your spending habits.

I have read articles other places saying that depending on your spending habits it does affect things like that. I believe someone wrote CCAs don't like to see you using your CC on things like groceries - something like it shows that you don't have enough cash to cover basic things like groceries. I am not exactly sure though, that is why I am asking here. I am trying to use it all the time though so I can reap the miniscule rewards you get like 1% cash back etc... Think the particular CC I have is 30 cents per transaction up to $360 a year or so. So why not max it out as long as I pay it off?

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There is a lot of uninformed and downright bad advice floating around on the internet and in print journalism. I think that an awful lot of so-called personal finance writers are just plain lazy, and they keep recycling these old saws. Another one is about AU's not being counted any more, something that was reversed two years ago.

Back in the day, before rewards CC's were so common, it was regarded a danger sign to charge groceries, especially if you started doing it for the first time. But many of us have charged groceries, gas, and other daily expenses for a number of years now, and I know that I've never had any reaction from my CCC's. Also, since they actually encourage me to use them for this sort of thing by their rewards structures (5% cash back on gas and 2% cash back on groceries from PenFed; 5% cash back on groceries for 4Q 2010 from Chase Freedom), they obviously aren't perturbed.

What might be different is if someone started carrying balances on charges for groceries. Financing food (or anything else, really) is a pretty terrible idea.

So I agree, work your rewards card to death, as long as you pay it off. That's what the rewards are for.