topic Re: CLD Discover? in Credit Cards

CLD Discover?

CreditJourney007 — Thu, 23 Apr 2020 04:33:51 GMT

I literally just noticed today that my limit went from $3000 to $500. I'm assuming it's due to Covid 19, and I haven't had a chance to call them, but has this happened to anyone else?

if that's the case, I'm closing the card. I don't need a $500 CL.

Re: CLD Discover?

Jnbmom — Thu, 23 Apr 2020 04:36:19 GMT

@CreditJourney007 wrote:
I literally just noticed today that my limit went from $3000 to $500. I'm assuming it's due to Covid 19, and I haven't had a chance to call them, but has this happened to anyone else?

if that's the case, I'm closing the card. I don't need a $500 CL.

Seems odd with discover. Have you had any recent changes in your credit profile?

Re: CLD Discover?

blindambition — Thu, 23 Apr 2020 04:39:28 GMT

I haven't seen recent CLD from Discover. Has the card been SD? Any recent dips in score? Cards with high utilization and balance? Sorry to hear! Definitely reach out to them!!

Re: CLD Discover?

CreditJourney007 — Thu, 23 Apr 2020 04:41:04 GMT

@Jnbmom nothing, except a fraud alert. Scores have remained 690-700 for the last few months, my utilization is 5% (down from 9%), most recent card IS 3 months old, not sure if that is it...

Re: CLD Discover?

CreditJourney007 — Thu, 23 Apr 2020 04:45:33 GMT

@blindambition nope- I use it but it's not my DD. I tried for a CLI about a month ago and was denied becasue of low usage, so I've been using it more, but not excessively. It had a balance of around $500 for a few months, but then I paid it off a few weeks ago when I got my work bonus. No dips in scores - they've been steadily improving, and I dont have any cards above 20% utilization - total util is 5%.

Re: CLD Discover?

Anonymous — Thu, 23 Apr 2020 04:47:58 GMT

That quick payoff after carrying a balance for awhile is the usual pattern that causes Disco to CLD. They'll increase it over time if you go back to not showing risk but Disco doesn't like to see a balance carried for awhile without much change and then suddenly paid off.

Re: CLD Discover?

Remedios — Thu, 23 Apr 2020 04:58:35 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
That quick payoff after carrying a balance for awhile is the usual pattern that causes Disco to CLD. They'll increase it over time if you go back to not showing risk but Disco doesn't like to see a balance carried for awhile without much change and then suddenly paid off.

I've never heard of that, or cards getting closed over $500.00 balance being carried for a couple of months.

If that balance was carried for a while, I could see balance chasing, but not over $500.00 for a very short period of time

@CreditJourney007 have you received your AA letter yet?

I'd look at other changes in your profile, or individual utilization on your other cards. Any negatives that have recently reported or started reporting?

How old is your card?

Re: CLD Discover?

Anonymous — Thu, 23 Apr 2020 05:05:18 GMT

@Remedios wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
That quick payoff after carrying a balance for awhile is the usual pattern that causes Disco to CLD. They'll increase it over time if you go back to not showing risk but Disco doesn't like to see a balance carried for awhile without much change and then suddenly paid off.
I've never heard of that, or cards getting closed over $500.00 balance being carried for a couple of months.
If that balance was carried for a while, I could see balance chasing, but not over $500.00 for a very short period of time

@CreditJourney007 have you received your AA letter yet?
I'd look at other changes in your profile, or individual utilization on your other cards. Any negatives that have recently reported or started reporting?
How old is your card?

I mean OP makes it sound like it has been about the same for a few months. Only way that happens is if charges are put on it consistently and the minimum is paid. It's not the amount, it's the behavior that can indicate risk.

Like put $500 charge on, pay $35 minimum, put $40 on, pay $40, put $45 on, pay $35 minimum. That's what I think of when I hear someone say it's been $500 for a few months. Then you pay it off in full, that says income wasn't stable and that's why the balance was carried. Doesn't matter if it's $500 or $5000, that shows financial stress.

Re: CLD Discover?

CreditJourney007 — Thu, 23 Apr 2020 05:06:00 GMT

@Remedios wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
That quick payoff after carrying a balance for awhile is the usual pattern that causes Disco to CLD. They'll increase it over time if you go back to not showing risk but Disco doesn't like to see a balance carried for awhile without much change and then suddenly paid off.
I've never heard of that, or cards getting closed over $500.00 balance being carried for a couple of months.
If that balance was carried for a while, I could see balance chasing, but not over $500.00 for a very short period of time

@CreditJourney007 have you received your AA letter yet?
I'd look at other changes in your profile, or individual utilization on your other cards. Any negatives that have recently reported or started reporting?
How old is your card?

No negatives, individual utilization remains low and I'm acutally on the trajectory to get everything to AZEO. Card is 14 - almost 15 - months old. I did go on a card spree in Dec + Jan and got three new cards and took on a car lease. I have a few baddies (30 day lates) from years ago, way before I got my card though, so nothing "new". Oh, I do have one new inquiry for a CLI from Kohls that was a HP, ugh. They pulled my credit THREE times, so I disputed that, could that have anything to do with that?

The $500 balance was seriously only a few months but I suppose it did differ from my usual PIF behavior. If that is the case, I'm better off closing the card. It's the Chrome and I have better rewards cards like Marvel (3% restaurants) and AMEX EDP which is better gas rewards.

Re: CLD Discover?

elixerin — Thu, 23 Apr 2020 06:32:50 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@Remedios wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
That quick payoff after carrying a balance for awhile is the usual pattern that causes Disco to CLD. They'll increase it over time if you go back to not showing risk but Disco doesn't like to see a balance carried for awhile without much change and then suddenly paid off.
I've never heard of that, or cards getting closed over $500.00 balance being carried for a couple of months.
If that balance was carried for a while, I could see balance chasing, but not over $500.00 for a very short period of time

@CreditJourney007 have you received your AA letter yet?
I'd look at other changes in your profile, or individual utilization on your other cards. Any negatives that have recently reported or started reporting?
How old is your card?

I mean OP makes it sound like it has been about the same for a few months. Only way that happens is if charges are put on it consistently and the minimum is paid. It's not the amount, it's the behavior that can indicate risk.

Like put $500 charge on, pay $35 minimum, put $40 on, pay $40, put $45 on, pay $35 minimum. That's what I think of when I hear someone say it's been $500 for a few months. Then you pay it off in full, that says income wasn't stable and that's why the balance was carried. Doesn't matter if it's $500 or $5000, that shows financial stress.

or taking advantage of 0 intro apr

Re: CLD Discover?

Anonymous — Thu, 23 Apr 2020 06:55:52 GMT

@elixerin wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@Remedios wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
That quick payoff after carrying a balance for awhile is the usual pattern that causes Disco to CLD. They'll increase it over time if you go back to not showing risk but Disco doesn't like to see a balance carried for awhile without much change and then suddenly paid off.
I've never heard of that, or cards getting closed over $500.00 balance being carried for a couple of months.
If that balance was carried for a while, I could see balance chasing, but not over $500.00 for a very short period of time

@CreditJourney007 have you received your AA letter yet?
I'd look at other changes in your profile, or individual utilization on your other cards. Any negatives that have recently reported or started reporting?
How old is your card?

I mean OP makes it sound like it has been about the same for a few months. Only way that happens is if charges are put on it consistently and the minimum is paid. It's not the amount, it's the behavior that can indicate risk.

Like put $500 charge on, pay $35 minimum, put $40 on, pay $40, put $45 on, pay $35 minimum. That's what I think of when I hear someone say it's been $500 for a few months. Then you pay it off in full, that says income wasn't stable and that's why the balance was carried. Doesn't matter if it's $500 or $5000, that shows financial stress.
or taking advantage of 0 intro apr

Even if that's the case, if your balance isn't going down you're still showing risk. It's one thing to charge a high balance and then pay minimum payments every month but the balance still goes down that way. If you're making payments and then charging more on that card and keeping it elevated to the same level, that's showing financial distress.

This is all guesswork on my part. If OP wants to share specifics, that would be helpful. I just know that's what I used to do when I was waiting for a bonus to come in to pay down a credit card balance so that's where my thinking goes when I hear a balance stayed around a specific point for a period of time.

Re: CLD Discover?

NRB525 — Thu, 23 Apr 2020 08:45:36 GMT

I would hope a $500 balance getting just over minimum payment would not trigger AA, but it is possible.

The relatively new Discover, light spend, plus recent spree is the combination I would explore. A Discover algorithm scanning accounts for Covid risk might notice that combination.

The CLD after paying down the carried balance also fits with other bank patterns of CLD.

Re: CLD Discover?

blindambition — Thu, 23 Apr 2020 16:03:02 GMT

This post with link might also explain. Discover and Sync acknowledge CLD, due to pandemic losses.Lender CLD

Re: CLD Discover?

notmyrealname23 — Thu, 23 Apr 2020 16:13:44 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
That quick payoff after carrying a balance for awhile is the usual pattern that causes Disco to CLD. They'll increase it over time if you go back to not showing risk but Disco doesn't like to see a balance carried for awhile without much change and then suddenly paid off.

Uh, that makes me a bit worried about my plans for Discover right now. I took advantage of a 0% 14 month intro rate on a new card and managing large expenses + participation in a company stock program to push my DiscoverIt Cashback to 75% of the SL of $5k, and while I am going to pay the balance down for a couple months through early July (it'll be down to just over 50% once I get a lump sum payout around then, with 2x monthly payments in the interim, well over monthly minimums), I wanted to just do the lump sum in July and get it done and dusted.

Are you saying I should just go on making more monthly payments for a couple of months instead of a lump sum? I'm not using the card at the moment because the categories (gas, warehouse clubs) aren't particularly useful to me as a non-car owner in a two person household without a ton of storage space (maybe I should be doing Costco gift cards with 10% back, but honestly... eh). Once we're in July restaurants and PayPal have a shot of being more useful...

Re: CLD Discover?

elixerin — Thu, 23 Apr 2020 16:25:31 GMT

@notmyrealname23 wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
That quick payoff after carrying a balance for awhile is the usual pattern that causes Disco to CLD. They'll increase it over time if you go back to not showing risk but Disco doesn't like to see a balance carried for awhile without much change and then suddenly paid off.
Uh, that makes me a bit worried about my plans for Discover right now. I took advantage of a 0% 14 month intro rate on a new card and managing large expenses + participation in a company stock program to push my DiscoverIt Cashback to 75% of the SL of $5k, and while I am going to pay the balance down for a couple months through early July (it'll be down to just over 50% once I get a lump sum payout around then, with 2x monthly payments in the interim, well over monthly minimums), I wanted to just do the lump sum in July and get it done and dusted.

Are you saying I should just go on making more monthly payments for a couple of months instead of a lump sum? I'm not using the card at the moment because the categories (gas, warehouse clubs) aren't particularly useful to me (maybe I should be doing Costco gift cards with 10% back, but honestly... eh). Once we're in July restaurants and PayPal have a shot of being more useful...

dont really think its that way at all, we have to remember a whole lot isn't shared here as far as the whole credit picture is concerned so thats probably it here.. imagine carrying 15% individual* uti paying that off and getting decreased as a regular behavior, it's just not so, Not what im seeing here at least.. a majority of the forum would be aggravated (and visibily so) if this was to be true

i think we forget why we play in the first place, carry the balance.. 100% of it if you so choose. After all it's there to your benefit and will be doing so for the time being with no additional fees/interest, if you take advantage you aren't completely scott free cause your utilization will bounce while you take advantage. IF it get's decreased AFTER then oh well, you used it what it was meant for

Re: CLD Discover?

RickNATL — Thu, 23 Apr 2020 17:08:15 GMT

Yes they are. I was reading this not long ago....

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-04-23/credit-cards-start-cutting-limits-for-people-facing-tough-times

Re: CLD Discover?

CreditCrusader — Thu, 23 Apr 2020 17:47:10 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
That quick payoff after carrying a balance for awhile is the usual pattern that causes Disco to CLD. They'll increase it over time if you go back to not showing risk but Disco doesn't like to see a balance carried for awhile without much change and then suddenly paid off.

BINGO

Discover was just waiting for that balance to disappear so they could chase it.

Re: CLD Discover?

CreditJourney007 — Thu, 23 Apr 2020 17:54:29 GMT

@CreditCrusader wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
That quick payoff after carrying a balance for awhile is the usual pattern that causes Disco to CLD. They'll increase it over time if you go back to not showing risk but Disco doesn't like to see a balance carried for awhile without much change and then suddenly paid off.
BINGO

Discover was just waiting for that balance to disappear so they could chase it.

And I think that's a bit ridiculous. In the end, it doesn't matter what I think, I know that, but a $2500 decrease after carrying a balance for a few months, not even maxed out, makes me not want to do business with them.

Anyway, they wouldn't tell me anything over the phone and to look out for a letter they sent.

Re: CLD Discover?

Anonymous — Thu, 23 Apr 2020 18:02:27 GMT

@CreditJourney007 wrote:
@CreditCrusader wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
That quick payoff after carrying a balance for awhile is the usual pattern that causes Disco to CLD. They'll increase it over time if you go back to not showing risk but Disco doesn't like to see a balance carried for awhile without much change and then suddenly paid off.
BINGO

Discover was just waiting for that balance to disappear so they could chase it.
And I think that's a bit ridiculous. In the end, it doesn't matter what I think, I know that, but a $2500 decrease after carrying a balance for a few months, not even maxed out, makes me not want to do business with them.

Anyway, they wouldn't tell me anything over the phone and to look out for a letter they sent.

But as the link posted by @RickNATL says, Discover (and Sync) are in a new phase, doing things more defensively than before

Re: CLD Discover?

notmyrealname23 — Thu, 23 Apr 2020 18:22:51 GMT

@elixerin wrote:
dont really think its that way at all, we have to remember a whole lot isn't shared here as far as the whole credit picture is concerned so thats probably it here.. imagine carrying 15% individual* uti paying that off and getting decreased as a regular behavior, it's just not so, Not what im seeing here at least.. a majority of the forum would be aggravated (and visibily so) if this was to be true

i think we forget why we play in the first place, carry the balance.. 100% of it if you so choose. After all it's there to your benefit and will be doing so for the time being with no additional fees/interest, if you take advantage you aren't completely scott free cause your utilization will bounce while you take advantage. IF it get's decreased AFTER then oh well, you used it what it was meant for

Well, TBH I don't want Discover to zap my CL or nuke my card, I actually like the It CB as a keeper long term- basically as a category bonus card replacing what a Chase Freedom would do in a "Chase quadfecta" that can easily get some of my spend (I think my eventual "quadfecta" for 80-90% of my spend is Amex Gold + Amex Green + DiscoverIt CB + 1.5 or 2% CB card). I especially like it since this is my second year of Cashback Match, and apparently I might be able to do more.

My overall utilization is under 10% (it's only the DiscoverIt that's spiked right now), and while I am in the garden for the rest of 2020 waiting for a Ch. 13 to clear and 5/24 slots to show up to pick off a Chase card in 2021 (will likely try and add the Gold card and a second Disco around then too, to pull of year 3 of Cashback Match), I would like to show the FICO scoring gnomes "hey, my utilization can go up and come back down, please remain calm and boost my scores a bit" in a way that doesn't impact my pocketbook.