topic Re: Minimum usage to keep Chase and CapOne happy? in Credit Cards

Minimum usage to keep Chase and CapOne happy?

Anonymous — Thu, 06 Aug 2020 14:04:05 GMT

My BF has two cards from Chase and one from CapOne. His Slate has a limit of $4,900, his Freedom has a limit of $2,500. His CapOne Platinum has a limit of $5,500.

What is the minimum spend he needs for each card to keep them from lowering his limits and/or closing the accounts?

He is not looking for credit line increase on any of these cards, just does not want to lose them (or needlessly lose available credit).

Re: Minimum usage to keep Chase and CapOne happy?

HeavenOhio — Thu, 06 Aug 2020 15:15:24 GMT

Capital One has been tightening up on non-usage; someone else will need to chime in on details. But I think your BF's limits with both banks are low enough that he should be fine if he simply keeps those cards from lying completely dormant.

He should check in to see if he can upgrade the Capital One card and the Slate to potentially make them more useful. It's possible that he can upgrade his Capital One card to a Quicksilver. And his Chase card may be upgradeable to either a Freedom Unlimited or a second Freedom card.

Re: Minimum usage to keep Chase and CapOne happy?

Physh1 — Thu, 06 Aug 2020 15:02:58 GMT

Is there a reason he's worried about this? There is no min spend...just use them here & there to keep them active. A charge or 2 a month...put a reoccuring bill on them like his cell bill, Netflix, car insurance, any monthly subscription, etc. Irresponsible use or non-use over a long period of time will cause a CLD.

Re: Minimum usage to keep Chase and CapOne happy?

HeavenOhio — Thu, 06 Aug 2020 15:13:27 GMT

@Physh1, banks will lower limits that have been seeing low usage. AMEX has been doing quite a bit of that, although they've been restoring those limits upon request. We've also been seeing this kind of limit reduction from Synchrony.

In the past, Capital One would lower limits to 10k if they were above that amount and seeing spending of approximately $100 per month or less over the period of about a year. I'm not sure what recent Cap One limit reductions have entailed, which is why I asked for someone else to chime in.

Re: Minimum usage to keep Chase and CapOne happy?

blindambition — Thu, 06 Aug 2020 15:30:54 GMT

I won't comment on Chase, because I use mine quite a bit. My Cap One QS has a limit of $4800. For past 2 years it's only had a recurring charge of $20 for my Experian sub. I've had no AA. I do have a Saver One that does get decent spend.

Re: Minimum usage to keep Chase and CapOne happy?

Anonymous — Thu, 06 Aug 2020 16:56:16 GMT

@HeavenOhio wrote:
Capital One has been tightening up on non-usage; someone else will need to chime in on details. But I think your BF's limits with both banks are low enough that he should be fine if he simply keeps those cards from lying completely dormant.

That is good to hear. I think I will move one of our iPad Data Plans to each of his cards ($34.99 a month), then put $500 into his CapOne 360 Savings account and set it to pay from there, and do the same from his Marcus account for this Slate card. The Freedom card has some benefit for Amazon purchases this quarter, so I am not too worried about it.

He should check in to see if he can upgrade the Capital One card and the Slate to potentially make them more useful. It's possible that he can upgrade his Capital One card to a Quicksilver. And his Chase card may be upgradeable to either a Freedom Unlimited or a second Freedom card.

Any downside to a product change for the QuickSilver? Given Chase's recent adverse action against him (cut his slate line to $4,900 from $9,800 and his Freedom from $7,000 to $2,500), I do not really want to do anything to his accounts that draws any attention to them anytime soon.

Re: Minimum usage to keep Chase and CapOne happy?

Anonymous — Thu, 06 Aug 2020 20:12:24 GMT

@Physh1 wrote:
Is there a reason he's worried about this?

Yes, because he has no [edited to add the left out words] need for the current the credit from for his CapOne Platinum and Chase Slate cards and get no benefit from using them, so he wants to put the absolutely minimum spending on both, but does not want to lose the account age nor risk the negatives of credit line decreases.

There is no min spend...just use them here & there to keep them active. A charge or 2 a month...put a reoccuring bill on them like his cell bill, Netflix, car insurance, any monthly subscription, etc. Irresponsible use or non-use over a long period of time will cause a CLD.

There is a big difference between a $9.99 NetFlix charge and a ~$100 mobile phone bill. It would be super frustrating to put a $9.99 charge on the card and see it closed anyway. Given how skitish all the credit grantors have been lately, he just wants to make sure that he is hitting the minimums but not giving up better rewards on other cards.

Re: Minimum usage to keep Chase and CapOne happy?

HeavenOhio — Thu, 06 Aug 2020 18:59:14 GMT

I didn't realize that your BF had recently been subjected to AA for protracted high balances. If there's such a thing as a silver lining, those high balances will serve as a cushion of sorts for the time being against any lack of usage concerns.

There's no downside to upgrading your Capital One card. Upgrades from the Platinum seem to be completely independent from anything involved in underwriting.

While I agree with the advice in the other thread about not poking the Chase bear, requesting a product change once you feel comfortable isn't very likely to raise eyebrows. It's not like asking for a CLI or a new card.

Re: Minimum usage to keep Chase and CapOne happy?

Credit12Fico — Thu, 06 Aug 2020 19:17:08 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@Physh1 wrote:
Is there a reason he's worried about this?
Yes, because he has no current the credit from for his CapOne Platinum and Chase Slate cards and get no benefit from using them, so he wants to put the absolutely minimum spending on both, but does not want to lose the account age nor risk the negatives of credit line decreases.
There is no min spend...just use them here & there to keep them active. A charge or 2 a month...put a reoccuring bill on them like his cell bill, Netflix, car insurance, any monthly subscription, etc. Irresponsible use or non-use over a long period of time will cause a CLD.
There is a big difference between a $9.99 NetFlix charge and a ~$100 mobile phone bill. It would be super frustrating to put a $9.99 charge on the card and see it closed anyway. Given how skitish all the credit grantors have been lately, he just wants to make sure that he is hitting the minimums but not giving up better rewards on other cards.

It's damned if you do, damned if you don't.

Given the card has not been seeing usage, I'd be skittish of AA from plonking a $100 charge on it all at once...but perhaps I'm being way too paranoid...but a card not being used, suddenly getting usage can be a red flag sometimes also.

Re: Minimum usage to keep Chase and CapOne happy?

Anonymous — Thu, 06 Aug 2020 20:09:40 GMT

@Credit12Fico wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
There is a big difference between a $9.99 NetFlix charge and a ~$100 mobile phone bill. It would be super frustrating to put a $9.99 charge on the card and see it closed anyway. Given how skitish all the credit grantors have been lately, he just wants to make sure that he is hitting the minimums but not giving up better rewards on other cards.
It's damned if you do, damned if you don't.

Given the card has not been seeing usage, I'd be skittish of AA from plonking a $100 charge on it all at once...but perhaps I'm being way too paranoid...but a card not being used, suddenly getting usage can be a red flag sometimes also.

It was just paid off, so adding a single charge on it should not be too big a deal, just trying to keep it as low as makes sense.

Re: Minimum usage to keep Chase and CapOne happy?

AzCreditGuy — Thu, 06 Aug 2020 20:23:29 GMT

My Cap1 limit is $6.5k $70 Tmobile bill and sometimes $15 added to it but I never leave a balance on and only put those bills after statement closes, transfered $4,500 0% balance transfer fee to one of my cards and paid it off that month before the due date. Applied for a credit increase and got denied because cards usuage has been to low and than next month when I apply again for a CLI, Ill prob get account usage has been too high....lol

Re: Minimum usage to keep Chase and CapOne happy?

Anonymous — Thu, 06 Aug 2020 20:28:55 GMT

@HeavenOhio wrote:
I didn't realize that your BF had recently been subjected to AA for protracted high balances. If there's such a thing as a silver lining, those high balances will serve as a cushion of sorts for the time being against any lack of usage concerns.

The letter listed high balances and several things that did not apply to him at all, including having a Chase card in default, bankruptcy, or a payment plan, and did not make much sense. Again, he does not care about the credit line, just not want to do anything that causes him a problem with Goldman Sachs that would make getting an Apple Card more of an issue.

There's no downside to upgrading your Capital One card. Upgrades from the Platinum seem to be completely independent from anything involved in underwriting.

Great. I will probably do that after his Freedom card reports its second month with a $0 balance.

While I agree with the advice in the other thread about not poking the Chase bear, requesting a product change once you feel comfortable isn't very likely to raise eyebrows. It's not like asking for a CLI or a new card.

Less concerned about Chase with respect to their own cards, just do not want them to cause a problem with getting his current goal card (an Apple Card) and then maybe a B&H financing card. Does not seem like it would make sense to switch it to a Freedom Unlimited (missing the signup bonus), given that, he will probably close it once it does not really have a big impact on his average account age.

Re: Minimum usage to keep Chase and CapOne happy?

Anonymous — Fri, 07 Aug 2020 01:26:25 GMT

I don't know if you'll find the info below helpful.

My QuickSilver has a $10k limit. It sees nominal use each month (Spotify and similar). The limit has not changed since I got the card several years ago.

My United card ($35k) sits idle except for United tickets. My Hyatt card (~$20k) sits largely idle after my wife and I meet our target spend for Hyatt status for the year. My Freedom Unlimited card (~$20k) sits largely idle while we're using the Hyatt card. Chase has not changed any of the limits.

Re: Minimum usage to keep Chase and CapOne happy?

Anonymous — Fri, 07 Aug 2020 02:14:43 GMT

I have high limits on all my major cards, but I put a minimum of $25/month on each card every month. And each of them will get at least a 3 figure spend in a month a few times a year. Never had AA on any of the cards. However, at those stated limits, your risk of AA (CLD) I think would be less.

Re: Minimum usage to keep Chase and CapOne happy?

Gmood1 — Fri, 07 Aug 2020 09:29:04 GMT

Sigh..lol

You can have a very small reoccurring charge on the Cap One and be just fine OP. There's no minimum amount needed to keep limits. The goal is keeping it active.

I've put a $2 to $3 monthly charge on my Cap one set to autopay for over 3 years now. The limit is still the same as it was when I set up the reoccurring bill.

Re: Minimum usage to keep Chase and CapOne happy?

OmarGB9 — Fri, 07 Aug 2020 09:25:57 GMT

@Gmood1 wrote:
Sigh..lol
You can have a very small reoccurring charge in the Cap One and be just fine OP. There's no minimum amount needed to keep limits. The goal is keeping it active.

I've put a $2 to $3 monthly charge on my Cap one set to autopay for over 3 years now. The limit is still the same as it was when I set up the reoccurring bill.

Why didn't they just make it an even $50k?

Re: Minimum usage to keep Chase and CapOne happy?

Gmood1 — Fri, 07 Aug 2020 09:31:24 GMT

@OmarGB9 😆

I tried, was never able to get it rounded off. I just round it up in my head instead.😂

I'm still debating on what world wide trip I can use the cash back on. I've been building it up for years now. 😁

Re: Minimum usage to keep Chase and CapOne happy?

OmarGB9 — Fri, 07 Aug 2020 09:33:22 GMT

@Gmood1 wrote:
@OmarGB9 😆
I tried, was never able to get it rounded off. I just round it up in my head instead.😂
I'm still debating on what world wide trip I can use the cash back on. I've been building it up for years now. 😁

Also, how did you get that high of a limit??? I think that's the highest Cap One limit I've ever seen!

ETA: lol, whatever you do, don't spend it all in one place.

Re: Minimum usage to keep Chase and CapOne happy?

Gmood1 — Fri, 07 Aug 2020 09:42:02 GMT

@OmarGB9

As the saying goes, there's always more than one way to skin a cat. lol

I consolidated several Cap one cards about 4 years ago. Making this one my highest and oldest CC.

Re: Minimum usage to keep Chase and CapOne happy?

Conceptual23 — Fri, 07 Aug 2020 10:32:24 GMT

I can't comment on Chase, unfortunately, I don't meet 5/24 but I've been with Capital One for over six years now and I've never heard of a min spend requirement. There have been months where I've charged 4K+ and others where I've spent $200.00 (or less) and I've actually gotten several auto increases. As long as the card is being used you'll be fine. Just my two cents.