topic Re: Oh silly Citi! in Credit Cards

Oh silly Citi!

Uniqua — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 21:05:06 GMT

Been getting 3 preapprovals a week from Citi. The most recent for the City Dividend World Mastercard. I have never gotten that one before. Well, I decide to apply (but not for the world Mastercard) and what do you know ......................... APPROVED FOR $1,800.00. My lowest CL to date.

They must be crazy! I will happily be closing this CC as soon as I receive it in the mail. If I can't get a limit above $10k, the CC is worthless to me. I only app'd for the 21-month 0% introductory APR on balance transfers anyway.

Re: Oh silly Citi!

Anonymous — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 21:08:51 GMT

Does seem kind of silly for your scores and how Citi is supposedly a generous lender. Maybe you had really high utilization or something?

Re: Oh silly Citi!

Uniqua — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 21:17:40 GMT

LOL. I know. My overall util is not high at all. My total CL is $25k for all my CCs. Trust me, I don't even go near $$2-3k on my util. I think they may be giving me the CL I had with them back in 1997 with my Sears card. Not sure if they were the bank then, but that's the only thing I could think of.

Re: Oh silly Citi!

Anonymous — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 21:31:36 GMT

Maybe I just do not understand why you feel you are entitled to 10K. You state your total CL's are 25K for "ALL" your CC's. While your scores are very good it is not the only determining factor in having credit issued to you and how much credit is issued to you.

Good Luck

Re: Oh silly Citi!

Uniqua — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 21:34:11 GMT

Just went to the mailbox and the only items there were two new preapproval offers from .............. guess who? CITI

One offer for the Platinum Select Visa and the other for the Diamond Preferred MC. The Diamond Preferred does have a better offer which I should have applied for, not that it would have mattered though since I believe they were going to give me that CL no matter what.

Re: Oh silly Citi!

Uniqua — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 21:43:11 GMT

I PREFER a CL $10k or above (never said I was entitled to anything). I know very well what lenders look for. I have learned and played the credit game for some time now. My goal is to get higher CLs, not start from scratch all over again if I do not have to.

Re: Oh silly Citi!

Anonymous — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 22:01:04 GMT

Too funny! I applied via pre-approval last year for a Platinum Select MC and the limit was $1800. Lowest CL at that time and to this day they haven't budged! I even PC'd it to Diamond Preferred AMEX and they lowered the rate but never raised the limit. It's mainly a PIF card that I use to buy cigars online...stupid Citi, I have a Home Depot card with a 12K limit but this...

Re: Oh silly Citi!

Uniqua — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 22:13:00 GMT

Yes, too funny. That's the same CC I app'd for and had been getting pre-approvals for a long time now. I didn't want the World MC even though the offer was slightly better (as far as rewards mainly). Now, I see I'm pre-approved for the Diamond Preferred and I'm sure I would not get a higher CL. I'm getting ready to make a few large purchases and thought that the 0% APR for 21 months on balance transfers would give me some time and leisure to pay off. I would use my Travelocity AmEx to make the purchases for the Travelocity credits, then transfer the balances to the Citi CC. Unfortunately, looks like that is not going to happen. Oh well.

Re: Oh silly Citi!

Anonymous — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 23:56:59 GMT

Hmm, I guess my habit of shredding all these Citi offers that flood my mailbox seems to be a good approach . Sorry to hear that.

Re: Oh silly Citi!

Anonymous — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 23:51:42 GMT

The card could grow to be 5k + ...

Re: Oh silly Citi!

Uniqua — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 00:13:11 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Hmm, I guess my habit of shredding all these Citi offers that flood my mailbox seems to be a good approach . Sorry to hear that.

Ulan, I should have continued doing what you've been doing. LOL. I guess the tiny CL surprised me.

Re: Oh silly Citi!

Uniqua — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 00:14:45 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
The card could grow to be 5k + ...

Probably, but I'm not interested in waiting for that to happen, if ever. Not sure of the score drop I'll face, but I'll just start credit gardening until the required time to app again.

Re: Oh silly Citi!

scottwagnon — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 23:10:33 GMT

when i apped for citi platinum select mastercard, they pulled eq and i know i was around 760 at the time of the pull. they only gave me 1600. im fine with that, but it is interesting quite conicentally i have a home depot CITI card, (which is my highest limit of all of my accounts) 12.1k. use it to by lo carb monster energy drinks and snickers candybars. (ooooh my cholesterol and blood sugar)

Re: Oh silly Citi!

HindSight_20_20 — Thu, 25 Nov 2010 03:58:48 GMT

Man one day I'm going to be able to say '$1800.00' ... HA! I laugh at the thought of YOU! Take your 1+1700 and kick rocks!

But i'm rebuilding.. have never had a card with 5 digits and have to wait till my last two baddies fall off (2012) and my BK7 dies (in 3 years) so that gives me enough time to rebuild with my CU cards and my Kays (which is my highest at $1400.00)

I do however have my USAA platinum MC at $1000, and my (3) NFCU CC at $500 each so I'll just ride those for two - three years and then go for the big ones!

Great thread though it had me over here ROLLING!!!

Re: Oh silly Citi!

larinoriani — Thu, 25 Nov 2010 13:30:46 GMT

I also had a pre-approval attack from CITI, and the offer for the Diamond was good and decided to try and transfer my (total) balances of $3500 at 0% and knock that out within the year.

Checked my FICO's and they were the highest ever to me at 737 EQ and 742 TU, and decided to pull the trigger. My expectations of getting a high CL were low because my highest CL was $4.5k with Dell and $3.5k on my highest non-store CC, and I had a total CL's of around $15k.

To my surprise, I was instantly approved for $8.7k. I posted this so there is an example on how CCC have their own rating systems and as we know are not based on scores alone.

Maybe your work history is too short?

Maybe your AAoA is too short?

Maybe your credit mix is not what they like to see?

Income?

Who knows, but with time and trial and errors, I've learned to always expect less from creditors, and then surprises like mine happen. And there's more, after a week or so of that approval, seeing the CL I decided to pull the trigger again, and get my foot in the door with Amex, applied online for the Blue Cash, instantly approved for $8.3k!

These two CL's add up more than my previous TOTAL limit was!

I would call the back number and talk to one of the credit analysts to see what exactly you need to do to increase tha CL, if something.

Re: Oh silly Citi!

Anonymous — Thu, 25 Nov 2010 13:26:15 GMT

I've talked to front line reps, analysts, and 'managers' and they all say wait. Who knows how they assign limits. Maybe, in 5 years, the card will grow to a limit I can use--$2000!!! Hey, at least the rate isn't offensive @14.24%!

Re: Oh silly Citi!

Anonymous — Thu, 25 Nov 2010 13:40:14 GMT

Oh, I forgot to mention: I get BOMBARDED with BT offers. 0% for 6,12,15, 18 months but I can't do anything with the limit! AAARRRGH!