topic Re: Chase in Credit Cards

Chase

ccsauer — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 19:45:24 GMT

Ok, what the heck is going on here?

My sister and I were talking about her credit, which score-wise is fine. on her report, she has zero missed payments, as no one has reported anything to the bureaus.

HOWEVER

her chase credit card, which had a CL of 21K, which she was late by 5 days once half a year ago lowered her limit to 20K a while ago for some reason, possibly the late payment.

She has gotten her utilization on that card down to 50%, and today she found out they lowered her CL to 10K...what gives?

Anyone know what the heck that's all about and what to do about it, if anything?

-Me

Re: Chase

MidnightVoice — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 20:08:59 GMT

The current credit crunch is making a lot of CCCs very nervous.

I don't think they have done anything illegal, and you could call and talk to them. But she had >50% util on a 21K card, whch probably began to concern them. Have they been sniffing around her CRs? Soft pulls (probably EQ).

Re: Chase

Anonymous — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 20:28:14 GMT

I spoke to my mom today and she mentioned that the two chase cards that she has with 15K on each lowered their credit limit to 5k on each. She has balance transfers on both for 2.9% for the life of the bt.

I wonder what's going on with Chase. My mom also has spotless credit with no late pays in 20 years.

Message Edited by xinl0707x on 01-11-2008 12:28 PM

Re: Chase

Anonymous — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 20:17:30 GMT

My wife an I really love her Chase card because of the higher limit on it. We get to keep our utility low withouht having to play any kind of payment games. It would be a shame if they lowered her limit too.

Re: Chase

MidnightVoice — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 20:19:45 GMT

It appears they are now getting nervous about people who carry balances!!

I PIF mine, and I got a CLI from $2k to $8.5K a couple of months ago

Re: Chase

Anonymous — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 20:50:27 GMT

xinl0707x wrote:
I SPOKE TO MY MOM TODAY AND SHE MENTIONED THAT BOTH CHASE CARDS SHE HAS THEY LOWERED HER CREDIT LIMIT. THEY ORIGINALLY HAD 30K ON EACH AND SHE HAS A BALANCE TRANSFER ON EACH FOR 2.9% FOR THE LIFE OF THE TRANSFER. SHE WAS USING LESS THE 25% AND THEY DROPPED HER CREDIT LIMIT TO 10K. WHICH IS NOW STARTING TO HURT HER CREDIT.

I WONDER WHAT'S GOING ON WITH CHASE. MY MOM ALSO HAS A SPOTLESS CREDIT REPORT NO LATES IN THE LAST 20 YEARS.

I have 2 Chase cards--One card, used for purchases, has a $29,300 CL and I PIF monthly. The other card, has a $33.300 credit limit, and I'm currently carrying about an $8000 balance at a 2.99% (lifetime of the balance transfer) rate. On this account, I'm currently paying about 5 times the minimum payment amount. As of today, both of my credit lines have remained unchanged. Is your mother paying more than the minimum payment monthly? From everything that I've read on these forums, it appears that Chase likes to see payments higher than the minimum payment amount.

Message Edited by psychic on 01-11-2008 12:50 PM

Re: Chase

Red1Blue — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 20:48:39 GMT

Yep. I think they are tightening their belts to face the upcoming downturn and credit crunch. The market is not helping either. I lost 30% on my portfolio in the last 2 months. As I did not need the cash I hve not sold the stock, so it is a paperloss not real loss. I am doing PIF every account every month.

Re: Chase

MidnightVoice — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 20:51:15 GMT

My guess is they looking askance at high balances that are not reducing steadily

Re: Chase

Anonymous — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 21:04:23 GMT

@Red1Blue wrote:
Yep. I think they are tightening their belts to face the upcoming downturn and credit crunch. The market is not helping either. I lost 30% on my portfolio in the last 2 months. As I did not need the cash I hve not sold the stock, so it is a paperloss not real loss. I am doing PIF every account every month.

I do the same thing, PIF every month. Is there any way that a high CL can hurt you? By that I mean they will get nervous you could run up the balance close to the limit. Or am I demonstrating that I can manage all the credit I have?

Re: Chase

Anonymous — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 21:29:05 GMT

Chase may be preemptively closing the account. It is not uncommon for a card issuer to lower th limit as the card is paid down and close once paid off.

Re: Chase

Anonymous — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 21:42:32 GMT

I really think Chase likes to see accounts used significantly, then quickly paid down. When I didn't use my Chase card for anything more than small potatoes for a while... no CLI. I recently used it for some large purchases (building a house), had about $2500 on it ($6000 CL), and when the $2500 was almost paid off (two months later) they raised my limit to $9000. When I got that card 5 years ago it had a $500 or so limit. Apparently, Chase likes my spending habits...

Try paying it down and telling them if you don't get your limit back you will continue paying down and then never use it again??

Re: Chase

haulingthescoreup — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 02:47:51 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Chase may be preemptively closing the account. It is not uncommon for a card issuer to lower th limit as the card is paid down and close once paid off.

D@mned if you do, and d@mned if you don't.

Re: Chase

jsmith12345 — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 00:49:10 GMT

I'm carrying a $35k balance at 0% on my Chase right now. It's well above what I normally carry for utilization, but the 0% was too nice to pass up. Once the 0% is up,I'll pay it off. If they lowered my CL, I'd pay if off and cancel the card. That's ridiculous....

Re: Chase

haulingthescoreup — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 00:53:09 GMT

As long as you're in the position to be able to do that (pay off $35K on short notice), it makes sense to me. You have to keep track of financial sense as well as scoring sense.

Re: Chase

Anonymous — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 00:54:55 GMT

jsmith12345 wrote:
I'm carrying a $35k balance at 0% on my Chase right now. It's well above what I normally carry for utilization, but the 0% was too nice to pass up. Once the 0% is up,I'll pay it off. If they lowered my CL, I'd pay if off and cancel the card. That's ridiculous....

I think one of the important lessons here is that you have to have a back up plan. Say Chase was your only card and they decided that, for what ever reason, they wanted to close your account. If you didn't have a way to take care of that balance, you'd be sunk. Of course, I'm not talking about you specifically. Even a modest balance for a single card holder could mean big problems.

Re: Chase

jsmith12345 — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 01:35:30 GMT

Point taken, it's good to have a back-up plan! I'd be shocked if Chase lowered my CL. I only have one of their cards, but have had it for some time....

Re: Chase

Anonymous — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 08:36:57 GMT

To the people who have really high Chase CL's, did they originally come that way after approval? Auto-CLI or upon request? How long was it open? How does Chase CL compare wih others?

Since they seem to not accept CLI requests without a hard I am not trying anymore but I hate my Chase Freedom with $300 CL when I have several CL's in the $2000-$3000 range. I like the rewards but I could barely use that card without paying them after each use.

Re: Chase

Anonymous — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 11:18:57 GMT

ChaoticKinesis wrote:
To the people who have really high Chase CL's, did they originally come that way after approval? Auto-CLI or upon request? How long was it open? How does Chase CL compare wih others?

Since they seem to not accept CLI requests without a hard I am not trying anymore but I hate my Chase Freedom with $300 CL when I have several CL's in the $2000-$3000 range. I like the rewards but I could barely use that card without paying them after each use.

My 2 Chase cards were originally issued by credit card companies other than Chase. One, opened in 3/1986, was originally a First Card (who merged with BankOne, who later was purchased by Chase). The other, opened in 10/1994, was a First USA card (who also merged with BankOne, and later, Chase). All of my credit line increases occurred before the companies were acquired by Chase. I haven't received any automatic credit line increases from Chase, and I haven't requested any increases either. The only thing I've done is reallocate my credit lines.

Bank of America provides generous credit lines. I have a $47,000 CL on my BoA WorldPoints Visa card.

Re: Chase

MidnightVoice — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 12:57:29 GMT

ChaoticKinesis wrote:
To the people who have really high Chase CL's, did they originally come that way after approval? Auto-CLI or upon request? How long was it open? How does Chase CL compare wih others?

Since they seem to not accept CLI requests without a hard I am not trying anymore but I hate my Chase Freedom with $300 CL when I have several CL's in the $2000-$3000 range. I like the rewards but I could barely use that card without paying them after each use.

I have had a card for 12 months with no automatic CLI. It started out at $2K, and every time I mentioned a CLI they said it would cost a hard. When I fainally applied for a CLI they said they if my CR was OK they would give me one to bring it up to the region of my highest CLs. So I accepted the hard and got $8.5K.

Re: Chase

Anonymous — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 23:21:09 GMT

DW got her Chase card in Oct of 2004 with a $13,000 CL right out of the box. At the time I was really surprised because about a year earlier in November of 2003 she also received a BoA card with a $12,000 CL that I thought was a fluke. She closed this one last year and we just reopened it. At the time her CL's equaled her annual income and I was jealous.

Still am.