topic Re: 0% Intro APRs in Credit Cards

0% Intro APRs

money_talks — Mon, 21 Apr 2014 20:55:53 GMT

Many cards offer 0% intro APRs. If you max out your card for the entire promotion period, would this be viewed badly by the card issuer? Obviously your FICO score will dip every month it's reported, but since FICO has no history of previous months, once you bring down your balance for this card down to $0, your FICO will recover immediately. I'm more concerned about the card issuer as they probably keep internal records that they review when granting CLIs, etc.

Re: 0% Intro APRs

PlasticOrPlastic — Mon, 21 Apr 2014 21:33:30 GMT

Thats a good question, I would imagine it varies by lender. I can say it doesn't seem to have affected my relationship or account with Barclay or Discover, both of those I took advantage of the 0% and paid large payments to pay it down. The Discover rep even mentioned it last week when I asked for a CLI after 3 months. He said "Were happy to raise your limit, as it looks like you paid well over the minimum and kept your account in good standing". No mention of maxing the card out. Barclays was the same way and actually doubled my CL on the maxed out card.

Re: 0% Intro APRs

JKSIMMONS — Mon, 21 Apr 2014 21:39:33 GMT

@EndlessRoad wrote:
Thats a good question, I would imagine it varies by lender. I can say it doesn't seem to have affected my relationship or account with Barclay or Discover, both of those I took advantage of the 0% and paid large payments to pay it down. The Discover rep even mentioned it last week when I asked for a CLI after 3 months. He said "Were happy to raise your limit, as it looks like you paid well over the minimum and kept your account in good standing". No mention of maxing the card out. Barclays was the same way and actually doubled my CL on the maxed out card.

So paying over the minimum really does have a big impact? I wonder what they think if you make multiple smaller pmts but continue to use the card..

Re: 0% Intro APRs

SunriseEarth — Mon, 21 Apr 2014 21:49:27 GMT

@money_talks wrote:
Many cards offer 0% intro APRs. If you max out your card for the entire promotion period, would this be viewed badly by the card issuer? Obviously your FICO score will dip every month it's reported, but since FICO has no history of previous months, once you bring down your balance for this card down to $0, your FICO will recover immediately. I'm more concerned about the card issuer as they probably keep internal records that they review when granting CLIs, etc.

I'm sure if varies quite a bit by issuer. Discover might not mind it, but AMEX might freak out. YMMV.