Card Usage Question

[Anonymous]

During the credit crunch I'm starting to get warried about my existing cards. I want to make sure they do not cut my CL's. The cards I'm most concerned about are: US BANK Platinum 14.5k, Key Bank Mastercard(Citi) 10.5k, Ameriprise world elite MC 11k and AMEX Blue 4.5k. The question is: could you put them in order of how often I should use the card and how sensitive are cards to usage. I do not carry balances, but want to make sure they do not cut the limits for low usage. So if you guys know, what cards should  I use more often to keep the CL and where I can just charge a phone or insurance bill once a month and will be fine? Happy Thanksgiving!

[wmarat]

Amex and Barclay are unpredictible.

US Bank is pretty good

Do not have idea about Key Bank

[Anonymous]

wmarat -

Do you have an Ameriprise card? If you look at your CBR's how does the legend on those accounts read?

[wmarat]

Saks WE served by HSBC and reported as Saks, so?

[Jazzzy]

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@Anonymous wrote:

During the credit crunch I'm starting to get warried about my existing cards. I want to make sure they do not cut my CL's. The cards I'm most concerned about are: US BANK Platinum 14.5k, Key Bank Mastercard(Citi) 10.5k, Ameriprise world elite MC 11k and AMEX Blue 4.5k. The question is: could you put them in order of how often I should use the card and how sensitive are cards to usage. I do not carry balances, but want to make sure they do not cut the limits for low usage. So if you guys know, what cards should  I use more often to keep the CL and where I can just charge a phone or insurance bill once a month and will be fine? Happy Thanksgiving!

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Hi Lexa...

I can't tell you exactly how each bank looks at usage. I have a card that has a $15k limit that I rarely use. It's from Chase, and they've never said a word. I have two of my cards that have small monthly charges on them...Netflix and a book club. It only amounts to about $15 per month, and no one has lowered credit lines on me...yet.

I noticed on another thread that you are thinking about applying for a Citi card. We have had posters here experience getting a credit line lowered on one card because that creditor saw that they were applying for and getting other cards. Realize that when you apply for other cards, you may be putting some of your present credit lines at risk. It's a balancing act for sure.

[wmarat]

I have recently gotten 6 or 7 new accounts, no AA so far (including Citi), but everything is possible.

[torry590]

US Bank is very good. I wouldn't worry about them.

I would be shaking in my boots about Amex though. 

[Anonymous]

So far, I've experienced only 1 CLD - from Barclays, which issued my EmigrantDirect MasterCard. At the beginning of the year, they reduced my CL from $25K to $14.4K - not because I wasn't using the card - I use it every month - but because I was using only a small percentage of the available credit. I was annoyed, but I could see their point: if you only charge a couple of hundred per month & always PIF, why do you need a $25K limit?

After that, I was sure that they'd do the same thing to my L.L. Bean Visa card, also issued by Barclays, which has a $30K limit. I use that card even less than the other one. (I only spend a few hundred per year on Bean's stuff.) But for some reason, they've left that card alone.

We also have cards from Chase, BofA, Citi, Amex & Discover, as well as cards from PenFed & Alliant. None of those issuers have cut our limits, but anything could happen.