New AMEX credit card, but total credit limit with AMEX unchanged

[frugal47374]

I have AMEX Blue with $10,000 credit limit.  I applied and got an AMEX Delta card with a $6300 limit (yesterday).

But then this evening I noticed my Blue card now had a $3700 limit.  So my total limit at AMEX remains unchanged.

In all my years of getting credit cards, I have never had a case where my new card reduced the limit on an old card.  Is this normal with AMEX?  If not normal, what's going on?

[longtimelurker]

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@frugal47374 wrote:

I have AMEX Blue with $10,000 credit limit.  I applied and got an AMEX Delta card with a $6300 limit (yesterday).

But then this evening I noticed my Blue card now had a $3700 limit.  So my total limit at AMEX remains unchanged.

In all my years of getting credit cards, I have never had a case where my new card reduced the limit on an old card.  Is this normal with AMEX?  If not normal, what's going on?

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A number of issuers now do this, and is often in the terms and conditions. From their viewpoint, you obviously want Card B, so will give it to you but won't extend more credit....

[frugal47374]

Thanks for that insight.  I guess I need to read the fine print that I click on and say I read.

I'm almost regretting getting the Delta card.  They had just given me a 0% for 12 months on new purchases on Blue.

(I just went back and read 11 pages of the cardmember agreement and don't see anything about doing this.  They, of course, have the right to change my credit limit downward whenever they like, but I was completely surprised by this.  Now I wonder if I cancel the Delta card I can get my Blue back to $10k.)

[Credit-hoarder]

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@frugal47374 wrote:

Thanks for that insight.  I guess I need to read the fine print that I click on and say I read.

I'm almost regretting getting the Delta card.  They had just given me a 0% for 12 months on new purchases on Blue.

(I just went back and read 11 pages of the cardmember agreement and don't see anything about doing this.  They, of course, have the right to change my credit limit downward whenever they like, but I was completely surprised by this.  Now I wonder if I cancel the Delta card I can get my Blue back to $10k.)

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You could probably do that (cancel the Delta) but they might be reluctant to approve you for anything else later. What I would do is call up and ask to move all but $1k from the new card back to the blue card (you'd have to leave at least $1k on the Delta to keep it open) and decide later down the road-say almost 1 year--if you want to close Delta or not. Most of the time they'll allow you to do that if you're approved via an unwanted CL reallocation.

[redpat]

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@frugal47374 wrote:

I have AMEX Blue with $10,000 credit limit.  I applied and got an AMEX Delta card with a $6300 limit (yesterday).

But then this evening I noticed my Blue card now had a $3700 limit.  So my total limit at AMEX remains unchanged.

In all my years of getting credit cards, I have never had a case where my new card reduced the limit on an old card.  Is this normal with AMEX?  If not normal, what's going on?

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If you are eligible for a CLI on Blue request an increase to see if you can get the 10k CL back or more before doing anything else.

[K-in-Boston]

+1 you can request a credit line increase up to 3x your current limit right online.  Because they just reallocated lines for you automatically, it's possible you may be at the maximum amount of credit Amex is willing to extend you at this time, however.  You can also reallocate credit lines online once every 30 days.  I'd wait until you've met the welcome offer spending so that utilization is not out of control on the new card, then reallocate as needed.

If you got a targeted 0% offer on your card, it sounds like you may not have been using it for a while?  Amex likes to see spending on their cards and if you haven't been using the Blue, they likely decided that you have sufficient credit lines to handle the minimal or zero spending they've seen from you.  Using the new card to show activity (and get that valuable welcome offer) should alleviate that concern.  Going forward, you can ask for a CLI every 181 days if approved or every 91 days if denied on any one Amex account for up to 3x its current credit line.

[Imhotrodcrazy]

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@frugal47374 wrote:

I have AMEX Blue with $10,000 credit limit.  I applied and got an AMEX Delta card with a $6300 limit (yesterday).

But then this evening I noticed my Blue card now had a $3700 limit.  So my total limit at AMEX remains unchanged.

In all my years of getting credit cards, I have never had a case where my new card reduced the limit on an old card.  Is this normal with AMEX?  If not normal, what's going on?

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Don't feel bad, you are not alone.  This just happened to me a few days ago.  I applied for and was approved for the cash magnet.  They approved me for $5k but reduced my ED by the same amount, from 44k to 39k.  This irritated me also since I didn't know they would do this nor did I see it in the agreement anywhere.  If I had known they were going to do that I would not have applied. I called amex, voiced my complaint, and asked for the return of the 5k to my ED.  A formal complaint was filed and I should hear within a few days. I used my ED card heavily and pif every month.  I have been with amex since 2011.  I don't care that they reduced my ED by 5k, it's the fact they didn't tell me up front and give me the chance to reject the offer.  While it's their money, and they have every right to conduct business the way they want, I also have the right to cancel the card should I choose. I was also disappointed in 5k sl as I am starting to remodel my home to the tune of about 25k.  So, I will move what I need from the ed card to the cm card.  I will play the game until I get this job done.  Hope this thread helps others understand how some ccc work.  Nothing is guaranteed.  Good luck on you credit endeavors.

[frugal47374]

Thanks to all of you for your valuable advice.

I called the number I was given last night (800-842-5303) and they transferred me to the team that handles this.

They said that when I applied the system looked at my Blue card, determined I wasn't using it "to the full potential" (true enough) and moved most of the credit limit to the new card.  I think he called this "proactive reallocation".

But if the customer (me) calls to object to that, he sends a message to some other team which will move all the credit limit back to the original card.  They will then decide what credit limit they are willing to give me on the new card.  He said it should happen within 24 hours.

So if that is what happens, it seems "problem solved".  I did tell him I thought, at minimum, I should have been told of this reallocation instead of just discovering it when I looked at my "available credit" online and thought "what the heck!?".  He also said he'd pass that on.

So thanks again.  I'll do one (I hope) last update after everything is fixed in 24 hours.  (And I do also intend to ask for a credit limit increase after I've paid off some other 0% cards and got my utilization to a more respectable number.)

[frugal47374]

I said I'd come back to tell you what happened, so just to tie up loose ends...

Quick recap:

Had Blue, $10,000 limit (relatively unused, but just signed up for 0%, 12 months on purchases)

Applied for Delta, was accepted and told I had $6300 limit.  But noticed that evening Blue had been decreased to $3700.

Called the next day to say I didn't want my credit limit transferred.   He said this was a "proactive reallocation" because I hadn't used my Blue much, but that since I complained, he would send a request to another department to reverse that reallocation and decide what credit limit they would give me on Delta.  He indicated this was "automatic", normally within 24 hours.

Nothing happened.

Received a letter telling me about the reallocation saying “we are unable to extend any additional credit” (sent before my phone call.)

Went online to move the credit limit.  The online entry would let me move all but $500 from Delta back to Blue.  So I made that entry.  "Your request is being processed. You will receive a written response within the next 7 to 10 business days."

Received a letter saying the request would not be done because it would make my credit limit less than allowed.  [So why did they let me make the request?]

Recalled comments here that the minimum was $1000, so went back online and was allowed to immediately make limits Blue $9000, Delta $1000.

So I'm not unhappy with where I am but I think Amex could have done a better job of communicating.

Thanks to all providing comments.  I think this is the first time I've run into this (with other companies I've applied for new cards, had relatively unused other cards, and never had reallocations) because this was the first time a company was unwilling to advance additional credit.

[Cred4All]

Thanks for the update, I agree the communication is lacking in areas when that reallocation is done automatically.