@Excalibur2 wrote:Do you know what really gets me? How easy it was to get these Synchrony cards. When I got my Lowes card back in May, I applied, they gave me a $2000 SL and then 5 minutes later I was on the phone with them and they increased my limit to $10K. Just because I told the lady that I wanted to remodel my kitchen. I thanked her and took the $10K. I only spent $150 on door locks. 6 weeks later I go online to pay my bill in full after my statement cut, push the luv button, and boy did it show me some love. I received an increase to $20K. Easy. 10 days ago, I applied for the CareCredit card, I chose Dentist as the reason, Boom $9.6K sl.
There clearly was something about your profile that resulted in approvals instead of denials as well as CLIs. I would guess you were stoked when Lowes popped up with a $20k SL just 6 weeks after getting the card.
But did you read any of the threads here where people reported AA and multiple closures from Synch Bank before it happened to you? Just like there are detailed posts instructing how to get big CLIs from Synch there are lots of warnings too.
I'm not sure what a "safe" number of accounts is with Synch. I have 2. I think it was Sarge who said he tries to limit cards with any financial institution to 2. Probably smart but the Chase trifecta is a known thing and clearly those cards are geared to work together.
It is hard to limit exposure when so many store cards are handled by Synch or Commenity.
And thinking of limiting exposure to each FI, how about Citi Bank! Along with their own cards they handle Costco, Home Depot, Best Buy, Macy's, Big O Tires, Shell and probably a dozen more! What is a "safe" number with Citi and what spooks them?
I would hate to lose Care Credit. Lowes would be missed but not as much since the nearest store is 90 miles from me. I have a real use for care credit and the high CL means I can stay under 10% utilization each time I get a crown on my teeth. One by one I'm doing the front 6. Recently I bought a generator from Lowes. Before that I had some promos for about $350 that I paid off over 6 months. The generator pushed the utilization up but again, due to CLIs last year the percentage is fine.
This forum is extremely educational but also temps me to apply for credit. I nearly had a stroke when I finally apped for my 2nd Navy card and was given a mega SL. But I considered that I waited a year between cards there and knew the second card SL might equal one of the 2 Synch SLs if I get the axe.
Recovering from losing 70k Overal CL will be hard OP. But this forum will help you come up with a plan.
I have heard of that happening before. Don't know how to fix it though. They got on my bad side when they double pulled me while chasing me to get one of the cards they back. I was shopping two major stores that label and issue their cards through them and they assured me it would be one pull for both when used within a day or two of each other. I wasn't thinking, but if I had been I might have known each store's card might have different criteria. Oh, those customer service reps trying to make us smile then falling short.
@rgd51 wrote:
You have good reason be nervous because you appear to have the profile of someone they do close all of the accounts to because you have high CLs and tons of accounts with them but they aren't used heavily so from a business perspective it would make sense for them to shut you down and give that unused CL to someone who will use it since that person would make them profit while you are either costing them money or not making them any profit. I hate that synch does business this way as they should have just not allowed the lines to get that high in the first place but from a business perspective it makes sense. Of course they will say the mass account closures are due to high risk behavior but in reality I think it is due to closing the accounts for people who are unprofitable to them (most the people on this site who have them open for utilization padding and then rarely use them just to keep them active) and give the lines to people who will use the cards regularly and be profitable customers. So in short them closing the cards isn't about a person's risk or creditworthiness but more about profitability.
You're making really good points/sense. Thanks.
I have a total of four Synchrony cards: Amazon Prime Store Card, Chevron/Texaco card, JCPenney Mastercard, and a Synchrony Home card. Of those, I regularly (and I mean multi-times-per-week) use the Amazon card. I LOVE its 5% cash back! The Chevron card, I sent to my out-of-state daughter late last year and asked her to use it occasionally to keep it active. (I can't drive right now.) She's used it two or three times. The JCPMC I almost never use; ditto for the Synchrony card. All of these, save for the Chevron card, have 5-figure limits; I pay all of them in full each time.
I'd really appreciate whatever advice or suggestions anyone can make, even though I realize Synchrony seems to live in its own world when it comes to credit-making decisions! I'm kind of hoping that my regular use of the Amazon card will somehow be enough to keep Synchrony happy.
OP, I hope you don't mind my posts in your thread!
@Remedios wrote:Please, stop with "utilization padders" etc. This is "enough is enough" part.
If you don't like it, don't do it.
If you like it, go you! - but either way, you'd be very hard pressed to find anyone on this forum who has CLD'ed themselves to the average amount used every month, then let card(s) report maxed every month.
You're correct, of course. That wasn't a gentle euphemism on my part...and I shall immediately quit using the phrase. I apologize.
Still, the act bears some examination relative to this particular lender's CLD and closure predilections, as there is definitely a correlation between large, mostly unused lines with Synch and adverse actions after the fact...and I think we owe it to our readers to at least put the information out there as often as possible so that they don't find themselves burned.
After all, imagine the worst case scenario where someone is gearing up to buy a house, gets pre-approved for a mortgage, and then gets CLD'd/closed right before the house closes. If that mortgage lender pulls the bureaus a second time (as mine did many years ago) and sees those plummeting scores, it can literally cost that borrower tens of thousands in higher interest alone (unless you are fortunate enough to refi at the right time)...or, if your scores drop enough, the loan can fall through altogether.
Have the large unused lines, don't have them...a personal choice, as you said. But let's make no bones about the very real possibility that opting for the former has risks if you lean on that choice too much.
@CreditCrusader wrote:
@Remedios wrote:Please, stop with "utilization padders" etc. This is "enough is enough" part.
If you don't like it, don't do it.
If you like it, go you! - but either way, you'd be very hard pressed to find anyone on this forum who has CLD'ed themselves to the average amount used every month, then let card(s) report maxed every month.
You're correct, of course. That wasn't a gentle euphemism on my part...and I shall immediately quit using the phrase. I apologize.
Still, the act bears some examination relative to this particular lender's CLD and closure predilections, as there is definitely a correlation between large, mostly unused lines with Synch and adverse actions after the fact...and I think we owe it to our readers to at least put the information out there as often as possible so that they don't find themselves burned.
After all, imagine the worst case scenario where someone is gearing up to buy a house, gets pre-approved for a mortgage, and then gets CLD'd/closed right before the house closes. If that mortgage lender pulls the bureaus a second time (as mine did many years ago) and sees those plummeting scores, it can literally cost that borrower tens of thousands in higher interest alone (unless you are fortunate enough to refi at the right time)...or, if your scores drop enough, the loan can fall through altogether.
Have the large unused lines, don't have them...a personal choice, as you said. But let's make no bones about the very real possibility that opting for the former has risks if you lean on that choice too much.
100% agree. People need to know all pros and cons and then decide what is best for them.
@CreditCrusader wrote:
@Remedios wrote:Please, stop with "utilization padders" etc. This is "enough is enough" part.
If you don't like it, don't do it.
If you like it, go you! - but either way, you'd be very hard pressed to find anyone on this forum who has CLD'ed themselves to the average amount used every month, then let card(s) report maxed every month.
You're correct, of course. That wasn't a gentle euphemism on my part...and I shall immediately quit using the phrase. I apologize.
Still, the act bears some examination relative to this particular lender's CLD and closure predilections, as there is definitely a correlation between large, mostly unused lines with Synch and adverse actions after the fact...and I think we owe it to our readers to at least put the information out there as often as possible so that they don't find themselves burned.
After all, imagine the worst case scenario where someone is gearing up to buy a house, gets pre-approved for a mortgage, and then gets CLD'd/closed right before the house closes. If that mortgage lender pulls the bureaus a second time (as mine did many years ago) and sees those plummeting scores, it can literally cost that borrower tens of thousands in higher interest alone (unless you are fortunate enough to refi at the right time)...or, if your scores drop enough, the loan can fall through altogether.
Have the large unused lines, don't have them...a personal choice, as you said. But let's make no bones about the very real possibility that opting for the former has risks if you lean on that choice too much.
Nobody said it shouldn't be discussed. There is nothing wrong with discussing it. What isn't ok are the labels and descriptions for the act and people doing it. No nicknames, no slang, nothing that can possibly come across as deprecating or demeaning.
