USAA Visa lowered credit limit by over 10k with no notice

[fredd]

Hello,

I am not a frequent poster here but wanted some advice.   I got my USAA Visa statement electronically tonight and noticed they lowered my credit limit from 30k to 18k with no notice.   I have had this account since 2004, never late, no problems.   Lower 800s credit score.

I am not happy right now.  I have not seen a change in my credit score due to this but it may be too soon.   I was worried this kind of crap would happen once they went from MC to Visa branded cards.

My question is this:  I am contemplating closing this account.  I realize that closed accounts can impact credit score but so can lowered limits.  Which is worse?  I am tired of the way these people have started treating Veterans.  I really don't need this card and was only leaving it open because of credit score issues.

Thanks for your feedback.

[creditguy]

Sorry to hear this happened. I would assume there is a reason why this happened but seeing as how your in the lower 800's, nothing has dramatically changed with your profile. Closing a card and a CL decrease will only affect you if it affects your overall utilization. If your not carrying a large amount of balance ms then the CLD or closure won't really do much lharm. Have you reached out to USAA for an explanation? If not, find out what's up. hopefully you can get some clarity.

[Anonymous]

+1 to the contacting USAA if you can talk to the appropriate department and have been using the card they should be able to take a second look. 

[fredd]

Thanks for the replies.  I have not reached out because I just discovered this tonight.  I will be doing so tomorrow though.

I did some searching online and found  a couple of those complaint forum/websites where others have written about this as well.  It seems to have started happening within the past month.   One of the posts I read actually had a person whose limit was lowered so much that their balance put them a great deal of $$ over their new credit limit.

For some reason I thought that Dodd Frank regulated that now but I could be wrong.  What I am most unhappy about is that they did not notify me at all.

[austinguy907]

CLD is usually spontaneous when they happen and a week or so later you'll probably get a letter.  If you call them tomorrow and they decide not to restore the limit then I would close it and move onto someone that cares.  Scores in the 800's should warrant an easy approval for a couple of cards to replace it.  USAA never really piqued my interest for products even though I'm in TX and they're a local bank.  Not really kean on the idea of dealing with a bank that sells other services like insurance anyway.  If you're good at something then stick with that and don't try to be a bank and insurance company on top of it i.e. State Farm, Nationwide, etc.

[Anonymous]

USAA has always been pretty good to me and my family. At times they have been a real pain in the behind, but if you escalate to either exec office or even office of the ceo, they have top tier service and really care about there vets. Might I ask, do you use the card often? A lot of times for people with high scores it has to do with low utilization and readjusting it to a more approperiate level based on spending patterns. 

[Anonymous]

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@austinguy907 wrote:

CLD is usually spontaneous when they happen and a week or so later you'll probably get a letter.  If you call them tomorrow and they decide not to restore the limit then I would close it and move onto someone that cares.  Scores in the 800's should warrant an easy approval for a couple of cards to replace it.  USAA never really piqued my interest for products even though I'm in TX and they're a local bank.  Not really kean on the idea of dealing with a bank that sells other services like insurance anyway.  If you're good at something then stick with that and don't try to be a bank and insurance company on top of it i.e. State Farm, Nationwide, etc.

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USAA is an insurance company that does banking too, while I agree it is annyoing to constantly be cross-sold products they do have their own benefits. By having a credit card I save $5.60 a month on my auto policy, I charge a few dollars a month to it and it's there in an emergency. +1 to going where your business is valued, with your scores if a human is unwilling to move it back up find a new card or two, if you do not have any other banking products with them I would just sock drawer your card otherwise you may lose out on the discount. 

[austinguy907]

$60 a year isn't worth it when you can get 1-2% back through another card when you pay in full for 6/12 month terms and save 15% off the policy by doing so.  Insurance is a racket like anything else and shopping around every renewal is like keeping up with your scores here.  

e.g. my renewal 2015 jumped from 1800/yr to 2450/yr for now reason since a new policy with that company would've been 1750/yr with all the new signup discounts... ended up quoting out a few more companies and went with another company that came out 100/yr cheaper and a few days after that got a quote returned from AAA for even less ($300/yr) but the agent was kind of flakey and didn't keep up with her e-mails... when it comes for renewal in January plan on calling the company directly bypassing the local agent for the new policy and savings.

[Anonymous]

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@austinguy907 wrote:

$60 a year isn't worth it when you can get 1-2% back through another card when you pay in full for 6/12 month terms and save 15% off the policy by doing so.  Insurance is a racket like anything else and shopping around every renewal is like keeping up with your scores here.  

e.g. my renewal 2015 jumped from 1800/yr to 2450/yr for now reason since a new policy with that company would've been 1750/yr with all the new signup discounts... ended up quoting out a few more companies and went with another company that came out 100/yr cheaper and a few days after that got a quote returned from AAA for even less ($300/yr) but the agent was kind of flakey and didn't keep up with her e-mails... when it comes for renewal in January plan on calling the company directly bypassing the local agent for the new policy and savings.

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You do not have to use the USAA card to pay to get the discount. I get the $60 a year no matter how I pay just for having the card. USAA is the cheapest by far for me, but that is different for everyone. 

[Anonymous]

Appreciate your sharing the not happy news. Also a USAA card holder. The thing I learned after having all my eggs in one basket (Wells Fargo) is that I spread my business around and maintain a diversified credit portfolio. Liked the idea and convenience but after getting bit ... no more! As to the Dodd Frank Act, I got lowered by US Bank (not for lack of card usage) because the bank had extended too much credit based on my current income and available credit (including other financial lenders/creditors). Note, US Bank reduced me by $10,000 CL.