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Will Bank of America lower my CL if I pay the balance down?

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GolfNut
Established Member

Will Bank of America lower my CL if I pay the balance down?

I have a BoA CC with $7,500 CL, and balance has been close to limit for some time.  I would like to pay it down to reduce utilization, but will they lower my CL if I pay it down?  I really can't afford to lose access to the money entirely in case of emergency.
Message 1 of 12
11 REPLIES 11
DI
Super Contributor

Re: Will Bank of America lower my CL if I pay the balance down?


@GolfNut wrote:
I have a BoA CC with $7,500 CL, and balance has been close to limit for some time.  I would like to pay it down to reduce utilization, but will they lower my CL if I pay it down?  I really can't afford to lose access to the money entirely in case of emergency.

Why care about about a possible CLD, when you're paying interest on the balance.?

Message 2 of 12
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Will Bank of America lower my CL if I pay the balance down?

Hi Golfnut!

 


GolfNut wrote:
I have a BoA CC with $7,500 CL, and balance has been close to limit for some time.  I would like to pay it down to reduce utilization, but will they lower my CL if I pay it down?  I really can't afford to lose access to the money entirely in case of emergency.

 

There's no way to know for certain, of course, but some things to consider:

 

*Has your risk has suddenly escalated due to recent derogs (lates, collection accounts, public records, etc...)

*Do you have very high utilization on other cards?

*Have you've suddenly been applying for a lot of credit with escalating debt (pyramiding)

*Have you RJ'd by BoA in the last few months? That might be another sign that they've got you in their sights.

 

These are just some of the possible reasons to BoA *might* CLD you after a pay down. They can also CLD you for no discernable reason at all.

 

That said, I think it's better to pay it down and risk losing the credit line than to keep high utilizaiton in the hopes that they won't CLD you. If you're paying interest now, you can pay it down and put the 'saved' interest payments in an interest bearing account, building an emergency fund (or a bigger one if you've got one already).

 

Also, paying it down will put you in a better position to app for new credit if and when you need to. Having that line maxed out now doesn't do you any good in the event of an emergency. You wouldn't be able to use the BoA card, and you'd be hard pressed to get approved for a new card. So, being CLD'd doesn't hurt you anymore than high utilization is hurting you now, as far as having available credit goes. Having low or no utilization and emergency savings, even with much lower credit lines, is preferable to paying potential savings to interest due, and still not having available credit in a pinch.

Message 3 of 12
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Will Bank of America lower my CL if I pay the balance down?

Bank of America has been doing some........some balance chasing so it's hard to tell what they might do. But from what allot of others in this forum and others have said is that B of A are notoriously famous for this as well as Capital One. But I would say who cares.....if they balance chase it down, then get another card because you don't need to do business with a company like that anyway if they would do that too you.I happen to love Bank of America because they have always treated me very well.

 

But you can also look at it like this as well, the bank will be very happy to just get it's money back from you and may not want you running it back up if they feel that you are now a credit risk.....I'm not saying you are a risk but they may feel that way because of the economic climate we are in currently. Good people get caught up these things all the time.... I hope you don't. So keep us posted

 

Just a few thought's on this.....

Message 4 of 12
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Will Bank of America lower my CL if I pay the balance down?


@GolfNut wrote:
I have a BoA CC with $7,500 CL, and balance has been close to limit for some time.  I would like to pay it down to reduce utilization, but will they lower my CL if I pay it down?  I really can't afford to lose access to the money entirely in case of emergency.

I'm not following you. If you've almost maxed out this card, then you really have access to little or no money from this card.

 

Paying down debt & building up savings is the best way - the only sensible way, really - to prepare for emergencies.

Message 5 of 12
GolfNut
Established Member

Re: Will Bank of America lower my CL if I pay the balance down?

To those who are confused...   I have very little savings or credit available to deal with emergencies right now - car repairs, home maintenance, etc.  So if I get a bonus of a few thousand bucks, I'd love to use most of it to pay down some CC balances, but I need some way of planning for or dealing with unexpected expenses.  So if I take my bouns and pay down a balance and they lower my CL just above my new balance, I'm really at-risk until I get my next bonus.  So, if I knew they are going to lower my CL, I might choose to put the money into a savings account in case something comes up.
Message 6 of 12
MarineVietVet
Moderator Emeritus

Re: Will Bank of America lower my CL if I pay the balance down?


@GolfNut wrote:
To those who are confused...   I have very little savings or credit available to deal with emergencies right now - car repairs, home maintenance, etc.  So if I get a bonus of a few thousand bucks, I'd love to use most of it to pay down some CC balances, but I need some way of planning for or dealing with unexpected expenses.  So if I take my bouns and pay down a balance and they lower my CL just above my new balance, I'm really at-risk until I get my next bonus.  So, if I knew they are going to lower my CL, I might choose to put the money into a savings account in case something comes up.

Another option is putting away half of any bonus in an emergency fund and using the other half to pay down balances. If you don't mind posting your card balances, credit limits, and APR's we could get a clearer picture of your overall situation.

Message 7 of 12
haulingthescoreup
Moderator Emerita

Re: Will Bank of America lower my CL if I pay the balance down?


GolfNut wrote:
To those who are confused...   I have very little savings or credit available to deal with emergencies right now - car repairs, home maintenance, etc.  So if I get a bonus of a few thousand bucks, I'd love to use most of it to pay down some CC balances, but I need some way of planning for or dealing with unexpected expenses.  So if I take my bouns and pay down a balance and they lower my CL just above my new balance, I'm really at-risk until I get my next bonus.  So, if I knew they are going to lower my CL, I might choose to put the money into a savings account in case something comes up.

GolfNut, I like marinevietvet's advice. One of the handy things about paying half off is that you can see what they do. If they leave you alone, then you can go after the rest, and in the meantime, you've got some cash in the bank.

Congrats on getting some bonuses coming your way! Do you have a plan for attacking your CC balances during the non-bonus months? It's a scary time to have debt and no savings, that's for sure.
* Credit is a wonderful servant, but a terrible master. * Who's the boss --you or your credit?
FICO's: EQ 781 - TU 793 - EX 779 (from PSECU) - Done credit hunting; having fun with credit gardening. - EQ 590 on 5/14/2007
Message 8 of 12
laz98
Senior Contributor

Re: Will Bank of America lower my CL if I pay the balance down?

it's hard to say.  our balance was about 7,000 on a 9,000 credit limit bank of america card.  they CLD'd us to 7,300.  now the balance is down at about 4,500, i think, & they have not reduced our credit limit any further.  so it's hard to say.  i keep waiting for another CLD any day.
Message 9 of 12
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Will Bank of America lower my CL if I pay the balance down?

made a 14000.00 payment to boa 3 months ago , set off string of events long story short my cl was 51000.00 is now 3700.00 all set off by large payment

maybe break it into 3 payments 

Message 10 of 12
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