lizabeth wrote:
i am not ungrateful for the current limit.
but i wont be able to use this card AT ALL now with the BT i just put on it.
beyond the BT, i have 0% apr on purchases for a year. i was excited to utilize it.
im ALREADY at 30% util now on that card with the BT alone.
so it just seems like a worthless card if i can't use it for purchases and take advantage of my year 0%.
maybe they'll figure it out on their own.
You won't be able to use the card at all?
If you pay for your purchases in full before the statement drops, you will still have low utility.
Just because you received 0% on BTs and purchases doesn't mean you must go deeper into debt. Why can't you at least pay a monthly payment equal to or more than your monthly charges? Most people don't have that option on a 0% BT card. The purchases usually carry an interest obligation.
I wouldn't call Citi back for at least 3 - 6 months.
Let me explain why
You are carrying debt and transferring that debt to Citi. The bank is observing you very closely for signs of risky behavior. You already repeatedly waived a red flag in the various CSR's faces. You explained that you didn't want your utility to go up, so you wanted a CLI.
The inference was that you wanted to increase the balance (debt) that you now owe Citi by not paying for your purchases each month as you use the card. Just because the card has 0% interest does not mean that you can't pay off any increase in balance each month.
If you are not careful, Citi just might reduce your credit limit to your existing balance. If you just pay the minimum and no more for a few months I guarantee that is exactly what will happen.
Have you ever heard of pyramiding? Banks frown on the practice. If you intend to increase your balance over the next year, but still want to keep a 30% utilization; the only way to do that is to obtain a CLI. The bank would rather you you use the credit limit you were issued even if you went to 80% utilization. If you have 80% utilization your scores would be a lot lower and you wouldn't be able to obtain more credit elsewhere. That way Cit would have a better chance of getting repaid.
Many people only make minimum payments on 0% offers because they deposit the loan proceeds in a deposit account and earn interest on that money. If the bank were to take adverse action those people simply would pay the loan off. Since you obviously have transferred debt to the Citi card, I assume you can't simply pay off the card if the bank suddenly lowers your credit limit and your FICO score drops like a rock.
By the way what are your FICO scores? Your actual scores would determine whether your requesting CLIs would signal Citi that you are preparing to run up even more debt. In a bank's view the only reason a person needs a higher FICO score, is that he desires to borrow more money somewhere else.
I and others in my situation do explain to banks that we want to keep utilization low therefore would like to have higher limits. We do not however keep the 30% or 50% balance on the card for a full 12 months.
That would be risky behavior in the banks view. Some people who have the money on deposit earning interest do take the risk of AA in order to maximize their profit. I personally don't do that because I want to keep my credit score reasonably high.
What "they" might "figure out" on their own,
is that you appear to be desperate to acquire more debt.
Please don't take what I am saying the wrong way. I do not know your particular situation. I am just commenting on the way things seem to be from the limited information that you have provided. That is all the bank will be doing when deciding to AA you or not. The bank tries to guess what you are up to by looking at the limited information that it has about you.
All the bank knows is that you have carried a certain amount of debt elsewhere. You now have obligated Citi to be at risk for that debt. You also have pretty much told Citi that you want to increase that debt but don't want your FICO score to go down. If your FICO score doesn't go down you can easily increase your debt obligation even more by borrowing more money from others. At the very least, if your FICO score remains high, you can increase your debt to Citi over the next year, and transfer the new higher balance elsewhere, without ever paying Citi any more than the BT fee.
That is not the reason Citi is lending you all that money interest free.
Congrats on the 0% BT and purchases deal.
Citi doesn't offfer that to everyone.
can a credit guru answer me this:
-i currently have two credit cards.
......a BofA with $2,500 CL.
......and this new citi card with $5,300 CL
i just did a BT of $1500 from BofA to Citi. making my brand new citi card stand at 30% util.
and $300 left on my BofA balance. making it stand at like 14% util.
the citi card has 0% interest for a year for BT and purchases.
QUESTIONS:
1) if i pay off the final $300 on BofA, is it acceptable to then ask for a CLI???? or do they get annoyed when people do BT's? I know that sounds ignorant, but I am new to this credit stuff.
2) should i PIF this new $1500 balance on the CITI? OR spread out my payments over the next few months since i am not accumulating interest? which is better for my score and which looks better on me as a customer???
p.s. to the person above, i didnt get to read your post before i posted this. so thank you so much for your insight.
thankfully i am fully prepared to pay in full nearly my entire balance on both cards in about 2 weeks!
-i currently have two credit cards.
......a BofA with $2,500 CL.
......and this new citi card with $5,300 CL
i just did a BT of $1500 from BofA to Citi. making my brand new citi card stand at 30% util.
and $300 left on my BofA balance. making it stand at like 14% util.
the citi card has 0% interest for a year for BT and purchases.
QUESTIONS:
1) if i pay off the final $300 on BofA, is it acceptable to then ask for a CLI???? or do they get annoyed when people do BT's? I know that sounds ignorant, but I am new to this credit stuff.
2) should i PIF this new $1500 balance on the CITI? OR spread out my payments over the next few months since i am not accumulating interest? which is better for my score and which looks better on me as a customer???
p.s. to the person above, i didnt get to read your post before i posted this. so thank you so much for your insight.
thankfully i am fully prepared to pay in full nearly my entire balance on both cards in about 2 weeks!
@lizabeth wrote:
can a credit guru answer me this:
-i currently have two credit cards.
......a BofA with $2,500 CL.
......and this new citi card with $5,300 CL
i just did a BT of $1500 from BofA to Citi. making my brand new citi card stand at 30% util.
and $300 left on my BofA balance. making it stand at like 14% util.
the citi card has 0% interest for a year for BT and purchases.
QUESTIONS:
1) if i pay off the final $300 on BofA, is it acceptable to then ask for a CLI???? or do they get annoyed when people do BT's? I know that sounds ignorant, but I am new to this credit stuff.
2) should i PIF this new $1500 balance on the CITI? OR spread out my payments over the next few months since i am not accumulating interest? which is better for my score and which looks better on me as a customer??? especially in terms of getting CLI's.
1) After paying off your BoA card you might try not using it for one or two months. I will bet BoA will give you an automatic credit limit increase. The card wasn't recently "unsecured" by any chance was it?
2) Here's is what I would do. I would want to send Citi the message that I have plenty of money to pay the balance off anytime that i want to. I would demonstrate my reliability in paying uniform "budgeted" payments by paying $100 each month right after the statement drops. I would also be using the card for everyday purchases and make a second payment every month to PIF the monthly purchases before the minimum due date. Make sure that the total minimum due is always paid well before the due date.
At the end of the 0% term I would either PIF the outstanding balance or continue the $100 / month + purchases payment. Citi will make a little bit of interest on the back end and be ready to make you more promo offers in the future. You can also make $125 + purchases payments and have the loan paid off within the year..
In the meantime I would put all the money that I am not sending Citi into a savings account (earning interest) at BoA.
BoA will raise your credit limits without being asked.
Hopefully you will have Citi and Bank of America competing for your business by topping each others credit limits for years to come. That is of course if Citi and BoA are still in business for years to come. You might consider looking at a credit union to diversify your credit card collection in 6 months or so. The CUs might outlast the banks who are supposedly too big to fail. 