PC Question

[Anonymous]

OK, so I had two PenFed CC's, one with a $10k limit and the other with an $8k limit.  So I called PenFed and asked them to move my $8k limit to my other card so I could have just the one CC with an $18,000k limit and they did so, then closed the $8k card completely.  Both had zero balances on them, btw.

Today, I called NFCU and asked them to do the same with my $10,500 card - x-fer that limit to my $15k card so I could reduce the plastic in my wallet while keeping the same available credit (IOW, just my GO Rewards card but with a $25,500 CL) and they were happy to do so.  As with PenFed, both cards have a zero balance as of this time.

So now, I have an $18,000 CL on a PenFed card and a $25,500 NFCU card and both will be reporting soon (as will my two account closures as well).  Speaking long-term, how do these two huge (to me!) credit cards/limits affect me?  Will I have more "You're Pre-Approved For $15k" types of offers?  Will these big CL's hurt me in any way?  If so, how?  Will they help me in any way?  If so, how?  If I apply for a new CC with another bank is there a better chance of being approved for a 5-digit limit now that I have 2 CC's - one in the high teens and the other in the mid 20's?

Thanks!  I'll just hang up and listen...

[Anonymous]

I'm sure someone more knowlegable than myself will chime in, but as I have read here and elsewhere you shouldn't see a change in raw FICO score due to combing cards/limits. FICO doesn't score your limits, but your utilization. These closed accounts will continue to age on your report for 10 years so you will only lose Average Age of Accounts when they fall off then.

As to the positive for other lenders, I think this is one of those Your Experiance May Vary. I have read that some banks will 'limit chase', or grant higher limits after seeing you already have experience with higher credit lines. I have also read stories here of folks with multiple 20K+ lines getting a 5K limit on a new card. Some banks look at your overall credit exposure and think you have enough. There are other factos as well, including income and your debt to income ratio which make any lenders decision hard to predict.

[HeavenOhio]

From a scoring perspective, your overall utilization will remain the same, and it may become easier to maintain a low individual card utilization. With two fewer active cards, it's possible that there could be a small ding due to number/percentage of cards reporting positive balances.

From a lender's perspective, many are impressed by high limits and will try to compete with that. As mentioned in the post above, others may find your current limits to be almost irrelevant. And some become concerned about overall exposure, but you didn't change that.

Also, when one has fairly high limits, there's often an expectation that those cards will see a certain level of activity. Capital One, for instance, has been known to decrease limits to 10k when cards have very little usage over the course of a year or so. I don't believe that that's a big concern with credit unions, though.