Another Schiff prediction coming true: CC companies limiting credit lines (loans, credit card)

[ViewFromThePeak]

"Banks Trimming Limits for Many on Credit Cards"

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/21/bu...ss&oref=slogin

Interesting times ahead

[bentlebee]

This morning on the Today show they were showing that if you make your payments on time and not spend more than have your credit card limit, you want have a lower credit card limit.

IMO it is very good if they start to lower the limits so people learn how to spend wisely and can't spend more than they can afford and pay off. Otherwise the rest of us have to make up for these people, just as what is happening in the mortgage business.

[evilnewbie]

Hmm... my credit cards probably have an aggregate limit of 250k... I don't even make that much but I haven't heard of them trimming my credit limit.... my score is 780+ and my debts are staggering (well, all of it being educational loans)... What I did notice is that CC companies have started requiring faxed 1040's for credit increases after a certain amount... not only that but TWO years worth of it... wow, has it gotten that bad? Are people not paying their debts? I guess I should see less spending around me but I have only see more spending instead... more college kids partying along the streets than before, more people going out for lunches instead of making their own lunches than before, more, more spending overall... perhaps it is only a niche market that seen increase spending... going out, parties, vacation trips... you know the "vital" and necessary stuff....

[k350]

I requested my limits to be lwoered to something more practical so any credit application would not see that I have the "potential" to obtain that much debt.

I don't live off the cards though, just use the out of convience and pay it off each month. They come in handy for online purchases also.

[f_m]

Originally Posted by evilnewbie

Hmm... my credit cards probably have an aggregate limit of 250k...

You must have a lot of cards.

[evilnewbie]

I have about 15 of them... some I got because there was a "free" offer attached (I got some nice free stuff though), another I got cause I get a free FICO score every month, another one has 0% APR for the life of my balance transfer, but I only use one that gives me back cash at the end of every month at 1.25% (5% gas)....

[Rose Red]

Interesting article. Thanks for sharing. I guess these days a lot of people are learning about money the hard way.

[movin'on]

I had a horrendous experience. I had a 24K limit on my AMEX card with a balance of say 17K. My dog had surgery scheduled that morning and it was to the tune of $3500. I tried to put it on my AMEX card and it was declined. Turns out some negative info was coming in from one of the credit bureaus re: a Dr. visit in 2003. They had suspended my card for 48 hours. Had I not had cash in the bank, my dog would be dead. Thank God I did. Now I think tomorrow I am going to cash out and pay my AMEX card off completely. I was VERY angry at the time, however.

[Mugsy]

Well, from my household's last month of applying for credit cards, this is what we got:

Me: 1 Citibank card with no BT Fees from Associated Bank personal credit card and it come with a 15K credit limit. It is 0% until May 09

I already have 90K in credit card lines

I owe $3900.00 on 1 Discover biz @ 0% until Feb 09

Spouse called in 4 days ago:

He has about $75K in credit lines from cards owes $700.00

Instantly approved for:

AMEX Biz 0% interest until June 09 15K limit

Discover Biz 0% interest until June 09 25Klimit

I have a WAMU card that has a limit of 17K, I owe 0 but like to use the website to check my credit score.

Credit cards can be tricky. You definitely have to pay all obligations to get the best rate which for us has always been 0%.

I personally, hate credit cards, but they are, for us, a necessary evil, so we have learned to play the game.

In the past 2+ years, those BT fees have sure climbed.

[ViewFromThePeak]

As a strange coincidence to the person who predicted this:

Card-Issuers-Get-Personal-to-Check-Credit: Personal Finance News from Yahoo! Finance

"Peter Schiff, president of securities-brokerage firm Euro Pacific Capital in Darien, Conn., has been downbeat on the economy for months but never thought he was the kind of customer that AmEx would worry about. That changed a few months ago when one of his employees tried to book a block of hotel rooms for a seminar on the firm's corporate AmEx card. The card was declined, and Mr. Schiff subsequently discovered that AmEx had cut his $40,000 credit line to $4,500.
Mr. Schiff says an AmEx customer-service representative told him that his business had been identified as "high risk" and that American Express was trying to reduce its exposure to the financial-services industry. An AmEx spokesman declined to comment.
After trying unsuccessfully to reinstate his credit limit, Mr. Schiff recently switched to a Visa card from Bank of America that has a credit limit of $88,000. "I had been saying all along this would happen. Little did I know it would happen to me," Mr. Schiff says."

Keep in mind that EuroPac is hiring brokers and expanding as opposed to what other brokerages are doing nowadays.