To springboard off this threadyou guys need to understand that very significant changes have been made over the past few months by almost all credit card companies to credit limits, APRs, late payment penalties etc. even for their existing customers with excellent credit. A lot of these changes in terms are hidden in the fine print of statements or may be slipstreamed in without your having noticed it.
You should make a list of your current cards and call the 1-800 # on the back of the card to confirm credit limits, APR, penalties etc. Don’t rely on a little used “emergency card” as the CC company may have deactivated it.
Alright, I feel better now. I thought they had done it cause they didn’t like me anymore, or something, because it made little sense to cancel a card that I paid in full on the very few occasions I needed a US-issued card.
I moved to another bank and a new card is in the making. At least I know now why it happened.
Yep, Capital One raised my interest rate from 9.9% to 17.9% (paid that one off) and Chase decreased my limit from $7,500 to $6,700; I’m not sure where that number came from - it seems pretty random. My credit rating is very good, so it doesn’t seem like it has anything to do with anything I have or haven’t done.
In all honesty, I know that there will be a lot more restrictions on the CC companies and their fees coming up next year, and they are getting their digs in while they still can. Bastards.
I hope to pay Chase off soon and be done with CC debt once and for all.
Absolutely right, astro. Citibank doubled my interest rate on one card and lowered the credit limit on the other one. Unfortunately for me, business is at an all time low so I cannot afford to pay them off right now. I am paying more than the minimum and hopefully will get out from under this within a year.
I have five credit cards, and had been shuffling balances around to take advantage of 0% rates. In the past year or so, two of the card companies cut the limit right down as soon as I paid off the balance (or rather, transferred it elsewhere).
I had a Discover card that I basically never used and had actually called to try to cancel a couple of years ago. The call center rep was under such extreme pressure not to take cancellations that I agreed they could keep sending them to me, I just wouldn’t activate them.
Out of the blue a couple of weeks ago, they sent me a letter cancelling the card. Something like “We’re sorry you haven’t used it in forever. It’s now cancelled.” So apparently their cheese has moved …
My cards have changed the fine print. They no longer do things like double your product warranties, or pay for tows, or let you get free travelers checks. None of these have I cared about, but it’s still jarring to have them taken away and I have to find out by comparing my new terms to my old.