I thought the credit market was supposed to be tight...

[jumpr]

Just for kicks, I clicked the "request credit line increase" option on my Citi credit card account, and was surprised when I was offered an increase of $1400 to my credit ceiling.

I've never broken even 20% of my available credit on the card, and I pay off my bill in full each month, so the increase doesn't really matter -- I just thought it was interesting to see that Citi is still handing out credit to people.

 

[darkswordsman17]

Why does that surprise you, you have good credit with them, so they'd be happy to let you give them money so they could help finance their other problems. Its also just $1400 credit increase, while what people are worried about is financing things like cars and homes and businesses. See what they say when you ask for $250,000 for a house.

Kudos to you for using your credit responsibly though.

 

[spidey07]

Credit isn't tight for those worthy of credit.

 

[Tooncesthedrivingcat]

Originally posted by: spidey07
Credit isn't tight for those worthy of credit.

The market is tightening up for prime as well. Look over at FW... some people have had their lines slashed for no reason.

I went from 45k to chase to 28k and I'm carrying no balances.

 

[jpeyton]

Junkies always get their fix, whether they're broke or not.

 

[jumpr]

Originally posted by: Tooncesthedrivingcat

Originally posted by: spidey07
Credit isn't tight for those worthy of credit.

The market is tightening up for prime as well. Look over at FW... some people have had their lines slashed for no reason.

I went from 45k to chase to 28k and I'm carrying no balances.

Exactly, that's what we're hearing on the news, so it seemed weird to me that I was given an additional $1400 today. Maybe Citi relaxed its criteria since the stock market went up today.

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: Tooncesthedrivingcat

Originally posted by: spidey07
Credit isn't tight for those worthy of credit.

The market is tightening up for prime as well. Look over at FW... some people have had their lines slashed for no reason.

I went from 45k to chase to 28k and I'm carrying no balances.

Not really applicable as those guys have been abusing credit for a while now. And I would guess you have been as well.

What did chase say when you called them?

 

[Slew Foot]

Credit is only getting cut for idiots who dont deserve it.

I got a 30K car loan and a 20K increase in my credit cards this last month with no problems.

 

[Squisher]

I was saying to the wife a week ago that we'd probably be a letter in the mail canceling our Equity Line of Credit, but so far it hasn't happened.

We owe $170K on a house worth maybe $280K (paid $335K :|) and the line of credit is for $100K at a real good % (I forget).


btw-I also got a Costco AMEX a little over a week ago. They gave me a $15K credit limit right off the bat. I thought that was pretty high considering I already have an AMEX green with a $25K limit.

 

[jumpr]

Originally posted by: Squisher
I was saying to the wife a week ago that we'd probably be a letter in the mail canceling our Equity Line of Credit, but so far it hasn't happened.

We owe $170K on a house worth maybe $280K (paid $335K :|) and the line of credit is for $100K at a real good % (I forget).


btw-I also got a Costco AMEX a little over a week ago. They gave me a $15K credit limit right off the bat. I thought that was pretty high considering I already have an AMEX green with a $25K limit.

I thought AMEX Green had "no pre-set spending limit?"

 

[zinfamous]

Originally posted by: Tooncesthedrivingcat

Originally posted by: spidey07
Credit isn't tight for those worthy of credit.

The market is tightening up for prime as well. Look over at FW... some people have had their lines slashed for no reason.

I went from 45k to chase to 28k and I'm carrying no balances.

clearly, you're not as irresponsible as they want you to be.

 

[Tweak155]

I just got an 8k increase on my credit card... Like people been sayin'...its the large loans where they are actually handing out money rather than potentially not handing out money...

 

[Squisher]

Originally posted by: jumpr
I thought AMEX Green had "no pre-set spending limit?"

No that is for the Gold, Platinum, etc. which you are supposed to pay off every month.

 

[thomsbrain]

When people talk about the frozen credit market causing problems, or the "credit crisis," they are NOT referring to credit for individuals. They are referring to the "paper" market; instant credit for banks and businesses to the tune of millions or even billions of dollars, loaned and payed back over very short terms.

 

[dartworth]

Originally posted by: thomsbrain
When people talk about the frozen credit market causing problems, or the "credit crisis," they are NOT referring to credit for individuals. They are referring to the "paper" market; instant credit for banks and businesses to the tune of millions or even billions of dollars, loaned and payed back over very short terms.

^^^ ding ding

$1400 is nothing btw

either is a $30K car loan


the big picture people...the big picture

 

[FP]

Citibank just canceled a 10+ year old credit card on me due to inactivity. Had a huge credit line on there... Pisses me off.

That is gonna leave a mark.

 

[GregGreen]

Originally posted by: binister
Citibank just canceled a 10+ year old credit card on me due to inactivity. Had a huge credit line on there... Pisses me off.

That is gonna leave a mark.

AMEX also cancelled my AMEX Blue Student account when I requested to move from a student card to a non-student card since I am not a student anymore. I was really puzzled when they told me it was "recent negative credit history" when my financial situation is better than ever before...

 

[nerp]

The credit freeze isn't about consumer credit cards. It's about commercial paper.

 

[spacejamz]

Originally posted by: nerp
The credit freeze isn't about consumer credit cards. It's about commercial paper.

so does this article back up the OP's statement about tighter credit policies??

 

[TheoPetro]

Originally posted by: thomsbrain
When people talk about the frozen credit market causing problems, or the "credit crisis," they are NOT referring to credit for individuals. They are referring to the "paper" market; instant credit for banks and businesses to the tune of millions or even billions of dollars, loaned and payed back over very short terms.

were just going to requote this one for all our friends who were confused as to what the phrase "frozen credit market" really means.

Try going and getting another line of credit for your business because you were told that your old one is closing and you need to pay off the balance in 30 days. Even for a strong company this is difficult to do now. We are running a significant monthly cash surplus along with a profit margin of ~16% and we have had our application sitting on some bankers desk for the past 3 weeks. You could hand me a 30k loan right now and it wouldnt do a damn bit of good. Im a small company (revenue of less than 10m) and I need a credit line of at least 200k. Unless you have a big pile of cash sitting around it is getting very difficult for companies to continue operations.

Frozen credit market = companies closing doors = you lose your job

 

[nerp]

Originally posted by: spacejamz

Originally posted by: nerp
The credit freeze isn't about consumer credit cards. It's about commercial paper.

so does this article back up the OP's statement about tighter credit policies??

People who don't deserve credit won't get it, which is the way it should be. But when you hear the fed chairman and the president talking about the frozen credit market, they're talking about commercial paper, not your Chase or Citi card. That's why nobody here should be surprised about their limits going up and loans/new cards being approved right now in the midst of this financial crisis. This explains why there's a "credit freeze" yet people are getting cards. It's not the credit card market that's frozen -- it's the commercial paper market.

 

[boomerang]

Originally posted by: TheoPetro

Originally posted by: thomsbrain
When people talk about the frozen credit market causing problems, or the "credit crisis," they are NOT referring to credit for individuals. They are referring to the "paper" market; instant credit for banks and businesses to the tune of millions or even billions of dollars, loaned and payed back over very short terms.

were just going to requote this one for all our friends who were confused as to what the phrase "frozen credit market" really means.

Try going and getting another line of credit for your business because you were told that your old one is closing and you need to pay off the balance in 30 days. Even for a strong company this is difficult to do now. We are running a significant monthly cash surplus along with a profit margin of ~16% and we have had our application sitting on some bankers desk for the past 3 weeks. You could hand me a 30k loan right now and it wouldnt do a damn bit of good. Im a small company (revenue of less than 10m) and I need a credit line of at least 200k. Unless you have a big pile of cash sitting around it is getting very difficult for companies to continue operations.

Frozen credit market = companies closing doors = you lose your job

Not arguing but the media is telling everyone that credit is tightening up for individuals. You've got a link up there by spacejamz confirming it and I'll post a link too. GMAC 700 FICO.

You guys are thinking on one level and the average Joe is thinking on another.

 

[spacejamz]

Originally posted by: nerp

Originally posted by: spacejamz

Originally posted by: nerp
The credit freeze isn't about consumer credit cards. It's about commercial paper.

so does this article back up the OP's statement about tighter credit policies??

People who don't deserve credit won't get it, which is the way it should be. But when you hear the fed chairman and the president talking about the frozen credit market, they're talking about commercial paper, not your Chase or Citi card. That's why nobody here should be surprised about their limits going up and loans/new cards being approved right now in the midst of this financial crisis. This explains why there's a "credit freeze" yet people are getting cards. It's not the credit card market that's frozen -- it's the commercial paper market.

American Express is decreasing limit on certain cardholders solely based on what stores they shop at or which company holds their mortgage...GM just stated that they will only finance people with credit scores of 700 or above...CITI Bank is now actively closing accounts that haven't been used in a year (thread in Fat Wallet finance forum about this)...according to that article I linked, credit card companies are reducing people's card limits to point that their balances exceed their credit limits...

Looks like there are going to be some major changes to personal credit card users soon...

 

[TheoPetro]

Originally posted by: boomerang

Originally posted by: TheoPetro

Originally posted by: thomsbrain
When people talk about the frozen credit market causing problems, or the "credit crisis," they are NOT referring to credit for individuals. They are referring to the "paper" market; instant credit for banks and businesses to the tune of millions or even billions of dollars, loaned and payed back over very short terms.

were just going to requote this one for all our friends who were confused as to what the phrase "frozen credit market" really means.

Try going and getting another line of credit for your business because you were told that your old one is closing and you need to pay off the balance in 30 days. Even for a strong company this is difficult to do now. We are running a significant monthly cash surplus along with a profit margin of ~16% and we have had our application sitting on some bankers desk for the past 3 weeks. You could hand me a 30k loan right now and it wouldnt do a damn bit of good. Im a small company (revenue of less than 10m) and I need a credit line of at least 200k. Unless you have a big pile of cash sitting around it is getting very difficult for companies to continue operations.

Frozen credit market = companies closing doors = you lose your job

Not arguing but the media is telling everyone that credit is tightening up for individuals. You've got a link up there by spacejamz confirming it and I'll post a link too. GMAC 700 FICO.

You guys are thinking on one level and the average Joe is thinking on another.

Oh I definitely agree that the average joe is starting to be squeezed too but this whole "the only people hurt are the ones who dont deserve credit" is utter bullshit. By all means have an opinion but at least make it an informed one.