It's more than double my original limit.

Well, aren't the complaints about the lowering credit limits also selfish and worried about the bottom line? The companies are not charities. They are perfectly justified in reducing how much money they are giving away. And if you owed $10,000 in 2008, this may have been fine. But owing the same $10,000 in 2009 is a lot more risky, so your limit should go down. I don't remember reading a constitutional amendment that guaranteed credit for all citizens.

@drkev1976: Why close your accounts? If you have cards with no fees (which you should be able to get if you've paid off all of your debt), then you can keep a good credit score and have another avenue to use for an emergency.
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Another issue is to get a rewards card and pay it off every month. You can save a percent or two and have an excellent credit score.
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This does require a little discipline, but so does paying cash.

@econobiker: People who carry a balance and pay regularly are the best customers for them. They make money for the card issuer and they can easily afford higher payments.

Lets just say, the card with $600 on it, is going to get paid off $10 a month, from now on.

@Dan W: Remember that FICO rates just your ability to borrow money. As above alot of credit geeks have found that there is a "sweet spot" for credit available to use versus actually used credit etc

@b.k.: Store cards are usually serviced by a major credit card company or some business which has the operation for following up on the card.

@bandia: No they have not caught up with your card to reduce the limit yet.

I called AMEX to see what was going on and they pretty much told me that they don't care. So I politely gave them a piece of my mind telling them that their business practices are going to hurt them in the ling run because their actual good customers who aren't defaulting are going to take their business elsewhere.

And that's what I'm going to do. I went right on over to Citibank and did an online increase for my Citi AA card which had a $7500 credit limit and I raised it to $10K without any problems so I could transfer my AMEX balance. Which BT offer should I take? 0% until 8/09 or 2.99% until 2/10?

Eff AMEX. I'll never refer anyone to them again.

Yeah, I guess most store cards are served by third parties, not run by the store itself. I'm still curious if they routinely close them, routinely leave them open, if it varies based on third-party servicer, or what.

But I'll call the # too and see. Though I hate to close ANY credit lines in this economy.

@HawkWolf: 30k on a business card isn't very much at all if you travel. One or two international trips would quickly overwhelm a 7k card.

So one card, one high limit, the original APR, all seemed good. Then I got that "across-the-board" rate increase notice, about a week after fixing the payment default/card consolidation snafu. I called up a little incredulous, since as far as I was concerned we'd got done negotiating my rate just a few days ago. But they refused to budge on the rate. I opted out of the rate increase, then realized that closing the account would murder my score, tucked my tail between my legs, and called to opt back in. Now I'm throwing everything I can at the Citi card, which jumped to something like 19.9% on Jan 1st.

Once it's paid off, I won't use it again, except maybe just enough activity to keep it from being summarily closed. My credit score can't take losing thousands of dollars of available credit. I'll be needing a big fat school loan pretty soon, and I need every little point I can get.

Discover is the card I was snowballing before Citi became a priority, btw. They recently raised both my credit limit AND my APR. A few weeks after dishing out an unasked-for additional $2000 to my credit line, they served me with the same kind of across-the-board rate increase notice I'd just gotten from Citi.

One hand giveth, the other poundeth into the ground.

Thank you, b.k., I'll look for the card info. I think they sent me something informational a year or so ago and I threw it in a drawer. I'm sure there's a phone number on there somewhere.

I don't think I still have the card. I think I shredded it.

I have two rules of thumb with credit cards:

a) you cut my credit limit, I cancel your card and I get a replacement from a competitor which gives a damn.

b) you raise my rate, you get one chance to change it back. If you don't, I cancel you card and get a replacement from a competitor which gives a damn.

I can do this because my credit is virtually spotless and I get good credit card offers often.

In practice the credit limit is not a big deal, since most of my cards I either pay in full each month or have such as small balance the credit limit doesn't come into play. The interest rate is only a significant issue with one card I have.

I drop them out of principle - we made an agreement, I complied with the terms of that agreement and they chose not to. It's their right to change the terms, but it's my right to drop them like a bad habit.

So, Citibank and Bank of America - you suck and you're fired.

You're damned if you do, don't, or don't do anything at all, so just cause as much collateral damage as you can

That's a good question...I had the same thing, for a furniture store. I paid it off and never used it again. I don't think the store closed, but I sort of forgot about it.

Anyone?

I recently got a FICO score/credit report b/c I re-financed (just see the score but the broker didn't give me the full report). One of the reasons they said my FICO is lower (it's 780-90 so it's not that low) is...

"no recent revolving balances and excessive amounts owed on accts and proportion of revolving balances to limits too high, no recent non-mortgage balance info"

I always pay off my cards in full BEFORE the monthly statement comes so my cards show that I don't even use them. So is my credit score hurting b/c there aren't recent revolving balances b/c they always show $0 and I should let one of my balances actually hit the statement? It seems to contradict the other thing that says excessive proportion of balances to limits is too high (the only balance I have is my mortgage - all of my CC balances are $0)

Besides interest rate hikes on our WaMu card... I haven't experienced any credit limit drops on our cards...

(Thunder rolling in a distance)

That's good, right?

......right?

We also have a Citi card that we opened several years ago but have never used. I fully expect to receive notice that they are raising the rate or closing that card anytime now. I really could care less.

My credit score promptly dropped 30 points.

I have a Chase Visa card that was closed with no notice. Granted, I stopped using it a few years ago when their 'rewards' program changed (I already have Amex and Diners Club cards and use their rewards programs). The good thing about the Chase card was that it was my oldest card (my parents had co-signed for it when I first got it way back then). So, I wanted to keep it for that reason. So after about 3 back / forth messages asking them to not cancel it and to re-open it (as well as reminding them that I was a long-time card holder & that they should have given me a heads-up) they finally did. So, from now on, I'll use the card for some items (and pay it off every month). Maybe it was persisitence, I don't know. But I am glad the reopened it (and as of now haven't reduced the limit).

I am going to be closing all my credit card accounts as soon as they are paid off. I don't care if it lowers my credit score. I have my house that I won't (can't) sell anytime soon, and I plan to start living off cash instead of credit. People complain about these companies and how they get screwed. Instead of bitching about it... just stop using their services. I think this concept that your credit score goes down if you close an account is just a way for them to get you to keep your card, and eventually put a balance on it again... and the cycle continues.

Just close your accounts and use cash!

A few weeks ago Citi significantly increased the limit on my card - should I take that as a compliment? :) I certainly didn't ask for it. I do carry a balance on it (bad, I know, but there were crisis circumstances in the past) that I am gradually paying down - on time and over the minimum, of course.

20/30k of revolving, high-interest credit. That's a LOT. That's one of the many reasons we're having economic problems.