Reduced Credit Limits? Share Your Experience

Written by Nickel - 162 Comments

About a month ago, I published an article over at Credit Addict about protecting yourself against reduced credit limits. Since that time, readers have left a smattering of comments lamenting that their credit limit has been reduced. We’ve been totally unaffected by this, so I’m curious as to how widespread this problem is. Interestingly, all of the commenters reporting a reduced credit limit have been dealing with American Express.

Have your credit limits been reduced?

Published on October 31st, 2008 - 162 Comments
Filed under: Credit Cards
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About the author: Nickel is the founder and editor-in-chief of this site. He's a thirty-something family man who has been writing about personal finance since 2005, and guess what? He's on Twitter!

Comments (scroll down to add your own):

I have no clue if any of my limits have dropped. I never get any where near the limit to begin with so it wouldn’t matter anyway.

Though with a FICO score exceeding 800 I doubt I’ll see my credit denied or lowered.
Comment by Ben — Oct 31st 2008 @ 10:10 am
My credit limit on my one credit card has not changed which probably means that because I don’t use consumer credit, they don’t bother with me. “Reducing credit limits” is another way of saying “Adding reason and logic to the credit marketplace.”
Comment by Mr. ToughMoneyLove — Oct 31st 2008 @ 10:12 am
None of my limits have dropped, but I’m still early enough in this process that I’m still sitting fairly close to the limits on my cards. One thing I will note however, is that Discover is usually pretty quick to RAISE my limit when I sit as close to the limit as I am now, but they’re not budging it right now. That’s fine because I don’t want more credit, but I did find it interesting to note the difference.
Comment by Jennifer — Oct 31st 2008 @ 10:20 am
My wife’s American Express CL was reduced from 10K to 500. Prior to the CL reduction she hadn’t used the card for about 6 months. She got an offer from them to use the card at some specific stores and she would recieve a $30 credit. After the first use she got a letter reducing the CL.
Comment by Joe — Oct 31st 2008 @ 10:25 am
Oddly, Chase raised my limit from $4,500 to $5,300. BofA hasn’t changed my limit with them at all.
Comment by ACB — Oct 31st 2008 @ 10:43 am
Oddly enough, AMEX doubled my credit limit from $5,500 to $11,000 in September. I do not have anything on the card but I do have some debt on other ones. I have not had of the other ones get decreased either. I wonder if the individuals that had their limits decreased have bad credit.
Comment by Adam — Oct 31st 2008 @ 10:50 am
Still have my $30k Blue and $20k Costco AMEX limits.

Haven’t touched the blue in a year. Most i ever used on a card was about $10k when i had 0%.
Comment by Ken — Oct 31st 2008 @ 10:53 am
My Wife’s Sears MC (Citibank) was reduced from $11,000 to $7,000, with the explanation that they had reviewed her spending pattern, and reduced her limit accordingly. There was actually mention of Sears / Citibank doing this on the national news this morning. All we have on the Sears card at the moment is an HDTV we bought last November that has 18 months 0% interest … so, of course, we’re not making other charges with the card until that’s paid off.
Comment by cemccon — Oct 31st 2008 @ 11:36 am
Actually, oddly enough, some of mine have increased.
Comment by Brandon — Oct 31st 2008 @ 11:38 am
None of mine have decreased, but I just got a notice from Citibank that my visa card with them actually increased! I was like “What the heck???” I definitely wasn’t expecting that.
Comment by Luna — Oct 31st 2008 @ 11:51 am
In the Philippines, credit card credit limits do not decrease. Card companies usually increase credit limits on a yearly basis.
Comment by Yvon Thea — Oct 31st 2008 @ 2:20 pm
Nope, no Credit Limit decrease here either. But, I got a Terms of Agreement change from Chase (in which I don’t have a balance) increasing the APR to 20% something. Yikes! I will be cutting that card up for sure.
Comment by frugalchick — Oct 31st 2008 @ 2:29 pm
Decrease? What Credit Crisis? Discover has INCREASED my limit TWICE this year!

I don’t really get it, but I think they are trying to get me to use that card again. They were even nice enough to lower my now Variable APR from 28.9% to 25.9% since I’ve been such an awesome customer!!!

I hate them… And have already told them what they can do with their limit increase. I would starve before I would ever use that card again.
Comment by Kev — Oct 31st 2008 @ 4:18 pm
Nope, no decreases. They have stopped increasing my limits, though. Last year, Citibank increased my limit twice. At the beginning of the year, my credit limit was $9000. By the end of the year it was $17,900.
Comment by Kristina — Oct 31st 2008 @ 4:57 pm
I haven’t had any changes of credit limits but Citibank sent me a letter saying they were canceling my credit card with them because I hadn’t used it in a year or two. I charged something on it (small item) so I don’t lose my credit history with them.
Comment by Kim — Oct 31st 2008 @ 7:45 pm
My Sears MC (Citibank) was reduced from $10,000 to $6,000, with the explanation that they reviewed my spending pattern (I only used this card once ot twice a year), and lowered my limit accordingly.

I closed out this account - one less card to manage.
Comment by cs — Oct 31st 2008 @ 8:02 pm
Had an AMEX line dropped from 25K to $500 a couple months ago. Hadn’t used the card for any purchases, ever. But did use it to balance transfer 21K at 0%. Paid it off before paying any interest. Just applied for an auto loan through Capital One auto and was approved literally in 30 seconds for 30k at their lowest rate. Interesting times…
Comment by JC — Oct 31st 2008 @ 8:47 pm
I’m with capital one, and so far, so good!
Comment by Michelle — Nov 1st 2008 @ 12:03 am
I have an Amex SimplyCash card and so far no reduced limit….yet

Actually, quite ironically, Citi just recently gave me a credit limit increase!
Comment by EN — Nov 1st 2008 @ 12:22 am
My wife and I have various credit cards, all with limits ranging from 5K to 35K on each card. Most of our cards have RAISED our credit limit by carying amounts- 3K to 5K. American Express LOWERED our credit limits twice in the last 18 months. It went from 20K to 3K to $1,500. They claimed it was because of delinquent credit on our other cards. My wife and I have credit scores near 800 and have NO blemishes, late payments, etc. Delinquent my a*$. I hope they go bankrupt. They will NEVER see another dime of our money.
Comment by TonyN — Nov 1st 2008 @ 2:32 pm
No reductions yet .. not even on my Amex, which I just got a couple of months ago. I am still getting at least one credit-card offer in the mail every day. I thought credit was hard to come by?
Comment by DW — Nov 1st 2008 @ 6:59 pm
I’m like Tony, I’ve had multiple AMEX cards over the past couple of decades, never been late, never missed a payment. I have several other credit cards with high available credit and no missed payments… and yet, inexplicably, AMEX has lowered the rate on my Blue card from over $10K to just about $2,300 in the past year — all without notice. I absolutely HATE AMEX and hope they go under. They are a disreputable, dishonest, sleazy company.
Comment by Susan — Nov 1st 2008 @ 9:47 pm
Quite the opposite, some of my limits have been raised recently. I don’t have AmEx though. I think people with top tier credit will become more valuable to creditors, hence they’ll do more to keep them happy like higher limits.
Comment by Miss M — Nov 1st 2008 @ 11:18 pm
AmEx increased our credit limit unsolicited.

I actually don’t like when they do that.
Comment by Shadox — Nov 1st 2008 @ 11:39 pm
Amex lowered our limit by about $3k, that is the only card we use regularly, not sure why it was lowered. Never late, no other problems on other cards or any loans for that matter.
Comment by Ed — Nov 2nd 2008 @ 12:58 am
Although it hasn’t happened on American Express, two of my other cards have actually raised my limits.

American Express has stayed the same for about a year now…
Comment by Brack — Nov 2nd 2008 @ 9:17 am
No reductions yet, but just signed up for the AmEx Blue Cash card and only got a $5000 limit. Anyone have any thoughts on the best strategy to get them to increase it? Maybe a couple of months of full, on-time payments?
Comment by MITBeta @ Don't Feed the Alligators — Nov 2nd 2008 @ 10:17 am
I haven’t seen a reduction yet, but I did get this “IMPORTANT NOTICE OF CHANGE IN TERMS” from Chase’s Visa card:

“Your default APR will be changed to a variable rate of 29.99%.”

Nearly as exorbitant are rates for “overdraft advance APR” and “cash advance APR,” both variable rates now pegged at 20.99%.

Since I don’t carry a balance and, because I’m less than fond of Chase, rarely charge much on this card, I don’t suppose it matters. But it is…well…jaw-dropping.

IMHO, rates of this magnitude ought to be illegal.
Comment by Funny about Money — Nov 2nd 2008 @ 8:14 pm
we have two that have no limit, so i guess those don’t count. others, they have increased limits and we continue to get 0% BT offers on all of the cards.
Comment by Tim — Nov 2nd 2008 @ 8:58 pm
I have had limits reduced on three of my cards recently. Amex, US Bank and Bank of America. All lowered my limit to within $100 of my balance. Stated reasons was my credit usage/high balances.

I have been making large payments to try to pay these cards off and each time I pay them down by $500, they lower the limit by that amount.
Comment by michele — Nov 2nd 2008 @ 9:48 pm
No reductions yet on any of the cards yet including AmEx blue (13K credit limit). Higher limit (from 10K to 18K) on one of the cards.

Got a couple of pre-approved 0% offers for 15K; I don’t need it so I just tore it up and threw it away.

@Funny about money — I also have Chase (Amazon) and I got the same type of a letter; since I also pay my balances in full, I couldn’t care less. I’ll continue using it for amazon purchases since I like their rewards. This one is set up for automatic payment of the full balance, so there is no way it can ever be late.

@Shadox - if you feel strongly against their raising your limit, you can call them and tell them you don’t want the increase. They will lower it back. You can also tell them you don’t want further increases, and they’ll mark it on your account.
Comment by kitty — Nov 2nd 2008 @ 10:15 pm
Mine have actually been increased. I would say that’s because the companies are issuing less to new customers, and are maybe trying to make up for that by allowing their current customers with good credit to spend more.
Comment by Nick — Nov 3rd 2008 @ 8:44 pm
Ironicallly, I got a notice today that my credit limit on Citi has been raised about 10%. However, they have consistently raised my limit any time I get serious about paying down the balance. So, despite the current credit crisis, Citi is trying their best to entice me to spend more.I’m paying (literally) for past mistakes, but I have no intention of repeating them.
I don’t have any other cards, so as far as my experience goes, I don’t see reduced limits.
Comment by Jo — Nov 3rd 2008 @ 10:26 pm
My cash doesn’t have credit limits, so I’m not concerned.
Comment by Brian — Nov 5th 2008 @ 7:09 am
Out of all my credit cards, the one card I haven’t used was reduced. It was my IKEA card and it went from $500 to $221 (which is an odd number, to say the least).

They reviewed my spending patterns too and adjusted the card accordingly.
Comment by Noreen — Nov 6th 2008 @ 3:18 pm
citi keeps increasing my limit and lowering apr but target just raised all apr on there cards by 3% they suck
Comment by rhona — Nov 9th 2008 @ 8:28 pm
My Costco AMEX credit card had its credit limit lowered from $30k to $2600 in one fell swoop last week There has been no change in my credit score (720s) since I applied for the card two years ago. AMEX is turning into a bank and trying to limit its risk so it can qualify for some gov’t bailout money. I hope Costco picks up a different creditor.
Comment by PowerhouseD — Nov 12th 2008 @ 1:51 am
Amex cut my credit limit from 8000 to 5500 without any notice, I was confused if there was a fraud purchase on my card. Amex stinks, I never made a late payment and gave them a lot of business. no more but.
Comment by rj — Nov 17th 2008 @ 3:36 am
AMEX SUCKS!!! My husband and I have credit scores close to 800 (we just checked w/credit union) and today I get an email stating that our credit limits have been lowered on both our Blue and Costco cards. We have been card members since 1999. Our Costco card went from $29500 to $10600 and our Blue went from $22500 to $10600 but our Discover card was just increased. We do not carry large balances on these cards, but have been using them (for rebates & points) to decorate our new house. AMEX is totally screwing with people credits and I am very disappointed in their business practices. I too hope they go under or somehow is able to be reported on their unfair business practices. We are planning to pay the balances off and not use them again. I wish I could sue!!
Comment by K&S — Nov 20th 2008 @ 6:04 pm
Still at 30k Blue and 20k costco with amex. 800+ score.

Haven’t touched the blue in a year.

Max on costco is about 2k in a month.
Comment by Ken — Nov 20th 2008 @ 6:07 pm
Just found out that AMEX lowered our limit by another $4000 on Wednesday, November 26! Found out when my wife went to purchase gas. They had just lowered it by $4000 10 weeks ago. As soon as I sent them $3000 for this month’s bill, they lowered it another $4000 putting me over my limit immediately.
As a result, I will not send them any extra and will pull $ out of a mutual fund and send it to another creditor freeing up more credit with them and cease to use the AMEX.
My wife and I have spent over $680000 on our AMEX cards in the last 19 years, but now we are “high risk!”
We will also boycott businesses that accept AMEX and buy from those who do not accept AMEX. We will let the merchants know why. We are in our sixties and have 82 credit accounts “paid as agreed” without a single late payment!
I suggest that anyone else who has just gone thru this send a letter to the CEO, Kenneth I. Chenault @ Amex, World Financial Center, 200 Vessey Street, New York, NY 10285, and express your complete dissatisfaction.
AMEX cannot survive if people do not use their card.
Comment by jackson bridges — Nov 28th 2008 @ 7:07 pm
I always pay on time and I pay over the minimum. My score is 774.
Last week American Express cut my credit in half, down to what I owe. This act on, the part of American Express, will damage my credit by showing that my credit is extended. Won’t this create a domino effect, that will have a serious effect on my credit? I say yes it will.
I have contacted my representatives on this. This is a serious problem. I urge everyone to write and call them.
Comment by MS — Dec 2nd 2008 @ 4:38 am
just had a nice arguement with 3 of boa’s card services managers. they cut my limit from 14400 to 4400. my balance is 4200. they left me 200. i did not even get any notification. i happened to see it through my on line banking. i have Never been late with a payment on any of my accounts.When i told them they were going to lose a good paying customer they really didn’t seem to care. screw bank of america i will just transfer my small balance to another card with a 0% transfer for 1 year
Comment by jtd — Dec 3rd 2008 @ 10:02 pm
Yep, same thing happened to me. Six weeks ago Amex cut my limit by half. Just yesterday I checked my credit scores, and they all three dropped by about 75 points (average). I am LIVID. I have always made my payments on time, but the credit score analysis said that I have too high of a debt ratio. I didn’t prior to them lowering my balance. Sure when it goes from $30K down to $15K, my debt ratio is going to be higher.

I am paying the thing off and never paying them another dime. The whole “banking/credit card/credit score” practice is the most idiotic, unethical thing I have ever witnessed. Amazing that I’ve turned into high-risk when I have not changed one thing in the way I spend, work, or pay bills.
Comment by Melissa — Dec 4th 2008 @ 8:40 am
Melissa: Are you sure about cause and effect here? 75 points is a really big drop in response to a credit limit reduction. Is it possible that your score dropped (at least somewhat) which prompted Amex to reduce your credit limits, perhaps further reducing you credit score.

Comment by nickel — Dec 4th 2008 @ 8:53 am
Just an update to my previous post. Amex attempted to raise our interest rate on us after chopping our credit limits to nothing. That was the last straw. I cancelled them. I hope they go bankrupt- just like their business sense and ethics.
Comment by TonyN — Dec 4th 2008 @ 9:12 am
I contacted my congressman, Trent Franks in Arizona, and they looked into the problem they said. They called me and told me they can’t help. I told them that this was happening all over the country. It’s a nation wide, “NATIONAL”, problem. They said, only, that the congressman is aware of the problem. If they won’t act on this what the hell is going to happen. This credit crisis will just keep getting worse.
I have also written my Senator, Kyle. I didn’t bother writing that worthless fool McCain.
Just this morning the news said that home interest rates could drop from 5.5% now to 4.5%. What the heck good will this do us when our credit rating is dropping. Home prices are dropping also. How can a person get re-financed under these circumstances. What the heck is going on. What a joke.
Comment by MS — Dec 4th 2008 @ 11:12 am
Talk about “Discrimination” by American Express. I feel i’m being slapped in the face and their is nothing i can do about it. I just read a paper on American Express and it states that one of the ways they come to the decision to lower ones credit limit is based on several accounts. They base it upon where you live, where you shop and who holds your mortgage on your home. Even tho i pay my bill every month on time, and have never been late, These fools seem to think its good business practace to slapp me in the face with a letter that they are lowering my credit limit by more than half. I will never use this card again, and i will be sending several letters. I urge you to shop around and find another company to do business with. AMEX Sucks!
Comment by Mike — Dec 6th 2008 @ 4:00 am
I have noticed a few people on here making comments like, “I have a credit score in the 800’s so they keep people like me with good credit happy…” Well, a little newsflash: My credit score is in the 800’s, have NEVER been late on any of my payments, but AMEX just cut my credit limit in half with no prior notice. What ticks me off is the fact that we never used it until 3 weeks ago, when my husband bought me a new ring for our anniversary, and we decided to put it on that card. Today, I checked the account and they lowered the limit to 300 dollars above our balance, so now the card is almost maxed out which is something I never do. I am extremely upset, and will be cancelling the card once it is paid off in a month or so. AMEX is a bunch of crooks.
Comment by Katharine — Dec 6th 2008 @ 11:14 am
Is there someone here that would/could supply me with the wording of the letter you received from your credit card company in regards to lowering your credit card limit?

This is a strange request .. but my alcoholic husband, refuses to stop using MY card. I would like to “tell” him that my limit has been reduced. If that does not work, I will attempt to “conjer” up a letter documenting this.

This is very manipulative, I know .. but husband will not listen to me and continues using my card. I KNOW that if he thinks that the limit has been lowered, he will finally get it through his head that he cannot continue to use for his “entertainment” pleasure.

For those of you who believe that this is being dishonest and manipulative on my part .. my husband, I believe, is in a cycling stage of his bipolar depression and it does not matter what I do or say, I have not been able to reason with him. If I have to be somewhat underhanded and extreme, I have resigned myself to this .. at this point and time.

Thanks in advance for anyone that may have some compassion and might supply a “generic” form of the letter that they received.
Comment by Molly — Dec 7th 2008 @ 3:52 pm
my credit score is 710 due to the fact i just started building my credit about 2 years ago, my amex and capital one limit has not changed but my paypal buyer credit and my citiflex credit line lower my limits to about 30% of what they used to be, i’m never late on my payments, allways send a lot more than the minimun payment due and allways finish paying everything quick. i really don’t like to use my credit to buy small stuff but it’s needed to build my credit, i guess i’ll be using my cash more and cancelling a couple of credit cards.
Comment by Ronald, New York — Dec 10th 2008 @ 10:16 am
I just noticed my credit limit for my Citibank Professional MC was reduced from 15,000 to 2,300. When I called they said it’s because I only use less than 5% of my credit limit. I have a credit score of over 800, I wonder if this will affect my score. Citibank told me it won’t but I’m not sure.
Comment by Payman — Dec 16th 2008 @ 6:22 pm
Last night on CBS world news with Katie Coric, they had a good report on this probelm. A nurse’s credit was 780 and a credit card company cut her credit in half. As I recall that dropped her score 60 points. This gave reason for a drastic raise in her interest rate’s, they moved up to 21%. She just stopped using her cards. Thats ok for her she very seldom used her cards. For most people this will be crippling or worse.

The point of the story was how the cut in credit card level effected a person that doesn’t use there card that much. I hope to see a program on how it will effect the rest of use who use our cards regularly.

I urge everyone to call there congressman and senator’s, please call. I have.
Comment by MS — Dec 17th 2008 @ 12:24 pm
I urge everyone to contact House Committee on Financial Services and complain to them about this credit card problem. Go to the following website:

http://financialservices.house.gov/contact.html
Comment by MS — Dec 17th 2008 @ 6:16 pm
I have heard about this issue but it hit me first hand today. Barclay’s Bank reduced my credit line from $10k down to $2 and what’s worse is that put me over limit. To top it of, I haven’t received notification of the decrease, I had to have a purchase declined to find this out. When I called the credit card company they didn’t care and wouldn’t raise my limit back up except to cover my current purchases so that I’m not over limit. However I was warned that the limit could be reduced again in the future.

I warned them that they are losing a long-time loyal customer, no “might” about it!
Comment by Marianne — Dec 19th 2008 @ 10:33 pm
I went to Pay my fiance’s Best Buy card this morning since its right before the holidays & i know we have used it a small amount. We always keep it at under a 30% credit usage, especially because he just payed off his car so that is the only thing on his credit report right now. Without so much as an email they cut his limit down so there is only $38 available credit!!!! He has had the card for about 4 years & uses it rarely, probably about 3 times in the last two years & has only paid late once & that was over 2 years ago. So now right before the holidays we are going to have to come up with the money to pay it off or risk him losing a good 30 points or so on his credit. We’ve been saving for a house so we can’t let that happen. Good job Best buy & the rest of you credit “know it alls” at these banks, now someone who was making good credit decisions so they could buy a house next year will have to dip into our savings or risk having their credit wrecked!!! Once again the middle class is taking it on the chin for something a bunch of rich arrogant fools did. Welcome to America.
Comment by Lucie — Dec 20th 2008 @ 10:42 am
I just received the letter regarding my interest rate increase along with a notice from Blue stating that my credit limit is going from 10K to $4400. This is totally reidiculous and unacceptable. In the statement they claim, among other things, that the decision was based the fact that my debt is too high with AMEX. That’s total BS because I just made a $4000 payment in May bringing my balance to $0.00, which is where it has been until the last month or so because of Christmas shopping. They also refer to my credit score from Experian, which again is bogus because my most recent Experian score is 721. I am soo sick and tired of these coporate sleezebags sticking it to us that are just trying to get by. I will be contacting AMEX tomorrow and if i do not get any satisfactory answers, I will be contacting an attorney. If someone has already initiated a class action lawsuit, PLEASE contact me.
Comment by Kendall — Dec 21st 2008 @ 10:50 pm
I agree with all the people who HAVE HAD A LIMIT DECREASE. What gives. I payed off the cards and did not want to over spend so now I have no credit - like $300 is going to help if I need to go the MD or get the car fixed. I have no late payments and pay more then the limit. Discover, Amer Expr, HSBC, GM CARD all the saME. IF YOU DO NOT GET IN OVER YOUR HEAD THEY DO NOT WANT YOU.
Maybe we should lose the cards and just let someone have a good time. They certainly are having a good time messing us up and keeping their money.
why would you lower a limit on someone who pays off their cards. I am very disappointed in the congress.
they do not even answer email. Pelosi emailed me back and said it was against the rules for her to communicate with me as I am not in her district.
well she may not have a district if she keeps up that attitude.
sorrry but I do not like being made to look like I have gone over my lmits and most of all they never even gave notice. They just did it and then sent the letters.
not good . at all!!
Comment by Malini — Dec 28th 2008 @ 11:03 pm
How do we start a class action lawsuit. Count me in,
This is really disgusting. I am glad I finally found a site that even mentions this . Nothing on the AM radio about it at all.
contact me too just like #57 asked.

thanks
Comment by Malini — Dec 28th 2008 @ 11:07 pm
I just received a letter today from Juniper MasterCard stating they are lowering my limit from $6000 to $650 because quote: “you are only using a small portion of your available credit”. I have had this card for 3 years with spotless record. I have a 782 FICO. (Well, I did last month!!!!). This really makes me mad.
Comment by Ellen — Dec 30th 2008 @ 7:24 pm
I just called BoA to see if they would lower my interest rate a little bit; not only did they not lower the rate, they cut my credit limit on both BoA cards to right at the balance level. Thanks a lot, jerks. Can’t wait to see what that does to my credit rating.
Comment by Tandy — Jan 3rd 2009 @ 11:31 am
American Express management is making bad decisions about how they treat their customers. This will affect American Express profits for years to come. My Optima limit was reduced from $24,000 to $17,000 which was a few hundred over my balance at the time. My response was that I made an additional $1,000 payment to my regular payment in order to stay under 90% usage on the card. Once again American Express has reduced my limit. This time to $15,000 which is just a few hundred dollars over my balance. The balance is charged a low promotional rate so I am not inclined to pay it off by any more than the minimum payment. But, after the first limit reduction I called Am Ex to ask how I could be a better customer and how much I should pay in addition to the minimum. The customer service representative suggested I pay $50 to $100 more than the minimum each month so that is what I have done. I have been a member since 1985…never been late with a payment and have never gone over my limit. If I treated my customers that way I would be out of business in a few short months. I wonder how long it will take before Am Express is asking for a government BAIL-OUT ? ? ?
Comment by John D — Jan 3rd 2009 @ 6:16 pm
Actually Amex has already asked for bailout money. They got themselves reclassified as a bank holding company specifically so that they could do that.

But they have been doing this balance reducing thing for more than a year now. Its just that they started with their less than stellar customers, you know, the ones who carried high balances and only paid the minimum or near to it. Or were a day or two late with a payment here or there. That was me. Funny how when I started talking about this in forums 6 months ago, I was ridiculed and told I deserved being treated like a criminal by Amex and BOA, but now that they are targeting all their customers equally everyone is ready to file class action suits.

The only advice I can offer is the same advice that was given to me. Pay them off and cancel the cards and don’t use credit if you can’t handle the terms you agreed to. Thats what I am doing. I have learned in the past year that I really don’t need them as much as they advertised me into believing. The best revenge is living well and as Amex and BOA struggle to stay alive, I will be here still earning paychecks, conspicuously consuming, and I won’t need them.
Comment by MICHELE — Jan 3rd 2009 @ 6:40 pm
John D and everyone else. American Express applied for Bank status with the past month and now has already gotten the bank bailout money.

So had GM financial services who did the GM loans. They are now a bank as well and got a double bailout
one as car manuf and the other as a bank

Discover is doing the same.
this is not about helping people at all.
I never had any lates, but now several of my cards are withing 100 of the limit and credit score has dropped
I was just aoout to get pre qual for a mortgage.
Fair Issac must know whats going on but does not give a hoot.
Comment by Annie — Jan 4th 2009 @ 1:21 am
Part of your credit rating is how much of your available credit you use. Each time AmEx or some other entity cuts your credit limit down to near what you owe, that lowers your credit rating. The resulting lower credit rating can and will be used against you by those same companies later.

What people need to do is to write their Senators and their representatives in Congress and let them know what is happening. If they hear from enough of their constituents, they may not be so quick to provide bailout money to the worst offenders, and, with any luck, might even demand repayment of some of the bailout loans so AmEx and others will know how it feels to get cut off at the knees.
Comment by Dan C — Jan 7th 2009 @ 10:07 am
What a change for these companies. I used to throw away no less than 5 credit card offers a week but have seen very few in the last few months. Like most of you, I have a high credit rating because I have never even made a late payment in all these years. BOA sent me some checks with a 0% interest promotion through October 2009. I set them on my desk for a few weeks and was considering if I wanted to use them for something. Three weeks later they sent me a letter dropping my line of credit from $18,600 to $1,000. The cheap punks gave me the same lame excuse as most of you on this blog have received. Also, Amex dropped my credit line from $26,000 to $10,600. I wish now that I had maxed out BOAs 0% percent offer and put that money in the bank. That would have prevented them from sacking my credit line for no good reason.

I am going to send BOA back their card and tell them to shove it where the sun doesn’t shine.
Comment by Fred — Jan 9th 2009 @ 1:14 am
PLEASE, everyone take a look at the bailouts. They will not stimulate the country. I was just getting a pre approval on a 1st home. Due to AMEX , CARE CREDIT and DISCOVER i now do not have a high enough credit score. The credit score itself is a joke.
I contacted my congresswoman and her Receptionist DID call me back. YOU are supposed to get a 15 day notice before any action is taken on your account in either direction. I got no notice in advance.
HOW do we start a class action? This has to stop.
The Senate intends to establish new rules but I heard they will cap the APR at 36% That is also a joke and I am very disappoined in all both sides of this system
Give them money and they charge us 36% on the tax we paid to big with!!! Shame…
So again. how does one start a class action Case???
Be well and keep sharing the knowledge
Comment by Annie — Jan 13th 2009 @ 1:37 pm
BofA just closed six perfectly paid accounts without any notice. They did that when my wife called to request a $200 transfer into our checking account. The “customer service agent” Damon was so arrogant and seem pleased that he we “shutting down ALL of our accounts”! Not one late payment or fees have ever been applied to any of our accounts. Found out two days later that our MC with our credit union was also frozen since BofA apparently administers that account . We received written notices several days after the accounts were closed, nothing before.
We sent a letter to the CEO of BofA, Mr. Kenneth Lewis detailing how unfair and short-thinking such actions against good customers are. We pointed out that we had only applied for two of the accounts in the first place and that all the others lines of credit were initiated as a result of offers made by BofA to us because of our credit history. Does anyone know if this is legal or who we should contact protesting such actions? Our first reaction was just to tell them to “stick it” and we may still do that. Now, we are guessing that BofA will raise our rates at the first opportunity.
Anyone that can give further advice, please do so!
Comment by jbrare — Jan 13th 2009 @ 3:38 pm
To JBRARE I was told by my congresswoman’s office that we are supposed to get notified in advance. They stated 15 days as per the small print. I have yet to verify that but I am sure they need to notify in advance.
Please post if you find anything that states otherwise. I am going to read the Fair Credit Act again.
they get bailed out and we get stiffed.
Some stimulus eh?
Comment by Annie — Jan 13th 2009 @ 5:24 pm
I am pretty sure that all these ba****ds are going to do everything that they can between now and next year to create situations that allow them to up interest rates based on credit ratings and “excessive” use of credit lines. If I understand the new restrictions that will not go into effect until next year, lenders will have to have specific reasons to change your rates and not be able to change your terms as long as you are paying on time and not exceeding your limits. Congress left credit cards companies a huge loop hole and plenty of time to
cover all their bases in the meantime. Congress always underestimates the resourcefulness of predatory lenders. While our tax dollars are keeping banks and financial institutions afloat, they will be plotting ways to circumvent the new restrictions and setting themselves up to “milk” the good paying customers even more. Let’s just stop paying everyone of them who try to change conditions that they set up and “agreeeeed” to in the first place.
I am mad as hell and am not going to take it much longer!
Comment by jbrare — Jan 13th 2009 @ 5:49 pm
Jbrare- ditto here too. makes me ill.
I got a form from the local DA on Consumer Complaints but all they will do is mediate or pass the complaint on. I read up in the Fair Credit act and they can change the limits based on what they say they found in your credit report. Like to high balance to income ratio. They are supposed to notify you within 30 days . I was only notified in one case and I have no idea when they did the change.
no lates in over 15years This has sent my score down below 700 Which will prevent me from pre qualifying for a 1st time home loan.
The banks do not care at all.
This is all the same old, same old going ons.
Keep posting - any ideas on how to fix this situation?
Comment by Annie — Jan 13th 2009 @ 11:45 pm
I logged into my online account with BOA a few days ago to make a payment on my credit card. A small payment for a small online purchase. Since I keep about $15k in total limit available between various cards but no balance on any, the last thing I expected was my credit limit to be cut by 75%. AS I HAVE SEEN IN MANY OF THE BLOGS HERE, NO ADVANCE NOTICE. Never a late payment. I called and cancelled the card as I don’t need a card with a small limit but asked “why the decrease?”. The rep would not tell me why, claiming they had sent a letter several days earlier. Still no “alleged” letter.
BOA has no idea what they are doing. I have a checking account and savings with BOA and will soon be taking my money elsewhere.
Comment by Steven — Jan 19th 2009 @ 12:09 am
So today, Kenny Chenault complained that American Express’ earnings declined by 72 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008, due in part because consumers were not using their cards…What a shock!

My credit limit for AmEx was cut by over 90% (30k to 2600) (see comment 37) back in early November, so I cut my use of the card by the same amount.

How do you ####-ing like it, Kenny??!!!
Comment by PowerhouseD — Jan 27th 2009 @ 12:47 am
I agree with everyone hear. One of my credit cards are from Barclay’s bank. Well I never missed a payment and kept the card at a zero balance. Most of my credit cards have a negative balance where I over paid.
Anyway about a month ago I get a letter from Barclay’s saying that my credit limit was cut to $500. The good thing is my balance is 0. But it makes me wonder? Why would you cut the limit of people who use their credit wisely? “To reflect my spending habits?” There is no way that I will use any of my cards now. You do everything right and they hit you in the rear. I hope that they all go down.
Comment by James Cash — Jan 29th 2009 @ 9:35 am
Yea they cut my limit from 27K to 500$. I called and they wouldn’t increase it–so I told them to keep the card
F*** AMEX. They don’t want our business, we will go somewhere else.
Comment by Mike — Jan 29th 2009 @ 3:05 pm
Chase pulled a dirty trick.

2 yrs ago I did a balance transfer of $20k to Chase. The offer from Chase was 4% for the life of the loan. The payment is $250.00, and thats OK.

The last bill said may payment is a WHOOPING $680.00 a month.

They have taken my payment from a min. 2% to the 5% the LAW has allowed them to take payments to. This 5% was put in place by the corporate run government.

Chase gave me the option to continue with the $250.00 a mo. if I would except 7.99 % intrest rate. I agreed under duress. What could I do except to just stop paying????

May god wtf is going on in Washington. All the money paid out should have went to us, the citizens. A trillion dollars would pay off every mortgage in the country. And we would have plenty of money to pay our cards and to buy again. OUR GOV. AND CORPORATIONS HAVE BECAOME A CRIMINAL ORGANIZATION.
Comment by Mike — Jan 30th 2009 @ 10:48 am
Capital One is doing it also! Today I was shopping, I tried to charge $100. My card was declined with a huge line behind me. My husband had my debit card. I was so embarrassed. All I could do is walk away from a full cart of bagged items. I called Capital One because I knew I had a $12,600 credit limit and I only had $3000 charged. After talking to 3 foriegn reps. and getting no answers to when or why they lowered my limit $9000. They finally admitted to lowering on the 23rd. (one week ago) No call, no e-mail, no phone call to notify me, (still nothing). They did say they usually try to call. (not that they did) And the reason was that I don’t use my card enough. That is such BS. I have been a loyal customer, never make late payments, pay down frequently and have excellent credit. Is it legal to not notify people. I tried to charge only $20 over my new limit and was declined….wow! You are correct Mike “OUR GOV. AND CORPORATIONS HAVE BECOME A CRIMINAL ORGANIZATION.”
Comment by Kelly — Jan 30th 2009 @ 10:37 pm
What’s worst beside them lowering the credit limit is it effects the credit score. about a month after Citibank lowered my credit line from 15K to 2300 I checked my FICO score and it was lowered by 30 points. There is no other changes in my credit history except this one. This is not fair as I always pay my bills on time. Instead of our corrupt government penalizing these criminals they just bail them out by giving them our tax dollars.
Comment by Payman — Jan 31st 2009 @ 10:32 pm
I believe a conspiracy, against citizens, between gov. and corporations, has been in place for sometime. Just think about the timeliness of the new bankruptcy laws. They were put in place just before this credit crisis started hitting. They knew it was coming because they manufactured it.

The gov. should have given us the 700 billion and we could have paid off our cards with the money. Instead they gave the money to the corporations to pay their CEO’s millions. These people should be tried and executed for crimes against the people. It is the only way they will get the message they are killing us, and our families. And if this doesn’t work then their whole families need to be executed in order to send them the message.
Comment by Mike — Feb 1st 2009 @ 12:04 am
I have already notified my congresswoman. I gave her receptionist the link to this site and another one that I came across. Today I had three new postings come through. I think it is time to go to my local newspaper and see if I can get a reporter to pick up this story. If that works then iit may get in the San FRancisco Chronicle. This is really getting to me. My credidt score has gone down as well for what ever they say that is worth. Enough is enough. Any other ideas???
Comment by Annie — Feb 1st 2009 @ 6:13 pm
BofA cut my Business Visa Card credit line from 29000 to 17500 without notification. At the time I had 17100 on the card, leaving me 400 to work with for my small CPA firm going into tax season! I immediately sent in 2100 to leave me 2500 to work with. Hopefully they don’t reduce the limit to 15500 on me!

My credit score is 800 and I usually pay off each month but have been carrying a balance for a few months due to carrying to homes … our old home closes this month.

No call from BofA. I’m sure this will effect my credit score thanks to them reducing the credit line which was just raised in December 2008.

Who knows, maybe next will be an interest rate increase from the present 7.99 to who knows what? 24%?

I think we’ll be paying BofA back and change accounts to a local bank who would maybe appreciate some more business.

I hope BofA has a plan for the backlash brewing due to their recent actions.
Comment by Tom — Feb 4th 2009 @ 12:02 am
UGH!!!

I have had three things occur within the last 2 months:

1. Credit Limit Decrease By Juniper, with a lame explanation (now cut-up with $0 balance, only used to get 6 mth free financing on my MAC).
2. Credit Limit Increase by Citi
3. Citi, Plan A or B
A. Accept an interest rate increase of at LEAST 19.99% OR
B. Keep my current interest rate until my card expires, at which time they will cancel my card and I can re-apply

When I phoned Citi regarding A & B, the telephone rep said this is based upon the default rate of it’s customers; NOT MY OWN PERSONAL CREDIT. When did credit become a group thing?

I agree with Mike…WTF?
Comment by Allison — Feb 5th 2009 @ 11:22 pm
Annie, I have called my congressman’s office a couple of times. Once on each issue Amex and the Chase cohesion. I have emailed the Senate Banking committee. If I have done this thousands of others must have. I hear nothing in the news about what banks are doing to people who pay there bill’s. IT IS NO WONDER THAT THE ECONOMY IS COLLAPSING. No one can trust the system, banks, and or the government, who has given them hundreds of billions. Billions that have gone to bonus’s.
If the government would have given us the money we all could have paid off our credit cards and none of us would have a problem.
When no one listens what happens?
Comment by Mike — Feb 6th 2009 @ 11:41 am
My husband and I just had a similar frustrating letter come in the mail. We made a payment of $2250 on one card and $3750 on another. I lost my job in September and it took me 3 months to get my unemployment benefits and applied this amount as soon as I received my check, never late minimum payments, but still they sent a letter of reducing our limits to $100 above or balance on both cards … we have a credit score of 740+ never late on ANY payments and this is how they treat us ggggrrr… I haven’t checked our credit scores to see if it had any negative effects, but I have worked hard to make sure our credit is flawless and this is BS to say the least
Comment by Kellie — Feb 16th 2009 @ 7:51 pm
I’ve had my credit on amex reduced by them every time i make a payment reduced by the payment amount. I normaly wouldn’t have a problem with that except that it destroys my credit making me look like I’m constantly maxed out! and what is their reason? To protect themselves because they realized after 10 years they never should have extended that much- but then again- they were counting on me getting in debt. I’m seriously considering not paying them back at all. It isnt the first time i was upset with thier selfishness. The first was when i asked if i could send them a seperate check targeting the cash advance i took out years before that they were charging me up to 30 percent a month for and they said “no” you have to pay the lower interest pricipal first. Screw them.
Comment by Jenn — Feb 17th 2009 @ 1:02 am
Capital One just informed me today that my $10500 credit limit has been reduced to $3300. This will effect my credit score derogatively as I will no longer be below the 50% use of credit that mortgage companies like to see. There was also some comfort that the credit line was there should an emergency arise.
Comment by Teri — Feb 17th 2009 @ 2:16 pm
AMEX substantially reduced my credit limit today (on the Delta SkyMiles card I have had for well over a decade). I made a payment of $750 on a balance of $1250 on February 3. Their gratitude was displayed in the swiftness with which they decided to lower the credit limit just 2 weeks later. They cited a negative credit report. I’ll have to look into that, but I suspect it is due to the only credit card company with whom I have something of a balance, and with whom I was in a dispute over rapidly escalating interest rates. (That dispute was just resolved and they shifted my balances to a much lower rate.)

I cancelled my AMEX Gold account and the SkyMiles account and wrote AMEX an email saying that my being a “member since 1988″ seemed to mean little to them.

So the bottom line is that we consumers have to fight back. I was lucky to be able to pay AMEX in full today so that I could show them how I felt by closing my accounts, and to be able to front 3-times the minimum payment to the other card company to sweeten the rate-lowering conversation. The lesson I just gave myself: pay as much as you can as soon as you can, cancel accounts with those who abuse customers, and write to these crooks to let them know you are not going to be treated badly.
Comment by Lynn — Feb 17th 2009 @ 8:54 pm
I’d like to add that the comments above with regard to how the bailout money should have been spent are spot on. People who can demonstrate they are working as many hours as they can, and keeping up with bills as best they can should have been given the money that the banks got in the bailout. American Express became a bank holding company so that it could get access to low-cost financing from the Fed. They and other financial institutions are getting every break. The TARP money should have been given US citizens. And now the new gov’t is about to repeat the colossal errors of the Bush administration.
Comment by Lynn — Feb 17th 2009 @ 9:03 pm
Yes, American Express lowered my limit from 20,000 in which I hardly ever used to 1,800 in which my balance was which can really mess up my excellent credit score they informed me it was due to their financial backings?? I was outraged and reported them the same thing is happening with Bank of America. they either cancel you for no apparent reason on the consumer side or lower your limits to what you owe which has a derogitory affect on your credit report lowering your fico scores I reported them too. I am watching them closely everyone should report them immediately so they can be regulated closely because they are asking for our bailout monies and in return hurting the few consumers who acted responsible with their monies and credits and due to their mishandlings and poor money managment they are still passing the blame on others. Report them to Attorney General Office, BBB and Consumer plus I am willing and hopefully we can file a class action suit against them for hurting our excellent credit reports for unjust cause and malicious derogitory business practices
Comment by Drale Rbinson — Feb 20th 2009 @ 2:15 am
email me with updated infor.
Comment by Drale Rbinson — Feb 20th 2009 @ 2:17 am
Everyone here needs to write there rep’s, congressman, and both senator’s. Also write the banking committee I mention above. Barney Franks is on the committee.
Comment by Mike — Feb 20th 2009 @ 3:41 am
I had both the AMEX and the BofA experiences exactly as described by others. Had SIX perfectly paid BofA accounts frozen and had my AMEX limits lowered three times in four months. So far since December, AMEX has left me along and BofA has also since they swacked me last year.
CitiBank took a different approach and actually offered a 10% rebate on interest if their bill is paid on time for ten consecutive months. That seemed like a positive approach in light or the crap AMEX and BofA pulled.
Anyone else had any kind of positive experience with a banking institution recently?
If for some reason I cannot pay all my bills, guess who I will pay first?
Comment by jbrare — Feb 20th 2009 @ 2:14 pm
Hi all., first off Ame Express did it again after I paid my monthy payment. I went to see if I had enough to pay a medical bill and found out I had 100 left out almost 1500 they were so kind to leave after cutting me 3000.
I called them and they said it was because I did not pay my Triumph Card. I said what. Oh you Ame Express Triumph card . You stopped paying in Oct. 2008 I said you have the wrong person. I told her my credit reports ( 3 ) were in front of me and none mention such a card. They got the supervisor who told me I got the card in 89. NOT!!! I was ill in 89-96 on GA etc. while getting interferon for 2 yrs etc.
She said she would investigate it as fraud. Right like someone is going to get a card belonging to someone else and pay it up to date for 20 ys. Experian said they never heard of such a card.
so now I am maxed completly, My score is down 50 points and the loan I was trying to get as a first time home buyer is not coming through due to Am Exp and discover.

What is the commitee w/ Barney Franks????
Please post again I do not see the link or name.
( my eyes are not the best and the lenses the doc gave me blurr my vision after and hour or two. )
Thanks Annie

How do we do a class action??? Someone must know a lawyer out there from the list.
We need to speak up

How do we start some kind of online protest??

I am in if we can do it. willing to put out time to cirulate. already contacted the congresswoman no help there.
Comment by Annie — Feb 20th 2009 @ 7:31 pm
Following the recent criminal activity of AMEX (comment #87), Capital One just sent a notice that my interest rates were going up. Like the AMEX abuse, theirs following my paying the balance. This is just part of a large and growing movement by credit card companies to exact every dollar they can before upcoming regulations force them to become something remotely akin to human and fair. So, it’s goodbye to Capital One. These people need us. If every one of us can find a way to ditch them now when they need us most, write letters to them about why, boycott all of their subsidiaries/holdings, keep posting our stories all over the Web, and write our legislators we will shut them down. We must also write to the credit reporting bureaus because that is the weapon credit card companies can use against us. In short, fight back.
Comment by Lynn — Feb 20th 2009 @ 7:52 pm
I am beginning to believe that we are not going to have to worry about some of these vultures much longer. From looking at the prices of bank stocks, I believe that Darwin’s theories are going to prove themselves to be correct, at least in the banking and financial sectors! As for the arrogant CEO’s and their future, I say “LET THEM EAT CAKE!”
One other thought I had as a result Lynn’s comment is that these predators are going to commit as many atrocities as possible before the new regulations take effect. I am alerting all my Senators and representatives to this fact and asking “WHY WERE THE BANKS GIVEN A YEAR AND A HALF TO CORRECT THEIR “USURIAL” TACTICS?” Could it be that the financial sectors own Congress? HMMM? These people can be very “creative” if given that much time gouge their customers.
Comment by jbrare — Feb 21st 2009 @ 11:41 am
Just discovered by checking online that one of my credit cards just cut my limit to $360 (!!), an amount just above my last balance. The crazy part is that I was online to pay off the balance, like I do every month. I pay all my cards in full every month, never carry a balance, never pay late. There is no reason for them to have done this. My credit score was 800 last time I checked. But now I expect I will have a comment on my credit report that this credit line was reduced by the creditor, a negative, or if I go ahead and close the account, I get another negative. Even if I keep it open, I’m unlikely to use the card again (partly out of irritation, partly because of the paltry limit, and partly out of fear that the limit will have been decreased again without my knowledge, and it will be embarrassingly declined). If I don’t use the card, it will most likely be cancelled, with the ominous “closed by credit grantor” note in my credit report, another negative. I don’t really have any option here that’s not negative, although I haven’t done anything wrong!

However, my BIGGEST fear is that this will domino, and my other credit card companies will do the same thing, giving me a LOT of negatives on my credit report, including a REALLY small available credit number. After all, they’re all watching what the others do. I don’t “need” the credit cards, except that our society measures every financial move you make by your FICO score, and having a substantial available credit line is a huge factor in a FICO score. This is absurd!
Comment by Chiara — Feb 23rd 2009 @ 7:43 pm
Yesterday, it was reported that American Express started offering $300 “gift cards” to some people who agree to pay off their balances and close their accounts. Has anyone on this site been offered this “deal?” I am wondering what is to keep AmEx from closing accounts if people reject their offer.
Comment by PowerhouseD — Feb 24th 2009 @ 9:53 am
There’s nothing stopping them from closing the accounts. The report I heard is that AmEx is doing this simply to “keep up” their “good” image with consumers.
Comment by MITBeta @ Don't Feed the Alligators — Feb 24th 2009 @ 12:19 pm
Bank of America lowering credit limits, and recalling PRIOR transactions. I processed an online transfer for $1150 to pay another card off (which they constantly entice you to do), on Jan 21, 2009. At that time my limit was $5000 with $2600 available for transfers. The transfer posted to the receiving account Feb 05. On Feb 17, I received a letter, dated Feb 07, from them announcing that they LOWERED my credit limit on that account to just above the past balance. When I checked on line I saw that the $1150 had posted to the receiver of the transfer and that B of A (Bunch of A..h…s) had pulled it back causing an insufficient funds charge from the recipient and of course not to be left out, B of A also drew a NSF fee. By doing this they have lowered my credit score to a point that I will be unable to refi my house as I planed and PAY this card off. What they have accomplished in their greed to get a measly $39 is to put me in a situation where I will no doubt be filing bankruptcy. SO in the long run they have blown their own foot off.
I called and pleaded with them to undo this. My contention is that they DID authorize the transaction (proved by the fact that they sent it to the receiver) and 2 days later they pulled the check back. I find this to be an unethical practice and urge everyone that has any accounts with this bank to reconsider and close all accounts and find another bank that won’t stab you in the back and urge everyone to boycott this bank.
Comment by Richard Seerup — Feb 24th 2009 @ 1:32 pm
We’ve had a Sears card for almost two years. Our initial credit limit was $6500. and increased about 6 months ago to $6900. We had a balance of about $500. because we buy appliances using the deferred interest promotion and always pay in full before having to pay the accrued interest. Two months ago they offered a balance transfer promotion of 5% for 12 months. We transferred over about $2700. Our balance was around $3150. when they (for no reason at all) decided to lower our credit limit to $3300. thereby giving us a credit utilization ratio of 95%! We immediately paid $2650. leaving only the balance of the appliance which still has a zero interest rate right now. That left us with a balance of $480. and a credit utilization ratio of 15%. We just found out today that they lowered our credit limit to $600.! Now our utilization rate is back up to 80%! We have never been late on ANY of our payments to ANY creditors. Sears/Citi is maliciously attacking and alienating loyal, good paying customers! Why? They got themselves into a financial mess and continue to demonstrate that they are unable to make good business decisions. CONGRESS: LET CITI FAIL!!!
Comment by Julie — Feb 24th 2009 @ 2:12 pm
my hsbc card limit was cut from 2500 to 620. acocunt balance 698, overlimit.. news came via email that i am overlimit.
will fair issac change its way to calculate score, now its whole u.s. problem ?
this is the first card.. lets see what happens to others..
Comment by leo — Feb 25th 2009 @ 3:01 pm
My credit limit with HSBC was cut in half, even though I’ve always payed more than due, and well before the due date. My credit score is around 700. This credit card was a transfer card, and not used for daily purchases at all. I called and they said it was a business decision. They did lower my interest rate, however, when I asked. What can you do? Work fast to pay it off, I guess.
Comment by Keith — Feb 25th 2009 @ 6:16 pm
My HSBC Visa was cut from $5,000 to $1,160. I’ve never been late with them since I transferred another card balance to them for a lower rate. I’ve also always paid well above my the minimum payment to keep making the ratio better each month. I will be paying them off soon and will never use their card or bank services again. I guess their business decision is to tick off their customers enough so thy loose them all; real smart!
Comment by Randy — Feb 26th 2009 @ 1:21 pm
At the beginning of December, I had a $1500.00 limit on my Discover Card, which I did run up around the holidays to around 1300.00. In January I paid off $1000.00, and earlier this month another $400.00, leaving me with a balance of around $100.00 (when you take into consideration other purchases made this month).

Just went to check my Discover card balance so I could finally pay it off this month, and I found out that with no notification, my Credit Limit had been reduced to $590.00. I called Discover to find out what gives, and someone in India said “This was a business decision and effected almost all our clients.”

Unlike the other people on this site, my credit is nowhere near perfect… I had a Bankruptcy 2 years ago, but since then I have been spending on my two credit cards and paying them off. Since the Bankruptcy (do to the mortgage crisis) I have not had a single late payment, and am actually 2 months ahead on my car payments. In only 2 1/2 years, my credit it within 20-30 points of where it was before the Bankruptcy (I was able to keep myself current right up to the bankruptcy). Luckily, this Credit Limit decrease is not going to derail my plans as my balance will be paid off, but you can bet I will NOT be using my Discover card again except for the occasional $5.00 - $10.00 purchase that I will pay off to maintain my good credit history.
Comment by Eric — Feb 26th 2009 @ 4:41 pm
I was checking my balance on HSBC card yesterday and saw that my CC line had dropped from 3,300 to 590! No notice; called and got the seemingly standard no answer. I pay balance off and just have one utility bill running through on auto-pay. I hesitate to cancel account because if my other two cards do that (zero balances on both) do that I will be hard pressed in an emergency. I guess we just have to eat it. The economy is so scary I don’t feel like I have a real choice and just have to suck it up. What loan sharks these companies are.
Comment by Lynne — Feb 26th 2009 @ 5:39 pm
My accounts are still holding strong, except the WAMU/Chase card that got closed since i never used it.

Amex 30k and 20k
Cap1 12.5k

Have an 800+ score.
Comment by Ken M — Feb 26th 2009 @ 5:42 pm
Ken,

Do you live in an area that has not been hard hit by housing foreclosures, or by the ensuing layoffs? Just wondering since it seems people with high credit scores (800+) who live in my area have also taken hits like the ones described on this site.
Comment by PowerhouseD — Feb 26th 2009 @ 5:47 pm
Seattle, tons of layoffs here and housing market is crashing.

I never carry a balance either.
Comment by Ken M — Feb 26th 2009 @ 5:52 pm
AMEX SUCKS !! these …er reduced my limit twice in past few month ,and when you call them ,the answer is that ’s what we do.f…er,what you do is screwing other life,I hate the and I with they go under,i’m gonna file a complain,ant help?
Comment by ben — Feb 26th 2009 @ 6:23 pm
B of A:

I recently called to request that B of A stop automatically increasing my credit limit. Last week they just increased it. I have 2 accounts with low balances and high limits. Upon my request to stop increases they unilaterally decreased my line by a significant amount. I undertstand what they have done from a business perspective but it pisses me off. There is 0 chance in the future I will use B of A for more lucrative business such as a mortgage, home equity lines, brokerage, etc.
Comment by Michael — Feb 28th 2009 @ 9:45 am
We are not alone. I want to say that it has been great to see that I am not the only one getting pushed further and further into the dirt. I do not like what the banks are doing to all of us. So here is a link to someone who is fighting back. It may be a good example of how to start turning the tables back to a fair place and at least we will be heard if we do what this Dr has done.

http://www.changeinterms.com/join-the-fight/

My son and my accounts once again have had their limits lowered to within a few dollars of what we owe. My son had 2 cards GM ( HSBC) and Discover which took all his available limit away after a few months of not using it since he paid it in full.
reason: debt to credit available ratio was too high

Ame Exp called me. I did not recognize the number so to be safe called customer service. I found that my available 3000 was now 151 dollars after making last months payment. The reason the supervisor gave was that I did not make a payment on my Triumph card in Oct 2008. I told her I had no such card. She said oh you do and it was opened in 1989. I told her no that I was on General ASsistance then and had no cards because I was very ill and had to leave work to go on disability. I told her I had all three credit reports in front of me and none mentioned such a card at all. She reported it to fraud.
I spent 3 days talking to the credit reporting agencies. None had any record of such an account and told me to tell Am Expr it was their mistake.
My return call ended up taking at least an hour and each call transfer I had to repeat my card number and the info.
The last supervisor said the notes only stated that my limit was taken away due to my high debt to limit ratio. I said well gee. I wonder why that is If you take the available credit away I am maxed out. Maxed out caused my credit score to drop now a total of 55 points. I was getting a pre approved 1at time home buyer loan and now that is not happening. I have never missed a payment in 14 yrs. I pay more then the minimum
My son had a credit score of 750 and its now down to 690 and he has no available credit left on the cards he paid off between May 2008 and Oct 2oo8.
I am going to do what the Dr did. I never even recieved a letter telling me that some cards were closed. Care Credit for one. I went to the eye doctor and thought I had 5000 available and none owed. LOL
card had been closed over 8 months ago and to date I have not recieved any notice.
They are keeping the money from the bail out. Chase is going to get the tellers to push credit cards. Some boss guy was giving them the run down in front of customers and said if they could not deal with it to walk.

after all my trying to pay so i could get a home and some health issues taken care of is wiped out of reach.
The company’s all can take their card and eat them
I am not going to go along with the changes. My score will come up again in 8 mos or so and by then maybe they will be loaning again. So screw them. We all work to hard to be left hanging out like dirty shoes blowing in the wind …they have the smell not us!!! Rotten business ethics , greed and more. Shame on all of them. Shame on congress.
we need a class action lawyer we can trust and a way to tell President Obama this is not change this is corruption. This is not acceptable!!!!
We the people . . WE can do it . all of us on this site.
Originally I did not get any new posts Now I get at least 3-5 a day.
Thank you all for speaking up. Thanks for having this site Mr Five Cent nickel who ever you are Bravo!

WE the people will suceed in getting fair credit actions!
Comment by Annie — Mar 1st 2009 @ 5:36 am
Hi Everyone - I don’t pretend my credit score is 800 - but it’s decent. My story isn’t that traumatic - I had my Orchard Bank card cash advance limit slashed from $1200 to $300. I have been with them for 3 years. I am grateful the guy on the phone didn’t insult me or my record - by simply stating that “Orchard is just trying to manage risk” - as opposed to attacking my record (flawless) or my spending habits (lunacy!) The credit score I was trying to build after my divorce is slowly failing - and I have just about given up…

But unless you run a business or are a consultant - we just need to stop listening to these jerks personally insult us - and just “vote with our feet”. Oh - and file a lawsuit - against the 3 credit bureaus that invented these fake numbers that dictate one’s worth. It’s becoming virtually impossible to defeat these people - and with job loss - loss of home values - loss of investments - the playing field is grossly against our favor.

We need - to fight…hard.
Comment by Just Jess — Mar 2nd 2009 @ 8:03 pm
HSBC cut my limit from $5300 to $300. I had a $0 balance for months, never late, and always paid well above the minimum. I’ve had this account for 3 years, very disappointed HSBC treats its “valued customers” as such. I’ll just put the card away until the economy improves, never use it again. So long HSBC!
Comment by Shel — Mar 4th 2009 @ 12:19 pm
I have had bad comments numerous times. In all fairness I just recognized Citi Bank has drop my interest rate from 17 to 12.9 % over the past year. I pay on auto pay and I pay the min. plus about $1,500 a mo to $2,000.00 a mo.
Comment by Mike — Mar 4th 2009 @ 12:42 pm
Hello,
I had my credit reduced with Bank of America from
$5,000 to $700.00, with a balance of $450.00. Good credit history no problems. I Called BOA customer service and asked why, they said a late payment with Sears. I do not have a Sears card. They did reinstate the $5,000 line of credit on 2/26/09, and also sent a letter stating this. On 3/3/09, while on the BOA website, saw the $5,000 had now been reduced to $1,000. When I called and spoke to some arrogant BOA credit person, I was told they should not have reinstated the $5,000 amount. Yeah right…Mad, you bet…They just seem to treat you like dirt, and really could care less.
Comment by mel — Mar 6th 2009 @ 9:44 pm
Amex Lowered onced from $23,000 CL to $10,000 owed 9$,000 interest rate raised from 9.9% to 12.9%, have been making mostly double the minumum payment the last year and a half, never missed a payment in all 25 years with them.

Six months later got balance down to $ 7,000 and lowered limit again this time to $ 7,500 and raised to now 15.9 %.

Now Capital 1 did the same to us, but went from 5.9% to a whopping 17.9% again a 735 Cr Score and never missed these or any other payments, have a relatively ow mortgage of $890 with 9-10 yrs. left, and a moderatestable income of $ 75,000 annually . No car payments for now, but will need new or used in next 6months.
Only negative is some student loans for our son, even though he and us were fortunate that he got over half of his tuition paid on scholarship, these past three years, that are due upon graduation in 3 more years when out and wiil be certified in the health care field with a shortage, and will then consolidate and pay back us and his other loans. We are just paying interest for now,, that helps reduces loan balance. The only other thing is we now shop as we have our last college student in 1more year, may join the Air Force as a cadet, at places like Walmart and Costcos, instead for college and dorm stuff and even ourselves for due diligence knowing that we will need more, for future costs, car repairs/replacements, more college loans, risng health care etc.
It’s sucks that they are making hard working Americans that sacrifice and scrimp , to make their payments on time and then seem like we are being punished, and thiose that decide that they do not need good credit for the next three years, default on purpose and renogotiate for half.
Good luck to all.
Comment by Broke Dad Mountain — Mar 9th 2009 @ 4:55 pm
I have had a credit limit reduced and an interest rate raised. What all Americans should be outraged about is this. These banks have gotten bailout money and the way they repay the taxpayer is to not use the money as intended, to turn around and reduce many credit limits, thus causing your credit score to lower. I.E. balance to limit ratio. It does matter.

Then, they turn around and will raise your interest rate and jump on all the fees if you go over limit or anything. Somehow, this is wrong.

I think most of America has realized we need to try to get our debt down and most of us are not intending to continue using our credit cards except in emergencies.

Yet, both the government and the banks are out of control. Congress has befriended the banks and credit card companies giving them free reign to abuse the consumer and they turn their backs on us.

It is true, that some people won’t stop the credit madness. At the same time, the credit card companies and banks are making it hard to stop, but impossible to use.

Until they change the entire structure of the credit process and change what the banks are allowed to do and how they are allowed to offer credit and cap interest rates, nothing will ever change.

People have to take responsibility for their spending. By the same token, people who are running these companies and the country into the ground should have to take responsibility as well.

As for those with high credit scores and low balances on your credit cards……………..they just haven’t gotten to you yet. Trust me, an 800 credit score will not stop them from touching you at some point.

I know this for a fact. Two years ago, most of these institutions could not give out enough credit and often raising limits for people without a basis of expanding their credit.

Now, they are taking our hard earned tax dollars and sticking it to the consumer again and again while telling us to not use credit and then telling us to spend.

Personally, I think more of these banks should have been collapsed and still do. I think that it could have no worse affect on the economy than things about to come our way.

Shut down certain banks that have shaky legs, delete all of the credit(liability accounts they own) and simply forgive the consumer those debts. I am not an advocate of people not living up to their obligations, but just as these banks have been bailed out, so should the consumer. All consumers should be entitled to the same bailout as the banks that have abused the bailout money.

It’s atrocious how we hear how the average american overuses credit, the government lives off credit and then the banks get rescued off our tax money that should go to education, our soldiers and protecting our nation and taking care of our elderly and children. Then, they can turn around and abuse the consumer, break every usuary law they feel like and Congress looks on.

Sad. I love my country. Our Congress needs to get it’s head out of it’s butt.
Comment by ETay — Mar 10th 2009 @ 1:47 pm
Has anyone else called Fair Issac? They were very polite but did not have any answers to the question of how they are going to set the score when its not our maxing the card but the banks.

They could not even tell me approximately how long it would take from not paying cards till the score would go up again.

I will post a class action law firm that is fighting Chase right now regarding a $10 a month extra so called finance charge which is really an annual fee = $120 a yr on accounts that did a special rate transfer or something.

For people on SSI I am almost positive you can send an award letter requesting the acct be closed paid as agreed if you have not missed any payments nor been late since they can not take your SSI check money for debt. Be sure to get your savings out of the bank though.

will post soon
we need a class action attorney. this is total insanity

My homebuyers loan pre approval was a joke for where I live. My scores now run from 625 Trans Union to 710 Equifax down over 60 points due to Am Exp maxing me out

It back to WE Shall overcome … the banks!!
Comment by Annie — Mar 11th 2009 @ 12:05 am
My credit is great. No payments ever missed, but AMEX closed my account which I just opened a few months before. Oh well, I’ll never go with AMEX again!
Comment by Gavin — Mar 15th 2009 @ 1:21 pm
http://finance.yahoo.com/banki.....t-Spending

well I guess the top reporters are finding what we already know.
I spent 3 days on the phone at least 4 calls a day to Am Exp
my payment was due yesterday and after another cut in limit down to 120 available from over 2000 I asked if they would put off the payment date till Monday so corporate headquarters could respond to my 2 fax letters. NO, I was told midnight is midnight and so . My payment did not get there and for the first time i am late in over 17 years.
We shall see if they reverse the late fee etc. I doubt it.
Note in the article link above w/ Smart Money. None of the credit card comp. had a comment!!!!

congress has been alerted by several of us and more on other sites but they could not care less either.
new laws .. oh wow! lol lol who the hell will care by 2010 .

Maybe this was all in the works when the new bankruptcy laws began.
they are all crooks.
Madoff goes to jail where’s the money? taxpayers pay for him to live in jail. He will have a private room and get pardoned down the line probably.

I hope we all have a great day and stay well!
Comment by annie — Mar 15th 2009 @ 2:46 pm
let me preface my comments by saying that b of a cut my credit limit from 20k to 10k; fortunately, i did not have a balance. i am still waiting for the letter with their explanation as i, like many of you, have stellar credit. i also have a 0% interest rate card with chase with a balance of 9k. i can pay this off if i really want to but at 0%, why woud i? the limit, to date, has not been reduced so kudos to them, so far.

with that being said, there may be some method to the bank’s madness. i think they may be taking advantage of those of us who have the resources and are worried about their credit scores to pay off their balances. in my case, b of a really has no excuse other than i hardly use the card but if chase reduced my limit to the balance i owed, your damn right i would pay it off as the debt to available credit ratio would go through the roof and reduce my fico. they would immediately have an extra 9k to play with and that’s what it’s all about these days. just my two cents…..
Comment by jiminycrickets — Mar 22nd 2009 @ 11:49 am
Been talking to my mom and she has had two Chase cards cut from 15-20k cut down to i think 5k and 10k.
Comment by Ken — Mar 22nd 2009 @ 1:54 pm
I need some info. I have 35,000 dollar debt on one credit card where I’ve put balance transfers on in the past. Is there a credit card that is available that I can use to transfer this balance so I can get a smaller interest rate than what I have now.
Thank you
Comment by J — Mar 22nd 2009 @ 4:49 pm
My Amex card was just reduced from 25K to 15K with less than 24 hours notice! That reduction put me $500 of going over the limit. I don’t know how to treat this account now as I’m afraid if I use ALL my savings to pay them off, that I will have no financial cushion, a reduced credit score (which is 776 right now), and that Visa will do the same.
Comment by Nancy — Mar 23rd 2009 @ 9:43 am
Nancy, people can’t trust the corporations. You and millions of us are twist and confused, we don’t know what to do either. If I pay my cards off my cash cushion is gone and I have helped the very business criminals that put me in this quandary. If I don’t pay them off I help them with the interest I pay out. What happens if you stop paying completely?

Our government has failed to do it’s duty to a watch these scum who have put us/society into this dangerous position. Remember the term deregulation, it’s a euphemism for “no laws for business”. Our representatives were bribed through lobbyist to eliminate laws like “Glass/Steagal Act”. Business criminal’s got rich, representatives filled there coffers. And we are robbed by both.
Comment by Mike — Mar 23rd 2009 @ 10:48 am
AMEX just cut my business lines of credit:

Card #1: $29K to $1K

Card #2: $24K to barely above current balance

Credit score is 794.

How am I supposed to run a business with no credit?

Not only are they trashing my credit score, but they are causing small businesses all around the country to shut down. No wonder the economy sucks.

F you AMEX - you suck.

Where is MY damn bailout.

PS - Sign me up for that AMEX class action suit immediately…
Comment by Joseph — Mar 24th 2009 @ 7:43 pm
Up until this morning I had 2 amex cards with a combined limit of $30k. I was notified the limit on each was reduced to $1K. My credit score is 790, and I have never been late. AMEX is fueling the problem. They will never get my business again.
Comment by m gedrose — Mar 26th 2009 @ 2:18 pm
3/26/09 I just got a call from Capital one today, reducing my credit card balance immediately from $10K to a little over $2K (my balance) . I mean “immediately”, no late payment ever and had this account for 10 years. Reason due to recent drop in credit score AMEX did on my Costco card, reduced from 7K to 1500 (pretty much waht I owed). My credit score drop dramatically due to balance ratio.

As I can see, there is a pattern in all of this. And I’m just afraid it will have a domino effect on everybody.

Just pray hope everything will go back the way they use to be.
Comment by rjdesilver — Mar 27th 2009 @ 2:08 pm
Bank of America Cut Limit from $49k to $35k which was the balance on the card. Amex reduced limit from $31k to $3k which was the balance. I don’t have any deliquent or derogatory accounts and never made a late payments. My score is in the 700s but is dropping very quickly given the decrease in limits. Amex was my #1 card so with the drastic reduction I was not able to use the card. I paid a $3k balance in full each month for a couple years now so somehow Amex figures I’m higher risk. If I was high risk would I be paying a $3k+ bill in full each month?? No! I hope a class action gets started because I’m upset due to the damage on my credit AMEX and BofA has caused.
Comment by Ian — Mar 29th 2009 @ 12:31 am
B of A did the same thing to us. We had credit lines of 10,700.00 and 11,000.00 with $500.00 balance. They reduced our total crdit lines down to $2500.00. What a joke. No notice, nothing. Credit Score has dropped significantly.
Comment by lee — Mar 29th 2009 @ 1:57 am
I have a master card and Amex from Bank of America
my MC limit was reduced to $500 from $8500 (i have no balance on that) and my limit on my amex card was reduced from 8000 to 5200 (i have 5100 in debt),
called BOA , said they would reduce my limit on Amex
even furhter once i have paid my balance .(now i hate BOA). Interestingly, Citi has increased my limit from 9500 to 10,000.

i am just afraid that i would not have much to spend when i am in need ..

Hope BOA goes under..
Comment by Dondeti — Mar 30th 2009 @ 5:08 pm
I requested that my Bank of America AMEX card be increased from $3,000 to $5,000 and in the process not only was it denied but my 2nd Bank of America Platinum Plus credit line was decreased from $15,000 to $5,000.

All the while Citi increased my credit line by $1,500 bringing it up to $8,300.00.

This all happened within about four days, and my credit score which I just pulled my self less than 30 days ago was 755.
Comment by Glenn — Mar 31st 2009 @ 8:18 pm
December 2008:
Juniper – card closed for no activity

February 2009:
First Equity - card closed for no activity (never notified and previously rate jacked on this card in 2008)

March 2009:
WaMu card 1 – I recently paid the balance down to $0; they closed this card
Chase card 1 - I recently paid the balance down to $0; they closed this card
WaMu card 2 – $3K CLD
Chase card 2 - $2.7K CLD

I called BoA to do a small direct deposit on a 0% card and the representative asked me why I wanted to do a direct deposit. Why do I need this money? The rep. made a soft pull on my report and then asked me why I was carrying some debt on my other cards. Then he denied me and dropped the credit limit on both of my BoA card’s; $2K on card 1 and $3K on card 2.

Merrill Lynch - $2K CLD
Citibank - $1K CLD (previously rate jacked on this card in 2008)

My utilization prior to the decreases and card closings was 25-33%. Now my utilization is 90% on these cards.

I went ahead and used the credit I do have available on another card, because I’m sure it’s likely on the way to the chopping block and given this economy, I think it’s better to reserve a little more cash. Use it before you lose it - sigh.

This has been so frustrating. Twice I went to use my credit cards and they were denied. I worked so hard to keep my utilization reasonable and now this. I paid down some of my debt to only have the cards closed and reduced.

Per this article: http://online.wsj.com/article/.....78113.html
“Currently, there is roughly $5 trillion in credit-card lines outstanding in the U.S., and a little more than $800 billion is currently drawn upon. Over $2 trillion of credit-card lines will be cut inside of 2009, and $2.7 trillion by the end of 2010.”
Comment by Melissa — Apr 2nd 2009 @ 10:36 am
Amex got me today and embarassingly so , They reduced my credit limit from just $ 12, 000 to $ 3,700 yesterday , apparently they sent me a letter yesterday- so as usual this morning during my grocery shopping my card was rejected and I had to use my debit card—-there went my reward points. What sucks is that I had chat with a supervisor Karen after a rude discussion/exchange with a Mr Chang or Ching or Chung (I wonder why this guy is in customer service) and she could not help either, instead referring me to a credit bureau who sent in some information about me that I do not know about.- By the way the bureau is closed weekends so no help for me (Note : the customer rep had asked me if I had bought a house or car recently - which I affirmatively replied - NO - I could tell he was fishing). I have used amex for a number of years (both personal and corporate cards) and have stored away my other cards chosing not to activate or spend on them and now this slap on the face. Amex needs to get what’s coming to them and the communication needs to be stern and extremely public. If they are indeed discriminating then this needs to be visible and they can (politically correct ) carve out their “niche” market without making it illegal- My loyalty to these guys is totally eroded and I can’t wait to make sure that they focus their business elsewhere whether thru’ word of mouth or getting media audience…..It’s just not fair that they should go on with business as usual when they are just messing around with people’s finances (people who probably never settle minimum balances but total amounts)

I’m one pissed off customer.

Anyone out there who knows how we can take this to them and stick it there? I will explore some more avenues.
Comment by Martin — Apr 4th 2009 @ 2:50 pm
I SAY A CLASS ACTION AGAINST AMEX and SOON and a NATIONAL BOYCOTT as well

I will not leave this alone.
Comment by Martin — Apr 4th 2009 @ 2:56 pm
You know what I have to say is haven’t yall realize that amex don’t give a shit about yall. Especially those who think it’s theirs to keep remember you are borrowed it’s not your money. all of you who pretends you don’t understand people with accent there are no tru americans living in america. Especially Tamara Hogue who was making fun of people’s acct you can kiss my ass to answer. you are very lucky I could not cussed your ass wanted to speak with manager who speaks english.
Comment by kissmy — Apr 8th 2009 @ 11:34 am
my own line of credit has been reduced and I survive. I will for everyone who’s not knowledgeable enough to respect those who are taking their time to explain what happens. trust me no one wants to sit down for 8hrs a day five days in a row listen to card members who want to vent about line of credit reduction. those of you who are kind enough to understand and respect the individual who’s providing that message to you God bless you all. remember you don’t know people’s heart amex is a big company with maximum protection but that individual have enough info to mess up so bcareful. it’s not an individual fault you’ve been reduced. we are human and we understand we’re simply there to deliver you a message. Just because of our race, religion, etc… or people like me with accent it does not give you a right to disrespect. there’s always a nice ways of going around some you don’t like or unconfortable with. I’m glad that Tamara Hogue the super american can make fun of people’s accent but hey we are all god’s creature. good for you you don’t have an accent. people like you dont affect me because you don’t me
Comment by kissmy — Apr 8th 2009 @ 1:13 pm
A stellar credit history with absolutely no late payments to any creditor and what does AMEX choose to do? Like the rest of you, they clamped our Costco AMEX credit line twice in as many months - now at ~$6k just following a $10k payment! To say I am angry about this would be an understatement. And then a supervisor at AMEX had the gall to lie to me and tell me that some of my accounts were delinquent was an outrage! I ended my conversation with then by canceling my account which, inevitably, will have consequences for Costco as well (as it already has). AMEX is going down and taking Costco with it!!! What is so ironic about this is that at least some of their customers, including myself, are now attending graduate school and, in 3 years, will have the 6-figure incomes they will be seeking to secure as customers. Not this kid. I do not intend to do ANY business with them in the future. There are obviously better credit companies out there to deal with.

Are there any legal actions that can or should be brought to bear against this paranoid, now-deplorable company? Might a class-action of some kind save this company from themselves, and maybe help put Costco back on some sure footing?
Comment by Doug in Utah — Apr 8th 2009 @ 2:03 pm
My credit limit has been reduced twice since January with Care Credit (GE Money). I took they line of credit in order to have Lasik surgery and have been making timely payments ever since. Despite my timely payments, however, they reduced my credit limit back in January when the layoffs reached the all time high and the economy was going haywire. Shortly after that, my wife got laid off from her job. When I asked them why they did this to us, especially since we were being good debtors and making our payments on time, they told us they determined their decision based on a consumer report. I couldn’t believe that they were judging me based on past credit incidents AFTER they approved me for credit and I had already made a solid 2 years of good payment history with them. But they wouldn’t budge, so I gritted and beared it. Just recently (beginnning of April) I was checking my credit report, because we’re trying to get approved to buy the home we’re currently renting, and I saw that they did it again with no warning. They decreased my limit so much this time that I was $900 OVER the limit AND they reported me as deliquent to the credit angencies and slapped a major “ding” on any chances I had of getting qualified to buy my home. If I would had known about this ahead of time, I would have been able to prevent it by paying the acct off with what I had left in my savings, but now I owe an extra $900 to them, plus fees.
Comment by Benjamin Hall — Apr 15th 2009 @ 12:27 pm
Thanks for the info. With all the bad information we get online with crazy credit websites, it is good to read something from someone who knows what they are talking about.
Comment by Credit Card Guru — Apr 16th 2009 @ 10:59 pm
All my AMX cards including platinum have spending limits. Never had a late payment on any AMX cards for the last 15 years. American Express is making bad decisions about how they treat their best customers.
Comment by RNT — Apr 19th 2009 @ 11:20 pm
My credit limit on my fia mastercard was just reduced from 40,000 to 20,000 without a warning. When I called their customer service the rep. explained that the reason for the cut was that I had never approached the old credit limit.
Comment by Chris — Apr 20th 2009 @ 3:53 pm
Earlier this month I got a letter in the mail saying that BoA had reduced my Mastercard (which I’ve had since 2000) from 30k to 15k. Personally it’s not really a big deal for me since I just use credit cards as a firewall between my bank account and internet purchases or automated payments, always pay it off, and never get close to my max. It’s more of the principal of the thing and I am currently debating how to protest this the most without hurting myself too badly. This is still my largest account and my longest opened account (got it in college and started out with a $500 limit they have continually increased). My problem is it does affect my credit score. They also just bought out Country Wide, who has my mortgage. I’m thinking the best recourse is to let the card go inactive and refi with another bank who I can be fairly certain won’t sell my mortgage(which has never been late in the few months I’ve had it) off…

I also believe I’ll pester them as much as possible, mainly just to eat up their time without giving them business…it’s the small things that add up.
Comment by K — Apr 21st 2009 @ 10:31 am
Story on CNN of a guy with 800+ score getting limit reduced.

http://moneyfeatures.blogs.mon.....-enough-2/
Comment by Ken M — Apr 21st 2009 @ 12:01 pm
This is another weird one that just happened to me. I recently paid off the last of my Sallie Mae student loan. They closed the account, paid off, and my credit score dropped by 7 points. It just amazes me that doing the right thing, paying off loans, still dings you.
Comment by michele — Apr 21st 2009 @ 1:57 pm
Michele, This doesn’t surprise me, but it is bizarre. The whole credit thing is a master fraud. It use to be if you closed accounts after paying it off you were considered a good credit risk. They make the rules to suit them as they go, just like the fraudulent stock market. You can’t trust any of them or our government who turns head for a “buck”. The whole country needs to be torn down in anger and in the name of hatred and we need to start all over. Remember the FRENCH REVOLUTION. The rich and government r out of control.
Comment by Mike — Apr 21st 2009 @ 9:48 pm
How is this in keeping with the government’s edict to free up credit to spur the economy on once again? Some of these companies have already received TARP money (i.e., American Express) and/or are in line to receive more. Isn’t the whole idea to spend, spend, spend so as to prevent economic collapse? Haven’t the banks been ordered to free up additional funds for mortgages and mortgage bailouts? Why do these financial institutions feel that they are immune to the “stimulus” edicts and are free to clamp down on credit and, thereby, hinder consumer purchases?

Personally, I believe the “stimulus package” proposed and implemented by the current administration to be a sham and merely the means to breed further reliance on a centralized government. The behavior of the financial institutions is further proof that there is little interest in reviving the economy UNLESS the government can somehow benefit. It is sad to see the increased intrusion into our lives under the guise of doing what is good for the economy and best for the citizens of the USA. And, unfortunately, what we are witnessing from these financial institutions is, I believe, just the beginning. From now on, we can’t depend on the private institutions that we have developed trusted relationships with (by paying on time, etc.), but will be turning to bloated government bureaucrats to bail us out in our time of need. What a shame. God save our country!
Comment by Doug in Utah — Apr 21st 2009 @ 10:28 pm
Seems like this trend may be increasing. Like “K” and some others above, I have a high credit score, I have two cards (Amex & BofA) that I’ve used for a long time, I’ve always paid the balance, and my credit balance has always gone up…
That is until my last statement - BofA went down from $21K to $11K - I called and they raised it to $15K, but if it affects my credit score, then I’ll have to do something.
-CB
Comment by C B — Apr 27th 2009 @ 3:58 pm
citibank has reduced my credit limit from 12K to 500$ for a late payment of 60$ for a month. How ridiculous can they get. first they ruin my credit history and then use the reason to reduce the limit. The worst part is I never used for revolving credit and paid all bills on time for the last 5 years. Unfair practice. Is there any resolution?
Comment by nai — Apr 28th 2009 @ 7:12 am
Today I was checking my online statement for my CC and my available credit was slashed more than 70% without warning. I have never been late. I always pay my statement balance in full and have a credit score in the 700’s. They slashed my credit on the same day as my statement was issued, which made my outstanding balance exceed 50%. No letter, no call, nothing. Luckily i have paid off my statement balance today.

Bottom line you cannot trust these services-it is not just AMEX or large CC companies-my bank is a small local bank-this card was thru my bank, which supposedly has a strong portfolio. Banks and CC companies are cutting their balance sheets and WE will all be screwed as a result.
Comment by Susan — May 4th 2009 @ 7:42 pm
I think the only resolution is the obvious one. Given the watering down of the last “credit card law” congress has shown their true colors, on both sides of the aisles. The Banking industry owns them lock stock and lobby money and there will be no relief save what we can do on our own. How did we get to this point? How did we become so afraid of 4 letters? FICO, is not all powerful.

We seem to forget that we are the customers here. These banks serve us. How long will companies like AMEX, CHase and BofA last if we don’t give them our business. If we don’t use them they will go the way of the dodo and the newspaper.

All of you that are “paying in full” every month, do you really NEED a credit card. More and more, as I am getting out of debt, I am finding that pulling out a debit card is just as easy as pulling out a credit card and much less agravation.
Comment by MICHELE — May 4th 2009 @ 7:54 pm
I’ll tell you how we got this way. Our gov. and corporations are in choots with one another. They have robbed us of our wealth our opportunity, life, liberty, and the pursuit of happens. They have done this by allowing millions of legal, and illegal aliens, to flood into our country dropping our wages, eliminating Americans from getting to good paying construction jobs, computer type jobs, etc, by replacing us with Mexican’s, Indians, Muslim’s. Since we don’t make as much money as we use to we have fewer and fewer kids, and get married less and less. Further more we are being replaced by 3rd world people.

We were given high FICA scores to lull us into a false sense of security. We also need it to make up for our dwindling incomes, and or higher costs.

Laws have been put in place to benefit the financial/banking industry. Yesterday a CA senator clearly stated that the banks have to much power in Washington, so little will get done, they have to many lobbyists he said.

The last time we experience crap like this was just before the American Revolutionary War. It’s time for a new revolution, everybody must talk about it every body must say it. We have talked about the Mexican invasion, Amnesty and other problems since Reagan, and nothing gets done it’s time to stop the talk.
Comment by Mike — May 4th 2009 @ 8:15 pm
Sadly this is one of the most frustrating and ignored problems of the US economy. I find myself dealing with AMEX best new practices! How long the american consumer and customer should remain silent or passive and allow AMEX (and/or all other financial institutions who have a similar approach) to avoid responsibility and accountability! These practices, arbitrary decisions paired to increased lack of competence and manners of customer service is just an indication that the legislation regulating consumer credit protects primarily financial institutions and favors the percentage of people with large bank accounts with limited socio-economic conscience or interest in changing the status quo (unless directly affected). Note to AMEX management and HR - consider investing some money to teach your employees to speak with basic rules of english grammar(or at least screen your hires better) ” She Don’t” is not the correct use of English language! Seriously, it’s quite offensive and insulting to have to listen for more than 32 seconds to a dumb “Mr. or Miss who-who” with a 5th grade education telling you that you are considered a liability and a high risk without any evidence of a bad credit history, a credit score over 750 (likley higher than some of their management and employees), no deliquencies or negative records.

Amex management should really take the time to listen carefully to the recordings of the calls made “for training purposes”. Maybe this could help them to understand to care why an increased number of good customers are taking their business elsewhere. Myself included.

I don’t usually spend time engaging in confrontations or litigations (too much negative energy) but this really the time to do so. These idiots have first seduced customers with high credit limits, realized that in many cases they did not do themselves a favor and decided to play vigilantes. Wake up this is not high-school! They should not have the right to have a direct effect on people credit, without a justified reason; and the legislation should prevent this from happening with specific provisions. AKA in this cases (caused by a preventive punitive action), the increased percentage of used balance should not weigh and drive the review of your credit score. Maybe I am just on glue (to quote Elle Woods!); meanwhile some (bad) press and publicity could really help all of us. The potential of a “swine flu” pandemic is not the only topic we should forced to hear on every single broadcasting channel. Kathy Griffin please help!

P.S. A plea to Ellen, Byonce and Dianne Von Fustermberg - You can do so much better than AMEX; please partner to endorse a business or ad campaign truly worth of your time and talent
Comment by VM — May 5th 2009 @ 3:48 am
i have a big problem sir?my card got into the limit but im not able to pay my monthly bills because of financial problem.recently an agent called me and said that if im not able to pay my due date on May 11,2009 my card will be cancelled so i will force to pay the whole amount.i bothered do i really got into jail sir?but im willing to pay my card but not this moment.
Comment by MARIA — May 12th 2009 @ 2:53 am
Found out yesterday, 18 May, that credit line was decreased by Sear/Citibank. Had a credit line of 10K; it was reduced to 3500 - $200 over balance currently on card. I called and they stated i was a credit risk because of high balances. I’ve had this card 6 yrs and have never been late. Same for all my other cards. I think this is totally wrong. They’ve just hurt my credit score.
Comment by Brian — May 19th 2009 @ 12:08 pm
Chase just lowered my credit limit with the same reasoning as for Brian, credit risk even though I’m in good standing. Well they lowered it to less than what my balance was! I’m on auto pmts and haven’t used the card in months. So I would have kept right on with my auto pmt amount and this month I would have been over the limit (40.00) and late (40:00) in which time my apr would have jumped to 30 %. Luckily I caught it and made an extra pmt to cover the amount that I would have been over limit. I still fully expect them to try and charge an overlimit fee which I will fight to the death about.
Comment by Jim — May 21st 2009 @ 1:44 pm
Ken.Chenault@aexp.com - CEO American Express

Email the CEO personally and complain!! If enought of us do that maybe we will get somewhere.
Comment by Robin — May 22nd 2009 @ 8:57 am
WAKE UP AMERICA. Don’t you see what has happened? The banks got a bail out. They saw all this money coming in and they really REALLY liked it. They liked it so much that they wanted more and more. It’s called GREED. BUT they knew some day they would have to pay it back, so, those no name, blood suckers in empty suits got an idea - Make our customers pay for it. They lower the credit limits thus lowering the credit scores on ALL customers. Now the pay-off; With lower credit scores they can charge higher interest and that gold up front money called POINTS for all refinance and new home loans. So, looking for a solution to this? Try mine.
I have unsecured credit card debt a first mortgage (variable rate) and second on the house the bank seems determined to force into foreclosure, they look good with these variable rate loans off the books. So, if you refinance only the first and second (if you have a second line of credit or whatever - but pay off ALL secured debt). After you close on the new fixed rate loan, IGNORE the credit card (unsecured) debt. In fact now is the time to top out those cards. STOP paying on them wait for them to go into collection and now you have options. ONE you can file bankruptcy, best solution. Or, TWO, find a legal firm that specializes in debt negotiation, the good ones can get the debt lowered to 10%. If you take the second choice and have enough equity, apply for a line of credit or second mtg. and pay off the 10% of the credit card debt. Of course realize that both options assume that you plan to stay in the house for a long long time because your credit rating will now be BAD. And oh yes, you will have to do without credit cards for a year or two (and is that so bad). Yet think of the pleasure you will have knowing that you stuck it to the banks just when they thought they were sticking it to you.
If every home owner did this before year end 2009, the banks would have to do an about face. They make a lot of money on credit cards and if they were to lose even 50% of this business I am sure they would be once again be offering those 0% rates to try to suck us all in again. But now we know better. Yes, my friend, this is a war. It is a war between us and the corporate greed that is out of control in this country and the FAT PIGS called bankers.
Comment by Richard.CA — May 22nd 2009 @ 10:55 am
My Sears Gold MasterCard Credit line was reduced today from 4,500$ to 3,500$ just above what my balance is. Never missed a payment. Interest is very high though. I will pay off the balance and never shop at another Sears store again. I do not forget an injustice and I hope others will also boycott stores that do this. I will drink champagne if or when Sears goes bankrupt.
Comment by howard — May 22nd 2009 @ 6:53 pm
I just discovered Bank of America reduced my credit limit. Thank god I pay my bills online before they even come to me. My bill came today and the amount I owed showed $902.00 and they reduced my line to $900. I had paid the bill prior so by bill was down to $852.00. The bottom line if I didn’t pay my bills promptly I would have overcharge fees. Not only that the bill I received in the mail showed my higher credit limit line. I went on line to check and sure enough it showed a credit limit of $900. This is really making it harder on everyone. Now I am terrified this will happen on all my cards. No warning. Nothing!! The banks received all this free money and now they want more and more causing us into worse financial problems. This is very frightening. What happens if you have an emergency and try to use your card and then no money. I was paying mine down in case I had a major emergency. Bank of America is the worse.
Comment by Helaine — May 29th 2009 @ 7:12 pm
I had a few credit increases over the last year and thought I was pretty safe; even with my Chase cards all changing to variable rates. However two weeks before the last few grand was due for my wedding I get a notice from Chase that they are closing my line of credit and valuing my home about 100,000 less than two years ago. That sucked. I have all my investment and debt with Chase and I will be running fast from them as soon as my husband and I get a few months recovered from the wedding expenses.
Comment by bwry28 — Jun 11th 2009 @ 10:48 pm
I have seen my business cards dropped starting with AMEX last fall and ending with BofA and Citi this month. Chase also increased the interested rate to 31% because of what they tell me is a 1 day late payment (first time in 9 years). Banks don’t want small business customers any more.

I have news for these guys. My kids hear my wife and I talking about this stuff and will remember how these big banks were trying to screw over the family.

Much Like I remember the crap that GM and Ford put out leaving me and my mother broken down on the side of the road many times. To me their cars are still crap and I will never buy one.

My dad on the other hand still buys his chevy because he remembers the cars of the 50’s and early 60’s when he was a kid.

I am not in all that bad of shape, however if things get worse I would not think twice about defaulting on my credit cards and running them up to the limit before I did so.

The banks are greedy crooks and will get what they deserve in the end.
Comment by Chris Jones — Jun 25th 2009 @ 11:41 pm

Reduced Credit Limits? Share Your Experience

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