Chase Increased My Credit Limits
by Mr Credit CardJust today, I got a letter from Chase. I opened it and was fearing the worst that they may reduce my credit lines and limits. We have heard in the press and lots of comments on this blog that credit lines have been cut for even people who have paid their bills in full and have good credit scores.
When I finally looked at the letter, it was actually them sending me my new cards which extended the expiration date! Phew! I also noticed that they increased my credit limit by $1,000. Wow! That’s a surprise. But I there is a more interesting story to this prior to me getting this letter. Back in December, Mrs Credit Card decided to buy an electronic (or digital whatever you call it) piano. It was offered at 50% off. Mrs Credit Card managed to bargain it down to $3,700. But the store only took Visa. So we decided to use our Chase credit card (I have the the Flexible Rewards card which is no longer offered – in name at least). But it did not accept the charge because it was over my credit limit! Previously, my credit line was a measely $4,500. I automatically charge some memberships I have to the card and use it as my spare card in case places do not accept American Express Cards. I was over the limit by only $70.
The customer rep told me that the transaction was rejected because it was an unusual one (and not because it was over the limit – which I’m sure they would have happily charged the me the over the limit fee). He said we would always apply for a credit line increase. But there would be a soft pull on my credit reports. I decided against it for “fear” (real or unfounded) that Chase might just use any excuse to cut my credit lines. I decided to charge it to my Merrill Lynch card instead. The main reason why I preferred my Chase to the Merrill Lynch card is because my payment to Chase is automatically deducted from my bank account. Merill Lynch (administered by FIA services) does not have this service! But I had no choice but to charge it to them.
What did I do to Get the Credit Increase?
I don’t know. But here is a background of the cards that I have and the credit limits.
1. American Express Platinum Charge Card – no preset limit
2. Blue Cash – $15,000 – raised from $10,000 last year!
3. Merrill Lynch – $14,000
4. Chase – $5,500 (from $4,500).
I have always paid my bills in full. I use very little of my Chase and Merill Lynch cards – maybe a couple of hundred dollars here and there. I mainly use the Blue Cash and the Platinum Card.
My credit score (since I last checked last August) is 793.
I did pay my bills late in September and October on my Merrill Lynch last month because they told me I could be set up on automatic bill pay. I sent in the forms – but it turns out that they had scrapped that service or it was never there. So while I thought my bills were automatically paid, I was actually late. I got my late fees and finance charged removed, but they had already reported to the credit bureaus my late payment. After some investigation, they agreed that I was misinformed and that they would correct my credit reports.
So that’s it. Got my credit increase. Hope all stays in the same with the rest of the cards. I do realize that many folks have got credit lines pulled. But to cheer things up, has anybody gotten any credit increases? Please share your stories and gives us a background on your credit card habits, scores etc so we can all learn.
January 16th, 2009 at 16:30
I could SCREAM at Chase credit cards! I received a generic phone message saying there was a change in terms. So I called. My credit score is around 780. For 12 years Ive enjoyed a fixed 2.9% on my transferred balance and have been paying more than the minimum. Never a late payment, nor a missed payment. My minimum payment was $240 mo. NOW, they claim they can ‘change the terms for any reason at any time’ and are increasing the minimum to 5%, in my case now $576 month! PLUS adding a $10 ’service fee” monthly. I told them when I opened my acct they didnt have that practice of ‘changing terms whenever…” and it was illegal on my acct. They claim they sent a notice they were doing it however they have absolutely no proof..no certified mail receipt-nothing! they said if I dont like it I could agree to change my fixed 2.9% APR to 7.9% for 2 yrs then 14.99% after that. Or I could close the acct and PAY IN FULL IN 30 DAYS!. I told them i had the right not to agree to their new terms and close my acct with the old terms until paid off. They claim they sent a notice (again) they took that option away. Again they have NO proof of sending any such notice and I do look at all inserts with my statements and NEVER saw such changes! They also siad it was a ‘corporate’ decision and I could not talk to a supervisor. I asked what their ‘reason’ was and they said it was market changes and my low fixed APR. It was nothing I did wrong.
I feel CHASE is working against our country, and our president’s efforts, to fix our economy because now I cant pay! This is an additional $338 monthly…where am I supposed to get that??? We are a family of 4, with a baby on the way in 2 months, hubby works 2 part time jobs (trying to get full time but no one is hiring), we are on public assistance…food stamps, medicaid, SSI……..this is surely putting us into foreclosure and bankruptcy!
I written to Gov Charlie Crist, Congressman Rooney, and Federal Trade Commission but have gotten nowhere.
January 20th, 2009 at 06:18
Glad to find your comments Melissa. Many of us have gone to deep in credit, but maintain to keep prudent on payments. And now after all the mess in the financial sector faithful borrowers are being punished. It has motivated me to act also… I’ve contacted State Reps recently… no word. My companies I do business with… electronically engineered responses. It is unjust.
I have some ideas but we need enough people to form a voice that will be heard.
Any interested please contact me by email at: zachary1334@hotmail.com
Lets make something happen and help America get out of debt.
-Zachary J
January 24th, 2009 at 21:45
I just saw a comment posted on 1/20 regarding the change at Chase. We have 4 such cards at Chase with 2 having rates of 2.99 and the other 2 having rates of 3.99 (all four started 4 or so years ago as a result of “teaser” rates). We have never missed a payment and have a total balance of approx $40,000. We know this is a big debt but we called it “good” credit card debt because the average percentage was only about 3.5 APR. We also received a statement on one of the cards that has a balance of about 12K informing us that our minimum monthly payment went from about $250 per month to $600 and included was the $10 a month fee. If Chase does the same thing with all 4 of our cards, our monthly payments will go from about $800 per month to $2000 per month. Likewise we were told we were informed of this (we weren’t). We also paid the balance transfer fees of up to $90 per card years ago when we switched money over to these “fixed rates for the life of the loan”. We have always wondered if they would ever do this to us, and apparently they now have. Of course we can abandon our 2.99 and 3.99 rates to go back to the monthly minimum of 2% and also to eliminate the $120 per year fee for the card. I checked and it appears that Chase got $25,000,000,000 from the TARP. I assume this is how they are spending it – researching ways to bankrupt people.
February 2nd, 2009 at 07:15
Yes 25 billion so far. No strings attached. The govt is trying to get the secured loans back on track… mortgages. So for unsecured debt holders we are sorry souls at the moment it seems. Contact your attorney general in your state to file a complaint if you can. Or lets begin a credit union where we can hold out on payments until APR’s are fixed and lowered with no strings attached.
Or… BK them after buying a trip around the world and book five star all the way. Buy some nice stuff along the way and then file… highly recommended if you don’t feel guilty about paying borrowed money back and are not worried about credit score.
February 4th, 2009 at 01:30
Hi.
There is a law office that already filed a class action. Here is the Web address http://www.gslawny.com. The $10.00 fee changes the interest rate and in doing so, the terms of the loan, read the document and fills out your information. Take action against Chase.
I am one of the many affected. There is an other forum going http://www.creditaddict.com/archives/chase-increases-credit-card-rates-and-adds-new-fees/
February 24th, 2009 at 08:17
Nice Juan,
I will check it out.