Sainsburys increasing credit limit

skywatcher

I have a Sainsburys credit card which I am using for all my purchases (0% until Aug) and they gave me a credit limit of £3400 which was fine. Just got my statement through and noticed that my credit limit has been increased to £4100.
Is this usual ?
It's my first credit card so I'm not sure what is usual or not.

magentadreamer

It's very usual for the majority of cards. I find if I do a big spend on my Sainsburys card even tho' I pay it off in full my limit goes up!

hope_strong

Hi everyone

My cards did this to me - annoyingly, I rang them a while back to ask for an increase (before moneysaving began!) and they refused. 2 months later the new limit appeared, unasked, on the card.

I assume it's a sign that you've now proved yourself creditworthy - or maybe, in their eyes, hopefully debtworthy.

-Hope

Bokken_2

It is all well and good as long as you set up a direct debit to make sure the outstanding balance is paid in full before the end of the 0% in August otherwise you fall into their trap and you will start paying interest.
The only way around paying interest then is to transfer the debt to a new card with 0% for balance Transfers.
In a nutshell only spend on it what you can pay off before August.

exel1966

skywatcher wrote:

I have a Sainsburys credit card which I am using for all my purchases (0% until Aug) and they gave me a credit limit of £3400 which was fine. Just got my statement through and noticed that my credit limit has been increased to £4100.
Is this usual ?
It's my first credit card so I'm not sure what is usual or not.

I think you'll find that most cards will do this automatically if you've operated your account responsibly for a while. By that I mean, regular on-time payments. You could also be nearing your current limit suggesting to them that a small increase would help you to spend a little more money with them and potentially increase your worth to them by getting more interest out of you, assuming you don't pay your balance off in full each month after August that is.
Generally credit limits are reviewed periodically, which could be depending on the organisation, anything between every 6-12 months.
You always have the option of declining the increase if you so wish.

There is possibly a more sinister reason for the increase as Bokken suggested so be disciplined in how you handle it.

skywatcher

Thanks for all your comments.
I am putting the money I usually spend into a savings account so when August comes I should have enough to pay off the whole lot (and earned some interest for me) or I might even do a balance transfer to a new card at 0%. Whatever I decide, I definately don't have any plans to pay them any interest.
Not exactly in the big stoozing league I know, but every little helps..........

Sky