Barclaycard reduced my credit limit by 93% - has this happenned to anyone else?

Paulgonnabedebtfree

Paulgonnabedebtfree wrote: »

Basically they can do what they like so long as it doesn't conflict with their T & Cs or with any external rules imposed upon them. They can decide not to do business with you as you can decide not to do business with them.
I do agree that the CC companies are often handling it badly though. It was only by luck that I didn't get stranded in Spain when Goldfish (BEFORE Barclaycard took them over) reduced my limit from about 5 grand to £500 some time back. It caught me out at the time as up to then, companies only did such a thing if the account was misused. I got lucky. I had another card with me. Of course, now that I know this sort of thing is happening a lot, I would make other plans. But at the time this was a very unusual thing to happen.

Quite frankly, I think the way (not all but most) CC companies do business is a load of b0llocks. I had an account closed yesterday because I haven't used it for a long time (zero balance) and I've had another closed because I DID use it (within the T & Cs). Wish the bunch of !!!!!! would make up their minds.

NickX

willstewart wrote: »

So why does that make people who pay a bad risk? They make far, far less out of people who balance transfer over the same period.

I understand precisely what you are saying and on paper the 0% deal is a loss-making exercise for the Card Provider. But it is really a marketing exercise to draw customers in.

Sure, over the promotional period, a customer on the standard variable rate is going to earn a profit whereas the customer on a promotional rate is going to incur a loss. But, promotional periods are short in the grand scheme of things and a large proportion that are sucked in by the 0% promotion will not settle the balance before the promotion expires and will end up paying the Card Providers much more in interest in the longer term than the promotion cost. Believe me, if they didn't make enough money from customers through these promotions they would have died out years ago. The fact they are still with us goes to show that they are a successful marketing strategy for the Card Providers to secure new business

Regshoe

Interesting to see how the bank's attitudes have been forced to change. I remember I took out a Natwest CC when I was 18 and as I was only working a few hours part time (in 6th form at the time) the limit was something like 50% of my annual wages at something like £1500.

I then went off to University and for the first two years earned nothing at all. During this time they upped my limit bit by bit up to over £5k, despite me never asking for an increase! As it happens their rather optomistic faith in me was well placed as I've never missed/been late with a payment, but still - a strange way of doing business.