Mint gave me £400 credit limit!!!!

Chumana

I have just received my new Mint card today (0% BT & Purchases until March '07) and they've offered me a paltry £400 credit limit!!!!! What on earth am I supposed to do with that? I spend more than that a month!!!! :mad:

I feel utterly insulted and gobsmacked as I was hoping/expecting for a limit of at least £4000 so I could use half for a BT to clear a card coming to the end of a 0% period, and do a slow stooze on purchases with the remainder of it.

Clearing the other card isn't a problem as I was using it as a slow stooze purchase card anyway so have the money to pay it off, but now I'm left without an effective 0% card for purchases :mad:

I have a decent income and only have around £8k credit available to me spread over 4 cards, two of which have a zero balance and the other two have £2k debts on each (both 0% stooze cards) so it's not like I'm maxed out on my cards or have a high level of credit available to me. I just don't understand why they've done this

Has anyone else had a similar experience with Mint, and/or had their limit substantially increased if requested?

crazyfj

I called to cancel and they raised my limit by £500. (i also got a low limit)

However it was still to low for me to balance transfer so I cancelled.

When I called I also got the option to send bank statements and credit card statements.
fj

ps just to add, i was informed its because I have a high avl credit on another cards.

Robert_Sterling

Chumana wrote:

I feel utterly insulted and gobsmacked as I was hoping/expecting for a limit of at least £4000 so I could use half for a BT to clear a card coming to the end of a 0% period, and do a slow stooze on purchases with the remainder of it.
I have a decent income and only have around £8k credit available to me spread over 4 cards, two of which have a zero balance and the other two have £2k debts on each (both 0% stooze cards) so it's not like I'm maxed out on my cards or have a high level of credit available to me. I just don't understand why they've done this

OK. So you are making a profit on your credit cards of about £160 per annum after tax. You are utterly insulted and gobsmacked because another credit card company will not enable you to increase this annual profit by more than another £20 per annum. I, a stoozer myself, am grateful that so many credit card companies have allowed, to misquote Winston Churchill, so many stoozers to make so much profit for so long.

hilary1

crazyfj wrote:

I called to cancel and they raised my limit by £500. (i also got a low limit)

However it was still to low for me to balance transfer so I cancelled.

When I called I also got the option to send bank statements and credit card statements.
fj

ps just to add, i was informed its because I have a high avl credit on another cards.

I think that is right. I mistakenly thought that because I had high credit limits on other cards I was a safe bet. But actually other cards are reluctant to allow you more debt to get into. It really messes up teh stoozing option and BTs.

kuohu

Yes I believe that closing your 2 cards with zero balance would have reduced your available credit and hence prompted a better credit limit on the new card.

Chumana

kuohu wrote:

Yes I believe that closing your 2 cards with zero balance would have reduced your available credit and hence prompted a better credit limit on the new card.

Well, one has since been closed (Barclaycard) partly due to discovering it had recently been used fraudulently for an online gambling site, but also because that was my "starter" card that I used to build up a decent credit rating a few years ago and no longer have any use for it.

This card has a £950 limit but would have shown as still available credit when Mint searched my credit files, so maybe they will reconsider my limit if I tell them that it's now closed. The other zero balance card is Egg Money which I wish to retain for the cashback feature and also as a potential mule card.

My current cards are:

Barclaycard - £950 limit - zero balance (now closed)
Egg Money - £2k limit - zero balance
Egg Green - £2,200 limit - £1950 balance (stoozed)
Lloyds - £4k limit - £1980 balance - 0% ends July

Robert_Sterling wrote:

OK. So you are making a profit on your credit cards of about £160 per annum after tax. You are utterly insulted and gobsmacked because another credit card company will not enable you to increase this annual profit by more than another £20 per annum. I, a stoozer myself, am grateful that so many credit card companies have allowed, to misquote Winston Churchill, so many stoozers to make so much profit for so long.

Oh dear, I do sound like an ungrateful so-and-so, don't I

I guess looking at it like that, then yes I can see that Mint might have realised they won't make a penny out of me, hence the low limit, but then I've only just started the stoozing game, unlike many others, having only discovered this site relatively recently and learnt that I can actually make money from them!

However, I still fail to understand why the limit was set so low, especially considering my first ever card (Barclaycard) had a £950 limit and since then Lloyds gave me £4k limit in November last year and both Egg cards gave around £2k in April/May this year.

My income is £30k+ and I don't have any loans or an overdraft, always pay my bills on time and have all 000000's on my credit files, and only have a small mortgage (£45k) on my home which is worth 3 times that, so yeah I do regard the £400 limit a bit of an insult

I'll give them a call on Monday and see if they can't increase it to a decent level, even if it means supplying bank/credit card statements, otherwise I guess I'll just have to wait a few months and try for a different card for 0% purchases. I daren't try again now as that's 3 cards I've now received in the space of 2 months which I think is pushing it somewhat!

Just a thought, but would it be worth me asking for a reduction on my limit with Lloyds when the 0% period ends as I wouldn't need or use a £4k limit with them, unless they were to offer a similar 0% deal again?

kuohu

Okay in light of these new figures, yes the £400 limit does seem rather paltry. Let us know how you get on next week. Good luck.

---lee---

Why not also reduce your Egg Money limit? If your just using it as a mule card, it does not matter what the limit is on it, so the lower the better. You can do it online by requesting a change in limit. I reduced mine recently for the same reasons.

There's no harm in sending your bank statements. That way, they can confirm your income and will be more inclined to give you more dosh.

Even with a low limit, I would still keep the card - after all, it's cost you a credit search so you may as well keep it.

Chumana

---lee--- wrote:

Why not also reduce your Egg Money limit? If your just using it as a mule card, it does not matter what the limit is on it, so the lower the better. You can do it online by requesting a change in limit. I reduced mine recently for the same reasons.

Great suggestion and don't know why I didn't think of that before! I have just reduced it to £800 using the online facility, which was accepted immediately, but obviously that will take some time to show up on Experian but then I don't intend applying for another card for several months now.

There's no harm in sending your bank statements. That way, they can confirm your income and will be more inclined to give you more dosh.

Even with a low limit, I would still keep the card - after all, it's cost you a credit search so you may as well keep it.

I will be keeping it no matter what as it offers a bonus 0% BT next May, which might come in handy if I have a reasonable limit by then

I called them this morning and they said the reason it had been set so low is because they could see from Experian that I had several credit accounts available to me but that they didn't think I was "using them effectively" due to the zero balances on some!

They've agreed to look at increasing my credit limit if I send in 3mths of bank statements to confirm my income and look at my "spending habits" (they won't see much there as all my spending goes on credit cards lol) with a covering letter mentioning that I have since closed an account and reduced the limit on another as they're aware it can take up to 4mths to show up on Experian.

I'm wondering, however, just how much exactly do I tell them as I don't want to make it too obvious that I'm a rate tart/stoozer in case that affects how much they will offer me. For example, do I tell them that I will be paying the balance on my Lloyds card next month when the 0% ends and then either closing or substantially reducing the limit on that, as it's currently the highest one I've got at £4000, or should I keep that to myself?

Or should I just wait to see what they offer me and maybe request another increase later in the year once my other cards are settled and show up on Experian?

Also, should I state the limit I would like or just let them decide for me?

TIA

Paul_Herring

Chumana wrote:

I will be keeping it no matter what as it offers a bonus 0% BT next May

Would this be Egg Card (as opposed to Egg Money) where the 0% BT comes with an uncapped 2% charge, which they treat as a spend and charge you interest on it? (As discussed in http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=214466) I'll be ditching mine (and keep Egg Money) once I've paid off my current stooz on it.

sicker

Chumana remember that by next May you will be charged a 2% (or is it 2.5%) fee for a balance transfer so in my case I don't think it will be worth the hassle. I shall be keeping the card but wondering why.

John