Barclaycard - reduced credit limit

chattychappy

No the links are rather tenuous - but by sharing the data via credit reference agencies you get concerted decision making. If I pay off just the minimum when I'm on a BT deal, how is that "bad" from a credit risk point of view? But I can see this data might be useful from a marketing point of view.

That's the problem, even if you think it's a necessary evil to have this data shared for credit risk assessment, how can we be certain that the data is only used for risk analysis?

As for questions about salary, capital etc... they may ask the questions, but they don't check anything if your rating looks OK. It's years since a CC company asked me to PROVE the income I've stated. It was this kind of decision making that has caused problems in the past. And I've never been asked about my savings or capital assets.

Extant

chattychappy wrote: »

If I pay off just the minimum when I'm on a BT deal, how is that "bad" from a credit risk point of view?

In conventional thinking, paying the minimum off each month extends the life of your debt. A longer debt is more prone to risk of default, as (in simple terms) there's going to be more ups and downs in a person's life during that time.

On top of that, it may also appear to indicate financial difficulty (why are you paying less if you can afford more?), but not all lenders would assume that.

Also, bear in mind that other lenders aren't likely to know whether you're using a balance transfer in that manner, so they'll have to take it on face value.