switching cards - limits??

jamescredmond

hi y'all
toying with the idea of stoozing to use cash build-up for short break/charity donation and applied for 0% card.
current card has a limit of £16500 and asked new provider to match it.
the answer was 'no', which I found a bit harsh as I'm in the habit of paying balance off at end of month, never exceeded limit and offered to provide statements for past 2 years.
offered £5000 limit as max. which won't serve ulterior purpose.
is this a 'normal limit for a new customer or is provider been studying this forum with care?

kingkano

nobody can really answer this question 100%. each provider judges your circumstances etc etc blah blah. if your current card is virgin for example, they are known to be extremely generous with limits (I have over 100% of my salary just with them for example).

Also, assuming you still have the 'current card' - any new card's limit will be affected by this. Other providers will see your current card as available credit, of which they usually limit you to a certain amount (perhaps 75% or 100% of your salary, it soooo varies).

To get 16.5k off the bet youd have to be pretty lucky I think. have quite a hefty salary and immaculate credit history. Have you tried asking the current provider for a deal? I asked virgin and they gave me a 0% for 9mths deal...

jamescredmond

still hold current card but made a point of telling new provider that I would close my prev. card account and provide evidence of such. the present provider is mbna. see they offer 0% on at least one of their products so might be worth a haggle.
many thanx for the advice.

PoorDave

Also, if you always pay in full each month, what's in it for the card company?!

No interest.

Despite having 5 stoozing cards, i have still never got a higher limit on them than my Natwest card which i had in the old days before MSE

Wyndham

jamescredmond wrote:

still hold current card but made a point of telling new provider that I would close my prev. card account and provide evidence of such. the present provider is mbna. see they offer 0% on at least one of their products so might be worth a haggle.
many thanx for the advice.

Unfortunately, even if you are genuine about your intentions to close the card, they have to judge on your current situation i.e. with the card still in place. I don't think they can make it a condition of you having the card that you will close the other one (for many reasons!).

And, there will also be people who say they will close it then don't....

humfer

jamescredmond wrote:

hi y'all
toying with the idea of stoozing to use cash build-up for short break/charity donation and applied for 0% card.
current card has a limit of £16500 and asked new provider to match it.
the answer was 'no', which I found a bit harsh as I'm in the habit of paying balance off at end of month, never exceeded limit and offered to provide statements for past 2 years.
offered £5000 limit as max. which won't serve ulterior purpose.
is this a 'normal limit for a new customer or is provider been studying this forum with care?

£16,500 is a huge credit limit so not surprised the new company refused to match it. Take it it took a few years to get up to that level?

jamescredmond

humfer wrote:

£16,500 is a huge credit limit so not surprised the new company refused to match it. Take it it took a few years to get up to that level?

correct. it took 4 years. still new to stoozing so a little confused about the no. of cards it's possible to have at any one time. do or can each cc company run checks to prevent customers from loading up? I see one post carries 5.

excuse my niavety on this one but I've only ever carried 2 - one for travel and one for back-up.

YorkshireBoy

jamescredmond wrote:

do or can each cc company run checks to prevent customers from loading up? I see one post carries 5.

When a provider credit searches you, they can 'see' (amongst other things)...

The number of active credit accounts
The total 'available' credit (the sum of all your limits)
The total 'used' credit

All the above will affect the credit a new lender will be willing to extend to you.

Personally, I have 5 stoozing 0% BT cards (plus Egg Money) which together give me an available credit of 210% of my salary. The highest 'used' credit I've had was 185% of salary.

It's fair to say though, that I've exploited several lucky breaks along the way to get where I am now. These days, many new lenders will refuse credit where you have around 100% of salary as available/used credit.