CC Limits?

shaneshaneshane

Hi MSE

Tough to answer I know, but using the soft search tool, pretty much every 0% purchase cc is coming up with a 80 or 90% chance of acceptance for myself so should be ok on that side of things. (Basically, a perfect credit rating, mortgages, contract phones, 1 loan previously which has been paid off circa 2 years ago, utilities etc, never missed a payment, ever.)

My question is, as I have never owned a credit card, what sort of limits can I expect once accepted? I am going to be purchasing a lot of new goods very shortly and although I have the cash in the bank I feel that I may as well stooze this cash in the selection of well paying current accounts (lloyds club/tsb etc etc) .. would the limits be nearer the 1-2k mark or could I expect more of a 6/7/8k sort of limit on the 0% cc cards?

Thanks

InsideInsurance

For a start you havent said what your income is nor your mortgage

From what you are saying you may not have a perfect credit rating at all due to the lack of history. Banks like to see that others trust you and you prove yourself capable of dealing with revolving budget debt which you dont mention any of and the only current bank debt you mention is a mortgage.

Even with the above details its still very much a roll of the dice. I churn cards frequently, more for their intro bonus than 0%, and normally get limits of ~£8,000 on new cards but Nationwide gave me £3,500 despite having £9k in three current accounts at the time with them and MBNA always decline me

shaneshaneshane

I see, noted.

So pretty much it is a lottery as to who accepts, what you get etc.

Would limits be likely to rise after a couple of months if I spent/ paid off in full (Even though it's 0%) in an attempt to raise the limit or would that be a fruitless task?

Sorry for the questions, complete CC newbie here!

InsideInsurance

shaneshaneshane wrote: »

I see, noted.

So pretty much it is a lottery as to who accepts, what you get etc.

Would limits be likely to rise after a couple of months if I spent/ paid off in full (Even though it's 0%) in an attempt to raise the limit or would that be a fruitless task?

Sorry for the questions, complete CC newbie here!

To the outsider it is a lottery. In reality each lender has a formula for each product/ product family but these are fairly closely guarded commercial secrets and so few outside of the lender will really know exactly what they are.

You can try and draw conclusions from circumstantial evidence but its a bit wet finger in the air. I believe AmEx dont like seeing rolling balances if you want one of their charge cards even if they are on 0% APR as the only thing that changed for me between an acceptance and a decline was the fact I paid off £10k of 0% debt but the cards were left open so it wasnt an affordability thing. I've never worked out why MBNA always decline me.


Asking for a limit increase is always possible but not always successful. Most would suggest you wait 6 months before asking but if you bank with the company or can actually get to speak to someone who isnt robotic then theres a bit of a chance of an earlier decision or being able to get an underwriter review

shaneshaneshane

Ok, thank you for that, interesting reading.

Sanne

I got a limit of £4k on my first ever card with a very limited credit history (basically only an overdraft I had never used but no contract phones, no other cards, no loans etc.). Back then I had a pretty low income (< £20k), too, so was very surprised as I was expecting under £1k.
This was with my bank though and I had approx. £5k in savings with them so may have made the difference.

My second card gave me a limit of £3.2k, still on a relatively low income.

Now, three years later, I've got an income nearly twice as high and a good credit history and just applied for a new card to use the 0% purchase period (both of the others have £0 balances) and only got a limit of £2k. Obviously I got much more credit available to me now but on an income of nearly £40k I would have expected a bit higher limit. Though I'm fine with it as I only want to buy my annual season ticket on that card.

So yes, it is a finger in the air and not really predictable...

bengal-stripe

Sanne wrote: »

I got a limit of £4k on my first ever card with a very limited credit history......

How long ago was that?

Before the 2008 financial crises, credit was easier to come-by and limits were higher.

enginesuck

I haven't had a credit card for years, apart from my corporate card. (Which isn't linked to my personal credit file) I was surprised Tesco issued me with a limit of just under 10k last week.

Ebe_Scrooge

It's a complete lottery - though I suspect it may have something to do with who the overall provider is ( many cards are issued by Bank A under a dozen different brands ). As an example, the bank that I hold my current account with recently offered me a 0% purchase card, I thought "why not", was given a £15K limit straight off. A different provider last year ( same income / credit history ) gave me a £2500 limit - despite having years of history with them with their other brands of card. Mind you, I always pay the cards off in full every month, so they're making nothing from me - maybe that's the reason !

shaneshaneshane

Thanks for the information guys

Sanne

bengal-stripe wrote: »

How long ago was that?

Before the 2008 financial crises, credit was easier to come-by and limits were higher.

2011 (I only moved to the UK in 2008 and figured that I could try for a credit card once I had been here for three years).