How much is your highest limit on your credit cards?

planteria

£50k is very unusual.. you won't be getting multiples of that as credit limits on credit cards.
i have 3: 9100 Amex, 32500 MBNA, 37500 Barclays.

0808ZE24N1O2D8W

planeteria: £37k on a single card? That's really good! May I know how did you get that? Was it your initial limit or it has been increased multiple times? Which Barclaycard do you have? Which MBNA card do you have with £32,500?

planteria

yes, single cards.
Barclaycard Freedom Rewards.
MBNA Platinum.
but with both i have been a cardholder for several years and have merged limits from two cards at times.

redux

In the old days you could get balance transfers free, and on some cards if you did this just after the statement date, then paid in full by the due date on the following statement, there was no interest or fee.

So swapping a thousand or two around between 2 or 3 cards every month meant they increased the credit limit every 6 months.

Not much point in all that now really, as there are balance transfer offers intended to last 6 months to 2 or 3 years at zero or low interest.

I can't see the point of those very high limit cards you mention, and especially not a couple of thousand a year fee. If you've got that much money you don't need credit anyway, so just use a debit card or bank transfer for your next Lamborghini.

bigadaj

The point is to be seen with the card.

bearcat16

There are American Express credit cards that have no limit at all. I used to think that in theory you could buy a house or a boat with them!

In reality you probably couldn't because they have to authorise every transaction individually and I'm sure that there is an actual limit to what they will authorise for each person.

For me personally, my highest card limit is £13,750 (Nationwide Select). I got it on a balance transfer 0% thing 4 years ago. It started out at £3,500 and I just requested increases every 6 months. (The reason I did this is because %used of available credit is a factor in calculating credit score. So an easy way to lower this % is to increase your credit limits)

It probably helps that my current and savings accounts are also with Nationwide, though curiously they will only give me a £500 overdraft.

This card has zero balance now, all paid off when the 0% ended, but I still use it to pay for £2-3 in asda now and then just to keep it active.

I've done the same with other cards, I have a BA American Express that I use as my main credit card (great airmiles rewards) that has £9,000 limit which started as £3,000 2 years ago. I also have a Lloyds Mastercard that started with a rubbishy £1,500 5 years ago and is now £6,000.

I just 'stoozed' a new virgin money credit card (37 months interest free) and they set my limit at £7,000.

I think credit limits are usually a function of your credit score and your past history with that particular lender. But even a good credit score won't guarantee a sky-high limit. (My current experian score is 975 out of 999 and I still only got £7k limit with virgin)

I'm pretty amazed to hear of credit limits above £20k in the UK.

Nick_C

Credit limits vary enormously. I retired 3 years ago, but since then I've taken out 3 new cards. Credit limits vary between £3000 and £7500 on the new cards. I've got 6 cards with a total limit of £38,200, max is £9,800 with Halifax.

I don't expect to be offered high credit limits as I'm a tart. I've had 17 different cards in the last 10 years. Highest limit I ever had was £15,700 with MBNA.

TestZed

redux wrote: »

I can't see the point of those very high limit cards you mention, and especially not a couple of thousand a year fee. If you've got that much money you don't need credit anyway, so just use a debit card or bank transfer for your next Lamborghini.

Rich people want points and miles as much as anyone on here.

Really rich people just get their butler or secretary to handle the payments.

planteria

interesting re. the old days redux. on another forum we used to discuss 'seesawing' between a pair of cards. a Liverpool Victoria and Cahoot Visa card did me proud for years..i kept £10k afloat:D

redux wrote: »

I can't see the point of those very high limit cards you mention, and especially not a couple of thousand a year fee. If you've got that much money you don't need credit anyway, so just use a debit card or bank transfer for your next Lamborghini.

...as per the above, the high limits enable serious stoozing to be done. in Jan i need to pay my Barclaycard 0% BT balance of c17k...leaving some spending at 0% until May (i currently use it as my Amex back up). i will look to move it to MBNA by one method or another. of their offers this evening, 32m for 1.49% is something that i "see the point" in;)

https://www.mbna.co.uk/compare-credit-cards/balance-transfer-credit-cards/

infact, i'll take 30k or so at that rate if i can, with pleasure:A

there is a chap elsewhere that has been borrowing £50k+ from MBNA for years, on & off. i'm just a beginner;).

billyataol

Bank of Scotland - £2000
Santander - £2900
Santander 123 £4800
Halifax - £6000
American Express - £6000
MBNA - £7200
MBNA Fluid - £8200
Lloyds - £8000
Tesco - £9000
Virgin - £10800
Barclaycard - £12000
2 x Santander Current Accounts paying 3% (no overdraft- by choice). Stoozing approximately 35% of available credit.
Oh, £800 Paypal Credit 4 months interest free offer.