High income, no debt - why won't Barclaycard increase my limit?

Nasqueron

Tirian said:

Nasqueron said:

Slinky said:

Could it be that your high income is actually working against you? See it from their view, they lend you a load of money for nearly 2 years at 0%, making nothing on it, and when it gets to the end of the deal, you pay it off in full and never use the card again. As it is, they're only risking £6.5K making no money, rather than the higher amount you want.

They make money from the spending fees and hope OP doesn't pay off in time and pays interest, sometimes offers are loss leaders to get in enough people to make money

Sooo ... I need to pretend I have a lower income than I actually have in order to get a higher limit? If so That would really emphasise how perverse the whole system is! Would be quite funny if it actually worked. Don't think I'll be trying it though.

No I didn't suggest that, what I am saying is, lenders make money from the use of the card e.g. the spend or the BT, they may factor in also the chance of earning interest from not clearing the account but that would be based on risk, not income as rich people can be as negligent as poor. 

Nasqueron

BrimfulofSascha said:

It looks like you have just paid off your mortgage which will have made your credit score tank (odd but true). 

The BNPL isn't about value to income, from a lender point of view it is seen in the same way that pay day loans are seen, so it has another negative effect on your credit file.

Do you have any car finance, or a mobile phone contract, something that lenders have charged interest on.

From your point of view you seem like a safe place to store the banks money as you are good to pay it back. From the banks point of view you are a poor investment because they can't make any money from you. This is why Barclays don't want to lend you money, they can make more money elsewhere. Have you tried other card providers? have you tried the search tool on this website?

Nobody sees your credit score but you, lenders would see a cleared debt and rate the OP higher, the score is irrelevant

Hoenir

born_again said:

Tirian said:

No, nearer to 10% actually.  And I it's one other CC actually.  I counted the work credit card by mistake when I flipped through the wallet.  I did have another personal one but I closed it 

And I have had way higher % of income as limits in cards in the past, while on lower income and with higher outgoings 

So yeah, not an FCA field day at all.  Sorry to disappoint you.

Covid put paid to many high limits & Barclaycard was one of the worst for dropping limits in a big way.

Prior to that the FCA published their 

Credit Card Market Study

https://www.fca.org.uk/firms/high-cost-credit-and-consumer-credit/credit-card-market-study

Ever since there's been a slow progressive tightening. 

Tirian

maxximus75 said:

I would suggest looking elsewhere such as MBNA, Virgin, NatWest and possibly Nationwide who are usually generous with credit limits but is dependant on individual credit assessment.

When you apply they will do a soft search and show you an estimated credit limit…. If it’s acceptable and proceed further, they will hard search.

Just because Barclays won’t extend you further credit it doesn’t mean other lenders won’t…. They all have their own internal reasons, don’t take it personally.

100% not taking it personally - just interested to understand if there's anything that might help to get access to a larger amount of 0% borrowing, which will reduce the amount I need to borrow at higher rates to do this work.

As far as I recall Barclaycard didn't show an estimated credit limit - they just processed the application and dished out the card at that limit - are you sure the others give an estimated limit?  I don't really want to go kicking off nnew applications / soft searches for the sake of it.

Per previous comments, I may just reduce the limit on the other card, or close it entirely, pay down the Barclaycard a bit and wait a few months and try again to see if they will increase the limit before I try for new cards.  Unless there is another long-term (15 month+) 0% card out there that is likely to offer a decent limit ..?

Tirian

DullGreyGuy said:

Tirian said:

A little while back I applied for a Barclaycard on a 0% for spending for 23 months deal.  I was accepted with a £6.5k limit.

Basically I would like to use as much as I can on the card, in order to build up some savings that will earn interest in the meantime, but in the medium term can also be used to pay for some renovation work on the house instead of taking a loan.  

As such I applied for the limit to be extended, but it was refused on the basis that they "have to be sure that I can afford repayments".

Now, I completely understand and agree with affordability assessments.  But I can't see how they could possibly apply here.

I have a high 6 figure income, I have no debts at all beyond £145 Paypal BNPL.  I have c. £60k in savings.  No CCJs or missed payments.  I have childcare costs (before & after school care for 2 kids), about £800 - £1000 per month, but no housing costs.  £500 a month for travel to work.  That's about it.

Any reason why they would be insisting on such a low limit, and saying that the reason they won't extend it is "affordability"? 

If you have a high 6 figure salary, so c£800,000 why are you using high street bank lending? 

If you have £60k in savings why are you considering a loan for renovations? If you have such a high salary and no housing costs how have you only managed to save less than 10% of your income in a lifetime?

What sort of limit are you hoping for?

You have a lack of history of using lending responsibly, people seem to think that having no lending is a good thing from a banks perspective, it isnt. It makes it a risk, they want to see you having had lending and paid it all off on time to show a track record of good behaviour. 

Whilst its almost certainly a machine decision, based on what you have said I could see what an underwriter would have concerns as it raises more questions than answers

Since my previous response have been deleted, I'll note for the record, in an entirely polite and factual way:

Helpful and relevant responses are appreciated.  I'm looking for a £20-£25k limit.  My wording on income and housing costs were ambiguous, income is under £200k.  By housing costs, I mean rent/mortgage.

Unhelpful avenues of response include irrelevant and perjorative questions about choice of banking services, level of personal savings, and unfounded (and incorrect) assumptions on borrowing history.  If there is any aspect of these that is relevant to a response about credit card limits then it would be useful to state what it is if you are going to ask questions about it.