Do existing cardholders opening a new card still get the matching bonus for the year? The terms arent clear if it’s just limited to new cards, or only entirely new customers.
I recently opened the Discover it Miles & Citi Double Cash cc’s. Wondering if I will get the matching bonus for the year. I didn’t have that great a FICO score to begin. Have only used a CitiBusiness cc for years & that card is not reported for credit score.
Only used that business card or cash. No house or car payments & NO credit. Poor me!
This is very true in my experience. Visa Signature cards seem to offer much higher limits. (Chase Sapphire cards for example compared to a ‘regular’ Chase card). Amex was also very generous with my spouse. I noticed after she had one 30K+ limit card, most subsequent cards with some issuers were 30K+. Penfed also seems to give large lines.
Consolidate unused lines into larger ones if this is true. Chase and Citi will do that over secure message. Just say “Please move $10k from card 1234 to 2345.”
Appreciate the input. No dispute. Pursuant to your remark:
Here is an aspect which annoys me. Oversimplifying for the sake of brevity, I see two situations:
- Individual or couple has high net worth but a relatively low income
- Individual or couple has high income but, for a variety of reasons, relatively low net worth
I italicized “relatively” in both descriptions because I wanted to place EMPHASIS on that word.
I happen to fall into the first category. I have always felt discriminated against by the credit card issuers because my income is low relative to my net worth. They offer me ridiculously low credit lines considering my net worth.
Said another way, as a retiree I would use my nestegg to backstop heavy borrowing, NOT my month to month income. But that does not even register, it seems to me, with the credit card issuers. I have to fight for every last dollar of any credit line for which I’ve ever applied. Upon reflection, I guess that is what I’m once again now in process of doing . . . . attempting to get every last stinkin’ duck lined up before I apply. Frankly, given my net worth, the whole thing is ridiculous.
1 Like
They are more interested in your cash flow than net worth. But are you understating your potential income flow? It isn’t just earned income. And it is your household income (if you choose to include that).
Come up with an honest figure based on your investment earnings and use that. Even if you don’t plan to cash it out. I’ve gotten 3-4 rewards cards that require excellent credit in the past year or so, and I have zero earned income.
2 Likes
Understood and agreed. That is what I do. I’m retired and also have zero earned income.
But I’m also not gonna live forever. If I last another ten years that would be great. While I happen to be in good health now, I know something is gonna get me!
So double that, to be on the (extremely) conservative side, divide my net worth by twenty, and let me add the quotient to my yearly income. Fair? I think more than fair. Allowed? Not AFAIK.
That is probably a little simplistic. You must have a plan for how you are going to finance your retiirement. For example, the old 4% of assets the first year, and then that adjusted for inflation following years [I’m not saying that’s a good plan … that could be debated in another thread … just saying it is an example of a plan]. Whatever annual income flows from your specific, justifiable retirement plan is what I’d put down as annual income. The details are no one else’s business.
1 Like
StatGren, you say the details are no one else’s business. But, when someone like Alliant CU ask for your “adjusted gross income” from Income tax to qualify you for “credit limit”. It’s lower, because as a Farmer we have so many deductions. (which is what you want for income tax)
So when I applied for the credit card with Alliant CU, I was asked to send a copy of my Income Tax because I have no credit. And that’s how they figured out a credit limit. (low) They will not use my Business cc for FICO score.
As shinobi stated CC’s don’t know my actual net worth.
Getting to the meaty part of this discussion, really good stuff.
I think what you’re describing is more a factor of your thin credit file than anything else. You’re still being manually reviewed by a human. You ideally want a computer to make the call–they don’t ask for forms or any proof. Don’t falsify but I think @StatGren is correct that your annual income is fluid in these situations. Once you’re up there with an established personal credit score those approvals are automated.
Not true in my experience, but to your point Visa Signature requires a $5K limit and Infinite requires $10K. The moment your limit drops below that amount, it drops the service level.
Some issuers are more generous than others, but I’m pretty sure all of them base your total limits on your annual income.
Not necessarily so easy with Citi anymore: Rules For Reallocating Your Credit Limit With Each Credit Card Issuer - Doctor Of Credit
This might be on purpose. These credit lines are unsecured, so if you kick the bucket they are out of money.
1 Like
Yes. That is what I’m already doing. Our posts crossed. I have no earned income. I provide the CC issuers an income number based on the sum of all my other income, including interest, dividends, royalties, and so forth. Everything.
And for certain we agree. They don’t give a darn about my net worth, which they would be unlikely to be able to divine or guess based solely on knowledge of my relatively low income. That’s the rub.
I respectfully disagree. My relatively high net worth secures the meager credit they’re willing to extend me. Any credit card debt would become an obligation of my estate to repay. And there would be HUGE coverage of any such debt.
I am aware of situations where a decedent leaves behind CC debt which goes unpaid. But this is because the deceased person died broke. That is not my situation at all . . . not even close. When I kick the bucket the CC companies will be just fine. My debts will be paid in full.
So I now have 3 cc’s. Alliant CU, Discover it, Citi DC. With each new card the limit was increased, only by $3k. By keeping my utilization rate low, I hope that eventually my limit will increase.
You ask why not keep using my old Citi Business cc. For many years I was collecting airline mileage with my Business cc. Now I would rather have the CASH instead of miles. + I don’t have to pay the yearly fee.
This remains an unknown for me at this time. I’m in process of bringing my (perceived) utilization rate down very close to zero . . . this by heeding Argyll’s disclosure (see up thread). IOW, I am paying everything off prior to statements being cut.
What I do not know is whether or not, even given the above, they will hold against me that my utilization was VERY high in the past. Does their system have a memory? I dunno. Yet.
And it will still be a couple of weeks before I DO have the answer to this. Am hoping for the best.
The thin file angle of this question is probably somewhere in the 75 comments, but wasn’t stated in the original question at all. I interpreted the recent comments to be about not having earned income, and I was saying that doesn’t matter. High net worth = the ability to generate income. They don’t care about the details (usually; I accept Argyll’s data point) … just that you have an income stream.
If you do have a thin file and/or low credit score, then I don’t know that prioritizing rewards is the best thing right now. If you can get a great rewards card and build your credit at the same time, then good for you.
shinobi, you may want to take a look at the “churning” topic on Reddit. There is a thread there where you can post details about your situation, and tens of thousands of smart people will make recommendations for specific cards. The audience there is credit card churners like me, but they are also helpful to those just looking for CC recommendations.
1 Like
scripta’s comment might reflect the perspective of the credit card issuer. They’re looking at the worst case scenario. They don’t usually ask about assets, only household income, in my experience.
Yes, I understand that one can have relatively low income and substantial assets. Probably so do the issuers.
1 Like
Generally, no, there is no memory. Either you have outstanding balances or you dont.
Reports (Experian?) started to maintain a history of balances and payments each month, although it doesnt factor into your score and I’m not sure if it is even provided in an inquiry. But if anything, that’d only help. It shows you responsibly paying off debt - apples to apples, someone who’s paid a $40k balance down to $2k is a much better credit risk than someone who has been carrying a constant $2k balance.
2 Likes
You can request increases easily online with Discover. I usually do it once every 6 months. You may want to do this after a few months of having the Discover card. They will warn you before they do a hard pull (only done if necessary).
Thanks gremln007.
You say Discover cc is the easiest card for a limit increase. Do I need to wait for 6 months or would a couple months be ok?