[Twinkletoes]

You might be getting an offer from AmEx for $300 if you pay off your balance within 60 days!

http://clarkhoward.com/liveweb/shown...9/03/04/15249/

It is mainly aimed at people who just pay the monthly minimum. AmEx wants to cut their potential losses by getting rid of their riskier card holders.

[Aarcyn]

Our Costco card is an AmEx but I don't use it. I use my debit card for gas and stuff.

But I sure will ask DH if we only pay the minimum. We can use the $300!

thanks.

[who moi]

shoot, we pay off our balance every month...

but we get rewards programs. LOL Never leave home without it.

[Kitty]

At least they're giving you the option.

I saw a couple on a news show that had a credit card (a Visa, I think) and the bank that issued it lowered their credit limit to whatever balance they were carrying on the card. Pretty much cut their limit in half with no notice. Now, they have no available credit and it's affected their credit score because it now looks like they have maxed out their card. And they were hit with an over-limit fee when they raised their interest rate because they were now at their limit! They hadn't even been late on their payments. And all of this is legal......scary!! Makes me glad I no longer use credit. Haven't used it in over a year. And it feels so good!

The credit card companies are panicking and preventing people from running up their cards and then filing for bankruptcy.

[Twinkletoes]

Originally Posted by Kitty

At least they're giving you the option.

I saw a couple on a news show that had a credit card (a Visa, I think) and the bank that issued it lowered their credit limit to whatever balance they were carrying on the card. Pretty much cut their limit in half with no notice. Now, they have no available credit and it's affected their credit score because it now looks like they have maxed out their card. And they were hit with an over-limit fee when they raised their interest rate because they were now at their limit! They hadn't even been late on their payments. And all of this is legal......scary!! Makes me glad I no longer use credit. Haven't used it in over a year. And it feels so good!

The credit card companies are panicking and preventing people from running up their cards and then filing for bankruptcy.

That is just so Wrong!

Ironic that just a few years ago getting a plastic card was so easy -- no matter what your financial circumstances. I mean, my kids were just getting out of high school and receiving plastic in the mail. They hadn't established any kind of credit history.

Easy money is what caused this recession, IMHO.

[Bearygood]

Re: AMEX, it's my understanding that the offer is going out to card holders considered to be "high risk" -- perhaps paying the absolute minimum consistently is included in their determination; I'm not sure.

I wanted to post about credit cards in general, as someone who tries to pay attention and almost always reads the inserts that come with bills and the fine print.

First, I believe that paying the minimum is in fact used when calculating credit scores -- it was noted as a category on a report I just saw. So whenever possible, it seems like a good idea to pay above the minimum, even if it's just a few dollars. Remember, one of the things that's important if you want to get credit in the future is to maintain and/or increase your creidt score when possible.

A LOT of credit cards are lowering the amount of credit available and yes, in some cases it's even ABOVE what you might currently owe on a card. Pretty scary both financially and also because I believe the ratio of the balance to available credit is also a credit score factor. Watch your bills/cards carefully and if you see this has happened, it doesn't hurt to call up the company to discuss it.

Another thing that's happening a lot is that the APR is increasing. There's usually no special notice -- you have to look at the bill. This has happened with 3 of my cards so far and each time I called the company. BTW, I think there is ALWAYS an "opt out" -- usually in an accompanying disclosure but it might be on the bill. The terms of the opt out I've encountered so far are different. I'll use 3 personal examples below but I'm telling you that it ALWAYS pays to call. You just never know. Here are 3 examples I've encountered so far with credit cards where I got notice that the APR was increasing.

Credit card #1: The company told me if I opted out and decided to decline the new terms, the current APR would continue until the expiration date on the card, at which time the account would terminate. They told me that this would mean I couldn't use the card but I could continue paying off the outstanding balance at the same APR. I was a little suspicious about the being allowed to pay off the outstanding balance after the account was closed at the current rate -- wondered if the minimum payments would increase and if/how it would affect my credit score. BUT I have a low balance on that card so I didn't ask more questions. I opted out, knowing that the balance would definitely be paid off in full before the card expired.

Credit card #2: Ironically, this card was issued by the same bank as credit card #1 but the outcome was completely different. When I called asking about the opt out, they explained the same scenario. However, the representative told me that I had been such a good customer for so long that he was WAIVING everything. Not only would the APR not increase; he actually LOWERED my APR!

Credit card #3: The opt-out option on this card meant that the account would be closed in MAY but that I could still pay off the balance at the current rate. This is a card I want to keep for right now but I didn't opt out. I do intend to check back with the company in a few months to see if they can better the rate.

Now is the time more than ever to look at your bills carefully and read the inserts! And for your regular bills like cable, phone, etc., I encourage you to call regularly to see if they can better the rate. There are often special packages available that they do NOT advertise and with the competitive nature of some of them, they would rather do something for you than lose you as a customer.

My cable/intenet bill is enormous and I'm going to contact them this week. If they don't better my rate, I might be making a change.

[Bearygood]

Oh -- just wanted to add that with AMEX, it might be wise to research this before canceling your card -- I was told years ago that the BEST credit card you can have to increase the odds of getting more credit and positively affecting your credit score was an AMEX. It's not necessarily an easy card to get and if you let it go, make sure you're not going to be wanting it back. Again, not sure if that's the case now but it used to be.

[Twinkletoes]

Bearygood, I definitely agree that it's a great idea to call and talk to the credit card people. I haven't done this for awhile ... probably time to do it.

Thanks for the reminder!

[Curious]

We have cards that we use for business. Makes it easier to write just one check for supllies that type of thing. They always get paid in full every month.

Yup, same thing. They lowered our credit limit on one of them.

Countless phone calls to get it restored. The reasoning for lowering it...we never used that much.

When they lower it, it does effect your credit. They don't have to explain WHY they lowered it. Boy was the whole thing a hassle to straighten out.

[Kitty]

Originally Posted by Bearygood

My cable/intenet bill is enormous and I'm going to contact them this week. If they don't better my rate, I might be making a change.

I did that. I have cable, internet and phone so I have "the bundle" with Charter. I got an advertisement for AT&T for all three for just $99 a month. I think I was paying about $156 with Charter. You have to speak with someone in the "retention department" when you call to do this. I told them I was switching to AT&T if they could not match the cost. They did!! They'd rather have $99 of my money than $0. It was a well spent five minutes!