Credit card not reporting credit limit?

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Cappy361
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Credit card not reporting credit limit?

Post by Cappy361 »

I recently check out my credit score because I was planning on making a big purchase. I realized it was significantly lower than before. I am using Fidelity Visa rewards card and found out they don't report credit limit which completely screwed up credit utilization ratio since I use only this card for all purchases.

Can anyone recommend a card that actually reports credit limit?
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prudent
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Re: Credit card not reporting credit limit?

Post by prudent »

Is your score going to be relevant to your upcoming big purchase? In other words, is your ability to make the purchase going to be dependent on someone looking at your credit score and how they evaluate it?
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Cappy361
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Re: Credit card not reporting credit limit?

Post by Cappy361 »

Yes, my score was 772 average but since I been using this credit card which I normally racked up about 15k a month. I pay it off every month but since the credit limit is 0. The 15k is counted against my available credit for my other two cards which is 30k. I cancel the ones I didn't use.
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tfb
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Re: Credit card not reporting credit limit?

Post by tfb »

Cappy361 wrote:Yes, my score was 772 average but since I been using this credit card which I normally racked up about 15k a month. I pay it off every month but since the credit limit is 0. The 15k is counted against my available credit for my other two cards which is 30k.
I don't think that's the case. If a card doesn't report limit, the highest balance you ever had is treated as the limit. Some would run the balance close to the true limit for it to register on the report. You can also consider making payments early, before the statement close date. That way the reported balance will be low relative to the high watermark already registered.
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Cappy361
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Re: Credit card not reporting credit limit?

Post by Cappy361 »

I see you're probably right but it's a 50 point drop without anything really changing in my credit history besides the new credit card. Either way, I'll probably apply for another card or two but not use them.
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Dan-in-Virginia
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Re: Credit card not reporting credit limit?

Post by Dan-in-Virginia »

As was mentioned, if you have one of those "no limit" cards, the credit limit reported is often the highest balance every held on the card. They actually do have a limit, but it is not officially posted. I would never open that kind of a card.

You should seek out good companies (that report as needed and have a good reputation).

Consumer Reports: Best and Worst Credit Card Issuers (this is a little old, but worth a glance)
http://www.consumerismcommentary.com/co ... d-issuers/
Last edited by Dan-in-Virginia on Tue Jan 24, 2012 1:46 pm, edited 2 times in total.
leod
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Re: Credit card not reporting credit limit?

Post by leod »

I have cut off cards that don't report as well, this is mostly true to World Mastercard and Visa Signature cards where they have credit line instead.
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prudent
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Re: Credit card not reporting credit limit?

Post by prudent »

Unless you are going to apply for new credit, a temporary hit to your score doesn't really mean anything - especially when your score is very high, as yours is. If you are going to apply for new credit, then just pay down the card in advance of the closing date prior to when you plan to apply. That would eliminate any impact of a high balance.

Getting a different card may not help that much. Let's say you get a card with a $30,000 limit that reports the limit. You would still be charging 50% of the credit line, which is not going to do anything good for your score.

But you mention a 50 point drop. Is that an official FICO score, or a score from a site that has a imitation FICO score? And how can you be certain that your $15k balance is the reason for a perceived credit score drop?
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Cappy361
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Re: Credit card not reporting credit limit?

Post by Cappy361 »

You are right and I don't know what is dinging my score for sure but the only thing that has really changed in my credit history is the new card. I have three total cards before with with a total of 90k limit but since I got this new one and canceled one of the old cards. my total revolving credit on all three cards is only about 75k. i guess I'll just get a new card and make more of an effort to pay it off weekly.
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prudent
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Re: Credit card not reporting credit limit?

Post by prudent »

If by canceling an existing card you lowered the average age of your accounts, that would definitely hurt your score.
sscritic
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Re: Credit card not reporting credit limit?

Post by sscritic »

prudent wrote:If by canceling an existing card you lowered the average age of your accounts, that would definitely hurt your score.
From my understanding, canceling the card hurts two ways. By lowering your overall limit, you just boosted your utilization. $15k divided by $45k is better than $15k divided by $30k, but you chose 50% instead of 33%. It also hurt your average age as prudent says. The average of 0 and 6 is 3; the average of 0 and 6 and 12 is 6. 6 is better than 3, but you chose 3. [All numbers are fake, but you should get the idea.] Unfortunately, it is too late now.

If you care to share, where did you get the advice to cancel the old card?
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Cappy361
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Re: Credit card not reporting credit limit?

Post by Cappy361 »

lol my wife. I don't know why I listened to her but she said we weren't using the card so cancel it. At the time, I wasn't thinking about credit score. lesson learned and I won't cancel the card I'll keep it and open a new one.
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tfb
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Re: Credit card not reporting credit limit?

Post by tfb »

prudent wrote:If by canceling an existing card you lowered the average age of your accounts, that would definitely hurt your score.
Closing an account does not lower the average age. The closed account stays on for about 10 years.
Cappy361 wrote:You are right and I don't know what is dinging my score for sure but the only thing that has really changed in my credit history is the new card.
If it's a new card, the drop likely came from the hard inquiry. It's temporary. If you get another new card, you will get another hard inquiry, which will take your score down again.

A 770 score is good for everything. Don't worry about it. At that score, I got the very best rate from a mortgage. See A High Credit Score Is Not Necessary for the Best Loan Rate.
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Topic Author
Cappy361
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Re: Credit card not reporting credit limit?

Post by Cappy361 »

thanks for all the info and the learning experience
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grabiner
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Re: Credit card not reporting credit limit?

Post by grabiner »

Cappy361 wrote:I recently check out my credit score because I was planning on making a big purchase. I realized it was significantly lower than before. I am using Fidelity Visa rewards card and found out they don't report credit limit which completely screwed up credit utilization ratio since I use only this card for all purchases.
If the card reports your highest balance as your credit limit, then making this big purchase on the card will hurt your score for one month, and then improve it in subsequent months. For example, if you normally charge $2K and have charged $4K at most, it will appear you are at half the limit. This month, when you charge $10K, it will appear you have charged the whole $10K limit. But if you don't need your score for anything this month, then next month, when you have paid off the $10K and charge your normal $2K, it will appear that you owe $2K on a card with a $10K limit, which is a much better 20% utilization.
Wiki David Grabiner
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