gemb has reduced my credit card limit

**eugene66** · October 26th, 2008, 04:34 PM

with all the credit limit decreases going on i decided to keep a extra extra lookout on my accounts online to be prepared and not get caught off guard in unexpected places. well today i looked at my chevron card and noticed that my limit was 460.00 instead of 600.00. I have a few credit cards with no balances but only one with a large balance (hooters 1200cl-900.00 bal). so i emailed them for the reason and in the meanwhile i am going to close the card and tell them to shove it

. I have two more gemb backed accounts(walmart and Dillards)with no balances so they maybe on the chopping block also.I have never been late or overlimit on my cards so the reason must be the economy.I may lose points but you can always rebound and plus the good payment history will stay on my report for 7 years. I am sorry for the rant but when you work hard to build your credit and fullfil your credit obligations only to be slapped in the face it's frustrating.

**Meya** · October 26th, 2008, 04:59 PM

A lot of this has been going on.

I feel so sorry for you, and I do not blame you when it comes to closing a card because of a decrease. How long have you had the card? If you have years of history, I just say, pay it off and sock drawer it.

**eugene66** · October 26th, 2008, 05:09 PM

thank you meya , I've had the card about 2 years and cooler heads have prevailed and i will just sock it since there is no annual fee and start using my other cards a little. since i have been on this website,i have learned so much and love the support here that is very genuine.i hope everyone take stock and keep watching out for this because it is happening for real.

**Meya** · October 26th, 2008, 10:00 PM

You are so welcome. Guess what? Do you know Amex had the nerves to lower hjm331 cl? NO lates, no balance, not an extravagant limit, give me a serious break Amex, this is pitiful.

**RivasGlo** · October 26th, 2008, 10:49 PM

Originally Posted by Meya

You are so welcome. Guess what? Do you know Amex had the nerves to lower hjm331 cl? NO lates, no balance, not an extravagant limit, give me a serious break Amex, this is pitiful.

This is just getting to be stupid. Like okay, if we have a zero balance, your gonna CLD me, why? because either 1/something on my cbr or 2/i dont use the card enough 3/use the card too much.

HELLO YOU ALL BANKS! WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM US!

**cireone** · October 26th, 2008, 10:57 PM

Well, recently AmEx admitted to lowering CL not just for credit scores or utilization but even which businesses you patronize. So thats going above and beyond of protecting themselves.

**pamela2** · October 26th, 2008, 11:01 PM

Hi everyone! Well Dillards lowered my credit limit from 350.00 (i know thats not alot compared to some) to 190.00 and i have never been late on the card and i just had a 82.00 balance. O well lets see if i get it back for Christmas or its gonna keep my socks company for a while.

**hjm331** · October 26th, 2008, 11:50 PM

I can't wait to read the letter stating the reasons for the CLD.

**smcc** · October 27th, 2008, 10:00 AM

Obviously the cards that are important to all of us are getting the limits reduced not so much for the history of the card but by the handling of other cards that we might carry. Sounds like when observing payment history on the other cards they don't see the cards being paid down fast enough or not to their liking. You would think that if they see the cards being paid down on a consistent basis and the usage is either minimal or none that they would take into consideration one's ability to decrease their exposure to other creditors and at the same time maintain a good payment history with them

**charonh** · October 27th, 2008, 10:12 AM

I absolutely dislike GEMB out of all my credit issuers. I was upset when chevron sold their accounts to them. They are too conservative for me and now this. I haven't checked my chevron card yet, but I'm trying to do so right now and their website is acting up. I currently have a $0 balance on my chevron card, so they may have decreased me too. My lowes card is issued by them also and they started me out with $300 limit, what can you do with that in a home store; it has a $0 balance too. Its just ridiculous and when I asked for an increase they declined my request and stated high utilization on other cards as the reason. I try to avoid them at all costs. They only good thing I can say about them is that my Rooms to Go card was issued by them with a $6K limit. However, anytime I ask for a increase on any of my cards, they do a soft inquiry on all three accounts I have with them (don't know why, but they do) I will keep you guys posted.

**charonh** · October 27th, 2008, 10:28 AM

Well they haven't reduced mine yet, but I wouldn't be surprised if they did. Keep the account open like others have said, it makes no sense to close it at this point; just don't use it as much, but make sure you do use it ever now and then so they won't close it. The only reasons I would close an account would be due to a rate increase, or ones that have annual fees or excessive monthly and service fees (once I re-established myself). I wonder what they are going by with these credit limit decreases, because I am pretty much maxed out on most of my other credit cards so I would be a good candidate for one in my opinion. It is impossible to know what these banks are thinking

.

**smcc** · October 27th, 2008, 10:52 AM

Charonh, all the banks are trying to do is limit their exposure when it comes to these limits on credit cards. If they see you maxed out on other cards, the first thing they are thinking is "Will she be able to pay us in full?" If they see your are making minimum payments with other issuers as well as themselves they might think "If it comes down to them or us, who will she pay?"

I would think that when the bank does a soft pull that they keep those pulls and watch the pattern you have in regards to payment history. You could show a consistent pattern of paying down all your cards, but again, they might think your not paying it down fast enough, who knows..........

**hjm331** · October 27th, 2008, 11:50 AM

I agree with Charonh and Smcc. When the banks looks at your reports and see that you are carrying large balance on your other cards, they are worried that you will do the same to their card and not be able to pay them back. That is the reason why creditors are reducing credit lines right now. Too many consumers are losing their homes, cars, and filing BK since they can't pay their bills. When they file BK, the consumers also include their credit cards in the BK and that's what the banks are worried about. It wasn't a huge problem few years ago but now that the percentage of consumers filing BK/not able to pay their bills has increased, the banks are limiting their exposure.

**charonh** · October 27th, 2008, 01:24 PM

SMCC that's what I am afraid of which is why I plan to get all of mine below 40% before next year. Citibank has not decreased my overall credit line on one of my cards, but they did decrease the cash line amount from $1500 to $500, which I'm ok with. I hadn't planned on using that feature anyway, but it did/does let me know that they are monitoring me. HJM331 what reason did Amex give you for your decrease, I can't find that post, if you don't mind my asking?

**eugene66** · October 27th, 2008, 03:34 PM

today on my job i was talking to a friend about what happened to me and to make sure to keep people informed on what's going on. she told me that her father's amex( he is a CEO of a marketing firm) dropped his credit limit from 25k to 1k within 2 months

...so suddenly i feel really small about my situation.