This info is great. But what rates are you getting with this also? $30,000 isn't too hot with 19%.

I don't quite understand how having a large paid off credit line helps with 0% balance offers...
Are you just using the old, high credit line to buy bonds, then paying off that line with the 0% offer?

Seems like that was a great use in the past, but for one (such as myself) who is just starting to get into the credit game, is there a way to take advantage of 0% offers?

Bond purchases are no longer allowed (well, soon anyway, right?).
Assuming you pay off your balances monthly, what good is the 0% offer?

TIA.

Cerestes, many CC companies check your credit report for your other line limits. They figure that if other companies have trusted you with big lines, and you haven't been late or otherwise problematic with those lines, then they can trust you with a large line as well.

Bond purchases with CCs are not allowed.

There are many, many ways to get advantage of 0% offers other than that now defunct method, but those are OT for this thread.


BruteForce, great info! Would you elaborate to help us learn more about how you did this? Specifically,

-what number/addy/website did you use to apply?
-Were you the target of a specific solicitation, or did you seek them out?
-Do you know what credit report they pulled, and/or what your score was?
-What did your other lines look like?

That's a very generous initial credit limit, with the added benefit of free credit reports. congrats!

<snip>


<< BruteForce, great info! Would you elaborate to help us learn more about how you did this? Specifically,

-what number/addy/website did you use to apply?
-Were you the target of a specific solicitation, or did you seek them out?
-Do you know what credit report they pulled, and/or what your score was?
-What did your other lines look like? >>

I already shredded the solicitation. They found me by mail. I don't know which report they pulled but my score on Eqifax & Experian are in the mid 700s. I have about a dozen credit cards (Visa, MC. AMEX both personal & business), all with limits of at least 10K. About 20-25% ultilization concentrated on 3 or 4 0% balances. I pay off the balances every month on cards with no 0% running. I get a lot of mail solicitations but few are even a tiny bit interesting. I only took this one due to reading about the free credit scores. Tired of paying for them.

Pay stubs aren't as good as bank statements since you could always make up your own pay stubs.

TheGrayMan said:

<< Starwood AMEX bumped my credit line from 13K to 25K just for asking. They indicated they require financial statements in order to raise the limit higher (not unexpected, based on the posts in this thread). I was, however, surprised by the information they requested:


<<

• A copy of your most recent IRA or other retirement account statement(s)
  
• Complete copies of your past 2 years signed personal tax returns
  
• A copy of your most recent checking, saving, money market, and brokerage account statements showing average monthly balance
  >>

  I'm surprised that they are interested in my retirement savings, since those funds would be very difficult to access. I'm even more surprised that they did not ask for current pay stubs since I would expect that to be the best indicator of my current ability to pay.
  
  Anyway, I'll probably go ahead and send them the info they requested. Should I be concerned about disclosing private information? (i.e. might they use this info to send an army of AMEX "Financial Advisors" calling)
  
  Any idea why they are interested in my retirement savings but not my current income? >>

robertw477 said:

<< I had her call my two business banks to prove I had more than sufficient assets. They did not bother calling my personal banks. They moved the line to 50K and said I could request again in a few months to go higher. Even though this is technically a personal card- I use it for business and have previousl charged and paid off the max every month. >>

Did you get a feel for what they were looking for in terms of assets / cash reserves / cash flow? I assume that since they did not ask about assets like real estate, they aren't interested in illiquid assets.

OP updated to reflect AMEX Open LOC increase.

Thanks BruteForce, neither of us have ever scored a tasty Providian offer--I'd like a good one for the credit scores as well.

Congrats TheGrayMan. I don't see any reason why you shouldn't send the info they want, UNLESS you have an unusual situation. One warning: I did get screwed by their "average balance" requirement in my bank accounts last year, because I deliberately keep these low (to pay off HELOC accounts.)

synk, I think it's much easier to make up fake bank statements than pay stubs. I'd strongly recommend against trying either.


robertw477, congrats! Do you recall who you spoke with? It seems fairly unusual to get that kind of increase from AMEX without going through the whole taxes/statements/etc. dog and pony show. That's a nice increase.

Well, I wasn't talking about making fake pay stubs. If you're self employed you can pay yourself however you want right?

DaveHanson said:

<< OP updated to reflect AMEX Open LOC increase.<BR><BR>Thanks BruteForce, neither of us have ever scored a tasty Providian offer--I'd like a good one for the credit scores as well.<BR><BR>Congrats TheGrayMan. I don't see any reason why you shouldn't send the info they want, UNLESS you have an unusual situation. One warning: I did get screwed by their "average balance" requirement in my bank accounts last year, because I deliberately keep these low (to pay off HELOC accounts.) <BR><BR>synk, I think it's much easier to make up fake bank statements than pay stubs. I'd strongly recommend against trying either.<BR><BR><BR>robertw477, congrats! Do you recall who you spoke with? It seems fairly unusual to get that kind of increase from AMEX without going through the whole taxes/statements/etc. dog and pony show. That's a nice increase. >>

I went ahead and faxed AMEX the info they requested and they raised my limit to the amount I requested ($30K).

I had requested that MBNA raise my limit from $15K to $25K, but they only gave me $20K. I'll probably make an other request for an increase in about 6 mos.

Didn't see Discover much in this thread, but I had 10k limit, then requested a BT 0% Lifetime Transfer for just over $13k, they gave me a total of $14601 in credit. I'm wondering if I can bump that up any more now...