What credit crunch?

[magnatom]

I've a credit card with the Halifax. I use it but clear the balance off every month. It works for me as an overdraft facility with the added bonus of cash back. Great. However, just yesterday, I received a letter from then saying something like

'Well done'. Due to your good use of the card we are rewarding you with £3000 extra credit. Yes that's right, you didn't ask for it, and yes it will increase the amount that a fraudulaent user could garner from your card. Oh and yes we are trying to encourage people to extend credit at a time when many people cannot afford it, so yes we are encouraging further bad debt which will probably put many people at financial risk in the future and possibly undermine the investment that the government, i.e. you have placed in our company etc.....

I'm just glad I don't have a bank account with them, as I wouldn't trust them with my money! Is this common practice or are HBOS just the baddies?

 

[dodgy]

Common practice.

 

[Night Train]

I got something similar on one of my cards many years ago. It then escalated to the point where I can now go out and buy a decent new family sized car on one piece of plastic!

I'll save it for that moment just before armageddon when I can buy all the supplies I need and civilisation falls apart before I need to make any repayments.

 

[merlinmagic]

The banks are really hurting at the moment as they were greedy. What they are trying to do is encourage good creditors to spend as they are more likely to pay and thereby boost the banks profits.

The credit crunch is about nothing more than greed. Greedy bankers wanted to make lots of money. The average consumer was convinced by the banks that they could afford whatever they would loan them when in reality they couldn't.

Now of course because the banks are in deep deep trouble (its my belief more than we know) they are trying to claw back whatever money they can as damage control. They care two hoots about the little guy all they think is in terms of pounds and pence.

My rule of thumb is now pay cash, I wasn't always like this believe me but I was fortunate that I was able to pay my way out. Now I don't have a credit card, I don't have an overdraft. I pay cash for everything if I can't afford it cash I don't buy it. I hate oweing people money as first opportunity when it doesn't work for them they will screw you over.

Sorry for my rant I really don't trust banks - they are liars the lot of them.

 

[ChrisKH]

You wait until you are made redundant, then we'll see how much help the bank offer. I'm surprised people just don't realise what they are like. They are a business, it's nothing personal. We're just propping them up, so the whole cart doesn't go over. Instead of blaming the banks, look to the government who have completely and utterly failed to regulate them adequately and then use my money (and yours) to bail them out when it all goes tits up.

 

[Crackle]

Are you sure it's not advance Royalties on you various film and book deals?

 

[meenaghman]

just a word about "paying cash". I use the same system as magnatom ie save up for what I want, buy it on credit card, then pay off credit card without incurring interest.
The reason for this especially buying a large item, is the added protection the CC company gives you.. especially now when shops are going out of business. If you pay cash or by debit card for eg a sofa, which takes 12-14 weeks to come and land of leather goes into administration then at least there's some protection (same goes for flights / holidays etc).

 

[bonj2]

...
They care two hoots about the little guy all they think is in terms of pounds and pence.
...

...They are a business, it's nothing personal.
...

what amazes me is the amount of people that display the idiocy of assuming they do care about them or of making the foolish mistake of thinking they should be caring.

 

[alecstilleyedye]

i don't know how it is now, but a few years ago when i freelanced in the studio at mbna, they were virtually pre-approving anyone with a pulse. all the receiver of the mailing had to do was sign the form and send it back.

 

[swee'pea99]

You wait until you are made redundant, then we'll see how much help the bank offer.

The first rule of banking: Only lend money to people who don't really need it.

 

[NickM]

A credit card company I use racked up my limit to £7500 without ever asking whether I wanted such a ludicrous amount. Needless to say, I have never used anything but a small fraction of that.

However, a month or so ago they wrote to announce that they intended to reduce the limit to £3000, unless I objected. There have been no changes to my pattern of use, so the only possible reason for this is that the greedy gits lent too much money to people who cannot now pay it back. Which no doubt also accounts for the signal failure of credit card companies to reduce their usurious interest rates in line with recent reductions in base rate

 

[BigonaBianchi]

all banks are servants of Satan

 

[GrahamG]

Is this just more common with 'third party' CC providers? I say this because I've only ever had cards with my bank and my current bank (Smile/Cooperative) have never increased my limit - in fact I got them to reduce it to £1k a few years back just in case of fraud and it's stayed that way since.

 

[swee'pea99]

Is this just more common with 'third party' CC providers?

I don't think so. I think it basically depends on the individual bank's current situation/attitude to risk and the like. I know that Morgan Stanley got some stick last year for suddenly clamping down - reducing people's limits, or even taking their cards away; Barclaycard got bad press for suddenly doing the exact opposite - upping loads of people's limits for no apparent reason.

 

[Arch]

My Mum is always amused/bemused by her ever increasing credit limit, despite the fact that she's a pensioner, and her income is never going to increase markedly.

I'm not even sure what mine is, suffice to say, I'd never go anywhere near it...