I got a bit of a surprise from my TD Visa bill in the mail. They have increased my credit limit by $1000. They also cut the interest rate to 12.9%.
I was a bit surprised by this. All I've done is make slightly over the minimum payment the last few months with no new charges. The card was essentially maxed out before this increase. I don't know what criteria they use to hand out automatic increases. I think with credit card companies it's generally pretty lax. I've seen TD be loose with credit in the past.
In the past around 10 years ago I hitched a ride to work with a fellow who worked for Scotiabank in Dartmouth as a personal banker. He said one time a young guy around age 20 came in. The customer had finished trade school earlier that year and was working as an apprentice making around $11 an hour. He applied for a credit card. The computer system processed his application and approved him for $2500. When it came up on his screen Wayne from Scotiabank said to himself "I don't think so" and changed it to give the customer $1000 credit limit starting out. He did the young tradesman a favor when the bank software would have been happy to put him into a bad spot early in his life.
Still I can't complain. The rate cut gives me a bit of a break and the extra credit is there if I need it. I don't plan to use it. My plan is to eventually pay off this card and then cancel it. I don't see any reason to pay TD a $25 annual fee for a card number which is a commodity. I can get a no fee card which works exactly the same. In general I don't plan to use credit cards going forward but they are useful for stuff like Internet shopping, making reservations, renting a vehicle, unexpected emergencies.
2 comments:
FYI: try to get them to waive the annual fee rather than cancelling, as cancelling will ding your credit rating. In general, the more credit cards (unless it's over 15 or so), the better, and the smaller % of the available credit, on an individual and combined basis, the better. And lastly, the longer your credit history, the better. If you cancel one you've had awhile, and open a new one, it will ding it a bit. Probably not worth $25 a year, though, if they won't waive it. Depending on how bad you need the credit rating. If you do get a new one in place of this, though, get it before cancelling this one.
Thanks chluke, some great advice there.
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