To be pissed that Barclaycard decreased my credit limit?

Very similar to what happened to me @BusyGreyCat - also with barclaycard credit card. Dropped my credit limit from £4k to £1100 with no explanation.

Mine is a 0% interest for 22 months. I use it for a small number of transactions but they are usually quite high amounts (holiday etc) and pay it off over a few months. Wanted to book flights and £1100 is not enough so I phoned up and a very unhelpful chap basically said “no, we cannot increase your credit limit” - when I asked to speak to a supervisor/for an explanation, again the answer was no.

So now that I’ve paid it off, I’ve cancelled it and am waiting my new M&S one to arrive with £5k limit.

Weirdly Barclays reduced mine from 10k to £5,050 which seems to be an odd number. They did it a few years ago now.
I, like you always paid it off, but liked to have a big cushion for emergencies and if I had a balance of nearly 5k I'd have no cushion.
I've had the same card since I was 18, I'm now retired.

Well that sounds like the action of a very responsible lender, increasing the amount of credit you have available without establishing whether you have a need for it 🙄

It may well be a business decision by Barclaycard. If they have promised to lend you £10k but you're only borrowing £1k, then there's £9k of credit that they can't give to someone else. If they reduce your limit to £5k, then it still more than meets your needs; but they also can sign up a couple of new people for £2.5k each.

It doesn't sound like you've tried ringing them and asking them to restore the limit, so that's my tip - it's a bit basic and boring but I don't really understand why you wouldn't do that, given how strongly you seem to feel about it.

Banks have been doing this for years - they are a business and they are making little if any money out of you. I'd shop around for a card with cashback rewards etc

Barclaycarc did this to me last year but I had the option of saying no and keeping it as it was. I recall I had to text them something and they left my limit the same. I rarely use the card.

It’s probably because you don’t max it out and as a result they don’t make enough money of you to counterbalance the perceived risk of allowing you the credit.

My Barclaycard just sat doing nothing so they lowered my limit and then closed it this year. It's just part of responsible lending practices to review limits and such. If you don't use it to the limit then there's no need for them to have the risk that at some point you'll whack a huge purchase on.

If you want to keep the limit give them a call.

They did a purge a couple of years ago and reduced my limit from £10k to £250! I told them to shove it, what’s the point of a credit card you can’t even use to book a holiday?

Barclaycard did the same to me a couple of years ago, I never used the card much anyway so just closed the account.

Well, that’s what’s confusing me—my other credit card actually gave me an increase over twice its limit just about three weeks ago. That’s part of why this feels out of the blue.

This will be why. They will have assessed that over all, you have too much credit available to you!

This is probably your answer then, overall you have been given access to a higher credit option elsewhere, BC are not comfortable that you would be easily able to repay both if you suddenly maxed them both out.

It happens occasionally when people don't ever really use most of their limit, particularly when economic outlook is iffy. It helps them lower their risk.

I had this with NatWest a couple of years ago. Never even close to my limit and they lowered it.

Even though I'd never get close to the decreased limit either I was still affronted 🤣and called them up. explanation was they reviewed limits constantly and they could see from spending/payment habits I didn't need the original higher limit and asked me if I wanted it reinstating for anything (bit embarrassed to say no after all that 😬)

I bet it's that op.

It would matter to me because a higher credit limit means a higher credit score

Currys did this to me. I had £2000 credit, only a couple of months left to pay, never missed a payment but they decreased it to around £500. I closed my account as I didn’t need it any longer.

Do you need the credit? If you pay it off, get an Amex - you get better perks!

They do it because periodically they amend their lending and affordability criteria, so if they applied their current criteria to you when you took out the credit card in the past, you would have been provided a smaller credit limit.

It won't be anything you've done. It will be to comply with banking rules and regulations regarding lending that are constantly being looked at reviewed.

Did it to me with an overdraft. Very annoying.

What would I do?

Ring them up and have a conversation, isn't that pretty much the only thing to do? I don't like webchats so avoid them wherever possible

YABU to say you're "pissed". That means you're drunk*. Maybe that's why Barclays did it.

*or American

Yes but are you only ever making the minimum payment?