To be offered a 15k Credit card limit when I earn 8k

[MyopiaUtopia]

AIBU to think this is shockingly irresponsible from my credit card company...

So I've had a CC for about a year with a 5k limit on it and I have never had more than a 1.2k balance and nearly always have paid off in full. Mainly use it for paying for holidays and to boost my credit score. I am a student and when I applied for the card I estimated my yearly earnings from my PT job to be about 7-8k a year so I was pretty shocked to be offered a 5k limit in the first place.

Today out of the blue I got an email and a letter offering to up it to 13k and if I just accepted the offer I could use this new limit within 15 mins!

Okay I know I dont have to accept it but surely I am not the only one to think this is crazy and really irresponsible from the company!? Has anyone else had similar happen to them? Through circumstances outside his control my dad has had lots of issues with CC debt and this just makes me angry :(

My credit card company don’t even offer they just do. I’ve had this card 12 years now and the credit limit started at £1300, it’s now £17,600.
I don’t have anything on it, but I do have the card in case of an emergency.

You do know this is how credit card companies work right? They’re not lovely charitable organizations out to help people who might need a bit of spare cash? They’re horrible companies out to make money and if people make irresponsible decision then all the better for them!

No need to be patronising @KittyJune I'm more than aware of that :( I guess I'm just surprised there isn't some kind of legislation in place to control credit limits based on income/other factors somehow.

I agree OP. Lenders allegedly tightened their criteria and rules after the 2008 crash but there are a lot of ‘offers’ which show this isn’t always the case.

YANBU - luckily you have a sensible head on your shoulders but many are not financially mature and would happily take them up on this offer.

Hopefully they’re only offering it to you as you have a history of paying back but who knows!

Especially considering there are affordability checks that seem more stringent with things like mobile phone contracts/property renting/bank loans

I mean I got rejected by a credit check for a £30pm contract from CarephoneWarehouse but yet the CC company can throw 13k at me.

I earn 50k and got declined for a credit card yesterday!!! I was honestly shocked. I did just put a 20k loan in my name last year as it was cheaper to do house Reno this way rather than add to mortgage so I'm assuming it's that, but even so... i only wanted to for holiday booking protection! Not sure what to do now!

Your credit limit really doesn’t matter as long as it is high enough

Just don’t charge more than you can afford to pay off every month.

Mine is also 17k limit. The key is not to spend it.
I never let mine go over 3k and pay it off regularly.
It's a useful safety net and good enough for me credit score.
It's also how a capitalist society works.
You don't have to buy in. You don't have to spend recklessly.

I agree.

It’s disingenuous to say You do know this is how credit card companies work right? They’re not lovely charitable organizations out to help people who might need a bit of spare cash? because they are supposed to abide by Responsible Lending rules. Offering twice your salary is not responsible IMO although I suppose their algorithms say otherwise.

It's also how a capitalist society works.
You don't have to buy in. You don't have to spend recklessly

A capitalist society should still be expected to have an obligation to protect it's most vulnerable. How many people with severe MH issues (just as an example) have been offered these crazy credit limits without any effort to check if they are suitable for them?

It is irresponsible. I daren’t tell you what the credit limit is on one of mine. Luckily for me I am fiscally responsible.

Spam reported.

Capitalist society has no expectation to protect the vulnerable. If anything that's the opposite of capitalism.