Those who’ve never had a credit limit reduced, what’s your secret?

[BeUmberLurker]

Just wondered what habits people have who’ve managed to keep their credit limits stable (or even increase over time) without ever having them cut.

Do you keep utilisation low, always pay in full, avoid balance transfers, use the card regularly, keep direct debits in place, something else?

I’ve just been approved for a Barclaycard with a limit of £5k. I used to have a card with them before but they slashed it to just over half my limit which led me to close it. I remember looking online at the time and there was lots of people saying that there are notorious for doing this.

So just interested in what seems to help so I can possibly avoid it again this time!

Had mine for decades and the limit has only every gone up, never down.

Use it to pay for all spend during the month (excluding DD's for bills etc) and then it is automatically paid off at the beginning of the month.
Have never rolled anything over to the next month.

So not relevant to the thread then

@JustGiveMeReason Genuinely had no idea everyone else seems to have credit? I apologise.

I have to ask them to reduce mine!
They keep increasing it - I found out it had a 25k limit and had to phone ask ask they reduce it back down 🥴🥴🥴🥴

We use CC regularly, always repay in full amd earn well 🤷🏻‍♀️

Well we don’t borrow money, other than a mortgage and a loan for a car every 5 years or so. Other than those two big items we only spend the money we have. We don’t go into debt for anything.

I had this happen in my 20’s with overdrafts (which I was always in. ) I also had some small c card/ store card debt.
now I have a c card and a joint c card and I pay balance in full every month and have done for around 15 years. My credit score is high, no loans except mortgage. I have a 1.7k overdraft limit but rarely go into it. Nothing is ever reduced.

Having credit can be a good way to get your credit score up. No credit equals a lower score as there’s no proof you can pay things back.

Did you more than once get close to your credit limit? This might be a red flag.

I don’t think I’ve ever utilised more than a third of my credit limit and usually it’s way less. I pay the balance off by DD each month and credit limit gets increased regularly.

My credit score wasn't 100% and I didn't know why as I'd never had credit, always paid the bills on time, lived here for decades and had a good income! But someone said you do need to actually use credit to increase it. I got a Credit card for paying for a holiday and paid it straight off and it did increase then. You could taking something out, even if it's a small thing.

Keep utilisation low. For me, credit cards are for emergencies, if I don't have it, I don't spend it. Simple.

Of course not ’everyone’ has credit. There will be many people on MN who don’t, but who haven’t commented on this thread because they wouldn’t have any relevant advice for the OP.

Same as pp. Used them and paid in full each month, have only ever had increases.

Closed one recently as I was sat on tens of thousands of available credit and only using a tiny % of that each year.

Second the rec to check your credit files in case anything erroneous has happened.

My limit was quite high when I first got the card with my bank, had it decades now. It's never been reduced even when I didn't pay it off each month, just steadily reduced it. Saying that, I didn't put a great deal on it other than a holiday once. That took a while to reduce but I did it over several months.

Currently, I use it more but pay it off each month. My finances are massively better these days so I can clear it each time.

I’ve never had a credit limit reduced, they only seem to go up! I have several credit cards purely for the rewards, always paid in full, but I have different cards I focus on depending on what I’m collecting reward-wise so some cards sit there dormant for a time, still never had the limit reduced?

I have a cashback Barclaycard as my main spending account so all household spending goes on it with the balance paid off in full every month.

They've gradually increased the limit, so it's now around £12k - average balance sits between around £2k and £5k depending on where in the month and what expenses we've had - everything goes on there including things like car repairs and holidays. I've had this card for a long time - 15-20 years?

I've never had a limit reduced and generally receive a limit of £10-15k when I apply for a new card for balance transfer purposes - I run balances offset by savings to profit from the interest. We're mortgage free and relatively high income, ie well above average but earning 'not that much' by MN standards

That's our situation, but I don't know how lenders see us, we profit from them rather than the other way around, but it's not caused us to be refused credit or been given uselessly small credit limits.

We pay off the full balance before the due date, every month without fail. I use a credit card for almost all of my daily spending.

I didn't know it could be reduced. I've crazy limits on 2 cards circa 20k on one and 25k on the other because I keep getting notifications through that they've increased my limit without me asking. It's crazy as there's probably people out there that will spend to the limit which is just madness.

I pay the full balance every month. I pay for almost everything on my card because I like getting Tesco voucher points).

I don't think it is that although I'm sure there are multiple factors - I moved everything onto one 0% card which took that card fairly close to the limit (but still a fairly low overall credit utilisation) and the limit went up a couple of months later. I've never understood when and why limit increases are applied, it seems completely random.

I always have my limit increased. Just had another one on Barclaycard up to £14500 from £12500. I always carry around £3-5k of debt on my cards moving them around between two cards paying them off booking a holiday then paying it off again. Or just other bits and bobs I pop on there but always with a plan to pay it off so the continuous balance isn’t from items purchased years go that I’m still paying off, rather larger purchases I want a bit longer to pay for. I will balance transfer from the expensive Barclaycard over to my Halifax which are always offering me balance transfer deals and both cards always put my limits up. I’ve never missed a payment, always pay large chunks off & have a good credit score. Rarely take new cards out as the offers I get on the Halifax card serves me well. Works for me.

I have around 10 cards, I think my credit limit for all cards totals around 70k, 8 in regular use. I pay all my cards by DD on the due date. I change all the due dates to the 1st as that suits me better after payday. Some are paid in full, the stoozing cards are minimum payment until the 0% ends, diarised to pay in full before interest incurs. I don't pay fees or interest. I don't recall having a limit reduced.