Daily Rant

Haven't a clue about 'activating your card' - but the first one - I understand - and IF you had still been in Calif and "I" was using your card in NM - you'd have been happy to tell them to not go through with that transaction. Which is why - before you travel - you need to tell your banker you are traveling and where you might be using your card and perhaps you don't expect to be using it at a jewelry store or to purchase a car. and today - they should have your cell phone number - if you have a cell - which I don't. (cave man still)

Sounds like you need to cancel the card and close all accounts with that credit union and find someone else to provide your financial services. Any minor ding on your credit, (I don't believe there will be any) is not worth dealing with such poor service. BTW, my credit score is most likely zero since I don't do debt, hasn't seemed to effect me.

I tell my bank when I'm traveling now. They have gotten more security conscious, but what you're describing, Kathleen, sounds ridiculous.

I recently tried to transfer money via Paypal from my office here to my home office overseas. It wouldn't go through. I've used that account before to pay overseas translators, so I called and asked "What's the deal?". The woman on the phone said she would "flag the account" so the transfer would go through. The transfer still wouldn't go through. I finally just went to the bank and did it by normal wire transfer bank to bank. Not as bad as your experience.

I never heard that cancelling a credit card will hurt your credit. I don't see how that would have anything to do with your credit as long as you are up to date on everything (???).

"cancelling a credit card will hurt your credit" the word is "can" hurt your credit - not necessarily that it will,

No one else has a non-related rant? Wow! Good news for a Monday!

There are a couple credit-score-related reasons why I've kept the card even though I'll never use it again:
1.) Balance-to-limit ratio. It has a very high limit, which combined with the limits on other cards, helps offset any charge I make elsewhere.
2.) A longer positive history is beneficial to credit scores. I've had that card forever and always paid every dime before interest kicked in.
3.) If I cancel the card, I have to rely on the credit union to report that the account was "closed at the consumer's request." Yeah, like I'd trust them to do that.

OK, back to painting.

I have had that happen on several occasions. They also send you an email that you can access from anywhere. As soon as the first charge is tuned down and you are out of town you need to call them immediately.

The first time this happened to me, it was a turn down of a $20,000 world cruise they tried to charge. Kind of makes you glad they are looking out for you.

This is the new world we live in and this is only going to get worse.

I would not do business with a credit card company that did not have an aggressive protection plan. The other thing you can do is call them before you leave on a trip and they will put a note you your file and that will prevent them from freezing your account.

The credit card companies have a certain amount of exposure here and they are trying to protect themselves, as right they should. When you fail to respond, they shut it down. They really have no other choice.

Look at it the other way. How would like to have been charged with a $20,000 world cruise or even a couple hundred in a fancy restaurant and have to then prove that you didn't make the charges? That is not always as easy as it may seem.

What they are looking at is unusual buyer behavior and other things that trigger the protection policies.

I have never heard of cancelling a credit card hurting your credit. In fact having too many, high limit credit cards can hurt your credit and get you turned down for a loan even if you don’t owe a dime on those cards. Your credit rating is based on existing debt AND contingent liabilities.

Let's say your income and other qualifications say you are qualified for a $100,000 loan and you don't owe a dime to anyone. But let’s also say that you have 4 credit cards with 25,000 limits each. That contingent liability can disqualify you at a lot of cautious lenders (the ones with the lowest rates). What they sees is that if they max out you ability to pay with a $100,000 loan, you have the ability to take on an additional $100,000 by simply maxing out your four credit cards. That would basically put you in a position were you could not make the payments from their point of view.

This happened decades ago when I did not have a cell phone or access to the internet. I did call them immediately from a phone booth when I found out they'd shut down my card. It was shortly after I got back that they began calling me EVERY time I charged ANY amount to that card so I stopped using it. I hadn't been making charges that were unusual for my buying history and since I'd been using that card for a long time, they knew my pattern, or they sure should have. Their new policy was nothing short of harassment since my spending shouldn't have raised any flags so I stopped using that card and problem solved. Other banks and credit unions that I do business with have security policies in place and track my patterns but none of them find it necessary to call me every time I make a purchase, large or small. These days, AMEX is my card of choice for darn near everything. The best customer service ever!

Oh, and apparently the high limits on my cards have not hurt my FICO score since the number is one of the highest attainable. The fact that I have the ability to charge that much and never have in all these many years does count.

It won't effect your borrowing or your rating until you make the application that would put you close to the maxim based on your ability to pay. Your FICO score is based on the reality of what is. That changes or could change as soon as you file an application for a loan. Everyone has a limit based on their ability to pay. Even Bill Gates. His limit is just a little higher then the average! lol

It is the same thing as a line of credit. You can not open up a line of credit that surpasses your ability to pay, even if you don't draw down on the credit line.

Ask any loan officer about contingent liability. The can explain it better then me. It is a real thing.

Those kinds of things were a big part of why we had the financial melt down a few years back. It was not only about the housing industry. I was about how people could not pay back their loans and par to that reason is they kept opening up new credit cards to pay those loans. So they put a stop to that.

That is why they ask for all of your credit cards and other liabilities when you fill out an ap for a loan.

Before you respond, read the following post also.

How to get a good credit rating http://www.moneysupermarket.com/credit-cards/what-is-a-good-credit-score/


It goes without saying that the best way to improve your credit rating is to manage your debts well. Don’t miss any monthly payments, stick to the payment deadline and stay within your credit limit.

The information on your credit report is important because it can affect your ability to borrow money

It’s also a good idea to close any old credit card accounts before you apply for further credit. You might owe nothing on the cards, but the lender will look at all your available credit before it makes a decision on your application.


And....

But it’s not all about poor debt management. You will more than likely struggle to borrow money in the future if you have never borrowed money in the past as you will have little or no credit history. And no credit history makes it tricky for the lender to assess your creditworthiness.

EDITED: I forgot this line in that report:

You could even end up with a poor credit score if you are the model customer. People who borrow only small amounts or who prudently pay off their credit card bills in full each month are not profitable for lenders, so are often turned down for credit.

If I was not already a homeowner with lots of equity and/or was looking to buy more expensive property, and if I didn't already have enough toys and vehicles to see me through (as my dear old papa used to say) I might care about lenders and their perceptions of risk. With the exception of my home and property I haven't bought big ticket items on credit. I've never even made payments on a vehicle. If I can't afford it, I can't afford it with credit either. At this time in my life, keeping a great credit rating is simply a point of honor. Nothing more. But thanks for all the info.

I don't understand how it's a point of honor to maintain debt. That's all a FICO score is a debt maintenance score. I prefer to be debt free (and therefore risk free) than keep debt for the sake of keeping some artificial number high. So many people are recognizing the silliness of the FICO score and dumping their debt that now FICO is developing another kind of score that doesn't require debt to prove you're financially responsible, (seems oxymoronic doesn't it, "I keep debt therefore I'm financially responsible."?).

The good thing about my bad credit is I have no worries when it comes to identity theft! I pay the most important bill every month and on time- mortgage!

David, did you read any of my posts? If you did, I can't imagine how you came to the conclusion that I have debt and am proud of it. Other than a small balance on my HELOC, that carries a ridiculously low interest rate, I am completely debt free! I've paid for the 3 new cameras I bought within the past year before any interest kicked in, I own my 3 vehicles free and clear and paid cash for them. I've never had credit card debt in my life.

When I was young I saw what debt did to people who couldn't manage money and it affected me deeply. I made a promise to myself then that if I was ever going to use credit cards, I'd make damn sure the card companies never took a dime of interest from me and I've kept that promise for the 40+ years that I've used them. I don't charge unless I'm sure I can cover it before it's due. I'm pretty loose with most aspects of my life but that ain't one of them.

Though slightly different had the same experience. Used a MasterCard, no balance on it, and the date good till 2017. When I finally called the card bank, was told they would not accept any charges to the card as were sending a new card with a newer, better chip,so in the meantime my old card was unusable...ha, ha, ha! That new card came 2 weeks later. Now should I just let that one go? Not use? If you do that if drops your credit rating down a notch or two. It's interest rate is high anyway. So....buy a $10 item once a year, pay the bill, keep the card and rating. Weird!

"At this time in my life, keeping a great credit rating is simply a point of honor. "

That's what I was responding to, your words. I never said anything about being proud, just "honor" which is the word you used. BTW, if your credit score is so important to you then you should carry a balance on your card, even using it and paying off the balance every month will at the least not help your score but could possibly hurt it. FICO rewards people that maintain debt, not those that pay off debt or don't carry debt at all.

Then I guess there's no accounting for the fact that my FICO is over 800. I take pride in keeping my promises whether they are to myself or others. My life's been a pretty rough ride in many respects but knowing that I've done something right all these years no matter how hard it was is a point of honor.