I Had No Clue You Could Shift Credit Limits Around!

Over the weekend, I decided to call our credit card companies and have them stop sending blank checks and balance transfer offers. After cleaning house and shredding a whole bunch of them, I decided enough was enough. While on the phone with one of my cards, I asked the operator if I could also have them take me off their marketing list for my other card that is issued by the same parent company. He said that wouldn’t be a problem and he took me off the other list. Then he went into the usual bit about balance transfers I have available…blah, blah, blah.

I was feeling a little frisky, so I flat out told the guy that I have a huge balance I wouldn’t mind transferring to my card, but the offers available were not good enough. All of them had huge balance transfer fees and were very short durations. He asked me to hold on a second while he checked on something.

Ever have that feeling like you might be getting somewhere? You have a dazed look on your face that is a mixture of being surprised and not believing what is happening? That’s what it was like. After the longest few seconds on the phone, he came back and said I have an offer of 3.9% for the life of the balance with no balance transfer fee.

I was in shock. That was a pretty darn good deal and one of the best ones I’ve seen in a long time.

I was brought back into reality when he told me the offer was for my other card with a small balance. I told the operator that my credit limit with that card is so small that it’s not worth it. Then he dropped the bomb…

I could shift some or all of the available credit from my higher rate card to the lower rate card. It would take about 30 minutes for the transfer request to get through their system. Then I could take advantage of the 3.9% offer and have a higher credit limit to work with.

I feel silly because I never knew for certain that you could shift credit limits around like this. I first learned about the possibility of shifting credit limits a few days ago from another personal finance blogger. He wasn’t sure if I had to close one of the cards, though. But after my call, I found out that I can shift as much of the limit around as I wanted to and I can keep both cards open. And it’s all because both cards were issued by the same parent company.

Back to the telphone call, I wrote everything down and repeated it back to the operator. I wanted to make sure I got everything right. The poor guy really wanted to seal the deal, but I told him I have to think about it some more before doing anything. That’s a big rule I have. When it comes to credit cards, I make sure I think about what I am doing first!

After hanging up on the phone, I felt a little twinge in my stomach. Why? Because I had just applied for a 0% offer the day before. Applications can take a while to process and there was no guarantee I would get the card and get a suitable credit limit. What should I do?

Whenever I don’t feel comfortable about things that are happening, I wait. Maybe I just sleep on it or maybe I wait for a few days to see if anything else happens. In any case, I am super glad I didn’t go ahead with that balance transfer offer because I ended up with and even better offer.

I’ll tell you about that tomorrow, and also share some interesting tidbits that I learned from a credit card operator.

Posted by Tricia on September 5, 2007 at 10:55 PM in Credit Cards | 24 Comments »
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Maria responded:
Posted: September 5th, 2007 at 11:08 pm
It never hurts to ask right? The worst they can say is no.

This is definitely a teaching moment though, I think I’ll call my one and only card with a $17,000 balance and see if they will reduce the interest. Wish me luck!
Pinyo responded:
Posted: September 5th, 2007 at 11:35 pm
I shifted line of credit before to take advantage of different card features. Overall, I think you are getting a pretty good deal.
FlatGreg responded:
Posted: September 5th, 2007 at 11:37 pm
Seems to make sense. I had two credit cards through the same company at one point, and when I canceled one they combined the credit limits onto the remaining card.
CGroup responded:
Posted: September 6th, 2007 at 12:05 am
Beware of any ‘universal default’ clause if there is one. This clause allows the credit card bank to raise your interest rate automatically if you’re late on payments elsewhere — such as on another credit card or on a phone, car, or house payment — or simply because the bank feels you have taken on too much debt.

Also, never use that card for purchases. If you do, your payment will go toward the lower interest rate first while your purchase grows at the higher rate.
SingleGuyMoney responded:
Posted: September 6th, 2007 at 6:31 am
I didn’t know you could do this either until about a yr ago. I learned you could do this from reading personal finance blogs!
Side note: If you have multiple AMEX cards, they allow you to reallocate your credit cards online.
Patrick responded:
Posted: September 6th, 2007 at 7:00 am
This sounds like a good deal. Hopefully this works out for you. 3.9% will make it much easier to pay those cards off more quickly, as I know you will apply the same amount to the principal! Less interest paid is always good.
Lynnae @ Being Frugal responded:
Posted: September 6th, 2007 at 9:00 am
I never knew you could do this! Thanks for the tip!
Starving Artist responded:
Posted: September 6th, 2007 at 9:35 am
Congrats on working on shifting your loans! Sounds like your suffering from a plethora of good choices, which isn’t a bad place to be. Does the 0% have a transfer fee, and is it for 6 or 12 months? Maybe you can split the difference: put as much on the 0% as you think you can pay off by the time the rate ends, and shift the rest to the 3.9%, and hold that steady.

Go you and your rock star self.
chitowngirl responded:
Posted: September 6th, 2007 at 11:51 am
I was able to do the same thing with my Chase card. I transferred my HELOC which was at prime + 2.5% to the 3.99% for the life of the balance. Awesome!!! =)
chitowngirl responded:
Posted: September 6th, 2007 at 11:52 am
I was able to do the same thing with my Chase card. I transferred my HELOC which was at prime + 2.5% to the 3.99% for the life of the balance. Awesome!!! =)
Ms. M&P responded:
Posted: September 6th, 2007 at 12:53 pm
Nice! I didn’t know that either. thanks!
Jim ~ mydebtblog.com responded:
Posted: September 6th, 2007 at 5:24 pm
Here’s my problem with doing this transfer from one higher rate card to another card. They are still going to treat it as a balance transfer and giving you this wonderful 3.9% life of the balance on whatever amount you bring over. Your current balance is on your card will still be subject to your regular APR. Chances are this is higher than the 3.9% balance transfer APR you could get. So when you make a payment, they’re going to apply it to the lower of the two rates. As your balance transfer starts paying off, you’re racking up a bunch of finance charges on your original balance.

I think you made the better move to hang up and think about it. These guys are quick to try and get you to jump on things that sound good like this. I’m always looking for a catch or loophole in every deal I encounter. Wait and see what happens with your 0% before doing this.
The Happy Rock responded:
Posted: September 6th, 2007 at 7:14 pm
Wow, that could be a nice find.

I have always been amazed what can happen when you get people on the phone and just start asking questions. My results with Comcast and such have been nothing less then amazing to me.

I would look into the deal closely, as you never can tell if they are trying to do something sneaky. Especially with credit card companies.
Tricia responded:
Posted: September 6th, 2007 at 8:36 pm
Jim – In my case, both of the cards in question have zero balances. There is one catch, and that’s why I always think things over for a while before doing it. The catch isn’t a big deal if I discontinue it before I transfer the balance. But, it could have gotten me the first month if I didn’t think about it.

However, I’ll be explaining the better deal shortly. I’m working on that right now.
The Offer That's Better than 3.9% » Blogging Away Debt responded:
Posted: September 6th, 2007 at 10:53 pm
[...] Tricia: Jim – In my case, both of the cards in question have zero balances…. [...]
jim responded:
Posted: September 9th, 2007 at 12:12 am
Who gave you that idea?
Roundup for week of 2 September 2007: Black loupe edition at Mighty Bargain Hunter responded:
Posted: September 9th, 2007 at 1:47 am
[...] Blogging Away Debt didn’t know that you could shift credit limits around. [...]
Kellie responded:
Posted: September 10th, 2007 at 12:07 am
Thanks for the tip!
Tricia responded:
Posted: September 10th, 2007 at 7:55 am
Jim – well, since you came forward, I guess I can reveal in the post
The 104th Carnival of Debt Reduction - Digging Out Edition responded:
Posted: September 10th, 2007 at 9:04 am
[...] Blog Whatâ€™s your tipping point? by paidtwice @ I’ve Paid For This Twice Already… I Had No Clue You Could Shift Credit Limits Around! by Tricia @ Blogging Away Debt Necessities You Can Live Without by Meredith H. Kaiser @ Saving [...]
Kellie responded:
Posted: September 10th, 2007 at 8:28 pm
Tricia can you tell us what company you were able to do this with? I tried to do this today with Chase and they will only do what is called a Line Consolidation. You must close the account after transferring the credit limit and the card you are transferring off of must be zero for at least 3 months.
Tricia responded:
Posted: September 10th, 2007 at 9:15 pm
I did it with Citibank. That stinks that they have to close the other card if you try to do it with Chase. That can hurt if the card you’d have to close is your oldest card.
jim responded:
Posted: September 10th, 2007 at 10:26 pm
Hahaha I’ve been outed! I actually just wanted to poke fun at you, that’s all
Katie responded:
Posted: September 12th, 2007 at 2:22 pm
I think you did the right thing to take a step back and think about the choices you have before making an emotional decision.