Is It Harder to Get a CC if You Already Have 1?

[skywalka]

Hi guys.

I heard about the GoMoney card's 62 days interest free & no annual fee. http://www.gomastercard.com.au/CardBenefits.htm So I decided to get one to migrate from my Westpac Holden Mastercard http://www.westpac.com.au/internet/publish.nsf/Content/PBCCCSCR+Holden+MasterCard which has an annual fee & only 55 days interest free.

I have a $10,500 limit on my Westpac Holden Mastercard with no payments outstanding. I was surprised when my GoMoney card was only given a $2,500 limit. I have shown I can manage my current card and, with my salary, they would know I can afford a lot more than that.

I'm thinking I might have got a higher limit if I totally cancelled the other card. Any opinions on this?

Also when I got the GoMoney Mastercard I learnt that there is a one-off $30 activation fee! (So much for no annual fee.) Since applying for the GoMoney card I had learnt of the Coles Myer Source Mastercard which is similar to the GoMoney card in that it is also 62 days interest free & has no annual fee. So I decided not to activate the GoMoney card & I applied for a Coles Myer Source Mastercard because it doesn't appear to have an activation fee. http://source.com.au/MasterCard/

I've just received the Coles Myer Source Mastercard & I've only been given
a limit of $750. This is pretty useless & I will have to be especially diligent using it to make sure I don't exceed the limit, especially since I was hoping to make the most of the 62 days interest free.

The Coles Myer Source Mastercard & the GoMoney Mastercard are both managed by GE Money. Would the Coles Myer Source management think that I may use the GoMoney card? I didn't declare the GoMoney card on the Coles Myer Source application form because I never intended to activate/use it. Maybe if I cancel the GoMoney card they will let me increase my Coles Myer Source Mastercard.

Thanx 4 looking.

 

[SeatBackForward]

Not sure if this answers the topic or not,anyhow, unlike the USa, Australia doesn't keep a "good" credit register, only a "bad" credit register that your name goes onto if you miss payments or have defaulted previously etc..

And I think recently the limit for getting onto that list changed from $20 to $100 (that is, if you owed more than $100 to anyone).

What this means is, is that if you've never had any problem with credit, you won' tbe on a list as such and therefore, what your limit is is wholly at the discretion of the credit provider.

 

[NM]

What this means is, is that if you've never had any problem with credit, you won' tbe on a list as such and therefore, what your limit is is wholly at the discretion of the credit provider.

Its a little more complicated than that. They also have access to your credit history from information sources such as Baycorp, and that will show all the applications you have made for a credit facility. That includes any personal loans, home loans, credit cards, store cards, store loans etc. Seeing a number of applications for credit in a short period of time can be a risk flag to the credit provider as it could indicate someone who is desperate for large amounts of credit or trying to move debt between facilities to maximise benefits from things like interest-free days or balance transfers.

So yes, they will know you recently applied for a different credit card, even though it was never activated. Its the application that gets flagged on your Baycorp reference.

 

[mileagemax]

Even GE's internal systems would show that you already got the Go MasterCard, and would have suggested that you are very eager to get credit. I would call them and explain that you want to cancel the Go Mastercard and see if they can increase the credit limit on the Coles Myer Source Mastercard.

 

[one9]

I wouldn't bother calling them and trying to explain as it is very unlikely you or the operator would have any ability to change anything.

When you applied for your second credit card, if you had of declared your credit card limit of your first card as $2000, then you would have likely received a much larger limit.

The second card issuer works out how much credit they think you should have. Then they consider you already have a credit card with $10500 credit.

Your third credit card being issued by the same issuer means they can actually see your actual credit limit on your second card. They also would see that you applied for your second card and third card in a very short time period. This is not good.

I would suggest now, keeping one of the GE Money cards. After 6-12 months, request a credit increase. You can keep doing this every 8-14 months.

Don't go applying for more credit cards. Wait preferably a year before thinking about applying for a new credit card.

 

[JohnK]

I would suggest now, keeping one of the GE Money cards. After 6-12 months, request a credit increase. You can keep doing this every 8-14 months.

I have found with GE that you can apply for credit increases every 3 months. Keep them small, like $1000 credit limit increase at a time, and if you provide them with your pay slips and have shown over a period of time that you can manage your repayments they will continue to increase your credit limit.

 

[oz_mark]

I find that GE sends me an offer to increase my credit limit with great regularity.

 

[Gulliver]

I believe they treat every creditcard as if it were maxed out to consider your debt level, then the minimum monthly repayments when determining your ability to repay.
So cancelling un-used cards would surely help.
My wife applied for an Ezy mastercard and got me an additional card, but on her incomes they gave a really low limit, and we could not persuade them to consider my income.
They finally came around, and have offered us an increase regularly since then - we're at $20,000 now which is more than we'll ever need.
(But might cause a problem now that they're ditching this card and we need to shop around again.)

I think they also will only consider an increase every 6 months.

 

[skywalka]

For those who are interested I rang the Source Mastercard people & got an Indian call centre & tried to apply for a credit limit increase. I was denied. (I'd also tried the automated online credit limit online & was denied.) I explained the situation & they sent me a generic form to fill out.

I knew I wasn't getting anywhere with someone I could hardly understand on the other side of the planet. I went to the GE Money website & emailed them directly. I asked if I could cancel the GO Money card & switch the credit limit to the Source card. I received a call back the next day saying that the cards had seperate criteria & they couldn't do this.

However they said if I send them the last 3 statements of my regular credit card to prove I have no overlimits or outstanding minimum payments they would match the credit limit. I did this & everything is good now.

ps GE Money say they are going to refund the activation fee for the GO Mastercard:
GE Money to refund credit card fee - Breaking News - Business - Breaking News