I received yet another interesting piece of mail (by Canada Post) a few days ago, which had me scratching my head for a second. The letter congratulated me on being a good customer and for paying off my credit card debt in a timely fashion (that is an odd thing to read from your creditor, these days), and because of this I was being offered to have my credit limit raised.
My initial thought was, how nice and confusing. Normally this letter would be included with my latest statement which would then reflect the increase in credit rating, but then I remembered that the government had enacted new rules (you can read the release here) changing how this all works, in specific:
“Requiring express consent for credit limit increases.“
CG-5 Consent for increases in credit limits
The letter did go on to say that I had to contact MasterCard to increase my credit limit, which of course I don’t plan on doing, but it is good to see that the new rules have come into play.
I thought that there was also a mention of not allowing the credit card firms to send out those “cheques” (aka Cash Advances) mailings, but I don’t see any mention of this (and I have continued to receive those in the mail, which I then must shred).
I’d like to see more regulations on other aspects of the Credit Explosion but these are a good start.
It doesn’t mean you have to use it…at least down here in the states (not sure how it is up there) but our credit score is derived, in part, by credit utilization. So if my credit limit went up without me knowing my credit score would also increase regardless if I knew.
Why is the increase in credit limit a bad thing? You don’t have to use it.
Seriously? An increased credit limit, without someone knowing, is a good thing? Can’t see the up side.
Those rules don’t stop people from increasing their credit limit if they wish to, but at least people have to consciously think about what they are doing before they give themselves room to take on more debt.
Very true, but this stops stealth increases