No flexibility for temp CC limit increase?

[derrickgoh]

I don't know about other banks but I'm surprised SC has no flexibility at all.

Thanks to its 3% cashback, the Manhattan World card is good for purchases of $3,000 and above. Well I have a purchase coming up that is almost $12,000 and naturally the card I thought of was the Manhattan World.

Problem is, I've charged quite a lot to my card already and there is no way I can add a charge of $12,000 as it will exceed my limit. So I emailed SC to ask if they could temporarily increase my limit for this month so I can make the purchase.

I even said I was prepared to pre-pay i.e. I do an online transfer of $12,000 to my Manhattan World account first if they are worried I am unable to pay that amount.

They said they do not allow temp CC credit increase for this reason. They will only allow if I am going overseas or for medical expenses. I found it weird because why does it matter what the purpose is? First of all its a temp increase for 1 month not a permanent increase. Secondly, why are they willing to increase if I am traveling but not for when I am buying an expensive item? Some more I told them I can prepay the amount if they are afraid I will abscond without paying.

When I asked these questions, they did not even bother to reply. Says a lot about how SC treats its customers I must say.

Anyway, I must thank SC. After this snub I just discovered that the maximum cashback I can get on my Manhattan World card is $200 per quarter. Had I charged the full $12,000 to my card, the 3% cashback would have been $360 but since their max is $200, I would have "lost" $160.

Suffice to say, when I realised this I made changes to my plan. I will now just charge $6,700 to my Manhattan World card which will give me $201 cashback. I just lose $1 which is no biggie.

And the remaining $5,300 I will charge to my ANZ Travel Card. With every $1 spent I get 1.4 points, so with $5,300 I get 7,420 points. Based on the cashback redemption rate of 7,000 points for $50, I will get $50. So total cash back for both cards combined would be $250.

So thank you SC for not being flexible and not even bothering to reply to my queries. I just managed to get an extra $50 cashback thanks to you. Too bad for you though. Assuming you get 2% admin fee for every transaction, you could have earned $240 if you had temp increased my limit. But because you didn't, you only earned $134.

But I guess $106 is peanuts to you. But think about it, if you earn $100 less from every other cardholder, this adds up. Perhaps if you revamped your way of doing things rather than laying off staff, you will not lose so much money and will not need to lay off so many staff.

 

[Trazora]

Actually you can have both manhatten card and manhatten world card. Each card with 3% rebate for >$3000 spending, rebate limit of $200 per quarter. Total rebate limit $400

 

[denial86]

I find it funny that you know the Manhattan gives 3% rebate but did not bother to check the cap of the rebate amount.. I'm also pretty sure that there's a better rebate card that the ANZ Travel Card.

Even the Amex True Cashback can give you at least $79.50 based on 1.5% rebate if you have already utilized their sign up promo of 5% for first 5k spendings in first 3 months which would give you $250.

 

[Trazora]

Also, correct me if I am wrong, I thought if you pay to the credit card in advance, the amount you can spend on the card should be the usual credit limit+whatever excess cash credit on the card?

 

[derrickgoh]

Actually you can have both manhatten card and manhatten world card. Each card with 3% rebate for >$3000 spending, rebate limit of $200 per quarter. Total rebate limit $400

The Manhattan Card is limited to $500 and the cashback is only 0.25%. You probably meant the Manhattan Platinum which is no longer issued BTW.

As far as new issues go its either Manhattan World or the $500 limit Manhattan.

 

[derrickgoh]

I find it funny that you know the Manhattan gives 3% rebate but did not bother to check the cap of the rebate amount.. I'm also pretty sure that there's a better rebate card that the ANZ Travel Card.

Even the Amex True Cashback can give you at least $79.50 based on 1.5% rebate if you have already utilized their sign up promo of 5% for first 5k spendings in first 3 months which would give you $250.

Well as far as the cards that I am holding are concerned, ANZ Travel is the next best. Anyway this place doesn't accept Amex. That is why I didn't bother applying for TCB card, because not everyone accepts Amex.

According to you using TCB would give $250 and by going this route of mine I also get $250, so I don't see the diff. Anyway main issue is this place doesn't accept Amex so even if they gave 10% cashback also no use.

 

[derrickgoh]

Also, correct me if I am wrong, I thought if you pay to the credit card in advance, the amount you can spend on the card should be the usual credit limit+whatever excess cash credit on the card?

Yes that's my understanding. So since my remaining credit limit is not enough to cover this $12,000 that's why I was prepared to pre-pay.

For e.g. if my limit is only left $2,000 then when I pre-pay the $12,000 that gives me a total of $14,000 which is more than enough.

But apparently even that is not good enough for SC and they insist it has to be for their stipulated reasons.

Really stupid I feel. You are prepared to increase my limit if I am traveling probably because you feel I will be spending more. But when I have a large purchase one off you are not prepared to increase.

 

[denial86]

Well as far as the cards that I am holding are concerned, ANZ Travel is the next best. Anyway this place doesn't accept Amex. That is why I didn't bother applying for TCB card, because not everyone accepts Amex.

According to you using TCB would give $250 and by going this route of mine I also get $250, so I don't see the diff. Anyway main issue is this place doesn't accept Amex so even if they gave 10% cashback also no use.

Since Amex not accepted then no choice. But I meant $250 on top of the $200 you would have gotten from Manhattan card which would give you $450.

 

[Trazora]

I believe there are MAS guidelines governing the temporary limit increase.

 

[starbugs]

Yes, it's due to MAS guidelines.

Just tell the bank you are going overseas. They will not check whether you are really going overseas

 

[beri stupid idiot]

I don't know about other banks but I'm surprised SC has no flexibility at all.

Thanks to its 3% cashback, the Manhattan World card is good for purchases of $3,000 and above. Well I have a purchase coming up that is almost $12,000 and naturally the card I thought of was the Manhattan World.

Problem is, I've charged quite a lot to my card already and there is no way I can add a charge of $12,000 as it will exceed my limit. So I emailed SC to ask if they could temporarily increase my limit for this month so I can make the purchase.

I even said I was prepared to pre-pay i.e. I do an online transfer of $12,000 to my Manhattan World account first if they are worried I am unable to pay that amount.

They said they do not allow temp CC credit increase for this reason. They will only allow if I am going overseas or for medical expenses. I found it weird because why does it matter what the purpose is? First of all its a temp increase for 1 month not a permanent increase. Secondly, why are they willing to increase if I am traveling but not for when I am buying an expensive item? Some more I told them I can prepay the amount if they are afraid I will abscond without paying.

When I asked these questions, they did not even bother to reply. Says a lot about how SC treats its customers I must say.

Anyway, I must thank SC. After this snub I just discovered that the maximum cashback I can get on my Manhattan World card is $200 per quarter. Had I charged the full $12,000 to my card, the 3% cashback would have been $360 but since their max is $200, I would have "lost" $160.

Suffice to say, when I realised this I made changes to my plan. I will now just charge $6,700 to my Manhattan World card which will give me $201 cashback. I just lose $1 which is no biggie.

And the remaining $5,300 I will charge to my ANZ Travel Card. With every $1 spent I get 1.4 points, so with $5,300 I get 7,420 points. Based on the cashback redemption rate of 7,000 points for $50, I will get $50. So total cash back for both cards combined would be $250.

So thank you SC for not being flexible and not even bothering to reply to my queries. I just managed to get an extra $50 cashback thanks to you. Too bad for you though. Assuming you get 2% admin fee for every transaction, you could have earned $240 if you had temp increased my limit. But because you didn't, you only earned $134.

But I guess $106 is peanuts to you. But think about it, if you earn $100 less from every other cardholder, this adds up. Perhaps if you revamped your way of doing things rather than laying off staff, you will not lose so much money and will not need to lay off so many staff.

 

[louist]

That should be indeed the case. I've done it before, though not for SCB.

Reason why the CSO might have said it won't work is that this isn't really a 'credit limit' increase - it's just increasing the amount of credit you have available on the card? Not sure if it's actually differentiated that way officially, though. Just a guess.

Also, correct me if I am wrong, I thought if you pay to the credit card in advance, the amount you can spend on the card should be the usual credit limit+whatever excess cash credit on the card?

 

[hogrider88]

wah. recently i apply for singpost card, at the same time i ask for credit limit increase (for my manhattan card as well) never approve..... max rebate must spend $6666 leh.. they give me lower than that.

i was planning to pre-pay before i spend also, so no use lah?

 

[zoossh]

Also, correct me if I am wrong, I thought if you pay to the credit card in advance, the amount you can spend on the card should be the usual credit limit+whatever excess cash credit on the card?

didnt read the wot. but my vague idea is sum of multiple transaction can be credit-limit + prepay, but single transaction will still be limited by the credit limit. dunno if anyone can confirm that, and if that is standardised practise for all banks or only for some banks.

but i also had a lot of runs with scb.

i ask for a credit limit review, and dunno why they only change the credit limit for some cards and miss out my manhattan card. i thot everywhere the banks used a single credit limit shared equally by all cc, but somehow got such lapse.

i apply for singpost card under privi banking, more than 5 weeks no sound, send 2 secured emails ask me to wait, called in always say cannot connect to cc department.

probably handled by some of the fake degrees. sian 1/2.

 

[Trazora]

wah. recently i apply for singpost card, at the same time i ask for credit limit increase (for my manhattan card as well) never approve..... max rebate must spend $6666 leh.. they give me lower than that.

i was planning to pre-pay before i spend also, so no use lah?

I think pre-pay should work leh. currently there is rebate remaining in my card and this increases my usuable credit. You can try to see

 

[fatboy71]

ok I've never had a banking relationshio with SC and I will most likely not have any in future. There are may alternatives so best you spread your lurve elsewhere

 

[dlrowehtleah]

barring the rebate cap, i don't see any problem for you to top up or prepaid your credit card account. let alone seeking their approval.

it's like your credit limit is 1k, you spent $100.10 but you paid $150. so your overall usable credit limit is 1000-100.10+150 = 1049.90. the bank can't limit your spending to just 1k because you have in excess of that given limit.

for the temporary credit increment part, my understanding is that lately all banks are quite reluctant to accede to this type of request. probably because of impending MAS rules. and it doesn't work as your perceived. if your credit limit is $2k and you apply for a temporary limit increase of an additional $10k. on top of that you also pledge $12k in to your card account, then the total available credit limit for that month will balooned to 2k + 10k + 12k = $24k! hence, the deposit that you plan to made can not be taken as a surety for the bank. since the whole lump sum is at your disposal.

Yes that's my understanding. So since my remaining credit limit is not enough to cover this $12,000 that's why I was prepared to pre-pay.

For e.g. if my limit is only left $2,000 then when I pre-pay the $12,000 that gives me a total of $14,000 which is more than enough.

But apparently even that is not good enough for SC and they insist it has to be for their stipulated reasons.

Really stupid I feel. You are prepared to increase my limit if I am traveling probably because you feel I will be spending more. But when I have a large purchase one off you are not prepared to increase.

 

[derrickgoh]

That should be indeed the case. I've done it before, though not for SCB.

Reason why the CSO might have said it won't work is that this isn't really a 'credit limit' increase - it's just increasing the amount of credit you have available on the card? Not sure if it's actually differentiated that way officially, though. Just a guess.

Well l did ask for a temp increase in credit limit but stated that if needed I was willing to pre-pay so its like giving them 2 choices.

They rejected option 1 and didn't bother reply to option 2. Oh well, their loss not mine. I only bother with Manhattan World for purchases $3,000 and over anyway which is not too often, rest of the time its gathering dust.

 

[derrickgoh]

barring the rebate cap, i don't see any problem for you to top up or prepaid your credit card account. let alone seeking their approval.

it's like your credit limit is 1k, you spent $100.10 but you paid $150. so your overall usable credit limit is 1000-100.10+150 = 1049.90. the bank can't limit your spending to just 1k because you have in excess of that given limit.

Yes, any logical person with half a brain would think of that. Not the CSO I dealt with unfortunately.

I asked for temp increase and even said if that's not possible I was willing to pre-pay but just make sure my card doesn't get rejected as that would be major embarrassing.

Was flat out told you can't get an increase. Didn't even bother addressing my second option. That's South Asians for you.

 

[naro]

Yes, it's due to MAS guidelines.

Just tell the bank you are going overseas. They will not check whether you are really going overseas

Yup. That's the way to do it. They do not care.