I don't think that there's been much change in the parameters relating to my cards (one recently signed up for) in recent months. It's the old corporate game - while they love competition among their suppliers ... and among their customers ... they hate it on their own level and work to get rid of their competition at whatever cost: buy the competitors, squeeze them out, start frightening rumours about them or whatever. There aren't a lot of card companies ... so they can pretty well set their own rules ... and we can take it or leave it. They offer unsecured loans ... and have been suffering losses, as people die owing, go bankrupt, etc. And, the economy being what it is, with so many becoming unemployed, they likely anticipate more such losses in the near future. Plus many of the banks have been left holding the bag on many of those stinky loans, mortgages, etc. - I own Canadian bank shares, which got stuck with a number of them, and the value of my shares are now less than 40% of what they were in early summer 2007. Good wishes for increasing skill at managing your money effectively. ole joyful

zone_8grandma wrote: dreamgarden, I wasn't singleing out the OP when I said that. I've gone back and re-read all of the posts and a number of them simply display a lack of knowledge about debit cards. I understand. My point was that the OP's bank is making it difficult for the OP to get an ATM card. She specifically stated that she did NOT want a debit card and that is what they gave her anyway. I stated the reasons why they might do this. Frankly, I would prefer to lose what cash I have in my wallet then lose a debit card. This is why. "Consumers should understand, however, that while their credit card fraud liability is low by law, their debit card liability can be much higher, according to law, despite the bank's revocable promises of zero liability. Plus, it is your own money, stolen from your own checking account, that you're fighting with the bank to get back. Our best advice-- never use debit cards-- either online or in person, at big merchants or small. While many of these breaches may occur at small merchants, just one breach at a big merchant, TJX Marshalls, resulted in the loss of 45 million debit and credit card numbers. It isn't worth the risk." Posted by Ed Mierzwinski/U.S. PIRG at September 22, 2007 Links that may be useful: ATM/Debit Cards: What consumers need to know about greater fraud risk, card blocking, and debit card fees www.pirg.org/consumer/banks/debit/debitcards1.htm Electronic Fund Transfers www.federalreserve.gov/pubs/consumerhdbk/electronic.htm#loss

Hi everyone, Get up earlier in the morning. That'll give you some extra time to figure ways to out-con the masters of con at the con game. Or - perhaps you could do that while in gridlock on your commute, instead of letting your blood pressure rise to calamitous levels. My relations with Citi were getting a few letters a year offering me a loan of up to about $3,500.00. When I called to ask the rate ... ... it was usually around 30% - and that's for one year, not four! I told them that I have a fully secured line of credit for more than they're offering - at 6% (then ... but 6.25%, last time I asked: it's unused at the moment). So - their sending me any more (addressed) mail was a waste of trees, though it did benefit Canada Post, but it wasted their time and mine, as well. So - let's just can it, huh? Haven't got such a letter since. But - their guy did chastise me for being less than courteous - I thought that a bit of a switch! Have a lovely weekend - nice sunny day here, but yesterday the local city got a foot and a half of snow, though only about 4 inches on the farm, about 15 miles away. ole joyful

While it is true that credit ceilings are based on income and opening new cards requires income verification, credit scores themselves have little or nothing to do with income. One thing to remember when closing cards is to try to always keep the oldest and keep it active by occasional use. My own credit score took a hit when I payed off my vehicle. I pay them off early. I was still in the very good/excellent numbers but still a 24 point hit just for paying off a loan. That's the account diversity part. But it is inching back up and now I am in a good time of closing or opening new credit again and not having hard inquiries affect me much if at all. Another thing to watch for is cards that "upgrade" you to rewards cards and such. Some do it automatically, others have an opt out feature. For example some stores will upgrade you to a store card to a combined use anywhere Retailer/Mastercard for rewards. Often these upgrades are reported as new accounts creating a hard inquiry on you record.