Getting a line of credit increase
Here’s a Friday quickie. I think I could have also titled this post – “It doesn’t hurt to ask!”
Original photo by Images of Money (http://www.flickr.com/photos/59937401@N07/)
There is not much to tell – I’ve been with the lovely and ever helpful Bank of Montreal for ages upon ages. I’ve always found them super helpful, friendly and personable. No matter which location I frequented, the tellers would always recognize me and go out of their way to make my interaction with them personal. So when I found that my line of credit interest rate was a bit high, I decided to ask them to do something about it. To be clear, I didn’t ask for more credit or a lower rate because I needed to use my credit. Rather, I decided to deal with this in the interest of keeping a good financial house.
I physically go to the bank fairly often. I like getting to know my bankers and being able to talk to them.
Me: “Hi there! [regular banking activities...]
Teller: “And is there anything else I could help you with today?”
Me: “Well, I noticed that my line of credit interest rate is pretty high. I’d like to get it lowered.”
Teller: “We can definitely have a look at that for you. Would you mind waiting while I book you in with one of our Financial Services Managers?”
Me: “For sure!”
How painless was that? Super painless. Don’t wait on hold with someone at a call centre. They’ve never spoken to you before and they have no connection with you. Instead, you need to go in and talk with your banker.
Later in the afternoon, I returned for my appointment. I chatted with Finance Guy in Suit and he updated my income and debt information.
One week later, I got a call saying that my interest rate was lowered by 1%. They also threw in a limit increase while they were at it. And that’s it! With two simple conversations, I improved my finances. Now, if I ever needed to use my line of credit, I have a better interest rate AND more credit available to me. That’s saving money before it even needs to be saved. Sometimes, you just need to ask.
15 Responses to “Getting a line of credit increase”
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Yep it’s totally worth asking about stuff like this. I generally ask once a year and they have yet to turn me down. It does seem like they have to bump up your limit to order to lower the interest. Now I have way more credit than I need and at a fairly low interest rate. I should probably do the same with my credit cards, but I never carry a balance.
Yeah, that’s the thing. I never really thought to do it, since I don’t use it. But I figure it’s better to do it now and potentially save myself money if I ever needed that credit.
I have to do this too. Planning on making a big purchase soon. Thanks for the reminder.
You’re quite welcome. Good luck!
Um, that’s amazing. That’s one thing I certainly didn’t think to ask/negotiate. Nice job!
Thanks
Wow, that is pretty awesome! Bonus points for BMO for being so on top of it. I hate going into my bank (TD) because I am just not a physical errands person – I would much rather do it on the phone, but I never get results like this.
We have our mortgage with TD – it’s probably better you don’t go in, haha, I’ve never found their front staff very helpful.
It never hurts to ask! Until recently I was always being denied for things like that, I think it was because I was still right out of school so my income and debt information didn’t look so hot. It’s only recently that I’ve been able to ask for things like that (most recently, an increased limit on my credit card) and actually gotten what I wanted – I’ll make sure to ask about that stuff frequently from now on, you never know!
Right. For me, it helped that I am making substantially more money now than when I originally got the LOC. Good luck!
When you are denied – always ask what you need to do/to change to get positive response. Sometimes you get very useful answers.
Yes! My wife calls probably every year or so for the same thing! It’s for our credit cards. Even though we almost never use them, we figure that a higher limit and/or lower interest rate is good for our credit score, so even though we don’t take advantage of the great rates, we still get a benefit!
I should do it once a year, but it’s one of those things that slips my mind. Good job
That’s pretty sweet. I, like you, went to the bank quite often. The tellers knew me by name and I no longer needed to show my ID or give them my card. They knew who I was and my account info. I bank with US bank here in the states.
But I recently moved and I’m not close to that branch anymore and find it a bit more painful to go to another location. With the introduction of using mobile apps to deposit checks I haven’t been to a bank in a while.
But that little conversation seemed to do you some good. I wouldn’t mind doing that soon. Who doesn’t like a lower interest regardless of the amount.
Definitely. No harm in having a lower interest rate. Then if you ever do need to access that credit, it’s that much cheaper.
I’ve been lucky – all of my workplaces have been close to a bank location, so I just go during my lunch.