Not too long ago, the banks and credit card companies would look at your overall financial picture. They would take into consideration your employment and how long you have worked there, your income and how steady it is, and your payment history through credit reports or your FICO score. Now, they are under such great pressure to stay above water, that if you live in the wrong zip code or shop at the wrong place, then your credit card is adjusted.
Philly.com:
According to FICO's study, card issuers sliced credit limits for an estimated 33 million U.S. card holders between October and April.
An estimated 24 million consumers saw their credit limits reduced despite the absence of any new "risk triggers" during the study period. Those card holders generally had low balances, didn't use up a lot of their available credit, had very few - if any - reports of missed payments, and had a long credit history.
About one-third of the group, or 8.5 million, saw their credit scores drop after their limits were cut, typically less than 20 points, FICO said.
The cuts had "negligible impact" on the scores of about 3.5 million people, and 12 million consumers saw score increases.
