Consumer complaint received 2023-09-11
Product: Credit card — General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Trouble using your card — Credit card company won't increase or decrease your credit limit
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY (CO)

Hello. 

I have been a customer of Wells Fargo since XXXX. Around XXXX, at the age of XXXX, I was approved for my very first credit card with a {$5000.00} limit. As someone in their young XXXX 's and fresh out of college, I quickly maxed the card. But conveniently enough, they immediately upped my credit limit to {$7500.00}, around XXXX. I don't have access to statements that far back. Over the years, I've gone through phases of paying down and spending, paying down and spending, wash, rinse, repeat. Then, in the spring of XXXX I had a child. My priorities quickly changed, I took a good look at my finances and made a plan to pay off my debt in hopes of raising my credit score and to start saving for a future home. 

Here 's a full breakdown of how I paid off my entire balance within three months : In XXXX of XXXX, my balance was {$5400.00} with a minimum payment of {$150.00}. 
I made a payment on the 13th ( three days early ) for {$4600.00}, bringing my balance down to {$860.00} ( I have all of these statement attached for reference ). The new minimum payment was now {$84.00}. 
In XX/XX/XXXX, I made an on-time payment of {$100.00}. My new minimum was {$24.00}. 
In the month of XX/XX/XXXX, my payment slipped my mind and I was charged a {$25.00} fee -- fair, I forgot. 
I've made late payments in the past, but have never had a delinquent balance. I have a 100 % payment history according to XXXX XXXX, XXXX, etc. 
I work in the XXXX XXXX and my income is quite variable, so I've never had automatic payments. However I did quickly realized my slip-up and made a {$72.00} payment on XX/XX/XXXX and then paid the remaining balance of {$740.00} on XX/XX/XXXX. Bringing my balance to {$0.00}. 

Somewhere between my missed payment on XX/XX/XXXX, and the statement I received on XX/XX/XXXX ... my credit limit was lowered from {$7500.00} to {$950.00}. 

I did call customer service after seeing this to question their decision, and if my memory serves me correctly, the reasoning was because of " missed/late payments '' and " a lack of activity on the card '' as well as a " lack of deposits into my checking. '' The lack of activity of the credit card is clearly because I was trying not to incur any more debt, but my checking account should not be relevant to my credit limit. What if I never had a checking with them or used another provider for my primary checking? And to reiterate, yes, I've had late payments, but NEVER delinquent payments. 

Feeling defeated after this call, I dropped it because I didn't know where to go from there. As much as I wanted to close the account out of frustration, I didn't because I knew how much it would affect my credit score, on top of how much it already had by lowering my available credit by {$6500.00}. This bureau was only brought to my attention a few days ago, hence my filing of this complaint after so much time as passed. 

To me, this entire course of action was predatory. I was given this crazy credit limit as a young XXXX year old woman, and then as a XXXX XXXX XXXX, trying to better myself for the life of my child, I was egregiously penalized.