[lug] Credit - was: [Letting folks pay from the web.]

[Landon Cox]

On Feb 2, 2010, at 4:13 PM, Jonathan Corbet wrote:

> On Tue, 2 Feb 2010 16:05:44 -0700
> Landon Cox <landon at 360vl.com> wrote:
>
>> Apparently as a software developer, I
>> represented too large a risk for them despite the fact I rarely used
>> the card and always paid it off.
>
> I doubt it was credit risk.  The problem (for them) is that you rarely
> used the card (thus generating few commissions) and you always paid it
> off (thus generating no interest).  You weren't making them money, so
> they lost interest (so to speak).  My understanding is that we're
> likely to see more of this kind of stuff - or the imposition of more
> annual fees - as new regulation makes some of the other abuses
> impossible.

That was exactly my take on it, too, so I asked them explicitly to  
tell me why they cancelled the card and they told me I was in a risky  
industry, they needed to manage and cut down their risk exposure, so  
there it went.  So, I could see it being cancelled due to some  
spreadsheet jockey trying to hit some big numbers and like you said, I  
represented no income to them as I didn't use it much.    So, I was an  
easy mark for them.

I have other ways to achieve what I need to achieve without the card,  
but it does show how working capital can evaporate and potentially  
slow business investment down.

So that is the odd conundrum - as a company, if you're responsible  
with credit, you're not good enough to have it - and that's the  
business pickle in some cases.

Landon