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TB MONEY MATTERS MY BANK HAS OFFERED ME A CREDIT LIMIT INCREASE | DIDN'T REQUEST. IS THERE ANY REASON | SHOULDN'T TAKE IT? EXPERTS SAY THERE ARE PROS AND CONS TO ACCEPTING AN INCREASE TO YOUR CREDIT LIMIT SRIVINDHYA KOLLURU ants red- hott aon , Cana- are ineré pend- port by Equifax canes tao credit card balances are on the rise, and the average credit limit onnew cards is more than $5,800, the highest it's been in the past seven years. With budgets tight, should you consider a limit increase to your credit card if your bank of- fers one, even if you haven't re- quested it? Jason Heath, managing part- ner at Objective Financial Part- ners, explains banks will often offer the biggest credit limit in- creases to the people who least need it. vin other words, ee ten someone who come and good node trae he ar ‘you have big-t Licket pares es coming up, bumpil creditlimitis worth considering, fays personal finance expert Ru- a Ahmed-Hagq. "If you have a timed in vou life that 'scoming up have to but a a ot ofl big purchases on your redit card, it's nice to have the room so that you can just do those in one transaction." Another advantage to accept- ing a credit card limit increase from your bank, even if you feel it is not needed, is that it can be good a your credit rating. "The od for your credit rating is your credit utili- rate refers to the amount of cred- it you're using compared to your total available credit across products like credit cards and lines of credit. But Heath and Ahmed-Haq warn that there are also disad- vantages to accepting a limit in- crease. "One drawback is if you have access to more credit and you end up using more credit, you could get yourself into finan- cial difficulty by having expo- sure to too much credit." "If you are looking to do a mortgage application in the near future, you may not want to take that increase on the credit card, SNARE RHR aud because it will show you have greater liability," says Ahmed- aq. Ahmed-Hag says you need to be aware of your spending habits before accepting a limit in- crease. “If you have the kind of per- Going the extra Are you the kind of spender who would use the credi think twice before accepting an increase to your limit, experts say. f Dreamstime photo. if you had it? If so, sonality that if you have access to more room on your credit card that you're likely to spend, then you also have to do that self-as- sessment and ask: 'Do I have the self-control to not run up this credit card if I have an extra $5,000 room on it?"" we! €202 ‘6} Atenuer ‘Aepsuny, | senzeg einye0 | €Z, mile for your final mile DID YOUR HOLIDAY RUSH LEAVE YOU AND, MORE IMPORTANTLY, YOUR CUSTOMERS WAITING? Metroland Parcel Services has a simple goal - provide cost-effective, premium service for final-mile distribution across Ontario. Indeed, with over 15,000 drivers and 14 depots, our network is always ready for next-day delivery even with increased volumes. Join some of Canada’s largest companies who rely on us for their ecommerce delivery. Get a quote today: metrolandparcelservices.ca SCAN FOR MORE INFORMATION PARCEL SERVICES woo"uoy}EYyapIsUt