My excellant credit history??

It has been only eighteen months since I went through personal bankruptcy and even now I cringe at the thought of looking at my credit disclosure, but maybe it isn't as bad as I think. After all, I now have three new unsecured credit cards, one just over a year old, and all of my credit needs are currently met.

One of my preferred credit cards offers airline miles for spending, but the credit limit was somewhat short of being able to cover all of my typical monthly spending plus the accumulated spending during the 20-day grace period. I had cringed at the thought of even asking for an increase in my credit limit, but I was starting to think about it. Then, just yesterday, I get a form letter from the bank that handles the airline credit card telling me that they have automatically doubled my credit limit, which is exactly what I needed.

But what really caught my eye was this statement in the form letter:

And your excellant credit history makes it easy for us to offer you the best product on the market.

My "excellant credit history"? Huh? What about my personal bankruptcy? Well, my credit record since bankruptcy has in fact been spotless and I have been responsibly using these three credit cards for over a year now, so maybe my credit history really is "excellant", by at least some standards.

Still, the memory of all those lean years and financial difficulties are still too fresh in my mind to accept the concept of "your excellant credit history."

Maybe all the talk about bankruptcy being on your credit record for so many years really is just a scare tactic and not an accurate reflection of how lenders actually view credit risk.

-- Jack Krupansky