I've been thinking more about this.

First, you are old enough to remember outhouses, so you probably heard this joke before. Two men are sharing a two-hole outhouse. One finishes the job. When he pulls up his pants, a quarter drops out and falls in the hole. The man opens his wallet and throws in a $20 bill into thol.

"Why did you do that?" asks the second man.

"Well, you don't think I would go in there only for a quarter?"

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So I am now wondering there may another reason why the credit card companies so readily increase their limits.

About 20 years ago, I was in a courthouse helping an immigrant with a small claims case. The case before us was the Bank of Montreal vs. Joe Shmoe. Apparently Joe had not paid his credit card bill for some time, and the bank was looking to seize Joe's assets.

Joe was not there to represent himself. The judge took on the role of Joe's attorney. He asked the bank a whole bunch of questions to ensure they had dotted their i's and crossed their t's. In the end, the judge sided with the bank.

But the bank had to send a guy in the suit to the courtroom. The guy in the suit had to prepare beforehand. Who pays for that half-day wage for the guy in the suit?

So keeping the limit at $2000 makes no sense to the bank. If the card defaults, the amount must be enough to pay for the guy in the suit for a half day of work.

Getting a judgement for $2000 is rather pointless. The bank might as well walk away from the deal.

But $8000 makes sense to get things in small claims court. So get the limit up there as soon as possible.

No, I do not feel sorry for credit card companies. They have all the angles figured out if 2% of their clients default.