Creditors rating credit risk based on facts? Who knew?

I find this very surprising given the recent history of seemingly everybody being given almost unlimited amounts of credit regardless of credit rating.  American Express is using shopping habits and borrowing habits to adjust the credit limits of its clients which is, of course, annoying people.  Too bad.

“It’s horrible,” said Linda Sherry, spokeswoman for the advocacy group Consumer Action. “It seems horribly unfair, but they are the ones doing the lending and there’s nothing under the law that can prevent them from doing that.”

Duh.  It’s their money and they can choose whom they lend to and how much they lend.

Did you know that buying from a “rent to own” store tags you as a credit risk?  AmEx is looking at where you spend money and adjusting credit limits accordingly.  Actually, that’s not completely true.  Based on the article, it sounds as if all credit card companies do the same thing … AmEx is just the only one actually admitting it.  Wonder what my spending habits say about me?  Better not use the credit card at Dollarama.