Your credit line
How far below zero you can go, and how it grows.
What it is
Your credit line lets you spend more beans than you have, and go below zero. It is a promise to help others later. Being below zero costs nothing: there is no interest.
Where to see it
On the Ledger, under your balance, a bar shows where you are:
- zero is in the middle;
- the left end is your limit, the lowest you can go;
- the marks on the left show how deep your Offers let you go;
- past +200 on the right is where the circulation fee starts.
Tap the bar for Credit Slider Info, which explains each part.
How it opens
It starts at zero. It opens when you complete your first trade in the market (a trade of only 1 or 2 beans is too small to count), or when someone chosen to welcome newcomers vouches for you. Until then the Ledger says No credit line yet. You can still trade with beans you hold.
How it grows
- Trust: completed trades build trust, especially with many different people. See "The 500-bean partner limit".
- Ratings: stars can only lower the trust you earn. An average of 5 stars keeps it all; a lower average takes some off.
- The deepest any credit line goes is 2,000 beans.
Your Offers set how much you can use
You can only use as much of your credit line as your live Offers allow:
- no Offers: none;
- 1 Offer: down to −200;
- 2: −500;
- 3: −1,000;
- 4: −1,500;
- 5: −2,000.
The line under the bar tells you, for example "Post an offer to open your credit line".
Spending paused
If you go below what your Offers allow, for example because you took an Offer down, the Ledger says Spending paused. You can still earn and sell. Post an Offer, or earn back up, and it lifts. Nothing is taken from you.
Related
- Trust badgesNewcomer, Resident, Steward and Elder. What they mean, and why they unlock nothing.
- The 500-bean partner limitWhy trading with many people builds more trust than trading a lot with one.
- How BeanPool worksBeans, trading, offers and needs, and credit, in plain words.
- Posting an Offer or a NeedPut up something you can do or give, or something you are looking for.
The same guide is in the BeanPool app, and works there without a connection: open Settings, then "Help & how it works" under BeanPool. Guide version 6.