@lg8302ch wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@lg8302ch wrote:
edit: I got my 2 CLIs on Cap1 as soon as I did no longer report the 0 balance. The same for Discover. CLIs got approved as soon as I used the CCs the "normal" way.
What kind of balance did you let report? % of limit wise?
Not that much...about 20-30% of the CL at that time and this was also the normal use without multiple payments ...just used them and let the statement cut normally and paid in full after statement cut....and to my surprise Cap1 gave me CLI twice with the luv button and Discover even three times and all with SP. Discover starting limit was 2,5K and this limit I kept for 15months but then all the sudden the CLIs got approved and within 6 months from 2,5K to 10K with the luv button in incrediments of 2,5K. Now I am set with the limit on all my cards. Maybe it was coincidence but a few statements after I stopped this 0 balance reporting game the CLIs started to come in for me.
+1
For those who are not getting CLI, and are also doing the "pay before statement cuts" game, you're doing it wrong.
OP: A suggestion for handling this CapOne card, use it for charges, charge it up to $1,900 of the $2k limit as part of your regular spend. Then stop using it. Let the statement print, and pay the $1,900 in full just before the statement due date. Once it goes to zero, then start using it again, to charge it up to $1,900, the statement prints, then pay by the statement due date. You won't pay a dime in interest.
At each cycle, after you stop using the CapOne card, start using the Discover card up to it's limit in a similar way. Let the statement print with that balance on it, then pay in full that balance by the statement due date, not before the statement prints. You won't pay a dime in interest.
Each card company algorithm will see that, "gee, this card user can't keep using the card according to terms because THE CREDIT LINE IS TOO SMALL. We aren't getting new swipe fees. We better look into giving a CLI."
Regarding FICO scoring, that is NOT your objective here. You.Could.Care.Less.What.Your.FICO.IS... You.Want.A.Credit.Limit.Increase. Let the cards report! The agorithms at the banks DO pay attention to this stuff.
Paying In Full before the statement cuts is not the way to push a CLI. CLI do appear sometimes when one does this, but it is not the way to manufacture a CLI. Especially with CapOne and Discover. They Want Usage and pushing existing CL.
Good luck!
@ecxpa wrote:Cap 1 is making money.........I dare to say the majority of Cap 1 cardholders pay an AF myself included. Also like so many Cap 1 holders it is one of my older cards and we are all hesitant to close because "It was one of my first". They don't care if you SD their card as long as you keep it and pay the AF. Close it and you close it........I doubt they even have a retention dept; they don't care. Use it and PIF is not going to impress them even if you charge large amounts and make multiple payments to stay below your limit, it may keep your credit sparkly but it's not making them any money so why should they extend you more credit and increase their exposure......they don't care about your credit, they want you to use their cards and make them money which is what CCC are supposed to do. However, Cap 1 makes more off of interest and fees than they do swipes.....and that is their focus. They found a credit niche and filled it.
The infamous EO is becoming less sensitive and responsive to peoples pleas for CLI's. Cap 1 is a good starter card no doubt and they have excellent marketing but it is not a fast growing card. Spending habits and credit with them is viewed drastically different than it is by other CCC. Cap 1 knows what it is doing.
ecxpa, have you applied for a new CapOne card? You have a large number of cards already. Perhaps your starter CapOne cards are at their evolutionary max?
My CapOne is $10k. I've had it since 2003. I can't remember it being anything other than $10k. I also know that I had been paying down a 2.99% "forever" BT offer that started at 97% utilization ($9,700 advance on a $10,000 CL plus a $75 BT Fee) in March 2005, paid it down gradually on basically minimum payments over the course of 9 years, then in January 2014 when the card balance was down to $400, needed to charge a new truck transmission for $4.6k on the card, pulled it out of the file folder, and it went through without a peep.
So when people bash CapOne, I'm like, "why?"
@CreditCuriousity wrote:I still call hog wash on all the people that think they have Cap1 figured out... I am glad alot of you get your CLI's I really am.. I am not going to let balances report w/Cap1 and use them heavily when I have other cards that give me better rewards (meeting spend bonus etc). I will keep both my Cap1 open as they are both no AF's and I doubt I will ever get a CLI, but to say if you use them heavily you will get one is a guess as well as many people have and had mixed results including myself. In my opinion they want you to carry a balance and get interest at the high interest rates their cards are at and then you might get a CLI... That is just non-sense to me personally as that is essentially paying for a CLI.. Don't get me wrong others have luck through the EO route including myself, but that is just a pain.
I prefer to do business with bank now that my credit actually allows me to, that don't hand out toy limits and actually give you limits that you can purchase vacations on and bonuses on top of that, rather then chasing the carrot on the stick route Cap1 like to do.
Cap1 did have its place with me, but since outgrown it.. Don't get me wrong Cap1's 1.5% cashback might be the best in the business! If that is what you are seeking or where you are in your credit journey then it is an awesome card, but for people that have other options it is to much of a PITA to deal with.. Just my opinion obviously.
The main reason I push "use the card" is because people get too wrapped up in the utilization game related to FICO scoring.
If you don't want to pursue a CLI with CapOne, then don't.
If you do want to get a CLI with CapOne, then use the card up to the limit and don't be a worry wort about the impact on FICO for a while. If you haven't gotten an increase, then likely there isn't a pattern of heavy usage. Someone backs away from pushing the card to its limits because of fear of the effect on FICO scores. This is a shame.
Even if you don't get a CLI with CapOne using this method, there are NO Adverse Actions they are going to take when you fully utilize the card and pay heavily by statement due date. In the cases where people have low limits and are trying to increase them, none of the other card companies care that you are maxing out and paying off a $300 or $2k card either. They see them as low limits. They realize utilization on a low limit card is a different situation than utilization on a $10k card.
The higher utilization may affect apping for new card, but that isn't the current direction OP is headed. OP wants a CLI. Thus the requirement to use the CapOne card. Heavily. And let it report balances. And use the free money, let CapOne twist in the wind for a few weeks, with no interest income, no new swipe fees (...wipes a tear for CapOne...) until paying by the statement due date.