CSR at Discover told me some interesting things.

[Anonymous]

I've been calling routinely about getting a CLI on my Discover More card.  CL 4600 I wanted 10,000.  The first tier CSR told me it was a hard pull. 

I protested, "All my other cards give me automatic increases or at least a soft pull for CLI." "Why hasn't this ever been reviewed for an increase?"

He told me that when this account was created, it was created to always need a manual review before any CLI.  He said that this is fairly common for them to do.  I don't know how I got in that boat but I don't like it.

Then I asked to speak to a manager, and I got a nice straightforward lady talking to me.  She went into detail about how they are a conservative lender and they need to make good decisions etc..

Here is the GOOD part...  She told me that they limit a single CLI to $2000, and they are not giving out limits higher than $12,000.  EVER.

I don't know if I want this card anymore.  Too much work.

[GregB]

My Discover More Card was opened with a $10,000 CL one year ago. That was the second lowest CL of any new card in 15 years. The only one lower than that was a Great Indoors (Sears) that was part of a 12 months no payments no interest when I bought new appliances. That was $8,000. Next lowest in last two years was BMW at $15K and CapOne at $20K.

With Discover's crappy rewards program where they don't pay 1% on many places that I use the card, don't pay 1% unless you charge a certain amount, and (this month) change to not let you apply your rewards to your balance until you accumulate $50 in rewards, I am not thrilled with this card.

[Anonymous]

I called to apply for a Discover More card just the other day. With FICOs of 798 (TU) and 779 (EQ), which were both pulled for the application, and six figure income, I was assigned a $1500 CL - lower than credit lines I had in college 15 yr ago. I complained and spoke with a manager, who said that Discover is a conservative lender and is not giving out new lines above $1500 for anyone at this time. They also said that CLI will be limited to a total of $12k permanently. Considering my lowest CL at this time is $13.5k, I cancelled the application. Not worth the hassle just for the 5% auto rewards. 

[plasticguy]

I disagree:



Status as of [?] June, 2009
Date opened [?] Apr, 2006
Date of last activity [?] June 2009
Date paid out [?] June, 2009
Date closed [?] Not Reported
Account number [?] XXXXXXXXXXXX
Loan type [?] Credit Card
Credit limit [?] $16,000
Largest past balance [?] $5,575
Terms [?] Not Reported
Account Type [?] Revolving Account
Account holder [?] Individual Account
Scheduled payment amount [?] Not Reported
Descriptions [?]
None on Record
Contact Information [?]

Balance [?] Current Status [?] Past Due Amount [?]
$0 Paid or paying as agreed $0
Seven year payment history [?]
30 days late 0 times
60 days late 0 times
90+ days late 0 times

[athensguy]

And you got it up to $16K in the last month or two?

[Anonymous]

The overall credit limit caps are recent decisions by Discover. A couple of months ago, they set the maximum CL at $16,000. Now, apparently, they have lowered that target to $12,000. However, they did not take immediate action to reduce everyone to those caps, although I assume it's likely they may do that over time. DW has a $23K credit limit that has not yet been affected. But my guess is that anyone who asks for a CLI, or for CLs to be consolidated or transferred among accounts, will be limited by those caps from now on ...

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I called to apply for a Discover More card just the other day. With FICOs of 798 (TU) and 779 (EQ), which were both pulled for the application, and six figure income, I was assigned a $1500 CL - lower than credit lines I had in college 15 yr ago. I complained and spoke with a manager, who said that Discover is a conservative lender and is not giving out new lines above $1500 for anyone at this time. They also said that CLI will be limited to a total of $12k permanently. Considering my lowest CL at this time is $13.5k, I cancelled the application. Not worth the hassle just for the 5% auto rewards. 

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I feel as though this shouldn't really be a big deal for anyone. Discover has great 5% rewards, but they're capped, where the amazing rewards rate is limited to the first $100ish per month (varies depending on card type: More; Open Road...). And their regular rewards rate ain't too special either. It starts at a fraction of a percent and works it's way up to a full 1% after the several thousands of dollars of spending.

Anyone making large travel, electronics, etc purchases would do better to just go with an AmEx, a Signature Visa or a World Mastercard because they are more generous (as is pretty evident by Discover's their ridiculous CL caps), have warranty protection (Discover doesn't), and have MUCH better rewards (Discover's rewards only work out to be decent if you only spend a few hundred dollars here and there in the 5% rewarsd categories).

[lajntx]

I am a little confused here. Other than a "prestige" issue, why would someone need multiple CC's with limits in excess of 10K? Having such a credit file one shouldnt have too much of an issue with establishing a financial relationship with a local bank/CU to have a low interest line of credit/signature loans for purchases in excess of 5K ( assuming large purchases with the intent to keep untilization down is the reason ). Yes there are rewards programs, but is walking around with 100K+ in credit card lines really necessary?

[Anonymous]

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@lajntx wrote:
I am a little confused here. Other than a "prestige" issue, why would someone need multiple CC's with limits in excess of 10K? Having such a credit file one shouldnt have too much of an issue with establishing a financial relationship with a local bank/CU to have a low interest line of credit/signature loans for purchases in excess of 5K ( assuming large purchases with the intent to keep untilization down is the reason ). Yes there are rewards programs, but is walking around with 100K+ in credit card lines really necessary?

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You express a common concern.

Very few people "need" Cls in the 20K plus range.

[athensguy]

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@lajntx wrote:
I am a little confused here. Other than a "prestige" issue, why would someone need multiple CC's with limits in excess of 10K? Having such a credit file one shouldnt have too much of an issue with establishing a financial relationship with a local bank/CU to have a low interest line of credit/signature loans for purchases in excess of 5K ( assuming large purchases with the intent to keep untilization down is the reason ). Yes there are rewards programs, but is walking around with 100K+ in credit card lines really necessary?

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Because of FICO. If I want to let $5K report on my reports, I need $50K+ in lines to offset that. I don't have to worry as much about it because I use Signature cards, but if I was trying to allow that much to report monthly on one card, I would want that one card to be $50K...