Credit Cards

[Duncanrr]

I see numerous people here go after GEMB cards so they can rapidly grow their CL's. (this isn't limited to only these cards but it's a good example). They end up with Walmart, JC Penny and Gap store cards with thousands of dollars in available credit limits. While this can be great for rebuilding and decreasing overall utilization, can this process limit your ability to get higher CL on prime cards later in your building? If I have 20k in available credit on these stores cards would a prime lender look at this as a serious risk that I may go crazy in debt with cc usage? Is it better to only go after CLI that you need on these cards and that you will actually utilize those limits? I would hate to get CSP with 5k CL and then have Chase say they can't extend me anymore credit due to other opened lines.

[gijoe4500]

If they did say that, which I doubt, I would just close one or more of the rebuilder lines at that time.

[youngandcreditwrthy]

Great question!!!! Ive been wondering the same thing... Discover told me that the reason I didn't get a higher initial limit ($4k) was due to the fact that I had several other store visas/mcs with $7k limits :-/. So I'm beginning to wonder... I think it's also a factor of reported income...Lol I don't really *need* a $7,000 limit at dillard's lol or even $12k at Lowes. Meh...

Did a creditor tell you this? If you talk to a CA, you/they may say to decrease other lines, so that's a relatively simple solution IF you can contact the decision maker, not an uninformed regular CSR.

[snowkitty]

Interesting question! I have not thought about it that way. I was thinking that the higer cli with store cards would make prime cards want to beat out the limit to make sure you use their card.

[navigatethis12]

It would depend on many things but income is a huge factor. If you have 35 income and have 50 in available credit, some lenders may not want to extend credit to someone already has the ability to charge over their income. The longer your history, the less this really matters. Most companies have a set percentage that they are willing to give in proportion to income. If you build up a relationship with them though, this may change.

I do not think it matters if the credit is on store or one you can use anywhere.

[youngandcreditwrthy]

+1... from what I've seen, longer credit histories (6 + yrs) are better for getting cls beyond income considerations...I'm not there yet lol. Only at aaoa 3 years :-(

[nenuco]

I posted a similar post not too long ago. I have always wondered about this. When asking for a new card, or asking for a CLI. I have to assume that lenders will consider the credit other lenders have already extended, when considering extending you more credit (sorry if that sounded confusing). Does anyone else have thoughts on the limits lenders may place?

[migliogiorni]

Ultimately you can either close down accounts or CLD accounts to favor prime lenders. I'm not really sure a store card will cause a prime lender to match it just because of competition.

[navigatethis12]

---

youngandcreditwrthy wrote:
+1... from what I've seen, longer credit histories (6 + yrs) are better for getting cls beyond income considerations...I'm not there yet lol. Only at aaoa 3 years :-(

---

Mine is only a year with all the recent accounts, so you have me bested three times.

---

nenuco wrote:

I posted a similar post not too long ago. I have always wondered about this. When asking for a new card, or asking for a CLI. I have to assume that lenders will consider the credit other lenders have already extended, when considering extending you more credit (sorry if that sounded confusing). Does anyone else have thoughts on the limits lenders may place?

---

I think it is a huge difference between lenders. There are people who have limits of 20 plus and then get a card with a 3000 limit. The highest limit I had when applying for American Express was 2380 and they gave me 10000, PNC gave me 5200. I am convinced the American Express limit was a computer glitch since I did it at the start of the new year. I just cannot think of any other reason they would give me that. No inquiries also really helps. Most people only have a few inquiries on their reports, so someone with twenty inquiries could be cause for concern.

[flowfaster]

I have been thinking that also.  I may ask GECRB to lower both my cards to just 5k each(still way more than I need).  Also if you have a BoA card you can convert it to a Visa Sig and they hide the CL.  I have almost 2x my income now and no lender has said anything about it yet.