New Orchard Bank CC and CLI request

[Anonymous]

I was recently approved for an unsecured Orchard Bank Gold visa. I have not yet received the card, but was told by a woman on the phone that my limit would be $320. My EQ FICO is 661 and TU FICO is 675, annual income $100,000. This CL seems VERY low and quite unusable. 

Has anybody had luck with getting a CLI by using the backdoor number or will I have to wait several months to be eligible?

[-Cain-]

Orchard may not be doing CLIs as they are in the process of being sold to Cap1 along with most of HSBCs other cards. I did read somewhere about a week ago that they had gotten an increase out of the blue, so YMMV, but I probably wouldn't bank on it. Do you have a luv button on your account page?

[Anonymous]

A LUV button on the Orchard account page? I don't know. Since I don't have the card yet (or CC number) I have not been able to set it up online. What is the LUV button supposed to do for you?

[-Cain-]

That's what they call the "request credit line incease" button around these parts of town.

[Creditaddict]

I don't believe you will ever get a CLI until after 6 months... currently HSBC seems to be offering out $300 CLI but most of us have had our cards for years... Think HSBC was on NO increased possible for the last 2 years or so.

What other cards do you have?

Negatives?

your scores you gave myfico or elsewhere?

[Anonymous]

The scores are from myfico... EQ 661 and TU 675. 

I was living in Canada for the past 5 years and only recently returned to the US. This is my first CC in an effort to (re)build credit history. I have several student loans, all paid-as-agreed. All CO and CA were from early 2005. Some are paid and already deleted from my reports. The COs remain. I have two outstanding CA, but they are about to fall off of my reports at the end of the year. I also have an instalment loan from a credit union, which is listed as past-due, though not reported since 2005. It too should be falling off my report soon. (It is my oldest account that dates back to 1994 and is probably adding points for length of credit history. I hate to see this one go. Would be nice to strike a deal with them to resume payments in exchange for the deletion of the 'late payments' posted in 2005! I'm thinking this could really boost my score!)

I have no recent negatives. 

With this history, is there a better card that I could be applying for, with a (much) higher limit?

[pazuzu]

I got an OB card with a $500 CL and $39 AF. Later, I called and told them I wanted to close the acct. b/c of the low CL and AF, but they increased my CL to $1100 to keep me as a customer. Plus I had already paid the AF, and I'm sure they wanted to keep it.

This was in 2009, and I ended up closing the acct. after a year b/c they wouldn't waive the AF.

[ShootingStar]

Unfortunately, Orchard Bank offers sub-prime cards to people with spotty credit -- and they seldom offer CLIs.  Most people throughout these boards report no CLI or if they get one, the average is $100.00.  They've recently locked in a deal to sell their cc's to Cap1 -- another reportedly stingy CLI-er.  Hopefully, they'll be better than Orchard!

[Anonymous]

Have you considered a secured card to help you gain footing now that you're back in the US? 

[Switch2007]

I sadly wouldn't be hopeful with an Orchard Card... or any rebuilder for that matter. I've had them for 1 year at $300 limit. And JUST recently got a $200 CLI. So now, I'm at a whopping $500! One thing that I will say about rebuilders is that they certainly serve their purpose. My scores were so low, and without them, I wouldn't have the cards I have now with the generous CL's either. I"m guilty of complaining about them and Cap1, but the reality of it is that I wouldn't be able to complain without having them give me a chance. Yes, the CL is barely usable, but you're not really getting the card to USE it per se, moreso to help you to get your scores up. Charge something small, and PIF every month. Maybe leave a small balance to show utilization. After about 6-8 months, you should be able to report some history and be able to apply for something else. Also, if you can hold off just a bit, the CO and CA falling off your CR will do you more good than you think and could help you in getting generous credit lines.