Credit Cards

[MattH]

One small detail that has puzzled me for years is how the credit card companies determine the limits. My Chase card has a limit of $25,000 which is an obvious round number, but how come my Citi card has a limit of $23,400 and my Discover card has a limit of $10,400 right now? Back when I still shopped at Sears my Sears card had even stranger limits, I don't recall the exact values but they were always $6579.32 or some such. I suppose these numbers come from arcane mathematical formulas, because I think an actual human decision maker would be more likely to pick something like $1000 or $5000 or $20000 depending on the customer.

I've never asked for a credit line increase, never hit 50% utilization on any card, they just increase the limits from time to time.

[Timothy]

It is an internal system, I have tried to reverse eng it to no avail- mostly because they use the income you provided and add up all the min payments (that can very)

Some Companies match your highest Cl or 2nd highest

Take my recent Discover card approval $6,800 - not my highest or lowest- no other accounts with this CL.  

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MattH wrote:
One small detail that has puzzled me for years is how the credit card companies determine the limits. My Chase card has a limit of $25,000 which is an obvious round number, but how come my Citi card has a limit of $23,400 and my Discover card has a limit of $10,400 right now? Back when I still shopped at Sears my Sears card had even stranger limits, I don't recall the exact values but they were always $6579.32 or some such. I suppose these numbers come from arcane mathematical formulas, because I think an actual human decision maker would be more likely to pick something like $1000 or $5000 or $20000 depending on the customer.

I've never asked for a credit line increase, never hit 50% utilization on any card, they just increase the limits from time to time.

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[Sylviatob]

Yes they can be strange. I think Hauling has a cc with a cl of $1,212.

I have an old Providian/WaMu Visa with a $1,320 cl on it.

[esshua]

I have a $9,990 AMEX.

[MattH]

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Timothy wrote:

It is an internal system, I have tried to reverse eng it to no avail- mostly because they use the income you provided and add up all the min payments (that can very)

Some Companies match your highest Cl or 2nd highest

Take my recent Discover card approval $6,800 - not my highest or lowest- no other accounts with this CL.

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Well, my current limits can't bear much relation to my income, because I have not applied for a credit card in well over 10 years, nor have any of these companies ever asked me for any financial data since the original application. Each of them of course knows I have always paid them, and from my credit reports they know I also pay everybody else.

Message Edited by MattH on 04-30-2008 08:44 PM