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Should I increase my Discover secured?

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Anonymous
Not applicable

Should I increase my Discover secured?

I only put $200 down when I opened it a few months ago because I knew I could raise it.

I was thinking $700, how high do they let you go?

Theoretically, the higher my secured limit is, the higher the unsecured limit will be, right? Smiley Happy

 

UPDATE

I called today and decided to increase it to $2000. I view it as a headstart for having a larger unsecured limit later on. Plus 7 months will be this October so I doubt they'll be holding on to it long before it graduates (fingers crossed). 

 

Thanks for the input everyone Smiley Happy 

 

Message 1 of 11
10 REPLIES 10
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Should I increase my Discover secured?

Max is $2500 but it's somewhat based on your reported income, I've heard.

 

I maxed mine out to help with any unexpected utilization posting (which happened this month!).

Message 2 of 11
Revelate
Moderator Emeritus

Re: Should I increase my Discover secured?


@tothephonebooth wrote:
I only put $200 down when I opened it a few months ago because I knew I could raise it.

I was thinking $700, how high do they let you go?

Theoretically, the higher my secured limit is, the higher the unsecured limit will be, right? Smiley Happy

Not sure, Discover is pretty good when it comes to CLI's on graduation.

 

FWIW I'd open up another card instead of adding to the current one if it's your only one right now, or pull the SSL trick if you don't have an installment line already.  Better uses from a credit perspective for those dollars than simply increasing the Discover line.




        
Message 3 of 11
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Should I increase my Discover secured?

I have another secured card and just got the Journey Card last week. I'm trying to raise my overall available credit, and I use the Discover a lot Smiley Happy It's unsecuring in September though (well, I hope so!!)

Think it's best to wait then? Do they typically give increases at graduation?

I'm just thinking I might get a bigger increase when it comes time if I already have a limit higher than the $200 min, but I really have no idea.
Message 4 of 11
Revelate
Moderator Emeritus

Re: Should I increase my Discover secured?


@tothephonebooth wrote:
I have another secured card and just got the Journey Card last week. I'm trying to raise my overall available credit, and I use the Discover a lot Smiley Happy It's unsecuring in September though (well, I hope so!!)

Think it's best to wait then? Do they typically give increases at graduation?

I'm just thinking I might get a bigger increase when it comes time if I already have a limit higher than the $200 min, but I really have no idea.

Not sure, actually I'm just going to move this over to CC's since you'll likely get more responses there in terms of secured CL and CLI on graduation.

 

My own Discover Secured went from $200 to $1500, though I was preapproved for the unsecured Discover well before I picked up the secured one so take that datapoint with a grain of salt.




        
Message 5 of 11
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Should I increase my Discover secured?

My experience with the Discover Secured hasn't been the norm I'm sure.  However, if I had it to do again I would have increased the secured amount to the MAX when I had the chance.  If only I had known then what I know now.

 

I secured mine with $450 when I opened it.  I had read many - many stories of people graduating in a year and then getting big CLI's on graduation, so I decided to just leave the $450 line where it was.

 

It took mine over 18 months to graduate - even though my scores had come up quite a bit over that time.  As of today - almost two years after I opened the card - the credit line STILL sits at $450.  I can't get them to increase it to save my life.  I have tried chatting and calling... no one can do anything.  They just tell me to wait longer, and of course I can't add funds to make the limit larger now.

 

FWIW.....

 

Message 6 of 11
austinguy907
Valued Contributor

Re: Should I increase my Discover secured?


@tothephonebooth wrote:
I have another secured card and just got the Journey Card last week. I'm trying to raise my overall available credit, and I use the Discover a lot Smiley Happy It's unsecuring in September though (well, I hope so!!)

Think it's best to wait then? Do they typically give increases at graduation?

I'm just thinking I might get a bigger increase when it comes time if I already have a limit higher than the $200 min, but I really have no idea.

Max is $2500

 

75% or so people get a CLI upon graduation

 

If you have the cash available it's a good idea to bump it up since you're probably making multiple payments each month because of the low limit.

 

It's all a numbers game when it comes to cards and limits.  The higher you have usually leads to a higher CL when you open a new card.  Since you're secured now it's probbaly best to wait for the card to unsecure before chasing down other options.  If it were me I would max out the deposit and cross my fingers for a 2-3X CLI when it converts over.  

 

If you bump it to $2500 then make sure to not let it report over $250 on the statement.  Disco is different in that they like use but not abuse to get more out of them.  Keep it in line with some regular usage and they reward you handsomely with CLI's as time passes.

 

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/Discover-unOfficial-Data-Points/m-p/4802538

Message 7 of 11
Shogun
Moderator Emeritus

Re: Should I increase my Discover secured?

I didn't start out with a secured card, but if I remember right my original Discover card was $500.  Discover will grow as your credit grows.  They can be very generous.  My account is now at $37,500.  Just garden well and hit that love button every few months.  Good luck!

Starting Score: 504
July 2013 score:
EQ FICO 819, TU08 778, EX "806 lender pull 07/26/2013
Goal Score: All Scores 760+, Newest goal 800+
Take the myFICO Fitness Challenge

Current scores after adding $81K in CLs and 2 new cars since July 2013
EQ:809 TU 777 EX 790 Now it's just garden time!

June 2017 update: All scores over 820, just pure gardening now.
Message 8 of 11
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Should I increase my Discover secured?

I called today and decided to increase it to $2000. I view it as a headstart for having a larger unsecured limit later on. Plus 7 months will be this October so I doubt they'll be holding on to it long before it graduates (fingers crossed). 

Message 9 of 11
Shogun
Moderator Emeritus

Re: Should I increase my Discover secured?


@tothephonebooth wrote:

I called today and decided to increase it to $2000. I view it as a headstart for having a larger unsecured limit later on. Plus 7 months will be this October so I doubt they'll be holding on to it long before it graduates (fingers crossed). 


Sounds like a great plan to me!

Starting Score: 504
July 2013 score:
EQ FICO 819, TU08 778, EX "806 lender pull 07/26/2013
Goal Score: All Scores 760+, Newest goal 800+
Take the myFICO Fitness Challenge

Current scores after adding $81K in CLs and 2 new cars since July 2013
EQ:809 TU 777 EX 790 Now it's just garden time!

June 2017 update: All scores over 820, just pure gardening now.
Message 10 of 11
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