So Credit limits are determined by how much one makes?

[Anonymous]

I'd love to know how they determine what a credit line will be. I have Credit lines as high as 30K. The lowest being 13,300. The 30K credit line is on a card that applied for in College back in 1991, with no job, or income. I was instantly approved for 6K to start with. If I was not as responsible, and hypervigiliant about my credit rating, and paying bills ontime. I could get myself into serious trouble. I've never asked for a CLI. Seems like every 6 months, they all increase me by 500.00 or more.

Message Edited by Ishmael109 on 05-30-2008 01:12 PM

[Anonymous]

Lol wouldnt you know i try to build my CC History in the worse credit crunch in 15 years. Thats my luck..

[Anonymous]

Many factors in credit limits-

Other limits and how you handle them-

Income.

DTI

Score

The lender

For a long time 3k was my highest limit-

3K is now my lowest-

IMO- Lenders will approve you for the highest limit they (there computers) think you can handle-

Some of these formulas make sense-

Others are more complicated than FICO scoring-  

I remember when I applied for a 10K CC with my CU-

Approved instantly-

I got a phone call from the CU- saying "Just bring in proof of income with a gross over $XXXX.

[Anonymous]

ISHMAEL.. what credit card is that with the 30K credit line ??

[Anonymous]

10 years ago Credit Card Apps would ask What is the Total Household Income....I wasn't lying.  My total household income was over $150K.  I just contributed very little to it!

[MattH]

Credit Card limits have nothing to do with how much money you make.

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This is certainly true in my case -- I've been with my current employers since July 1998, but I opened all my credits card accounts before then, so the credit card companies do not know my current income, since they have not asked me for that information. My credit reports give the name of my employers but not my salary and bonus. When I applied for a mortgage I had to authorize them to verify my income with my employers, but for credit card and auto loans I have never had them check with my employers, they went by what I wrote on the application. As with most employers, they consider compensation confidential and would never reveal it to anybody other than the tax authorities without my permission. Since my wife and I are heavy convenience users of our cards (we use very little case and we pay in full every month), they probably have guessed correctly that we earn reasonably good incomes just from the amount we run through them in a year. I spread the business around so every account gets regular activity.

I believe sometimes when a customer requests a credit line increase they may ask for current income, but I have never asked them for a CLI, the automatic increases over the years have been more than sufficient for me.

Now, when I was growing up my parents' income was anything but confidential, they both taught at the University of Wisconsin so as with all State employees their pay WAS public information. Once a year the Milwaukee Journal would print a list of what EVERY State employee above a certain level was paid, including my parents. It was a little embarrassing in High School when the next day when some of my classmates would say, "I saw in yesterday's paper that your folks make X dollars" and then express an opinion of the amount (some thought it high and reminded me THEIR parents were paying for it with their taxes, others thought it sounded low, either could be embarrassing to me!).

Message Edited by MattH on 05-30-2008 07:34 PM

[Anonymous]

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MattH wrote:

This is certainly true in my case -- I've been with my current employers since July 1998, but I opened all my credits card accounts before then, so the credit card companies do not know my current income, since they have not asked me for that information. My credit reports give the name of my employers but not my salary and bonus. When I applied for a mortgage I had to authorize them to verify my income with my employers, but for credit card and auto loans I have never had them check with my employers, they went by what I wrote on the application. As with most employers, they consider compensation confidential and would never reveal it to anybody other than the tax authorities without my permission.

Now, when I was growing up my parents' income was anything but confidential, they both taught at the University of Wisconsin so as with all State employees their pay WAS public information. Once a year the Milwaukee Journal would print a list of what EVERY State employee above a certain level was paid, including my parents. It was a little embarrassing in High School when the next day when some of my classmates would say, "I saw in yesterday's paper that your folks make X dollars" and then express an opinion of the amount (some thought it high and reminded me THEIR parents were paying for it with their taxes, others thought it sounded low, either could be embarrassing to me!).

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New accounts absolutely use household income as a primary factor in determining credit lines, along with existing limits and scores.

Once your account is established, most CCCs will use your internal payment and usage history as a primary factor for establishing new limits.

BTW, salary is not included on anyone's CR.  That does not mean it's not a factor in the decision-making process on new accounts.

[MattH]

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@Anonymous wrote:
New accounts absolutely use household income as a primary factor in determining credit lines, along with existing limits and scores.

Once your account is established, most CCCs will use your internal payment and usage history as a primary factor for establishing new limits.

BTW, salary is not included on anyone's CR. That does not mean it's not a factor in the decision-making process on new accounts.

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Yes, of course, when I applied for those cards the applications included my income at the time, my point was that was many years ago so they don't have a current number. Of course they do know I've always paid them!

[Anonymous]

This is a question that I have run thru my mind quite often relating to me personally. I seems to me  when it comes to establishing my starting Cl"S in my case it seems my previous CL"S predict what  my new Cl"s will be. Here"s an example previous 6 CC I applied for all of them had a 10K CL all in that order back to back. My latest card I requested a 20K Cl Chase granted that to me. My point here is this how does one get higher Cl"s when apping for new credit the Cl are the same as the previous accounts. Can you ask up front for a specific amount of CL .Any good suggestions on this subject please share thanks in advance.

[Anonymous]

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credit08 wrote:

This is a question that I have run thru my mind quite often relating to me personally. I seems to me  when it comes to establishing my starting Cl"S in my case it seems my previous CL"S predict what  my new Cl"s will be. Here"s an example previous 6 CC I applied for all of them had a 10K CL all in that order back to back. My latest card I requested a 20K Cl Chase granted that to me. My point here is this how does one get higher Cl"s when apping for new credit the Cl are the same as the previous accounts. Can you ask up front for a specific amount of CL .Any good suggestions on this subject please share thanks in advance.

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Although I've never tried it, many people will call up the CCC after approval but before activation and ask for the increase they want/think is appropriate.  I would just be prepared to back up the increase request with a good reason/ evidence.