What does BofA like to see from a usage standpoint

[Anonymous]

I just got the BofA Amex.  I do not carry balances, so the question is how much of my line should I charge to get CLI love from them.  I would not expect a CLI until 6 months, but want to give their internal computers all the ammo they need to give me a nice increase.

[FretlessMayhem]

BOA is great with increases. They told me they like to see a lot of usage and PIF/carry small balances when I spoke to one of the CSRs in the credit department.

I tried to CLI and they asked why I didn't use my Platinum Plus Visa more. I replied because it doesn't have rewards. He then gave me 5k on a World Points Mastercard, which I then requested CLI to 10k and was given instant approval.

I then combined the Visa and now have a World Points card with a 20k limit. BOA is awesome.

[Anonymous]

Last week I called BOA to activate my upgraded card and also requested a CLi.

I was declined with the recon too!!!

I asked the CSR how I can improve my chances and was told to PIF every month and call back in 6-12 months and try CLi again.

He also told me that BOA will be monitoring how I manage my other CC that I recently got.

[wmarat]

I have always PIFed my BOA cards. I started with 1000 usd of secured credit 2 years ago and now I have 30k of unsecured credit.

[Anonymous]

Banks generally like when people PIF early. Since they only make money on the transactions and interest on balances, paying early is more profitable to them since they lay out less money over your billing cycle. Otherwise they like people to carry balances for 30 days. Some banks want you to carry balances for a long time. BOA prefers you pay it off soon. They tend to get very nervous the longer you carry a balance and super duper nervous if you go longer than 5 months that I have found. BOA is more nervous than other bank I've noticed.

Usage... I have been told they didn't expect I'd max out my CL. They gave me a higher line to prevent maxing out. I thought they gave it to me to use so I spent all of it. They gave me a CLD because I kept doing that even though I paid it back eventually in full each time, never late. Finally I brought the issue up with them and got a personal impression that 50% of limit was ok and I should not go over that. But I could be a unique case. They haven't done anything while my bal is below 50%. Again I could be a unique case because at the same time I do all crazy things to try and improve my credit score which could be setting off alarms with them. Might not have been spending alone.