What kind of credit card usage led to a credit limit increase for you?

[Anonymous]

Oddly my highest credit line increase came when I had accidentally jumped way over my usual util (about 6-8%) to about 50%! Got an invite to apply for a $1500 cli in my email after that error. I was definitely surprised at that one.

[UncleB]

I think it's really a YMMV kind of thing, but I can say with near-certainty that Capital One seems to respond to high-velocity and high dollar charging, especially when you PIF. 

In my case, it did not matter whether or not I allowed a balance to post to the statement; I've gotten CLIs when I kept the statement balance at $0 for months as well as when I showed a large statement balance month after month (PIF each month).

Actually, the only common denominator with me is paying-in-full each month.

[Anonymous]

I got Auto CLI when i was carrying balances, and sometimes got them when i was well past 50% UTIL. I have had a bunch of 7-10 letters on accounts in good standing that receive bi-monthly payments that i am the perfect FICO student on. and PIF. Don't be a perfect student...

Barclays will bump your limit even if they are not making any money off you! My balances are all from balance transfers! Aside from initial fees it's all zero for them.

Chase gives LUV when they see big chunk payments then let the account sit unused. I was rewarded significantly playing that game. Use all the time hasnt helped my slate or freedom.

Citibank was the same, but i dont have MC account with them anymore.

I did ride the discover CLI train and I wasnt using them much until the double cash started up. It's my primary use now  because they increased my limit past 11k. All increases were with a carried balance.

I am still rebuilding. In the old days pre 2009  I had limits far beyond income. Never asked for increases. Could buy a volvo on every piece of plastic i carried LOL. Now that i am actively asking for increases to once again obtain a signature VISA from anyone...who knows other than patience is going to bump me up. PIF on my newer cards works with store cards and branded store cards. The big boys, still hard to tell. 

[NRB525]

As others have noted, there is no set formula, it depends on the lender (and perhaps involves some voodoo or superstition)

I got an AMEX Delta Gold card in June 2013, with a $2k limit, and put $4,500 through the first 11 months. Always letting the balance report on the statement, always PIF close to the payment due date. Then purposefully maxed it out twice, reaching $1,800 in early June 2014, then up to $1,300 again in mid-June when they gave my an auto CLI to $3k.

My BofA AMEX card, back in the day, had been auto CLI up to $28,800 in April 2008, so I used $21,800 of it. Then they started CLD:

Jan 2009, $21,700 (these are all CL, not balances), though the balances were only a few hundred under each step down in CL, the true Balance Chasing scenario)

Apr 2009, $20,500

Sept 2010, $17,300

May 2011, $16,000

Jan 2013, $12,700

Then in August 2014, I got a 0% offer from US Bank, so I cleared off all the remaining $12k from this BofA AMEX, and in October 2014 moved a total of $10,700 back onto this card on a new 0% 18+ month offer. Proceeded to make some large payments on that.

In Feb 2015, got a $3k CLI on this BofA AMEX, from $12,700 to $15,700. Needless to say, it was a good day

[Anonymous]

I got large increases after I put some major purchases on the cards and pressed the luv button afterwards. Have perfect payment history with a couple baddies from 6 years ago.

[SouthJamaica]

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@Anonymous wrote:

What type of spending behavior led to your credit limit increases?  (Ie zero balance, high usage with early payments, 9%, 30%, ect).  

Were they notable increases?  

What time frame did the increases occur in?

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Generally they seem to like you to be using the card, but paying it down to zero a lot, and they seem to like capacity utilization to be in the 10 to 30% range

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

What type of spending behavior led to your credit limit increases?  (Ie zero balance, high usage with early payments, 9%, 30%, ect).  

Were they notable increases?  

What time frame did the increases occur in?

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Speaking for Chase here.  For me I was hitting 60% of my limit and always PIF before statement.  This led to a really nice increase on one card at 5 months and increase on another card at 6 months.

[black_citi]

I got a 2k increase on my QS1 back in April. I've had the card for 5 months at the time with a SL of 2k. I now have 4k on the card. I wasn't using it everday nor was I putting a lot on it. I did pay in full every month but in the email cap1 sent me they told me they were giving me a much higher limit then they originally stated. I was in the credit steps program.

My AMEX BCE was a bit different. I got that card back in Oct. Asked for a small bump in January, no luck. Asked again in april, no luck. About a week ago I owed about $400. I returned a tablet I bought from best buy and they refunded my $162. Soon afterwards, i get an email from Amex saying they auto increased my SL of 1k to 2k now. A 1k bump. I don't know if me returing something had anything to do with it or not but I'm glad I got my increase.

I hear AMEX likes to see lots of usage and PIF every month before they issue CLI. That's just my personal experience however. Cap1 might be similar, at least for me.

[kdm31091]

As everyone says there's no formula. At some point it becomes a waste of time trying to figure it out.

Just use your cards responsibly. Do not spend extra hoping for a CLI. Pay them down or off every month. Responsible usage and time will get you increases if/when your profile supports it.