Why won't BOA give me a CLI?

[revvystoke]

I had two loans when I first got the card last year, one with a 12,5 balance with 3 years left and one for 6k. I paid the higher one off in August of that year and paid the smaller one off in October. No baddies on my CR. When I spoke to recon I asked what would help and they told me to pif for another couple of months then they would consider it. I did and have had positive balances with them since Aug.

I applied for a Visa card through BOA when I got declined for an increase and was instantly approved for 5k. My other cards are a Us Air card @ 2500, a discover @ 2500 and my paypal @ 4000. I haven't asked for a cli on any of the others since I don't use them much. I don't have any other balances because I am in the market for a house and wanted to limit my debt and inqs.

[Odiseous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@pizzadude wrote:

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revvystoke wrote:

I opened my Alaska Airlines account with them last Feburary. I have run almost 30k through the card since then. The limit was 3500 but I combined from another card and will be upgraded to the signature card. I had requested a CLI a couple months ago and was denied. Their reasoning was that I didn't have a established payment history. I pay the card around 5 times per month since I max it out then have to wait for the payment to go through to use it again which gets annoying.

I use the card because I fly the airline alot and I like having the companion ticket. I had a combined balance of around 10k on my cards last month due to Christmas shopping but I paid them all off this month. I almost always PIF. My credit score is low since the PIF'd balances have not updated yet it is at 690 but was at 728 before the balances hit. I make 56k a year. What should I do with the card? Decrease spending? Let balances report?

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Your account is just too new.   Many people expect to get auto CLIs after 6 months, 9 months, etc... but some companies just won't do that until your account has been opened for a long enough period of time for them to feel comfortable with your spending & payment habits.

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+1

It took a couple of years for BoA to start giving me auto CLIs. IIRC, is was in Nov. or December of '08 (somewhere around that time) that I got my first CLI, period. That first one was at my request (after having been told "NO!" quite a few times). Since then, I haven't requested a CLI, but get auto CLIs at least once a year during my cards anniversary month.

Another thing that might matter-- is BoA your highest credit line, currently? They seem hesitant to be the first to extend the higher limit. I'd suggest that you give it another year, maybe reduce your payments to once per month (if it's possible with your usage patterns), and work on a higher credit limit with another lender, in the meantime. I think that you might find a more pliable BoA when you revisit the issue.

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+1

When I opened up my BofA card, they initially approved me for $500. I had to recon for $2k CL (highest CL was $2500 at the time). 

7 months later, once I had one AmEx reporting just under $11k; I requested CLI with BofA from 2k to 10k. The did do a hard pull, but it was approved.

[frogfan12]

BOA seems kind of stingy with CLIs from my experience.

[JusdoNit]

Moving them out of the  no. 1 spot and concentrating on another card and getting that other card's limit increased may get there attention.