Will Discover recon initial CL and APR?

elegia · ‎06-13-2014

I just got my Discover It card in the mail along with the cardmember agreement and terms and was a little surprised by the initial terms: $1500 credit limit and 22.99% APR (after 0% intro APR).

Both of these terms are worse than those on my other two credit cards and the various pre-qual APR offers I get. I have had a Citi Forward since 2011 with a CL of $8100 and 18.99% APR and an Amex BCP since 2013 with a CL of $14400 and 12.99% APR. I have always paid in full on time and have no baddies or any loans or mortgages, and according to my letter my EX score is 746.

Is there anything I can do? From what I can tell, Discover is really unlikely to recon initial offers, but what is the likelihood of being able to secure a better APR and higher CL down the road?

American Express Blue Cash Preferred - $14,400

Bank of America Better Balance Rewards - $2,500

Hockeyplayrr · ‎06-13-2014

I started out with a 4k credit limit with my discover it. Had an auto cli $500 every three months. Then my 9th month with the card I asked for a soft pull cli to 10k. They gave me 9k without pulling a report. So it does grow. Earliest you can ask for a cli is 3 months. Not sure about apr. I'm at I believe 14.99 and idk if they go much lower than that.

09Lexie · ‎06-13-2014

Since you are in the promo period, they will deny your request to lower your APR. However, Discover is very good on APR reductions every 6 mos. as soon as your promo period ends, request an APR reduction.

You can also request a CLI every 90 days; they may or may not be SP's but they will inform you before you proceed.

Whether or not Amex offered you a better rate has no baring on another lender's UW /approvals. The best you can do is request the reductions/CLI's when you become eligible.

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mongstradamus · ‎06-13-2014

@Hockeyplayrr wrote:
I started out with a 4k credit limit with my discover it. Had an auto cli $500 every three months. Then my 9th month with the card I asked for a soft pull cli to 10k. They gave me 9k without pulling a report. So it does grow. Earliest you can ask for a cli is 3 months. Not sure about apr. I'm at I believe 14.99 and idk if they go much lower than that.

YMMV with Discover some people are lucky and are able to get sp cli every few months. I may just be unlucky, but have had card since September, and I haven't got one sp cli, and everytime i ask for an cli they say they need an HP. My credit is decent, so i don't think thats the problem. I am going to try some experimentation with having balances report and see if discover will see me any differently .

EX Fico 804 11/16/16 Fako 800 Credit.com 11/16/16
EQ SW bank enhanced 11/16/16 839 CK fako 822 11/16/16
TU Fico discover 10/19/16 814 Fako 819 Creditkarma 11/16/16

PlasticOrPlastic · ‎06-13-2014

I went from $800 -> $2000 after 3 months (HP), then $2000 -> $3000 a month later (HP). I also dropped my APR from 22.99% to 18.24% after 3 months. If willing to take a HP you can do it monthly with Discover.

StriveToProsper · ‎06-13-2014

@mongstradamus wrote:
@Hockeyplayrr wrote:
I started out with a 4k credit limit with my discover it. Had an auto cli $500 every three months. Then my 9th month with the card I asked for a soft pull cli to 10k. They gave me 9k without pulling a report. So it does grow. Earliest you can ask for a cli is 3 months. Not sure about apr. I'm at I believe 14.99 and idk if they go much lower than that.
YMMV with Discover some people are lucky and are able to get sp cli every few months. I may just be unlucky, but have had card since September, and I haven't got one sp cli, and everytime i ask for an cli they say they need an HP. My credit is decent, so i don't think thats the problem. I am going to try some experimentation with having balances report and see if discover will see me any differently .

I'm on the same boat as you. Have had the card since late August (or was it early September?) of last year and never received a SP CLI. I feel as it's very much YMMV.

trzarocks · ‎06-13-2014

I was approved with a $1000 CL and 22.99% APR. I didn't get any love from them at all. On my 1 year anniversary, I requested CLI via the automated phone thingy, and the bumped me to $5k, which was my largest limit at the time. When I logged in to check my limit the next day, I also had a 0% BT offer available, which wasn't there before. Not like you can do much transferring with the old $1k limit, anyway.

One thing I got from the approval process, as I had to call and speak with a CSR. She asked about the 1 collection on my report, which hadn't fallen off yet. I explained the dispute that I had with the merchant and she seemed to be sympathetic to my position. She never brought up the 2 30 day late pays that I had on my last auto loan. She approved the application, although it was not the offer that I was hoping for. Still, my only other card was a 1 year old Capital One. I was happy to have a prime lender finally.

If you have any baddies, expect to have an uphill climb with Discover. If you have a marginal credit history, be patient. You'll be rewarded if you use the card, show responsible credit usage, and treat them right. Keep in mind that Discover is a conservative lender with their underwriting criteria. They just want you to show yourself as their ideal customer.

DarkMoonLily · ‎06-13-2014

Is the CLI request available after the 3rd Statement cut or 3 months from the account opening? Just wondering.

2019 Goals: Garden and Clean up Credit Reports!!!
2020 Goals: Get a Secured Card and Auto Loan.

PlasticOrPlastic · ‎06-13-2014

@DarkMoonLily wrote:
Is the CLI request available after the 3rd Statement cut or 3 months from the account opening? Just wondering.

Mine was available after the 3rd statement cut.

Kenny · ‎06-13-2014

@09Lexie wrote:
Since you are in the promo period, they will deny your request to lower your APR. However, Discover is very good on APR reductions every 6 mos. as soon as your promo period ends, request an APR reduction.

You can also request a CLI every 90 days; they may or may not be SP's but they will inform you before you proceed.

Whether or not Amex offered you a better rate has no baring on another lender's UW /approvals. The best you can do is request the reductions/CLI's when you become eligible.

I would definitely second the sentiments in this post. Discover can and will grow with you to be one of your best, if not the best, card you have. I've been able to grow my card from 1.5k to 12k all with SPs and the apr is now the lowest they offer and I routinely get 0% and 1.9% promotional periods offered to me.

Wish you the best, @elegia!

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