topic Re: Lowes cli/ am I doing something wrong? in Credit Card Applications

Lowes cli/ am I doing something wrong?

Anonymous — Sun, 08 Dec 2019 02:20:15 GMT

A while back I hit the online luv button for my Lowes consumer credit card and was denied due to lack of real estate loan and amount of time account has been open too recent. They had pulled a credit score of 629 from three months ago. Everyone on here suggested that i would have a much better chance of a cli by calling credit solutions. A month later from the previous cli request I called credit solutions over seas and asked for a limit of $8,000 (current limit $1,037). I was instantly denied without explanation or counter offer. Reasons for the denial are lack of real estate secured loan, average time since accounts opened too recent, not enough balance paid over time on installment accounts, and average time since revolving accounts opened is too recent. They pulled the same score. Currently my Fico 8 TU is 696 uti 27%. Not sure if im doing something wrong but I’ve decided to SD this card for a while even though I spend $200-$600+ each month.

Re: Lowes cli/ am I doing something wrong?

Anonymous — Sun, 08 Dec 2019 03:10:35 GMT

I've heard of another poster being denied a CLI with a low CL due to lack of a mortgage on their CR, unless it was you posting a couple months ago.

Not sure what their criteria is, but I'm not surprised that they wouldn't grant a higher limit if you don't own a home. Big spend is more likely. Of course you would have disclosed home ownership on the credit app, so they know it up front.

I tend to look at the reasons at face value. If they are true (the reasons listed), you might have to wait it out. Hitting the upper half of the limit consistently usually gets you a CLI, but they might want to see how your new accounts are handled first. Time shows behavior. You might not have enough history yet for their liking. I'd wait it out and use the card as you have been. 5% back is nice while you wait. They may grant a CLI after 6 or more months of use.

Re: Lowes cli/ am I doing something wrong?

Poppa — Sun, 08 Dec 2019 03:18:39 GMT

I had a $1237 limit for a year before they gave me a CLI. I tried every month at least. I asked for the max amount and got it, $35,000. I applied for the card 2 days after closing on my house.

Re: Lowes cli/ am I doing something wrong?

Anonymous — Sun, 08 Dec 2019 03:29:02 GMT

@Poppa wrote:
I had a $1237 limit for a year before they gave me a CLI. I tried every month at least. I asked for the max amount and got it, $35,000. I applied for the card 2 days after closing on my house.

Do they really have CLs with odd dollar amounts? $1,237? Can you request 1,563.81 to cover an upcoming purchase? Lol.

Well, if that worked for you, it might work for OP too. Maybe or maybe not $35K, but a good increase could result.

My limit is 9200, the lowest of my cards. I requested a CLI and was denied. Never received the letter they promised that would explain the denial, so I really don't know why it was denied.

Re: Lowes cli/ am I doing something wrong?

CreditInspired — Sun, 08 Dec 2019 12:04:27 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
A while back I hit the online luv button for my Lowes consumer credit card and was denied due to lack of real estate loan and amount of time account has been open too recent. They had pulled a credit score of 629 from three months ago. Everyone on here suggested that i would have a much better chance of a cli by calling credit solutions. A month later from the previous cli request I called credit solutions over seas and asked for a limit of $8,000 (current limit $1,037). I was instantly denied without explanation or counter offer. Reasons for the denial are lack of real estate secured loan, average time since accounts opened too recent, not enough balance paid over time on installment accounts, and average time since revolving accounts opened is too recent. They pulled the same score. Currently my Fico 8 TU is 696 uti 27%. Not sure if im doing something wrong but I’ve decided to SD this card for a while even though I spend $200-$600+ each month.

This is purely a guess. But I wonder if not owning a home, Lowes doesn't see a need for a higher CL since they're geared toward home improvement. Maybe the higher CLs are reserved for bigger spends like installing hardwood floors, renovating bathrooms, buying appliances--things that cost in the thousands. Again, this is just a thought and I would love others to chime in.

I do believe, however, that if you SD your card, no CLI would be forthcoming.

Re: Lowes cli/ am I doing something wrong?

CreditInspired — Sun, 08 Dec 2019 12:05:45 GMT

@Poppa wrote:
I had a $1237 limit for a year before they gave me a CLI. I tried every month at least. I asked for the max amount and got it, $35,000. I applied for the card 2 days after closing on my house.

^^^this

Re: Lowes cli/ am I doing something wrong?

Anonymous — Sun, 08 Dec 2019 14:55:54 GMT

@CreditInspired wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
A while back I hit the online luv button for my Lowes consumer credit card and was denied due to lack of real estate loan and amount of time account has been open too recent. They had pulled a credit score of 629 from three months ago. Everyone on here suggested that i would have a much better chance of a cli by calling credit solutions. A month later from the previous cli request I called credit solutions over seas and asked for a limit of $8,000 (current limit $1,037). I was instantly denied without explanation or counter offer. Reasons for the denial are lack of real estate secured loan, average time since accounts opened too recent, not enough balance paid over time on installment accounts, and average time since revolving accounts opened is too recent. They pulled the same score. Currently my Fico 8 TU is 696 uti 27%. Not sure if im doing something wrong but I’ve decided to SD this card for a while even though I spend $200-$600+ each month.
This is purely a guess. But I wonder if not owning a home, Lowes doesn't see a need for a higher CL since they're geared toward home improvement. Maybe the higher CLs are reserved for bigger spends like installing hardwood floors, renovating bathrooms, buying appliances--things that cost in the thousands. Again, this is just a thought and I would love others to chime in.

I do believe, however, that if you SD your card, no CLI would be forthcoming.

I even wonder if they target higher CLs to those whose line of work is conducive to using a higher CL. For instance, someone who works in construction with a high income would get the max CL, where a physician might get a smaller CL. Screening in a back porch is more likely to be a DIY for someone who is in construction than a physician who would pay a company to do it. Just a guess, but I believe CLs are determined by more than just income and paying on time every time.

I don't do landscaping projects, I hire a lawn service, and never set foot in the lumber or masonry sections of Lowe's. My spend on the card is small, my highest spend in a month was about $300, and maybe they can determine I'm not a DIY and therefore I'll never see anything close to a 35K CL.

Re: Lowes cli/ am I doing something wrong?

CreditInspired — Sun, 08 Dec 2019 15:14:20 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@CreditInspired wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
A while back I hit the online luv button for my Lowes consumer credit card and was denied due to lack of real estate loan and amount of time account has been open too recent. They had pulled a credit score of 629 from three months ago. Everyone on here suggested that i would have a much better chance of a cli by calling credit solutions. A month later from the previous cli request I called credit solutions over seas and asked for a limit of $8,000 (current limit $1,037). I was instantly denied without explanation or counter offer. Reasons for the denial are lack of real estate secured loan, average time since accounts opened too recent, not enough balance paid over time on installment accounts, and average time since revolving accounts opened is too recent. They pulled the same score. Currently my Fico 8 TU is 696 uti 27%. Not sure if im doing something wrong but I’ve decided to SD this card for a while even though I spend $200-$600+ each month.
This is purely a guess. But I wonder if not owning a home, Lowes doesn't see a need for a higher CL since they're geared toward home improvement. Maybe the higher CLs are reserved for bigger spends like installing hardwood floors, renovating bathrooms, buying appliances--things that cost in the thousands. Again, this is just a thought and I would love others to chime in.

I do believe, however, that if you SD your card, no CLI would be forthcoming.
I even wonder if they target higher CLs to those whose line of work is conducive to using a higher CL. For instance, someone who works in construction with a high income would get the max CL, where a physician might get a smaller CL. Screening in a back porch is more likely to be a DIY for someone who is in construction than a physician who would pay a company to do it. Just a guess, but I believe CLs are determined by more than just income and paying on time every time.

I don't do landscaping projects, I hire a lawn service, and never set foot in the lumber or masonry sections of Lowe's. My spend on the card is small, my highest spend in a month was about $300, and maybe they can determine I'm not a DIY and therefore I'll never see anything close to a 35K CL.

That's a good observation. I never thought of that but it makes sense. Who knows what is in different CCCs algorithms and how they make decisions on CLs and CLIs.

Re: Lowes cli/ am I doing something wrong?

Anonymous — Sun, 08 Dec 2019 15:59:54 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
... Not sure what their criteria is, but I'm not surprised that they wouldn't grant a higher limit if you don't own a home ...

I'm at 35K with no home and not much spend. Started at 2K. It took 4+ months to get there.

When your scores improve so will your chances of a higher CL. It's truly that simple.

Re: Lowes cli/ am I doing something wrong?

CreditInspired — Sun, 08 Dec 2019 16:05:11 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
... Not sure what their criteria is, but I'm not surprised that they wouldn't grant a higher limit if you don't own a home ...
I'm at 35K with no home and not much spend. Started at 2K. It took 4+ months to get there.

When your scores improve so will your chances of a higher CL. It's truly that simple.

Oh this is good to know. Thanks for sharing.

Re: Lowes cli/ am I doing something wrong?

Raisondetre — Sun, 08 Dec 2019 16:16:48 GMT

Yeah, the Lowe's card can be a bit quirky, which doesn't surprise me because Synchrony is the issuer.

My husband has the card, he opened it the same day we closed on our house last year. They lowered his limit this past summer, only reason given on the paper was something about not making enough payments on our home loan. It was odd because we've never missed payments and we didn't even have the house a year yet. Last month they gave him a CLI of what they originally took away and $500 extra.

I try not to put too much thought into what they're trying to do because it never makes sense.

Re: Lowes cli/ am I doing something wrong?

Anonymous — Sun, 08 Dec 2019 17:56:32 GMT

@Raisondetre wrote:
Yeah, the Lowe's card can be a bit quirky, which doesn't surprise me because Synchrony is the issuer.

My husband has the card, he opened it the same day we closed on our house last year. They lowered his limit this past summer, only reason given on the paper was something about not making enough payments on our home loan. It was odd because we've never missed payments and we didn't even have the house a year yet. Last month they gave him a CLI of what they originally took away and $500 extra.

I try not to put too much thought into what they're trying to do because it never makes sense.

It looks like this is all over the place. Don't know that we have an answer for OP, and no good logic either.

Re: Lowes cli/ am I doing something wrong?

stonedog23 — Sun, 08 Dec 2019 18:27:13 GMT

This card is quirky but they are pulling a 629 on the OP, which is probably too low for an increase. Last December my initial limit was $300 and by April it was $25K with only one $86 purchase.

Re: Lowes cli/ am I doing something wrong?

I_Love_Cards — Sun, 08 Dec 2019 21:48:09 GMT

Synchrony has been using Vantage 4.0 for CLI for my Lowe’s card. That’s possibly where the 629 came from.

Utilization and balance pay down are the predominant factor in the V4.0 score. Payment history is next. It’s also quite volatile because of the emphasis on utilization (over tine).

You can check your V4.0 score through your Lowe’s card account. Keep an eye on that and when it’s higher, submit your CLI request.

Re: Lowes cli/ am I doing something wrong?

stonedog23 — Sun, 08 Dec 2019 22:47:53 GMT

Are they actually using Vantage for account maintenance? They could be like Capital One and give us Vantage scores on the site, but when you’re denied for an increase, a FICO score is on the denial letter. And it’s the mortgage FICO score at that.

Re: Lowes cli/ am I doing something wrong?

I_Love_Cards — Sun, 08 Dec 2019 23:09:04 GMT

@stonedog23 wrote:
Are they actually using Vantage for account maintenance? They could be like Capital One and give us Vantage scores on the site, but when you’re denied for an increase, a FICO score is on the denial letter. And it’s the mortgage FICO score at that.

Capital one does use mortgage scores for credit decisions (and shows Vantage in CreditWise).

Several of us are getting the Vantage 4.0 scores in our Syncrony letters for CLI (idk about new account approvals). My TU FICO8 is 700 +/- 5-10. My vantage 4.0 Is 630-645 depending on the day with one random spike up to 702 (the day Synch increased my Lowe's card to $12K-no letter since I only requested $12k-next day Vantage 4.0 down to 641 and no more CLI).

The scores in my letters match whatever the vantage 4.0 was on the day I requested. The reasons listed on the letter also match whatever it shows on the Vantage 4.0 scorecard (my top reason alternates between not enough mortgage paid off and serious delinquency).

There are a few threads around where others are reporting the same experience. I don't know if they are doing it for all accounts for all profiles-but certainly for mine (and the others who have reported the same). Since OP also has a large discrepancy between their FICO and the score on the letter, it seems a likely possibility that Synch is also using Vantage 4.0 for them.

Re: Lowes cli/ am I doing something wrong?

Poppa — Mon, 09 Dec 2019 01:26:08 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
When your scores improve so will your chances of a higher CL. It's truly that simple.

That's not the experience I had. My scores were very good. My credit was in pristine shape for house buying.

Re: Lowes cli/ am I doing something wrong?

Anonymous — Mon, 09 Dec 2019 01:39:06 GMT

@Poppa wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
When your scores improve so will your chances of a higher CL. It's truly that simple.

That's not the experience I had. My scores were very good. My credit was in pristine shape for house buying.

Agree. I think it doesn't work that way with all lenders, even more so with a Lowe's card. I have a small CL with Lowe's compared to my other cards. Something else is going on.