topic Re: Having a tough time understanding why I can't get a high CL credit card. in Credit Cards

Having a tough time understanding why I can't get a high CL credit card.

Anonymous — Wed, 06 May 2015 05:49:20 GMT

Hello Everyone. I'm new to the boards as a registered member, but have been lurking for several years. It appears now that I cannot find an answer to my question and thought i may ask the community.

My username pretty much explains my credit situation. I've been stuck at 720 +/- 5pts for the last few years. I wouldn't call that an excellent score, but i do have some good tradelines that i would imagine shows financial responsibility.My issue now is that I am having a tough time getting high credit limit credit cards, especially through Amex despite my heavy spending through my Amex charge cards.

I currently have 3 amex cards. Business platinum that I run $50k per month on average (doesn't report to my credit though), a gold card that I run $12-15k per month, and a recent blue cash rewards card that I received a conservative 2k limit on. i waited 3 months and got denied a 3x cli and cannot understand why. I've been having problems getting high CL's with all credit cards for that matter; and I suspect this has to do with the fact that i've had very few credit cards in the past; but shouldn't the gold card pull some weight in credit worthiness?

Just some brief history on what my credit report looks like.

-$76k auto lease (reporting about 50% of vehicles price as it is a lease) $2300 per month.

-$15k high balance on gold card. Pay in full every month for past 2 years at average of $13k per month.

-$5700 Salie Mae; Original loan value $20k. $600 payment per month on average for past 2 years.

-$6200 Salie Mae; original loan value $20k. Same history as above.

-$3300 Limit discover IT; High balance of $1800. average $1300 charges Pay in full every month (just got this card 6 months ago)

-$2000 limit amex. High balance of $1400. Average $1000 pay in full every month.

-Several closed by consumer credit cards and retail cards. Highest CL was BOFA Visa @12k. Most others were probably hurting my credit more than helping with the very low limits $300, 600 etc.

-No Late payments ever, nothing derog.

With all this info layed out, can someone tell me why I can't get a high CL? Especially through Amex? Does amex not care about the gold or business platinum? Does discover not care? Any suggestions on which cards i should apply for to get a $10k + limit on my current situation.

Thanks for any and all help anyone contributes. The knowledge on this board is second to none and always appreciated.

Re: Having a tough time understanding why I can't get a high CL credit card.

Anonymous — Wed, 06 May 2015 17:21:38 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Hello Everyone. I'm new to the boards as a registered member, but have been lurking for several years. It appears now that I cannot find an answer to my question and thought i may ask the community.

My username pretty much explains my credit situation. I've been stuck at 720 +/- 5pts for the last few years. I wouldn't call that an excellent score, but i do have some good tradelines that i would imagine shows financial responsibility.My issue now is that I am having a tough time getting high credit limit credit cards, especially through Amex despite my heavy spending through my Amex charge cards.

I currently have 3 amex cards. Business platinum that I run $50k per month on average (doesn't report to my credit though), a gold card that I run $12-15k per month, and a recent blue cash rewards card that I received a conservative 2k limit on. i waited 3 months and got denied a 3x cli and cannot understand why. I've been having problems getting high CL's with all credit cards for that matter; and I suspect this has to do with the fact that i've had very few credit cards in the past; but shouldn't the gold card pull some weight in credit worthiness?

Just some brief history on what my credit report looks like.

-$76k auto lease (reporting about 50% of vehicles price as it is a lease) $2300 per month.

-$15k high balance on gold card. Pay in full every month for past 2 years at average of $13k per month.

-$5700 Salie Mae; Original loan value $20k. $600 payment per month on average for past 2 years.

-$6200 Salie Mae; original loan value $20k. Same history as above.

-$3300 Limit discover IT; High balance of $1800. average $1300 charges Pay in full every month (just got this card 6 months ago)

-$2000 limit amex. High balance of $1400. Average $1000 pay in full every month.

@-Several closed by consumer credit cards and retail cards. Highest CL was BOFA Visa @12k. Most others were probably hurting my credit more than helping with the very low limits $300, 600 etc.

-No Late payments ever, nothing derog.

With all this info layed out, can someone tell me why I can't get a high CL? Especially through Amex? Does amex not care about the gold or business platinum? Does discover not care? Any suggestions on which cards i should apply for to get a $10k + limit on my current situation.

Thanks for any and all help anyone contributes. The knowledge on this board is second to none and always appreciated.

If you have access to NFCU I recommend giving them a shot. Next best would be a Capital One Venture for high limits. Even if you end up not using it past the spend bonus you could use it to springboard you into higher limits.

Re: Having a tough time understanding why I can't get a high CL credit card.

Anonymous — Wed, 06 May 2015 17:22:20 GMT

How's your debt to income ratio? You have some big payments each month. If your DTI is high, that may be the cause.

Re: Having a tough time understanding why I can't get a high CL credit card.

Momof5 — Wed, 06 May 2015 17:24:35 GMT

check the cap 1 site and see if you are pre-qualified for a Venture. Get that high SL and it should breed others.

Re: Having a tough time understanding why I can't get a high CL credit card.

taxi818 — Wed, 06 May 2015 17:25:23 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Hello Everyone. I'm new to the boards as a registered member, but have been lurking for several years. It appears now that I cannot find an answer to my question and thought i may ask the community.

My username pretty much explains my credit situation. I've been stuck at 720 +/- 5pts for the last few years. I wouldn't call that an excellent score, but i do have some good tradelines that i would imagine shows financial responsibility.My issue now is that I am having a tough time getting high credit limit credit cards, especially through Amex despite my heavy spending through my Amex charge cards.

I currently have 3 amex cards. Business platinum that I run $50k per month on average (doesn't report to my credit though), a gold card that I run $12-15k per month, and a recent blue cash rewards card that I received a conservative 2k limit on. i waited 3 months and got denied a 3x cli and cannot understand why. I've been having problems getting high CL's with all credit cards for that matter; and I suspect this has to do with the fact that i've had very few credit cards in the past; but shouldn't the gold card pull some weight in credit worthiness?

Just some brief history on what my credit report looks like.

-$76k auto lease (reporting about 50% of vehicles price as it is a lease) $2300 per month.

-$15k high balance on gold card. Pay in full every month for past 2 years at average of $13k per month.

-$5700 Salie Mae; Original loan value $20k. $600 payment per month on average for past 2 years.

-$6200 Salie Mae; original loan value $20k. Same history as above.

-$3300 Limit discover IT; High balance of $1800. average $1300 charges Pay in full every month (just got this card 6 months ago)

-$2000 limit amex. High balance of $1400. Average $1000 pay in full every month.

@-Several closed by consumer credit cards and retail cards. Highest CL was BOFA Visa @12k. Most others were probably hurting my credit more than helping with the very low limits $300, 600 etc.

-No Late payments ever, nothing derog.

With all this info layed out, can someone tell me why I can't get a high CL? Especially through Amex? Does amex not care about the gold or business platinum? Does discover not care? Any suggestions on which cards i should apply for to get a $10k + limit on my current situation.

Thanks for any and all help anyone contributes. The knowledge on this board is second to none and always appreciated.

Hello. welcome to the forum. well after all you said. there is no way your score would not go up. except it looks like you are not playing the utilization game.

okay. forget about all those loans for a moment. and lets focus simply on the 2 biggest scorers in fico.

Payment history.

Utilization.

it appears your payment history is fine.

but utilization is not based off your loans. moreso. just focus on the credit cards.

Don't count the business cards nor the charge cards. just the revolvers.

As they are going on your personal credit.

You are doing fine. as far as paying. but its not good to pay everything in full.

even if you leave just 2 dollars on 1 card and let it report. then pay it off as well.

Due date. then statement date. that will drive your score way up with your history. working that will allow you to get the high limit cards you are looking for.

That amex revolver. have you asked for credit limit increase yet>?

it will grow very fast to 25k if that is what you are look ing for. even higher. if your income can support it. any way. good luck. just trying to understand what the issue is

Re: Having a tough time understanding why I can't get a high CL credit card.

Luscher — Wed, 06 May 2015 17:26:09 GMT

Don't expect any high limits with Discover. On the AMEX side they should have no problem upping your limits. I would keep trying.

If you are open to opening a new card I would probably try BOFA as they upped my limits pretty fast, and I spend no where close to what you do.

Re: Having a tough time understanding why I can't get a high CL credit card.

jamesdwi — Wed, 06 May 2015 17:35:16 GMT

perhaps they are concerned about your high level of spend vs your income, you report almost 20k of spend each month, that must be a lot of bussiness exprenses or a really nice paycheck.

maybe move some spend around to the revolvers even if you have to make multiple payments a month perhaps maxing out the cards multiple times a month will trigger some auto cli luv. Yes it will bring back sub-prime memories, well it would for me, but I would give it a try for a few months, and see what happens.

Re: Having a tough time understanding why I can't get a high CL credit card.

Anonymous — Wed, 06 May 2015 17:35:18 GMT

I would wait another 3 months and try again for the CLI.

As others have mentioned, CCCs generally only look at your credit card utilization and payments. Your charge card and business cards don't count for the purposes of credit cards. That only gives you the Amex and the Discover, both of which have fairly high utilization.

You have two reasonable options ahead. High CLs beget other high CLs, because the companies compete with each other. You can thus apply for a card that is known for giving out high limits, such as Venture, and use that to springboard to other high limits in the future. Or, you could apply for another useful card and shift some of your spend to it. This will have the effect of lowering your overall and per card utilization. If you really want to play the game, you can also take the third option of paying most of your Amex & Discover cards down before the statement date, so that they show low utilization.

However, I think Amex probably just needs more credit card time from you. Give it another 90 days, and see what happens. You can always call and ask for reasons if they didn't approve you afterwards.

Re: Having a tough time understanding why I can't get a high CL credit card.

bch238 — Wed, 06 May 2015 18:32:51 GMT

I wonder, but don't know, whether NOT having a mortgage but having a relatively expensive car lease is suppressing your score.

Re: Having a tough time understanding why I can't get a high CL credit card.

Ghoshida — Wed, 06 May 2015 19:25:59 GMT

@bch238 wrote:
I wonder, but don't know, whether NOT having a mortgage but having a relatively expensive car lease is suppressing your score.

No lease, no mortgage, and 750 TU 08 from Barclays. I think they come in handy to cross over the 800 hurdle. Plus you need some good AAoA. I'm at 1.4 years right now.

OP could get some score bumps by playing the utilization right, that's what is hurting them right now, in my opinion.

Re: Having a tough time understanding why I can't get a high CL credit card.

Anonymous — Wed, 06 May 2015 19:38:40 GMT

It sounds like the utlization factored in with the lower cl's. I would keep trying to get your cl's up. Keep hitting that Discover button! I just about doubled my cl and had the card for less than 6 months. Working on my last 3x cli from Amex on July 12th. And I too would recommend you apply for a Venture card. They will give you a larger starting limit. And I do check the simulator all the time for "what ifs". If you do everything they say, they will come up with something else you need to change, etc. Now that I have a great mix of credit, wouldn't you know they're saying I need a student loan to optimize my score! You need to find what works in your favor & keep at it until you see your scores start to change.

Re: Having a tough time understanding why I can't get a high CL credit card.

Anonymous — Wed, 06 May 2015 21:12:13 GMT

Thanks everyone for the great advice!!! I gues utilization must be my issue.

Just for some clarification, DTI is not an issue.

I run most of my life expenses through my AMEX, (Landlord is overseas and requested i pay him through Paypal and he takes the hit on fees so that works for me).

I would love to run more money through the amex blue cash card, but my issue is that most of my purchases are above $2k and my limit on that card is 2k ( i use my cc to buy inventory for my business), beyond this, it pretty much is a gas card and some groceries, although my Girlfriend for the most part takes care of shopping expenses.

I tried to do the amex 3x CLI, and their reasons for not giving it to me were (too many inquiries, credit score, short history). I tried to get someone on the phone who could answer my questions, or someone I could reason with by simply asking them to review all my accounts. The way i see it, if I'm capable of paying in full over $60k collectively to amex per month, why would they be hesitant to give me $6k on a card that i can pay over time?

I'v never had any issues buying cars; im at the point now where i get automatic approvals with no Proof of income needed on $100k plus cars.

Reasons for a lot of inquiries were from a recent car shopping experience; ran about 5 hard pulls on my credit, but i was under the impression that these all count as 1 inquiry (it was between 2-3 days).

Now, the reason i am trying to get my score up is that this year is the year where I begin homeshopping. Lender advised I not apply for a loan until i get over 770.

I'll give cap one venture a shot. I wish i could get into NFCU, but i am not related nor know anyone who was in the navy. I don't want to do this until I get i hit the 3 month wait period for the amex 3x cli though.

I do have 1 success story that I'll share with you guys. I called discover this morning and asked to have my limit increased. the lady advised me that it would be a hard pull; i said fine. she said she needed to call me back on the phone number linked to my account (good sign). Upon picking up that call, she asked me a few more questions to verify my account, followed by a congratulations, you got approved for a $500 Credit limit increase. I literally flipped out on the poor girl over the phone and told her i how pissed I was taking a hard pull for a measily $500. My yelling and ranting got a lot of appologies from the rep, and she finally said that she would put me on a bried hold and see what she could do. I get put on a 5 minute hold, and she comes back with another congratulations speech, but this time, they bumped me to $7600. Not bad from SL of $3300.

Re: Having a tough time understanding why I can't get a high CL credit card.

Turbobuick — Wed, 06 May 2015 21:24:26 GMT

I relate to the paradox of every good job requires experience, but how do you get the experience if no one will hire you.

They are not eager to give you a large credit line because your reports show you've never had one nor, in their mindset, can be trusted. Trust is built slowly, all you can do is ask why the denial until they relent over time.

Re: Having a tough time understanding why I can't get a high CL credit card.

JSS3 — Wed, 06 May 2015 21:34:03 GMT

Are you paying back these huge purchases after statement cut?

Re: Having a tough time understanding why I can't get a high CL credit card.

jamesdwi — Wed, 06 May 2015 21:36:00 GMT

you may want to try "check your spend ability button on the amex site for your blue card you may be surprised what they will approve despite its 2k limit, I would test a 5k, if approved charge on it and then put a simular purchase on the card wait a few days and pay it off. It may get some cli luv, i know my 15k BCP card would allow a 20k charge on it...

Re: Having a tough time understanding why I can't get a high CL credit card.

Anonymous — Wed, 06 May 2015 21:41:01 GMT

@JSS3 wrote:
Are you paying back these huge purchases after statement cut?

Seeing as most of it is on Charge cards. I would say they'd have to be.

Re: Having a tough time understanding why I can't get a high CL credit card.

Anonymous — Wed, 06 May 2015 21:59:18 GMT

Hey, Nixon, you're super now!

Re: Having a tough time understanding why I can't get a high CL credit card.

Turbobuick — Wed, 06 May 2015 22:07:26 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Hey, Nixon, you're super now!

He's always been super. Now it's just offical.

Re: Having a tough time understanding why I can't get a high CL credit card.

Anonymous — Wed, 06 May 2015 23:03:18 GMT

My analysis is as follows:

Why did you close so many accounts, particularly the $12,000 Bof A, instead of working your credit and increasing your limits?

How old is your car lease and Am Ex cards? Do you pay off the BCE card and Discover BEFORE the statement cuts. If you are letting your balances post to the bureaus that is hurting your score.

Do you show yourself as an employee of your company or as an owner? Self employment scares lenders.They know you expense out a lot and net little income. What is your stated income? How much is your rent ?With all those high debts I feel you need a reported income of about $300,000 or so dependent on the amount of rent you "report". You need a employee job title that will justify that kind of income.

I see you as a guy that really doesn't need the credit to live your life and because of that fact you haven't created a " profile" that fits your cash flow and lifestyle. Once you do that the credit lines you want will follow.

Re: Having a tough time understanding why I can't get a high CL credit card.

Anonymous — Thu, 07 May 2015 00:10:52 GMT

Car lease is now pushing16 months. Only open auto tradeline. I do have a total of 4 loans that show on my credit that are now closed.

I pay amex charge cards in full a few days before the due date. Ive had the amex gold for 7 years, business platinum for 3 years.

I pay my discover and Amex Credit Card on the due dates. Are you saying I should pay them off before my statement is prepared? If so, how soon before, and Pay in Full?

Rent does not report to credit as it is paid with my Amex through Paypal to my landlord per his request as he is overseas for the time being. In case the value matters, rent is $7000

I claim $425k income and this is pushing 2 years at this salary for my loan approval purposes. Prior to that, i was claiming a little less than half this.

My title is Managing Director.

I closed my other accounts because they were very small. I can't remember off the top of my head, but they were along the lines of (Home Depot $600, Lowes $300, etc. I closed the BoFA because they kept decreasing my credit line due to not using it much towards the end.

I'm not sure if anyone saw my post towards the top of this page, but i managed to get a CLI from discover this morning. All of my efforts are to spruce up my credit report for a mortgage on a house I plan on buying this year. That is also the reason i have been paying myself $425k for the last 2 years.