topic Re: Citi Double Cash Approved! Bad CL and APR With 764EX! in Credit Cards

Citi Double Cash Approved! Bad CL and APR With 764EX!

Credit_hawk — Sun, 07 Feb 2016 21:14:43 GMT

Hey guys,

I don't want to sound like a brat but I'm a bit disappointed with my new Citi limit and APR. This is my first Citi card and I have what I consider very good credit and my last card approval was $10k. I have been wanting the Double Cash like many and was pre-approved for 23.99% APR. I thought that maybe that information from that preapproval was when they soft pulled months ago and it would be a much lower APR when I applied. This was flawed thinking. With the scores you see below- they pulled my EX which is a 764 (at least I didn't lose points on the inq) they only gave me a $3,700 credit line with 23% APR. I'm quite disappointed with that. Maybe I shouldn't have applied through my preapproval site and just applied "cold"? Would that have made a difference? Currently I make near $70k a year and have low housing expenses and no derogatories or anything. Flawless credit. On paper I'm a great applicant. So, what gives? Is Citi or the DC card known for this? I am making myself feel better knowing that I never carry a balance but it still bums me out a bit.

Any wisdom or experience appreciated! Thanks!!

Re: Citi Double Cash Approved! Bad CL and APR With 764EX!

Anonymous — Sun, 07 Feb 2016 21:20:28 GMT

This card is known to start with low limits. Mine was approved last month at $2600, I requested an increase when the card came in and it bumped to $15,000. Cost a HP but made the card more usable. I have the same APR too.

Re: Citi Double Cash Approved! Bad CL and APR With 764EX!

SouthJamaica — Sun, 07 Feb 2016 21:25:01 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
This card is known to start with low limits. Mine was approved last month at $2600, I requested an increase when the card came in and it bumped to $15,000. Cost a HP but made the card more usable. I have the same APR too.

They also started me at $2600.

But in the 15 months since then I haven't been able to get a CLI, so I'm still at $2600.

Re: Citi Double Cash Approved! Bad CL and APR With 764EX!

Anonymous — Sun, 07 Feb 2016 21:30:22 GMT

maybe that's the minimum for first citi credit card holders. Last year I applied for first citi card 'thankyou premier', and my score was around 760, i got approved for 3700 cl with 20.99 or something.

Re: Citi Double Cash Approved! Bad CL and APR With 764EX!

Anonymous — Sun, 07 Feb 2016 21:39:47 GMT

@Credit_hawk wrote:
Hey guys,

I don't want to sound like a brat but I'm a bit disappointed with my new Citi limit and APR. This is my first Citi card and I have what I consider very good credit and my last card approval was $10k. I have been wanting the Double Cash like many and was pre-approved for 23.99% APR. I thought that maybe that information from that preapproval was when they soft pulled months ago and it would be a much lower APR when I applied. This was flawed thinking. With the scores you see below- they pulled my EX which is a 764 (at least I didn't lose points on the inq) they only gave me a $3,700 credit line with 23% APR. I'm quite disappointed with that. Maybe I shouldn't have applied through my preapproval site and just applied "cold"? Would that have made a difference? Currently I make near $70k a year and have low housing expenses and no derogatories or anything. Flawless credit. On paper I'm a great applicant. So, what gives? Is Citi or the DC card known for this? I am making myself feel better knowing that I never carry a balance but it still bums me out a bit.

Any wisdom or experience appreciated! Thanks!!

citi dc will get to a big limit with scores like that by using a 2nd hp. thankfully citi does APR reductions so in 15-18 months you can chat with customer service and try to get that reduced.

Also i had better luck in checking online for preapprovals with citi and the mail offers came and got better and better luckily I got 0 for 18 months then 13.99 (now 14.24). I say this because my online APR was showing 22.99

Re: Citi Double Cash Approved! Bad CL and APR With 764EX!

CreditMagic7 — Sun, 07 Feb 2016 21:46:25 GMT

I don't know how to take Citi anymore if i ever really did but here's my experience with them so far. They started me with a first card (CDP) with them at only $800 that i was able to contact the EO office and they raised it (with a HP) to $2K in only 2 months. After that i took the 6 month SP CLI route until at 12 months did a PC over to Double Cash and still only opting for their what's become rather routine $1.4-1.5K every 6 month SP CLI.

Last month i jumped on a nice APR offer for the Simplicity at 13.99% after 21 months 0% but the mere $1K SL just threw ice cold water on the entire offer for me so i at-once called and closed it and chalked it up as a lesson and am steering clear of anymore Citi cards until they show some iron in their blood instead of mush for starting limits for a decent profile with excellent history with their existing card.

Now if anyone is willing to add another HP you can call their EO Dept and they can and might just do so much better and more in line with expectations.

Re: Citi Double Cash Approved! Bad CL and APR With 764EX!

Anonymous — Sun, 07 Feb 2016 21:51:12 GMT

@CreditMagic7 wrote:
I don't know how to take Citi anymore if i ever really did but here's my experience with them so far. They started me with a first card (CDP) with them at only $800 that i was able to contact the EO office and they raised it (with a HP) to $2K in only 2 months. After that i took the 6 month SP CLI route until at 12 months did a PC over to Double Cash and still only opting for their what's become rather routine $1.4-1.5K every 6 month SP CLI.

Last month i jumped on a nice APR offer for the Simplicity at 13.99% after 21 months 0% but the mere $1K SL just threw ice cold water on the entire offer for me so i at-once called and closed it and chalked it up as a lesson and am steering clear of anymore Citi cards until they show some iron in their blood instead of mush for starting limits for a decent profile with excellent history with their existing card.

Now if anyone is willing to add another HP you can call their EO Dept and they can and might just do so much better and more in line with expectations.

that is terrible CM!

can the hp cli happen at any time? off the sp schedule?

Re: Citi Double Cash Approved! Bad CL and APR With 764EX!

wacdenney — Sun, 07 Feb 2016 21:56:59 GMT

@Credit_hawk wrote:
Hey guys,

I don't want to sound like a brat but I'm a bit disappointed with my new Citi limit and APR. This is my first Citi card and I have what I consider very good credit and my last card approval was $10k. I have been wanting the Double Cash like many and was pre-approved for 23.99% APR. I thought that maybe that information from that preapproval was when they soft pulled months ago and it would be a much lower APR when I applied. This was flawed thinking. With the scores you see below- they pulled my EX which is a 764 (at least I didn't lose points on the inq) they only gave me a $3,700 credit line with 23% APR. I'm quite disappointed with that. Maybe I shouldn't have applied through my preapproval site and just applied "cold"? Would that have made a difference? Currently I make near $70k a year and have low housing expenses and no derogatories or anything. Flawless credit. On paper I'm a great applicant. So, what gives? Is Citi or the DC card known for this? I am making myself feel better knowing that I never carry a balance but it still bums me out a bit.

Any wisdom or experience appreciated! Thanks!!

Mine has a low limit also so it pretty much stays in the ole SD in favor of Fidelity AMEX where I actually have a usable limit.

No idea what my APR is. DC is a rewards card so you really wouldn't want to carry a balance on it anyway or you would negate the rewards.

Re: Citi Double Cash Approved! Bad CL and APR With 764EX!

CreditMagic7 — Sun, 07 Feb 2016 22:08:14 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@CreditMagic7 wrote:
I don't know how to take Citi anymore if i ever really did but here's my experience with them so far. They started me with a first card (CDP) with them at only $800 that i was able to contact the EO office and they raised it (with a HP) to $2K in only 2 months. After that i took the 6 month SP CLI route until at 12 months did a PC over to Double Cash and still only opting for their what's become rather routine $1.4-1.5K every 6 month SP CLI.

Last month i jumped on a nice APR offer for the Simplicity at 13.99% after 21 months 0% but the mere $1K SL just threw ice cold water on the entire offer for me so i at-once called and closed it and chalked it up as a lesson and am steering clear of anymore Citi cards until they show some iron in their blood instead of mush for starting limits for a decent profile with excellent history with their existing card.

Now if anyone is willing to add another HP you can call their EO Dept and they can and might just do so much better and more in line with expectations.
that is terrible CM!

can the hp cli happen at any time? off the sp schedule?

Someone that's been down that road before can answer it for you. The only time i did was only 2 months into being a new customer like i posted about with the CDP.

Citi has their policies and reasons why their start limits are always lowball compared to competitors and good for them but some of us don't have the time or patience to have to babysit all over again another low limit card of theirs in the hopes it might grow to become a usable card and not SD material.

Re: Citi Double Cash Approved! Bad CL and APR With 764EX!

Discover2016 — Sun, 07 Feb 2016 23:01:03 GMT

There was once a man walking down the street complaining that he had no shoes, then he saw a man that had no feet! I wish I had a 3,700CL, I only got 2,000. I was going to do a HP CLI request when I got the card but I was swimming in inquiries so I didn't want to add another one, I will try a SP CLI when the card is 6mo in March.

Re: Citi Double Cash Approved! Bad CL and APR With 764EX!

Anonymous — Sun, 07 Feb 2016 23:21:42 GMT

I was approved for this card about two weeks ago with a sl of $2.8k. This was with an online preapproval, it's odd because; one day I tried it and it gave me an apr of 23.24%, I tried again the next day and it gave an apr of 13.24%. I immediately applied and was instantly approved with the listed sl but, with a good sl. My stats are in my sign , minus 1 inq and minus 2 pts on EX and some baddies. It is my first Citi account so I was shocked by the decent apr and the big change in apr's. My last two approvals prior to this were $16K and $10k bumped to $19k on activation and I considered trying for a cli upon activation, but figured it would better to wait fir some hp's to fall off.

Re: Citi Double Cash Approved! Bad CL and APR With 764EX!

Sharingan — Mon, 08 Feb 2016 01:18:37 GMT

I probably would not have applied at all if I saw that the interest rate was going to be 23%+ beforehand. If there's no APR range in the preapproval, then it's a reasonable assumption that what you see is probably what you will get if you are approved. It's indicative of what the bank thinks of your credit in accordance with their preferred scoring model. One should expect an unsatisfactory SL to accompany such a high interest rate because evidently the bank is indentifying a greater degree of risk. Whether or not we agree with their assessment is irrelevant. Indeed, it is true that this is a rewards card and that the interest rate shouldn't matter, but I tend to look at it from a different angle when I don't like what I see. This doesn't apply in every scenario; however, more often than not, it does. It's very possible that cold app'ing could have produced more favorable terms because you would've been applying for the card without fixed terms, which may have been determined based on old information from the bureaus in the past, as you alluded to in the OP.

To answer your other questions, the DC is not always known for low limits. Contrary to the somber narrative that some posters here would like readers to believe about this product, the card isn't some anomaly with a low credit ceiling. A quick glance at other credit card resources indicate that the DC SLs aren't all that different from what many people are offered on the Chase Freedom, Discover IT, and many other popular competing credit cards; yet people seem quite satisfied and even grateful for what they receive on those other cards without stigmatizing them. The recent credit pulls DB entries for all 3 in are quite interesting.

Personally, I received the lowest interest rate on my DC and a decent SL with similar scores as the OP's. There's just no way to ascertain at this time what Citi didn't quite like about his or her profile.

Re: Citi Double Cash Approved! Bad CL and APR With 764EX!

Anonymous — Mon, 08 Feb 2016 01:41:44 GMT

My scores are below, income is $53k right now, starting CL was $2,000!

I was a little upset after finding out but it didn't matter too much at the time because I was using other cards a lot more to meet spending requirements.

Now that is over I am wanting to put most of my general spending on the card and a dental expense of $5k to PIF and enjoy a nice 2% of that in cashback.

Requested a CLI to $10,000 tonight, will recieve a response in the next 24 hours.

Was approved for my Prestige about a month later for $8,000 so I think it is just a stubborn product. I think Citi is doing it on purpose, they want to limit the number of people running high expenses through so they have to pay out 2% if they PIF! The majority of people who carry balances and pay interest are just spending smaller amounts and these people are how they are making their money.

Re: Citi Double Cash Approved! Bad CL and APR With 764EX!

Credit_hawk — Mon, 08 Feb 2016 01:44:38 GMT

Thanks for all the stories that help me relate. I have noticed looking around that it seems to be more common than not to start out with paltry limits on the DC and maybe even some Citi cards in general. I went and applied for the Venture after and got approved but that was something I did almost as reassuring measure and I don't really need the card and moreover Cap One's 3 bureau pull. Well that will be it for me for a while. But it certainly is weird. Turns out Citi pulled my EQ as well which is a 789 FICO 08.

I'm enjoying and appreciating everyone's experiences with the DC card so keep them coming. Now what to do with the Venture card after I already have a CSP?

Re: Citi Double Cash Approved! Bad CL and APR With 764EX!

amakol — Mon, 08 Feb 2016 01:50:05 GMT

Opened my Citi card with a low limit too - $3500

Sharing my experience if it helps others:

6 months HP CLI to $7000

12 months HP CLI to $10500

18 months HP CLI to $15000

I requested all CLIs and the SP feature didn't give me anything so it cost me 4 HPs. But, they were all Equifax which is otherwise useless and there's only 2 still left on my report.

It may have been an extra hassle but in my experience the card grew well. I'd rather use HPs for fewer cards at higher limits than opening more cards than I can handle. Still have a 23% APR though.

Re: Citi Double Cash Approved! Bad CL and APR With 764EX!

Credit_hawk — Mon, 08 Feb 2016 01:50:46 GMT

Tyrex, I agree that they most likely employ lower credit lines on purpose to keep people from taking full advantage. It is a very good card and if we pay in full they get nothing out of it on swipes I believe since I think it's 2% per transaction swipe they get back per swipe and we are taking that in rewards. At least I had read that it was roughly 2%.

Re: Citi Double Cash Approved! Bad CL and APR With 764EX!

Anonymous — Mon, 08 Feb 2016 02:05:23 GMT

@Credit_hawk wrote:
Tyrex, I agree that they most likely employ lower credit lines on purpose to keep people from taking full advantage. It is a very good card and if we pay in full they get nothing out of it on swipes I believe since I think it's 2% per transaction swipe they get back per swipe and we are taking that in rewards. At least I had read that it was roughly 2%.

Yeah, I mean it makes a whole lot of financial sense to enforce lower limits otherwise they are exposing themselves to more loss. I am guessing that is why it is kind of rare to see a 2% card, because the banks are really pushing it at that point. And this is probably why CapOne haven't increased their Quicksilver card from 1.5% to 2% also.

Imagine how crazy these forums would get if a 3% cashback card came out though.

Re: Citi Double Cash Approved! Bad CL and APR With 764EX!

Discover2016 — Mon, 08 Feb 2016 02:15:15 GMT

Citi uses EQ for HP CLI requests?

Re: Citi Double Cash Approved! Bad CL and APR With 764EX!

boober — Mon, 08 Feb 2016 02:19:26 GMT

Holy moly, and I thought my SL was bad when I apped for the Simplicity a week ago last Saturday and got approved for $4600.

My overall scores and everything else is good, but not as good as some of you it would appear based on what I've read here. My scores were all around 750 or so. UT at around 11% on CC limits totalling about 77k. Income is $85,000 with nothing negative. Also my inq's were anywhere from 3-9 depending on the burea.

I actually did a mini app spree that day, got a total of 4 new cards, in addition to the Simplicity, which was actually my first citi, aside from a citi card I had closed about 6 years ago or so. So quick question...

I haven't gotten my card yet, but what's the best route to ask for a CLI, as I see others here had success getting higher CL's right after getting their card. Is there an online luv button or should I call in? Thanks.

Also I'm tempted to go for a DC card in the next day or so once I've passed the 8 day rule. I wonder what my SL will be for that card if I get approved. I think I will be approved as I just got a preapproval letter for that card in the mail a couple of days ago.

Re: Citi Double Cash Approved! Bad CL and APR With 764EX!

OmarGB9 — Mon, 08 Feb 2016 04:12:54 GMT

Yea I got smilarly baited by a 0 for 21 and then 12.99% after offer for a Citi DP. I figured I could use that as my "in" with Citi so I went for it and was approved (yay!) but only for a measly $700...

Granted my UTIL was a bit high (around 28%), so it's not too surprising, but still. At least a $1k+ limit would have been nice lol.