topic Re: Brand new Chase card, lowered than expected credit line in Credit Cards

Brand new Chase card, lowered than expected credit line

Anonymous — Sun, 14 Feb 2016 19:53:43 GMT

I have 3 other credit cards, ranging from 700 to 1500 credit limit which seems low, but all of these cards I got when my annual income was roughly $20,000 (one card is 6 years old, one is 4 and the other is 3.5) I have been paying a car loan for 12 months on time with extra money paid on top every month and I make $47,000 a year. I've been paying down my utilization on one card which was at 80% and is now roughly 60% and I wanted to get rid of one that has a very high interest rate. I can pay it off in full now and I wanted to just start using a new card instead, but this chase freedom card is only a 500 limit. My credit scores are all 690 but I do have a degatory mark because of a lawsuit that my car insurance paid that is going off next year. Is there anything I can do to get a better credit limit on this chase freedom card? I'm almost done paying off my car and intend to purchase another car with a loan so I do not want to have unnecessary pulls which I think is the only option at this point on the freedom card after a little research. I thought

Re: Brand new Chase card, lowered than expected credit line

mikelo22 — Sun, 14 Feb 2016 20:23:28 GMT

60% is still very high utility. You need to get that below 30% pronto at the very least; below 10% is even better. Until you prove you can live within your current line of credit, lenders are unlikely to extend additional credit (and risk). Although your income has increased, that's not everything lenders look at when determing your credit limit. They also look at CL's you have on other cards. I've often found the popular saying of "higher limits beget higher limits" to be very true.

Getting higher limits is like climbing a ladder. One step at a time. So unless you get lucky and happen to jump on a new gravy train, it'll take time to to start seeing higher limits. Like you mentioned though, for now just focus on getting those limits down. Getting an auto loan would add another line of credit to your account which will temprorily hurt your credit score, though it will help in the long run So if you choose to do that, I wouldn't app for any more cards for the foreseeable future; you need to do some gardening (not apping for any more products that require a HP).

You could try paying off those balances you have now and giving Chase a call to recon for a higher limit, but I doubt they will budge. You probably should have paid off those limits before you applied. High utility when apping for new cards is rarely a good idea.

You wouldn't believe how much high utility can hurt your credit score. I was sitting on a 60% utilization on my Citi DoubleCash to use the 0% apr for the longest time; I just paid it all off last month and my score jumped 15 points. So before you app for new cards in the future, might I suggest paying off all balances you can, waiting a month, then applying. For maximum results, pay off your balance before the statement cuts.

Edit: By the way, welcome to myFico forums!

Re: Brand new Chase card, lowered than expected credit line

NRB525 — Sun, 14 Feb 2016 20:09:08 GMT

Congratulations on getting the Freedom, it's a nice card to have around.

If this is your first card with Chase, and you have some negatives in your file, the $500 starting limit is not unusual. The positive aspect is, it is your first chance to show Chase directly how you handle the card. After you show that, other cards will likely be available at much better limits. (FWIW, my Freedom limit is only $1,500 after CLD several years ago)

Others may have had success with recon, but I think that may involve a second HP for the review.

Once the negative goes off your report, things will get a lot easier with new apps.

Re: Brand new Chase card, lowered than expected credit line

Anonymous — Sun, 14 Feb 2016 20:15:04 GMT

Congrats on the approval OP.

Re: Brand new Chase card, lowered than expected credit line

sjt — Sun, 14 Feb 2016 20:22:54 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I have 3 other credit cards, ranging from 700 to 1500 credit limit which seems low, but all of these cards I got when my annual income was roughly $20,000 (one card is 6 years old, one is 4 and the other is 3.5) I have been paying a car loan for 12 months on time with extra money paid on top every month and I make $47,000 a year. I've been paying down my utilization on one card which was at 80% and is now roughly 60% and I wanted to get rid of one that has a very high interest rate. I can pay it off in full now and I wanted to just start using a new card instead, but this chase freedom card is only a 500 limit. My credit scores are all 690 but I do have a degatory mark because of a lawsuit that my car insurance paid that is going off next year. Is there anything I can do to get a better credit limit on this chase freedom card? I'm almost done paying off my car and intend to purchase another car with a loan so I do not want to have unnecessary pulls which I think is the only option at this point on the freedom card after a little research. I thought

Congrats on the Chase approval.

Like the other posters mentioned, get your utilization down.

Re: Brand new Chase card, lowered than expected credit line

NRB525 — Sun, 14 Feb 2016 20:54:13 GMT

@sjt wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
I have 3 other credit cards, ranging from 700 to 1500 credit limit
Congrats on the Chase approval.

Like the other posters mentioned, get your utilization down.

Except me. When it comes to cards with $500 limits, and you aren't applying for anything immediately, the main goal is to pay on time, and not go over the limit. Trying to manage them to a really low utilization is difficult, and the major drag on the FICO score is the negative.

If there are interest costs involved from carrying balances, by all means pay those down to avoid the interest expense. That applies to any credit limits. But daily PIF expenses, in my opinion, don't need to be micromanaged to a low reported utilization, when the card limits are low. One is trying to show good usage, responsible payment, with the possibility of better limits down the road.

Re: Brand new Chase card, lowered than expected credit line

Anonymous — Sun, 14 Feb 2016 21:28:16 GMT

Thanks for the info all. I will continue to lower utilization. I think I am still going to cancel one of my cards since its from a predatory lender and I plan to call capital one eventually to get my journey card transffered to another card. I can't apply for another capital one card since technically all 3 of mine are capital ones, but my longest active card (capital one journey) will most likely never go past 700

Re: Brand new Chase card, lowered than expected credit line

mikelo22 — Sun, 14 Feb 2016 21:43:15 GMT

@NRB525 wrote:
@sjt wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
I have 3 other credit cards, ranging from 700 to 1500 credit limit
Congrats on the Chase approval.

Like the other posters mentioned, get your utilization down.
Except me. When it comes to cards with $500 limits, and you aren't applying for anything immediately, the main goal is to pay on time, and not go over the limit. Trying to manage them to a really low utilization is difficult, and the major drag on the FICO score is the negative.

If there are interest costs involved from carrying balances, by all means pay those down to avoid the interest expense. That applies to any credit limits. But daily PIF expenses, in my opinion, don't need to be micromanaged to a low reported utilization, when the card limits are low. One is trying to show good usage, responsible payment, with the possibility of better limits down the road.

Micromanaging your PIF's before the statement cut can be tedious and burdensome. That's why I wouldn't bother doing it if you're gardening. But I think it's definitely worth doing it in preparation for a new credit application. When I PIF before statement cut on my cards and show $0 balances, my score tends to jump 10-15 points overnight once the balances are reported to the bureaus.

It's a fairly quick fix to gain a temporary increase to your score. Yes, it's some hassle but the rewards are worth it, IMO. Just keep a spreadsheet of the dates your statements cut and/or when your lender reports your balance to the credit bureaus.

Re: Brand new Chase card, lowered than expected credit line

Anonymous — Sun, 14 Feb 2016 22:01:36 GMT

mikelo22 wrote

Micromanaging your PIF's before the statement cut can be tedious and burdensome. That's why I wouldn't bother doing it if you're gardening. But I think it's definitely worth doing it in preparation for a new credit application. When I PIF before statement cut on my cards and show $0 balances, my score tends to jump 10-15 points overnight once the balances are reported to the bureaus.
It's a fairly quick fix to gain a temporary increase to your score. Yes, it's some hassle but the rewards are worth it, IMO. Just keep a spreadsheet of the dates your statements cut and/or when your lender reports your balance to the credit bureaus.

I've found the opposite, if all my balances report 0 I get dinged a couple points along with a note that I've shown no recent use of credit.

Re: Brand new Chase card, lowered than expected credit line

Imperfectfuture — Sun, 14 Feb 2016 22:09:32 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
mikelo22 wrote
Micromanaging your PIF's before the statement cut can be tedious and burdensome. That's why I wouldn't bother doing it if you're gardening. But I think it's definitely worth doing it in preparation for a new credit application. When I PIF before statement cut on my cards and show $0 balances, my score tends to jump 10-15 points overnight once the balances are reported to the bureaus.
It's a fairly quick fix to gain a temporary increase to your score. Yes, it's some hassle but the rewards are worth it, IMO. Just keep a spreadsheet of the dates your statements cut and/or when your lender reports your balance to the credit bureaus.
I've found the opposite, if all my balances report 0 I get dinged a couple points along with a note that I've shown no recent use of credit.

This is very true if you have clean reports. One card must report something.

Re: Brand new Chase card, lowered than expected credit line

mikelo22 — Sun, 14 Feb 2016 22:19:45 GMT

@Imperfectfuture wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
mikelo22 wrote
Micromanaging your PIF's before the statement cut can be tedious and burdensome. That's why I wouldn't bother doing it if you're gardening. But I think it's definitely worth doing it in preparation for a new credit application. When I PIF before statement cut on my cards and show $0 balances, my score tends to jump 10-15 points overnight once the balances are reported to the bureaus.
It's a fairly quick fix to gain a temporary increase to your score. Yes, it's some hassle but the rewards are worth it, IMO. Just keep a spreadsheet of the dates your statements cut and/or when your lender reports your balance to the credit bureaus.
I've found the opposite, if all my balances report 0 I get dinged a couple points along with a note that I've shown no recent use of credit.
This is very true if you have clean reports. One card must report something.

Yep, this. I forgot to mention that crucial detail Just have one card showinig a token balance (below 10% util).

Re: Brand new Chase card, lowered than expected credit line

Anonymous — Sun, 14 Feb 2016 22:32:03 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
mikelo22 wrote
Micromanaging your PIF's before the statement cut can be tedious and burdensome. That's why I wouldn't bother doing it if you're gardening. But I think it's definitely worth doing it in preparation for a new credit application. When I PIF before statement cut on my cards and show $0 balances, my score tends to jump 10-15 points overnight once the balances are reported to the bureaus.
It's a fairly quick fix to gain a temporary increase to your score. Yes, it's some hassle but the rewards are worth it, IMO. Just keep a spreadsheet of the dates your statements cut and/or when your lender reports your balance to the credit bureaus.
I've found the opposite, if all my balances report 0 I get dinged a couple points along with a note that I've shown no recent use of credit.

Paying all of your credit card balances to $0, may have result a negative result.

Re: Brand new Chase card, lowered than expected credit line

sjt — Mon, 15 Feb 2016 02:33:44 GMT

@NRB525 wrote:
@sjt wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
I have 3 other credit cards, ranging from 700 to 1500 credit limit
Congrats on the Chase approval.

Like the other posters mentioned, get your utilization down.
Except me. When it comes to cards with $500 limits, and you aren't applying for anything immediately, the main goal is to pay on time, and not go over the limit. Trying to manage them to a really low utilization is difficult, and the major drag on the FICO score is the negative.

If there are interest costs involved from carrying balances, by all means pay those down to avoid the interest expense. That applies to any credit limits. But daily PIF expenses, in my opinion, don't need to be micromanaged to a low reported utilization, when the card limits are low. One is trying to show good usage, responsible payment, with the possibility of better limits down the road.

I dont think you have to "micromanage" your accounts to keep your utilization low.

If the OP was to do this their score would go up over 700 and they would have a better chance at a CLI with Chase.