topic Re: Manual credit limit review is it worth it? 🧐 in Credit Cards

Manual credit limit review is it worth it? 🧐

Anonymous — Sun, 14 Feb 2021 02:18:18 GMT

Two of my cards(Capital One, Discover) are at 5-10% the limit of the rest. Every month I would request and limit increase online the most I would get was 500. That is before I read that constantly requesting a limit increase reflects negatively on their decision.

I spoke to representative who offered me a Manual credit limit increase review that would take between 7 to 10 days. She said it would be a soft pull.

my questions are:

Is it true that a manual credit limit increase review will not affect my credit score negatively?

Being that I requested a limit increase online through the automated system about a month ago Should I wait another five months to get the biggest limit increase?

Equifax 850

Experian 841

TransUnion 829 (but it is reporting wrong info)

Re: Manual credit limit review is it worth it? 🧐

FinStar — Sun, 14 Feb 2021 02:27:52 GMT

Hello @Anonymous and welcome to the forums.

My understanding is that the majority of manual reviews are HP, especially if this is in reference to Discover. Capital One stopped doing manual CLI reviews a while back.

I would just keep expectations tempered depending on whether any significant CLI occurs based on the manual review. Just keep an eye on your CRs in the event a HP occurs, though.

Re: Manual credit limit review is it worth it? 🧐

Bankrupt2019 — Sun, 14 Feb 2021 02:53:44 GMT

From the sounds of things, you'd be better off with a nice credit union card from PenFed or NFCU or one of the many others. With your scores the sky is the limit but Capital one can be quite stingy.

Re: Manual credit limit review is it worth it? 🧐

Remedios — Sun, 14 Feb 2021 03:04:40 GMT

I didn't even think Discover did manual reviews.

Both lenders typically respond well to decent, sustained spend on their cards (unless Cap One starter card).

If you aren't using big portion of you limit (50% or more) consistently, manual review wont yield better outcome since manual review will follow same standards as automated UW algorithm.

It would be interesting DP though if it was possible.

Re: Manual credit limit review is it worth it? 🧐

K-in-Boston — Sun, 14 Feb 2021 03:13:13 GMT

The only times I have been aware of Discover manual reviews are if a cardholder specifically requests one (and takes a hard pull) or it will sometimes happen when asking online (that is the "2-3 day" message). I've requested the former for my card and they wouldn't even do it for me. The latter has happened a few times on the card that I am an AU on and was always met with a CLI appearing the following day. Discover is a tough one to figure out for CLIs. Every data point that shows something works, you'll see another where it didn't work or the exact opposite thing (like no spend vs high spend) works. You did mention these cards' limits are 5-10% of your other cards. My experience has been that Discover has been slow to grant me additional credit likely because I have so much credit available with other lenders.

CapOne likes lots of continuous spend as Remedios stated, and it's been a long time since I've seen anything that wasn't "all of our lending decisions are automated."

Re: Manual credit limit review is it worth it? 🧐

Loquat — Sun, 14 Feb 2021 05:49:46 GMT

OP I'm not sure what your profile looks like so this may not apply to you at all. The perk of a manual review is that you can get a human to lay eyes on your report and evaluate your relationship with them in hopes of getting the increase that the automated system keeps denying.

However the downside to such, especially for a lot of us in this space, is that a human eyes can have adverse affects. By that I mean some lenders are very sensitive to the amount of your overall credit or credit seeking behavior regardless of income or FICO score. I will be honest, I have quite a few cards and the last thing I want is a human poking around my report. I like automated responses even if they don't work in my favor.

My income or score isn't a concern at all...but in the not so distance past, like many others, I had aggressive credit seeking habits. Like most, I really enjoy intro bonuses. My aggressive behavior may color outside of the lines of what a lender wants in a customer....especially during such financially trying times.

So yes, manual credit reviews can be fruitful but one needs to make sure that they look as best as they can before knocking on such door (i.e. decent scores, income, not to many recent inquiries or new accounts, etc.)

Best of luck to you if you're able to get a human to lay eyes on your report and grant you what you're seeking.

Re: Manual credit limit review is it worth it? 🧐

Guyatthebeach — Sun, 14 Feb 2021 16:15:49 GMT

Rolex_Watcher,

It was for me. When I was 2 years into my rebuild after my bankruptcy, I got a manual review for CLI on a card I used regularly. It went from $1k to $5k.

It made my life easier because I was charging about $1500 to 2000 a month. I paid it down to 10% before cute statement cycle, and paid in full after the statement cut.

Guyatthebeach