topic Re: Potentially Silly Question in Credit Cards

Potentially Silly Question

firehawk73 — Mon, 19 Jul 2021 12:59:54 GMT

What is the main criteria for larger SL's? Do they look more at income over credit scores? Only asking because I was approved for my second NFCU card last week and the SL was $8700. I've seen many success stories here on the forums of people getting the $25k SL on their second NFCU card. My scores are very high 700's almost in the 800's but income is in the $60k range. Any information would be appreciated.

Re: Potentially Silly Question

Brian_Earl_Spilner — Mon, 19 Jul 2021 13:17:52 GMT

That's not a silly question. A silly question would be, how many clowns can I fit into a mini Cooper before I have to switch to beavers to maximize space utilization?

Nobody knows Navy's criteria. The best anyone can offer is we know debt to income ratio is important. Where is that sitting for you?

Re: Potentially Silly Question

pinkandgrey — Mon, 19 Jul 2021 14:15:10 GMT

@Brian_Earl_Spilner Don't sell yourself short. With regards to space efficiency, clowns vs beavers has been a major talking point.

OP, each lender has its own unwritten rules when it comes to granting CLIs. If I were to make a very general blanket statement, I would say that heavy usage followed by PIF is a good method for most cards.

Good luck!

Re: Potentially Silly Question

firehawk73 — Mon, 19 Jul 2021 15:38:16 GMT

DTI is at 14%, CC utilization is at 7%

Re: Potentially Silly Question

Taurus22 — Mon, 19 Jul 2021 17:56:49 GMT

Average credit limits among your other credit lines could also play a factor as well....

Re: Potentially Silly Question

SouthJamaica — Mon, 19 Jul 2021 18:06:39 GMT

@firehawk73 wrote:
What is the main criteria for larger SL's? Do they look more at income over credit scores? Only asking because I was approved for my second NFCU card last week and the SL was $8700. I've seen many success stories here on the forums of people getting the $25k SL on their second NFCU card. My scores are very high 700's almost in the 800's but income is in the $60k range. Any information would be appreciated.

Income is a big factor.

Re: Potentially Silly Question

Aim_High — Mon, 19 Jul 2021 20:15:03 GMT

@firehawk73 wrote:
What is the main criteria for larger SL's? Do they look more at income over credit scores? Only asking because I was approved for my second NFCU card last week and the SL was $8700. I've seen many success stories here on the forums of people getting the $25k SL on their second NFCU card. My scores are very high 700's almost in the 800's but income is in the $60k range. Any information would be appreciated.

Agree that it's not a silly question at all, @firehawk73! It's something I've pondered and studied, and it's one reason I ended up on My Fico a couple of years ago. I made some longer postings about my observations about credit limits, so instead of rehashing it all I will send you via links to those threads. The limits you get depend on a lot of various factors. While at least a "good" credit score is usually helpful for higher limits, having 850's across the board is less important than other considerations like income, debt-to-income, the lender in question, the existing credit limits you carry and shown you can handle, recent inquiries and credit seeking behavior. Even the type of card could be a factor. (My observation is that premium travel cards and sometimes business cards can carry higher SLs for the same profile than a basic VS/MC or basic rewards cards. But there are many cards that can become a high limit card with the right credit profile, income, and spending-and-payment patterns.)

While income is only part of the equation, it is often a key part. This is not to say that someone can't get somewhat high limits with lower incomes but it depend much more on those other factors.

For your case with Navy FCU, I have some theories. They like relationship. (How long have you been a client? How much do you use other banking services? Personally, I believe these may contribute to Navy's "Internal Score" system.). It appears that they like giving credit to people who 'need' it more (rebuilders for example, who may not have a lot of other available credit.) For higher FICOs and profiles with many other mainstream card options, they can be a little slower to warm up to you. At least they have been to me. They may be more sensitive to debt-to-income and total credit limits relative to income than some other large lenders. I applied with them towards the end of other credit-seeking with high income, low debt, high 800+ FICOs. My total credit limits are high but only a multiple of annual household income by a little over 1x. They gave me a much lower limit on card number 1 than other lenders gave me (less than 1/3 of some of the limits that Chase gave me.). And about eight months later, they denied me for card number 2. I've been using their banking accounts and letting the deposit relationship age before reapplying. In my case, I think my credit-seeking over the previous 12-24 months was a factor in denial. I can definitely report that with a variety of lenders, my Starting Limits decreased as I got farther into my more active application phase. (I won't call it a spree since it was more spaced out for the most part.).

See this thread and then follow the linked threads for more of my musings and observations.

https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/Do-travel-cards-usually-come-with-higher-limits/m-p/5752615#M1669150

Re: Potentially Silly Question

Mr_Mojo_Risin — Mon, 19 Jul 2021 21:52:58 GMT

In my time with Navy and here on myFICO, it seems Navy kind of favors thinner profiles and rebuilders.

I don't think high scores are a major factor with them at all.

I was rebuilding when I joined Navy with a TCL of $1500. My 1st CC with them was $500 and almost 6 months later they gave me 20K on my 2nd. My income is comparable to yours.

I don't think income really comes in to play with them until you start reaching pretty high limits like over 30K or so.

Re: Potentially Silly Question

Aim_High — Mon, 19 Jul 2021 23:16:25 GMT

@Mr_Mojo_Risin wrote:
In my time with Navy and here on myFICO, it seems Navy kind of favors thinner profiles and rebuilders.
I don't think high scores are a major factor with them at all.
I was rebuilding when I joined Navy with a TCL of $1500. My 1st CC with them was $500 and almost 6 months later they gave me 20K on my 2nd. My income is comparable to yours.
I don't think income really comes in to play with them until you start reaching pretty high limits like over 30K or so.

That's a great point, @Mr_Mojo_Risin. Some lenders (like Navy FCU) seem less tied to income as a factor in starting limits. In general, while income often seems connected to starting limits, it appears that lenders may put different weight on it. I've observed the same thing, that Navy can be very generous with limits regardless of income as long as other credit factors are acceptable.

Re: Potentially Silly Question

RickNATL — Wed, 21 Jul 2021 05:56:51 GMT

@firehawk73 my GF profile sounds like your's (salary/score) and she got the $25K SL. with NFCU. I attributed to the fact that I put her on my NFCU GoRewards which was $25K...so I was assuming, since she had a really thin profile and two very low limit cards ($500, and $1000) in addition to my AU cards, that they looked at the authorized user cards she was added to ($25K NFCU, and $23K Amex)...food for thought.

Re: Potentially Silly Question

TXPocohontas — Wed, 21 Jul 2021 06:15:20 GMT

I just got my GoRewards card from them last week.

Along with the usual terms and conditions, I also received a 2 sided paper titled "Your Credit Report and the Price You Pay for Credit". On page 2 is where they go into Navy Fed's own credit score for you (based off their criteria) which can range from 100 to 450 (yes, litterally their own scoring). They pull your Transunion credit report and then adjust their scoring based off:

Balance Status of Navy Federal CU Account(s)
Direct Deposit Status with Navy Federal CU
Amount of non-mortgage account balances paid down in last 24 months
Credit Experience
Number of Inquiries on Credit Bureau Report

Hope this helps you understand a little better.

Re: Potentially Silly Question

AMJ50 — Wed, 21 Jul 2021 06:44:58 GMT

@TXPocohontas wrote:
I just got my GoRewards card from them last week.

Along with the usual terms and conditions, I also received a 2 sided paper titled "Your Credit Report and the Price You Pay for Credit". On page 2 is where they go into Navy Fed's own credit score for you (based off their criteria) which can range from 100 to 450 (yes, litterally their own scoring). They pull your Transunion credit report and then adjust their scoring based off:

Balance Status of Navy Federal CU Account(s)
Direct Deposit Status with Navy Federal CU
Amount of non-mortgage account balances paid down in last 24 months
Credit Experience
Number of Inquiries on Credit Bureau Report
Hope this helps you understand a little better.

Also, it seems it takes some people one card to get a $25000 S/L, others two cards while others it takes three cards with Navy. It took me three cards to get a $20000 S/L. So hang in there

Re: Potentially Silly Question

Legal_Girl — Wed, 21 Jul 2021 16:57:48 GMT

I absolutely love Navy Federal, but I have never been able to figure out exactly what they use to determine what credit limit a person will receive.