topic Re: What was your highest starting credit limit? Does a compilation of stats exist anywhere? 🤔 in Credit Cards

What was your highest starting credit limit? Does a compilation of stats exist anywhere? 🤔

Joleybear — Mon, 13 Mar 2023 01:35:54 GMT

Does anyone know of a compilation of responses and data like this online?

*EDIT: I found helpmebuildcredit.com which keeps data it let's people submit when they apply for cards. It shows any information submitted which may include the card they applied for, approved or denied, the Bureau that was pulled, their score, their annual income, the approved starting limit, the city they applied from and their credit age.*

I'm curious as to how score, income and other factors affect offers from different banks. For example, there was a time when I applied for 2 cards close together. For one store card I was offered a modest limit of a couple hundred dollars, but with the other, much better card offered over 5k for start.

I'd like to see some stats if anyone wants to chime in or is interested in hearing from others to compare.

*What was your highest started CL offer?

*What was your FICO score?

*What bank or card was it?

*What was your annual income at the time? (if you're comfortable providing it and if not obviously skip it lol)

*Did you have any other cards from the same bank/issuer?

I believe my highest starting limit, not including "pre-approvals", was from Chase which offered me 5.5k in 2020 to open a Disney Premier Visa Rewards account. My credit score had actually declined a bit at the time and was only in the low to mid 600s. The income reported was probably around 60k.

Fun Fact: I was denied so many times before I was approved that I lost count because I didn't know about the 5/24 rule and was opening accounts constantly. 😆

Re: What was your highest starting credit limit? Does a compilation of stats exist anywhere? 🤔

FireMedic1 — Sun, 12 Mar 2023 10:41:25 GMT

Each one of us are like a fingerprint. No one matches. One could get $10,000 and the other $1000. Apple to oranges. No set starting line no matter the file or scores.

Re: What was your highest starting credit limit? Does a compilation of stats exist anywhere? 🤔

mitchblue — Sun, 12 Mar 2023 12:21:19 GMT

$25,000 highest but also had a $300 SL Kohls. Back in the day I had a $150 SL JC Pennys. Wide range.

Re: What was your highest starting credit limit? Does a compilation of stats exist anywhere? 🤔

Joleybear — Sun, 12 Mar 2023 13:13:00 GMT

Hm interesting... I hate that most preapprovals online don't give you the CL either. I'm approved for some cards that seem popular or sought after so I assume good? But I'm concerned the limits will be too modest for what I am applying to use them for. AMEX Platinum and Gold as well as Chase Sapphire Preferred and Reserve. I just don't know if they're what I'd like... Evergreen offered a bit lower CL than I want in my pre-approval but a 120k or 80k point deal.

Re: What was your highest starting credit limit? Does a compilation of stats exist anywhere? 🤔

Joleybear — Sun, 12 Mar 2023 13:14:15 GMT

@mitchblue wrote:
$25,000 highest but also had a $300 SL Kohls. Back in the day I had a $150 SL JC Pennys. Wide range.

Same as far as the range. I just find it so weird when it happens back to back and they're like 5k or 10k apart lol

Re: What was your highest starting credit limit? Does a compilation of stats exist anywhere? 🤔

JoeRockhead — Sun, 12 Mar 2023 13:21:31 GMT

As already stated, really hard to compare as everything is profile specific, but I'll play along just for fun:

1. Highest SL (starting limit): Amex BBC, 25k

2. Fico 8 scores at the time: middle score around 780ish

3. Amex, and it was a soft pull approval ( one of the reasons I love Amex)

4. Income: I've been very fortunate

5. Have the other Amex BCP, was my first (Amex) ever and it had a 20k SL, got it 78 days before the BBC and I had to sit down when I saw that one .

Other DPs

Oldest account at the time, 11 yrs

Newest CC account at the time, 8 months

AAoA: 2 years

Mortgage payment: 0 (PIF)

1 open auto loan, 2 closed auto loans at the time, PIF. One of those has since fallen off two of my reports, (EX & TU). EQ coming off this May

1 30 day late on EQ from 6.5 yrs ago, that will soon be gone, no other baddies.

Re: What was your highest starting credit limit? Does a compilation of stats exist anywhere? 🤔

CreditMarathoner — Sun, 12 Mar 2023 13:41:37 GMT

My highest SL is on my CSP, the last card I applied for, $12,000, in 2021.

At the time my TCL was $5k and my highest limit was $3000 so I was a bit surprised. Scores were in the low 800s, income $90+k, 0/24 at the time. I had the other 3 cards you see in my siggy at the time, 2 of them Chase cards.

I think Chase is more generous with SLs on their premier cards (Sapphires etc.) than on the more basic cards like the Freedoms.

Re: What was your highest starting credit limit? Does a compilation of stats exist anywhere? 🤔

fury1995 — Sun, 12 Mar 2023 21:42:06 GMT

@Joleybear wrote:

*What was your highest started CL offer?
$22,000 SL / $25,000 SL (within a couple months of each other)

*What was your FICO score?
Somewhere in the 730's if I recall

*What bank or card was it?
Overstock-Commenity / Navy Federal Credit Union Flagship

*What was your annual income at the time? (if you're comfortable providing it and if not obviously skip it lol)
Est $180k (est 2014)

*Did you have any other cards from the same bank/issuer?
1st Comenity account and 1st Navy FCU account at that time

Re: What was your highest starting credit limit? Does a compilation of stats exist anywhere? 🤔

RTOrockstar — Sun, 12 Mar 2023 17:30:09 GMT

Highest starting CL : $3000 Cap One Walmart

Scores at the time : 670 Experian (that's the only one that I can remember)

Income : around 55k

I didn't have another card with Capital One at the time. $3000 isn't a huge limit but it was the largest limit I had at the time. I remember the 670 Experian score because it was the first time that my credit report said "Good".

Re: What was your highest starting credit limit? Does a compilation of stats exist anywhere? 🤔

coldfusion — Sun, 12 Mar 2023 18:46:37 GMT

There isn't a publicly accessible comprehensive compilation of data out on the webs that I'm aware of, but I suppose if someone were sufficiently motivated it would be possible to scrape approval data from various sites and mine it oneself.

I'll point to 2 data points relevant to the topic from MF Approvals.

https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Card-Approvals/instant-approval-for-Avianca-Vuela-Visa-50-000-sl-14-99/m-p/5179502

https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Card-Approvals/Andrews-FCU-Titanium-50K-SL-8-49-APR/m-p/6183628

From memory FICO scores at that time were hovering around 800, DTI maybe high teens, several handfuls of inquiries still reporting ,

Re: What was your highest starting credit limit? Does a compilation of stats exist anywhere? 🤔

K-in-Boston — Sun, 12 Mar 2023 19:27:14 GMT

@Joleybear wrote:
Does anyone know of a compilation of responses and data like this online?

I'm curious as to how score, income and other factors affect offers from different banks. For example, there was a time when I applied for 2 cards close together. For one store card I was offered a modest limit of a couple hundred dollars, but with the other, much better card offered over 5k for start.

I'd like to see some stats if anyone wants to chime in or is interested in hearing from others to compare.

*What was your highest started CL offer?

*What was your FICO score?

*What bank or card was it?

*What was your annual income at the time? (if you're comfortable providing it and if not obviously skip it lol)

*Did you have any other cards from the same bank/issuer?

I believe my highest starting limit, not including "pre-approvals", was from Chase which offered me 5.5k in 2020 to open a Disney Premier Visa Rewards account. My credit score had actually declined a bit at the time and was only in the low to mid 600s. The income reported was probably around 60k.

Fun Fact: I was denied so many times before I was approved that I lost count because I didn't know about the 5/24 rule and was opening accounts constantly. 😆

$30,000 last February. Had some $25k approvals over previous 5 years. 791 EX FICO 8. Wells Fargo Active Cash. Income sufficient to support $80-100k total limits with other lenders. First time applying for a Wells Fargo product in about 15-20 years, and previously declined for being out of their market. (Edit: Just remembered I did apply for one of their cards around 2015 and declined for high revolving utilization.)

https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Card-Approvals/Wells-Fargo-Active-Cash-30-000-Approval/m-p/6492676

Re: What was your highest starting credit limit? Does a compilation of stats exist anywhere? 🤔

Joleybear — Sun, 12 Mar 2023 19:29:29 GMT

@coldfusion wrote:
There isn't a publicly accessible comprehensive compilation of data out on the webs that I'm aware of, but I suppose if someone were sufficiently motivated it would be possible to scrape approval data from various sites and mine it oneself.

I'll point to 2 data points relevant to the topic from MF Approvals.

https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Card-Approvals/instant-approval-for-Avianca-Vuela-Visa-50-000-sl-14-99/m-p/5179502

https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Card-Approvals/Andrews-FCU-Titanium-50K-SL-8-49-APR/m-p/6183628

From memory FICO scores at that time were hovering around 800, DTI maybe high teens, several handfuls of inquiries still reporting ,

Huh thank you. I will try that when I have more time. I haven't found a ton yet but I'm sure there's a lot in these forums I could jot down.

Re: What was your highest starting credit limit? Does a compilation of stats exist anywhere? 🤔

Joleybear — Sun, 12 Mar 2023 19:31:04 GMT

Thank you to everyone who has responded so far. This is definitely giving me a better idea of what I may qualify for... I'm struggling to pick between cards right now.

Re: What was your highest starting credit limit? Does a compilation of stats exist anywhere? 🤔

Aim_High — Sun, 12 Mar 2023 22:24:30 GMT

This topic has come up periodically on the forums, @Joleybear. I would first refer you to >this 2022 thread< with six pages of replies for a starting point.

For me, highest SLs:

USAA Rate Advantage Visa Signature: $35K
Chase Sapphire Reserve Visa Infinite: $35K
CITI AAdvantage Executive WEMC: $35.5K (with a 30-day recon and 2nd HP - $30.5K to $35.5K)
Chase Marriott Bonvoy Boundless: $33K

I don't recall exact FICO for USAA but it was probably 750 to 775 back in 2013. The others I was well over 800. Income ranges from low to mid six figures, depending on the card. And yes, at the time of application for all, I had an existing or prior relationship, although I don't think that was a crucial piece of data.

No, there's not a single "compilation of stats" available anywhere that I'm aware because it is a highly complex topic with many variables. There are two major considerations for CL expectations: individual profile and the lender. Each one has their own set of factors.

For the lender:

Internal underwriting guidelines. I believe there are predetermined thresholds for each card in their lineup, and those thresholds may even vary between the cards. As @CreditMarathoner alluded to, it has appeared to me that the higher potential limits are on premium travel cards, and the higher the AF, the greater the potential of a higher limit. That was my exact experience in applying for multiple Chase cards in 2018-2019. So, for example, BankX might say to be approved, you need (this) set of criteria including (this) FICO score. The closer someone is to minimum standards, the greater the odds of a lower approval. Those criteria might include not only FICO, but derogatories, income, all debts (revolving and installment), and thickness of credit file. A "minimum" approval often has a lower-end CL of perhaps $500 to $1000. On premium cards, that lower limit approval might be $5K (Visa Signature), $10K (Visa Infinite), or even as high as $15K on certain cards (Chase United Club VI.) On the other end of the spectrum there might be an upper limit set after approval of say, $25K, $50K etc - regardless of how strong a profile. Those cards may or may not be able to grow further later-on, with heavier spend and length of relationship. For example, a few cards I have (AOD FCU Visa Signature) started at $25K and that's the highest CL they offer on that card. Sometimes, the willingness to offer high limits appears to be roughly linked to the financial size/strength of the lender. There are some outliers, but the largest banks and credit unions tend to offer higher limits more easily.
Overall relationship. On a young, thin profile, a deposit account relationship may help to get an earlier approval for a card. Also, deposit accountholders sometimes get streamlined "preapproved" offers for cards. However, lenders may put an upper cap on how much credit they will extend one consumer, often based as a percentage of gross income (maybe 40% to 50% for example) (OR) an upper cap such as Bank of America's $99.9K lending ceiling for most consumers.
High Net Worth profiles and Wealth Management. Money talks and having large assets under management from a lender can lead to exceptions of the normal rules.

For the individual consumer credit profile:

FICO score
Length and depth of credit history
Income. The ability to repay is crucial, regardless of FICO or other factors and lenders take how much one can repay into consideration.
Debts burdening the reported income - including not only credit cards but from mortgages, auto loans, personal loans, student loans, etc. High debt will wipe out the strong influence on SL of a high income. Meanwhile, low debt will help to optimize the SL of a lower income. It's all relative.
Other credit limits. (We've had cases of high income members with undeveloped credit profiles that were given lower limits, consistent with what they had shown they could manage. Lenders tend to follow the pattern with existing limits and often don't like being far outside the averages. So one technique of raising overall limits is what I call leveraging: raising limits on existing cards as much as possible before applying for new credit, which may increase the chance of higher approvals.)
Amount of credit-seeking behavior. This can be huge and I think often underestimated by some consumers. Credit approvals are based on a risk assessment of default, and that can affect not only APR (lower risk often = lower APR) but also SL. Higher credit-seeking = higher risk, regardless of other factors. Taking myself as a case-in-point, after I came to My FICO, I applied for a lot of cards over a couple of years. Even with FICO as high as 850, high income, low debt-to-income, and thick credit history, I was declined for two cards in 2020 due to excessive credit-seeking and my later approvals in that spree saw my SLs slowly decline. Applying for new cards at no less than six month intervals will increase the odds of a higher SL under most circumstances.

I would also suggest watching and studying the Approvals forum and look for profiles with data points similar to your own. It would give you a good idea of what to expect, as lender's underwriting guidelines may change over time. Just remember, though, that when comparing ourselves on My FICO, it's tricky since someone may forget to mention a pivotal piece of information or you might underestimate the impact of the variables.

I've written a lot about my perspective of the complexities of credit limits. If you care to read more, go to >this link< and then follow the embedded threads back in each one to some earlier postings.

Re: What was your highest starting credit limit? Does a compilation of stats exist anywhere? 🤔

Joleybear — Sun, 12 Mar 2023 22:23:49 GMT

@Aim_High wrote:
This topic has come up periodically on the forums, @Joleybear. I would first refer you to >this 2022 thread< with six pages of replies for a starting point.

For me, highest SLs:
USAA Rate Advantage Visa Signature: $35K
Chase Sapphire Reserve Visa Infinite: $35K
CITI AAdvantage Executive WEMC: $35.5K (with a 30-day recon and 2nd HP - $30.5K to $35.5K)
Chase Marriott Bonvoy Boundless: $33K
I don't recall exact FICO for USAA but it was probably 750 to 775 back in 2013. The others I was well over 800. Income ranges from low to mid six figures, depending on the card. And yes, at the time of application for all, I had an existing or prior relationship, although I don't think that was a crucial piece of data.

There are two separate considerations for CL expectations: individual profile and the lender. Each one has thier own set of factors.

For the lender:
Internal underwriting guidelines. I believe there are predetermined thresholds for each card in their lineup, and those thresholds may even vary between the cards.   As @CreditMarathoner alluded to, it has appeared to me that the higher potential limits are on premium travel cards, and the higher the AF, the greater the potential of a higher limit. That was my exact experience in applying for multiple Chase cards in 2018-2019. So, for example, BankX might say to be approved, you need (this) set of criteria including (this) FICO score. The closer someone is to minimum standards, the greater the odds of a lower approval. Those criteria might include not only FICO, but derogatories, income, all debts (revolving and installment), and thickness of credit file. A "minimum" approval often has a lower-end CL of perhaps $500 to $1000. On premium cards, that lower limit approval might be $5K (Visa Signature), $10K (Visa Infinite), or even as high as $15K on certain cards (Chase United Club VI.) On the other end of the spectrum there might be an upper limit set after approval of say, $25K, $50K etc - regardless of how strong a profile. Those cards may or may not be able to grow further later-on, with heavier spend and length of relationship. For example, a few cards I have (AOD FCU Visa Signature) started at $25K and that's the highest CL they offer on that card. Sometimes, the willingness to offer high limits appears to be roughly linked to the financial size/strength of the lender. There are some outliers, but the largest banks and credit unions tend to offer higher limits more easily.
Overall relationship. On a young, thin profile, a deposit account relationship may help to get an earlier approval for a card. Also, deposit accountholders sometimes get streamlined "preapproved" offers for cards. However, lenders may put an upper cap on how much credit they will extend one consumer, often based as a percentage of gross income (maybe 40% to 50% for example) (OR) an upper cap such as Bank of America's $99.9K lending ceiling for most consumers.
High Net Worth profiles and Wealth Management.   Money talks and having large assets under management from a lender can lead to exceptions of the normal rules.
For the individual consumer credit profile:
FICO score
Length and depth of credit history
Income. The ability to repay is crucial, regardless of FICO or other factors and lenders take how much one can repay into consideration.
Debts burdening the reported income - including not only credit cards but from mortgages, auto loans, personal loans, student loans, etc.   High debt will wipe out the strong influence on SL of a high income. Meanwhile, low debt will help to optimize the SL of a lower income. It's all relative.
Other credit limits. (We've had cases of high income members with undeveloped credit profiles that were given lower limits, consistent with what they had shown they could manage. Lenders tend to follow the pattern with existing limits and often don't like being far outside the averages. So one technique of raising overall limits is what I call leveraging: raising limits on existing cards as much as possible before applying for new credit, which may increase the chance of higher approvals.)
Amount of credit-seeking behavior. This can be huge and I think often underestimated by some consumers. Credit approvals are based on a risk assessment of default, and that can affect not only APR (lower risk often = lower APR) but also SL. Higher credit-seeking = higher risk, regardless of other factors. Taking myself as a case-in-point, after I came to My FICO, I applied for a lot of cards over a couple of years. Even with FICO as high as 850, high income, low debt-to-income, and thick credit history, I was declined for two cards in 2020 due to excessive credit-seeking and my later approvals in that spree saw my SLs slowly decline. Applying for new cards at no less than six month intervals will increase the odds of a higher SL under most circumstances.
I've written a lot about my perspective of the complexities of credit limits. If you care to read more, go to >this link< and then follow the embedded threads back in each one to some earlier postings.

Thank you for taking so much time replying with this information. I found a lot of it very useful. I haven't had a new card in about 2 years and I have a relationship with Chase Bank - 4 Bank accounts and 2 credit cards - so I was sort of wondering if that will help or hurt my chances of a high SL. It definitely seems very complicated.

Re: What was your highest starting credit limit? Does a compilation of stats exist anywhere? 🤔

Aim_High — Sun, 12 Mar 2023 22:35:38 GMT

@Joleybear wrote:
@Aim_High wrote:
This topic has come up periodically on the forums, @Joleybear ...
Thank you for taking so much time replying with this information. I found a lot of it very useful. I haven't had a new card in about 2 years and I have a relationship with Chase Bank - 4 Bank accounts and 2 credit cards - so I was sort of wondering if that will help or hurt my chances of a high SL. It definitely seems very complicated.

You're welcome and I'm glad it was helpful. Having other cards with the same lender can help as long as your existing overall exposure with them doesn't exceed their comfort level. Chase tends to limit TCL with them to about 40% to 50% of gross income under most circumstances. Let's say you make $80K (divided by 2 = $40K TCL ceiling) and already have cards worth $15K and $20K with them. They might approve you for $5K, or they might also approve you for $10K but lower the $20K card to $15K to keep TCL in-check.

But yes, credit limits are definitely complicated and therefore compiling any single "list" for expectations would be very difficult.

Re: What was your highest starting credit limit? Does a compilation of stats exist anywhere? 🤔

Kforce — Sun, 12 Mar 2023 23:14:42 GMT

With good 780+ Ficos

My average starting limits are (~2 times gross monthly income)

Re: What was your highest starting credit limit? Does a compilation of stats exist anywhere? 🤔

JNA1 — Sun, 12 Mar 2023 23:15:01 GMT

My highest SL was Affinity FCU at $32,500 in 10/21. My scores were in 780's at that time.

Re: What was your highest starting credit limit? Does a compilation of stats exist anywhere? 🤔

ChargedUp — Sun, 12 Mar 2023 23:19:39 GMT

@Joleybear wrote:
Does anyone know of a compilation of responses and data like this online?

I'm curious as to how score, income and other factors affect offers from different banks. For example, there was a time when I applied for 2 cards close together. For one store card I was offered a modest limit of a couple hundred dollars, but with the other, much better card offered over 5k for start.

I'd like to see some stats if anyone wants to chime in or is interested in hearing from others to compare.

*What was your highest started CL offer? $35000

*What was your FICO score? F8's around 790

*What bank or card was it? Chase Amazon Prime Visa

*What was your annual income at the time? (if you're comfortable providing it and if not obviously skip it lol) $175K

*Did you have any other cards from the same bank/issuer? Yes, the Chase Trifecta

I believe my highest starting limit, not including "pre-approvals", was from Chase which offered me 5.5k in 2020 to open a Disney Premier Visa Rewards account. My credit score had actually declined a bit at the time and was only in the low to mid 600s. The income reported was probably around 60k.

Fun Fact: I was denied so many times before I was approved that I lost count because I didn't know about the 5/24 rule and was opening accounts constantly. 😆

Re: What was your highest starting credit limit? Does a compilation of stats exist anywhere? 🤔

Aim_High — Sun, 12 Mar 2023 23:57:32 GMT

@Kforce wrote:
With good 780+ Ficos
My average starting limits are (~2 times gross monthly income)

That's an interesting way to look at SL metrics, @Kforce. I've never analyzed them from a GMI perspective, so that adds a new angle.

I would wager to say I've not had average SLs at 2 x GMI myself, however. I'm probably closer to 0.75 to 1.25 monthly gross if I were to make a rough guess. I attribute that to the effects of overall profile/debts in previous years and higher incomes that skew the equation on the other end in more recent years. (My higher $35K SLs were less than 1x gross monthly household income, but I think I was possibly hitting the upper initial lending ceilings that I discussed on those cards.)