topic Re: Capital One Very Slow With Credit Increases? in Rebuilding Your Credit

Capital One Very Slow With Credit Increases?

credit2019 — Thu, 20 Dec 2018 09:11:27 GMT

I was approved a few months ago for a Capital One Platinum with a tiny $500 limit, which makes the card completely useless to me - I can't even check into most hotels that require a security hold with that. I have read about others on this forum receiving credit line increases after the first 5 months of payments. One said his limit went to $2500 from $500, and I have read miraculous stories on here about people going from lower FICO scores than I currently have and $0 in credit to $200K in available credit in 18 months.

So imagine my frustration when I got an email today saying that in June 2019, if my payments are on time, my limit will be increased...wait for it....by $250 to $750 total, which is just as useless to me as $500 is. I'm considering just canceling the card, since it really is of no utility to me and it's one more bill to remember to have to pay. This, by the way, is against a $100K annual income that they had me send in paperwork to verify before giving me the $500 limit.

Is Capital One worth keeping around if you don't have a very lengthy credit history? Should I instead just go put $10K in a Wells Fargo Secured card and close down Capital One?

Re: Capital One Very Slow With Credit Increases?

Anonymous — Thu, 20 Dec 2018 09:09:57 GMT

I would not close down the Capital One card. When you are bulidng/rebuilding credit you have to look at it from the card issuers perspective. You are a risk, and they need to manage that risk. You will see significant increases with continued and use.

But yes, I would go get a secured card too. I have the same situation. I need a card with a large limit for work/business travel. Since I’m rebuilding, I have a secured card for that exact purpose.

If your score is above 670 then at the 6 month mark I would app for a new Cap One card. Cap One like many lenders has a bucketing system which makes getting a new card with higher limits easier than increasing limits on your older cards.

Re: Capital One Very Slow With Credit Increases?

doredeb — Thu, 20 Dec 2018 11:24:52 GMT

Consider yourself lucky. I opened a Cap One Platinum card two years ago in January when I was rebuilding. They have “generously” given me three CLIs during that time...$100 each time. Seriously? A hundred bucks? My lowest FICO is 770. Never missed a payment on any of my accounts. No derogatories. Thanks for the love, Cap One. <sarcasm>

Re: Capital One Very Slow With Credit Increases?

Priory_Man — Thu, 20 Dec 2018 12:13:20 GMT

With that income you have to have more going on behind the scenes.
It would probably if you shared some of your credit history, to better help us understand why you are having a difficult time getting a better SL.

Re: Capital One Very Slow With Credit Increases?

Adkins — Thu, 20 Dec 2018 16:33:49 GMT

@credit2019 wrote:
I was approved a few months ago for a Capital One Platinum with a tiny $500 limit, which makes the card completely useless to me - I can't even check into most hotels that require a security hold with that. I have read about others on this forum receiving credit line increases after the first 5 months of payments. One said his limit went to $2500 from $500, and I have read miraculous stories on here about people going from lower FICO scores than I currently have and $0 in credit to $200K in available credit in 18 months.

So imagine my frustration when I got an email today saying that in June 2019, if my payments are on time, my limit will be increased...wait for it....by $250 to $750 total, which is just as useless to me as $500 is. I'm considering just canceling the card, since it really is of no utility to me and it's one more bill to remember to have to pay. This, by the way, is against a $100K annual income that they had me send in paperwork to verify before giving me the $500 limit.

Is Capital One worth keeping around if you don't have a very lengthy credit history? Should I instead just go put $10K in a Wells Fargo Secured card and close down Capital One?

Income isn't as helpful if your DTI ratio is very high or you have major baddies holding your score down. How old is your credit history? What are your FICO scores? Any other cards, loans or a mortgage?

Re: Capital One Very Slow With Credit Increases?

Anonymous — Thu, 20 Dec 2018 16:39:16 GMT

Capital One is profile AND spend related, I think.

My first card back in 2017 when I started my rebuild from the 550s was a Capital One/Discover Secured combo. Today the Capital One is of course unsecured and at $6600 credit limit, while the Discover is also unsecured and at $5600.

In about 18 months I went from $0 credit limits to over $250,000 in credit limits -- but Capital One doesn't really grow as fast as Amex does, and I don't really have any reason to use the Capital One card since it's only 1.5% cash back today. It still will get one charge every quarter just to keep it active, but I would be surprised if they ever CLI me again.

The key to Capital One large limits is to combine limits between two cards. This costs you a lot of inquiries to keep opening accounts, but once you're over 750, inquiries really don't matter much (other than Chase 5/24 and other banks like that).

So if you want large limits, open a second card, and when the timeframe allows, merge the limits.

Re: Capital One Very Slow With Credit Increases?

credit2019 — Thu, 20 Dec 2018 18:50:21 GMT

@Priory_Man wrote:
With that income you have to have more going on behind the scenes.
It would probably if you shared some of your credit history, to better help us understand why you are having a difficult time getting a better SL.

Sorry, I'm new to these forums and should have included more. I have 1 medical collection on my report from 2.5 years ago that is still open because I genuinely don't recognize the debt, and am trying to dispute it. I have no other baddies, no bankruptcies, public records etc. FICO is currently 663. I currently have 1 open secured credit card with a $1500 limit on it that I generally charge up and pay off every month, but always after the statement date so that probably screws with my utilization (I didn't realize this until I started reading these forums in the last ~20 days). I also have an HSN credit card with a $1K limit with no balance that helps with utilization. Finally, I have student loans on my profile that are still in grace period and show paid as agreed, to the tune of about $50K. After I applied for the Cap One card (which required income verification and so I wasn't sure if I was approved until much later) I also made the mistake of applying and getting approved for a $400 limit at Credit One for a $97 annual fee, and was also approved for a $1200 revolving line through CareCredit for some dental work (I was going to pay cash, but I figured I might as well try and have all of these inquiries fall off at the same time).

Since opening these accounts, someone suggested that I apply for a Cap One Quicksilver, which I did yesterday afternoon and was denied. Apparently as a consolation prize, they sent me the email last night saying I could reach the lofty goal of $750 if I behave for 5 months.

Re: Capital One Very Slow With Credit Increases?

credit2019 — Thu, 20 Dec 2018 18:42:39 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Capital One is profile AND spend related, I think.

My first card back in 2017 when I started my rebuild from the 550s was a Capital One/Discover Secured combo. Today the Capital One is of course unsecured and at $6600 credit limit, while the Discover is also unsecured and at $5600.

In about 18 months I went from $0 credit limits to over $250,000 in credit limits -- but Capital One doesn't really grow as fast as Amex does, and I don't really have any reason to use the Capital One card since it's only 1.5% cash back today. It still will get one charge every quarter just to keep it active, but I would be surprised if they ever CLI me again.

The key to Capital One large limits is to combine limits between two cards. This costs you a lot of inquiries to keep opening accounts, but once you're over 750, inquiries really don't matter much (other than Chase 5/24 and other banks like that).

So if you want large limits, open a second card, and when the timeframe allows, merge the limits.

Wow! Thank you for replying. That is an inspiring story, and is the kind of thing that both inspired me to try to build my credit up, and made me frustrated when I got their email saying I could go to $750 in 5 months. Do you have an especially large income? Also how long did you wait after you got your first Cap One card to apply for your second one? I didn't want the HP from Amex since I was pretty sure my Fico (at 663 after several recent inquiries) wasn't up to par for them, so I tried their preapproval tool and the website said something to the effect of "go away and don't come back". How long did you have other credit before you got your first Amex?

Re: Capital One Very Slow With Credit Increases?

Adkins — Thu, 20 Dec 2018 18:46:16 GMT

@credit2019 wrote:
@Priory_Man wrote:
With that income you have to have more going on behind the scenes.
It would probably if you shared some of your credit history, to better help us understand why you are having a difficult time getting a better SL.

Sorry, I'm new to these forums and should have included more. I have 1 medical collection on my report from 2.5 years ago that is still open because I genuinely don't recognize the debt, and am trying to dispute it. I have no other baddies, no bankruptcies, public records etc. FICO is currently 663. I currently have 1 open secured credit card with a $1500 limit on it that I generally charge up and pay off every month, but always after the statement date so that probably screws with my utilization (I didn't realize this until I started reading these forums in the last ~20 days). I also have an HSN credit card with a $1K limit with no balance that helps with utilization. Finally, I have student loans on my profile that are still in grace period and show paid as agreed, to the tune of about $50K. After I applied for the Cap One card (which required income verification and so I wasn't sure if I was approved until much later) I also made the mistake of applying and getting approved for a $400 limit at Credit One for a $97 annual fee, and was also approved for an $1200 line through CareCredit for some dental work (I was going to pay cash, but I figured I might as well try and have all of these inquiries fall off at the same time).

Since opening these accounts, someone suggested that I apply for a Cap One Quicksilver, which I did yesterday afternoon and was denied. Apparently as a consolation prize, they sent me the email last night saying I could reach the lofty goal of $750 if I behave for 5 months.

If you pay the card down to show a 8% or less utilization before the statement cuts, you'll gain some points back.

Re: Capital One Very Slow With Credit Increases?

Anonymous — Thu, 20 Dec 2018 19:37:48 GMT

Yeah, never cold app Capital One. Always use the prequalifiaction link on their site to see if you will get approved. It’s more like a pre approval. It’s generally rock solid. Also try the Amex prequal page, since you are interested in getting one of those cards. With your score they might ask for POI too. If they ask they will send you a tax authorization form. It’s a form that authorizes them to verify you income via the IRS. (I hate this trend) You have a high income with a lower score. Generally I have seen that is when they ask for POI.

Re: Capital One Very Slow With Credit Increases?

Anonymous — Thu, 20 Dec 2018 19:41:56 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Capital One is profile AND spend related, I think.

My first card back in 2017 when I started my rebuild from the 550s was a Capital One/Discover Secured combo. Today the Capital One is of course unsecured and at $6600 credit limit, while the Discover is also unsecured and at $5600.

In about 18 months I went from $0 credit limits to over $250,000 in credit limits -- but Capital One doesn't really grow as fast as Amex does, and I don't really have any reason to use the Capital One card since it's only 1.5% cash back today. It still will get one charge every quarter just to keep it active, but I would be surprised if they ever CLI me again.

The key to Capital One large limits is to combine limits between two cards. This costs you a lot of inquiries to keep opening accounts, but once you're over 750, inquiries really don't matter much (other than Chase 5/24 and other banks like that).

So if you want large limits, open a second card, and when the timeframe allows, merge the limits.

I think your “11 rules” needs to become “12 rules”. Rule 12 needs to be “how to get $250,000 of credit in 18 months”. Lol.

Re: Capital One Very Slow With Credit Increases?

Anonymous — Thu, 20 Dec 2018 19:47:35 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I think your “11 rules” needs to become “12 rules”. Rule 12 needs to be “how to get $250,000 of credit in 18 months”. Lol.

The big rule on high limits is if you don't need high limits, they will give you high limits.

If you need high limits, you will get $500 starting limits.

I don't even use debt at all, other than to get my cash back or other perks (travel insurance), so naturally they now just give me high limits.

A year ago when I could have actually used higher limits, I was getting $500 starting limits, haha.

My goal was to get to $100,000 by the end of 2018, but that's blown past. I am pretty much done applying -- the only thing left for me would be whatever cards give me American Airline miles for SUB, haha.

Re: Capital One Very Slow With Credit Increases?

credit2019 — Thu, 20 Dec 2018 19:57:20 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
I think your “11 rules” needs to become “12 rules”. Rule 12 needs to be “how to get $250,000 of credit in 18 months”. Lol.
The big rule on high limits is if you don't need high limits, they will give you high limits.

If you need high limits, you will get $500 starting limits.

I don't even use debt at all, other than to get my cash back or other perks (travel insurance), so naturally they now just give me high limits.

A year ago when I could have actually used higher limits, I was getting $500 starting limits, haha.

My goal was to get to $100,000 by the end of 2018, but that's blown past. I am pretty much done applying -- the only thing left for me would be whatever cards give me American Airline miles for SUB, haha.

I'm really curious what your general strategy was in growing to these levels. Did you get the cards and simply not use them, then ask for increases every few months? Did you charge them up to near their limits and then instantly pay them off? Or did you do something in between? How often did you ask for increases?

I don't mean to pry, I'm just trying to follow in your footsteps.

Re: Capital One Very Slow With Credit Increases?

Anonymous — Fri, 21 Dec 2018 14:36:46 GMT

Capital one was good to me with increases, however when things started to get worse for me both of mine went to collections and since then i paid them off. The thing that sucks is that i have a account still open with them but the card is restricted and can never be used again even though it is showing a positive account so i am forced to reapply or wait for an email that gives out a second chance. So keep it in good standings and they will be good for you.

Re: Capital One Very Slow With Credit Increases?

sjt — Fri, 21 Dec 2018 19:58:44 GMT

The trick with Capital One is to use the heck out of the card and pay it off frequently.

Re: Capital One Very Slow With Credit Increases?

doredeb — Fri, 21 Dec 2018 20:31:59 GMT

I wish that were the case...I use the heck out of it and pay 3-4 times a month!

Re: Capital One Very Slow With Credit Increases?

credit2019 — Fri, 21 Dec 2018 20:46:18 GMT

@doredeb wrote:
I wish that were the case...I use the heck out of it and pay 3-4 times a month!

I take it that they still haven't given you any increases?

Re: Capital One Very Slow With Credit Increases?

sjt — Fri, 21 Dec 2018 20:49:57 GMT

What is your current credit profile, ie scores, cards/limits, baddies, etc.

Re: Capital One Very Slow With Credit Increases?

credit2019 — Fri, 21 Dec 2018 20:53:38 GMT

@sjt wrote:
What is your current credit profile, ie scores, cards/limits, baddies, etc.

See this post.

Re: Capital One Very Slow With Credit Increases?

sjt — Fri, 21 Dec 2018 21:42:08 GMT

Thanks for the link.

I dont think you need to go to the secured route with your credit profile. If you do decide to, there are better secured card products then Wells Fargo.
My suggestion would be to pay down your credit card (leave a small balance) before the statement cut off date. You should get a nice bump once they report.
Go to the prequal sites (Chase, Amex, Discover, Citi, BofA, CreditCards.com) and check for offers. I think you should see offers appear.
I would closeout the Credit One as you get another card.