730+ Credit score and struggling to get high limit credit card.

[CreditFixy]

Hello everyone,

My credit score is 730+ across all three bureaus. Every time I apply for a CLI or a new account I keep getting low limits. Low being <3k I have one late payment and that was 6 years ago. This is the 3rd time in 18 months this happened. I wait 6 months to try again. My total credit limit is 53k. That's across like 20 cards 😔. It seems like people can get 20-30k credit card with no problem. I also make 183k a year and I use 23k out of 53k in credit cards and pay it back at the end of the month, the latest 2 months. What am I doing wrong? Someone suggested I close all my low limit accounts. Thanks for the feedback! 

[Fico82]

Wow ! Definitely going to subscribe to this so i can find out as well from the fico gurus here.

After 2 limit increases with amex i was able to hit 30k with a income thats about 6-7 times less then you . 

My guess is that late payment you have is the issue . Its just insane the amount you spend monthly and they dont want to budge . 

[Yankee2]

If your willing to close some cards, if you have mulitiple cards with a same lender, see if you can consolidate CL to one card and close the others. 

When app'ing, lenders look at what other CL you have. 

To give you an example, back in 2017 (my scores were around 800 though) I got on a app spree and got 3 cards, AMEX BCP, Cap One Savor and Chase Freedom. All gave me $10k. 

Just a year ago or so I consolidated 2 BOA cards and made one card with $27.5k.  I app'd for the Chase Flex a month later and got $22k.

If you have 20 cards, 1st, I would dump any with an AF. Then close any other that you don't use often that has a low limit.

Is your late the only negative on your report? Is your 183k income a recent increase?  Credit is a marathon and it takes time for changes to happen, (unfortunately especially on the up side)  Once the late drops off and you can clear 750 or higher, I think the CL's will increase.

[Fico82]

You know what else... now that im thinking about it ... what is your dti over all . I know you mentioned you pay off your cards monthly but do you have big ticket auto loans or multiple mortgages etc to where your dti is sky rocket?

[Sub16610]

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@CreditFixy wrote:

Hello everyone,

My credit score is 730+ across all three bureaus. Every time I apply for a CLI or a new account I keep getting low limits. Low being <3k I have one late payment and that was 6 years ago. This is the 3rd time in 18 months this happened. I wait 6 months to try again. My total credit limit is 53k. That's across like 20 cards 😔. It seems like people can get 20-30k credit card with no problem. I also make 183k a year and I use 23k out of 53k in credit cards and pay it back at the end of the month, the latest 2 months. What am I doing wrong? Someone suggested I close all my low limit accounts. Thanks for the feedback! 

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Thanks for posting this question.  I am very interested in hearing from all the knowledgeable community members.

[TattnallTrio]

Your income is great. I am suspecting lots of recent inquiries and the total number of new accounts you've possibly recently opened is holding you back. I'd stop applying for things and let your newest account age until it's 2 years old. This is hard, even for me. But you'll then be ready to get a good credit line. Also, look into places that are known for giving good limits. BECU comes to mind. 

[KLEXH25]

There isn't enough information to know exactly what is holding back the higher limit approvals. It's never just one reason though, but rather numerous factors of your overall profile. My guess is that the late payment is the biggest factor (without knowing more about your profile). It's definitely possible to do, but I think quality over quantity is what has helped me the most. I have also kept track of what each lender likes and I actively request CLIs from each lender when appropriate. Below is an overview of my profile.

3 years ago, I had one $300 CC. Today, I have $100k in limits across 7 CCs (not counting my charge card). I have no derogatories, I pay balances in full and on time, and I have spread out my applications, usually leaving a minimum of 6 months to a year in between. I did close my low limit $500 Capital One card after a year because I knew it was bucketed and wouldn't grow, and decided I'd rather nurture cards that would grow instead. My income is around $77k and my DTI is < 20%. My most recent CC approval was the CSP at $17,300 and my highest card is my BCP at $30k (started at $5k). 

[Deeyarht948]

My advice is don't apply for anything for a while and let your accounts age for at least 2 years easier said than done but applying for too many credit cards in a short period of time can scare off lenders

[coldfusion]

Having a 6 year old 30 day late in and of itself wouldn't normally keep you from getting good cards at high limits,  the impact is more along the lines of the approval coming with an APR at the higher end of the range available with that card.

First guess is that there are either DTI concerns (do you have large outstanding student loans?), many inquiries reporting, or  combination of the two.  Either way a little more information would be needed to better understand the likely issue and comment on how to potentially address it.

[Anonymous]

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@CreditFixy wrote:

Hello everyone,

My credit score is 730+ across all three bureaus. Every time I apply for a CLI or a new account I keep getting low limits. Low being <3k I have one late payment and that was 6 years ago. This is the 3rd time in 18 months this happened. I wait 6 months to try again. My total credit limit is 53k. That's across like 20 cards 😔. It seems like people can get 20-30k credit card with no problem. I also make 183k a year and I use 23k out of 53k in credit cards and pay it back at the end of the month, the latest 2 months. What am I doing wrong? Someone suggested I close all my low limit accounts. Thanks for the feedback! 

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Well you state that your total CL's are 53K and you pay $23,000 back the end of each month. That sounds like a probable cause for this. If you are letting these balances to report and do not pay most of them back prior to the statement closing you are then looking at a 50% utilization. You should only allow not more then 9% utilization to ever report. At 50% utilization I am surprised that you are getting any new cards at all, even low SL cards.

Thanks

Mark