@cem13 wrote:
Re: Apple CLI Reject with perfect scoreThe past few months, I have been paying down debt (AZEO) in preparation for an early retirement. I plan to use the Bucket Strategy. My Bucket One/Emergency Fund will be the Apple Savings Account paying 4.15% APR. Over the past few months, my TU FICO 9 score increased by 50 points and maxed out at 850 this month.
Citi DC is my daily driver but I am changing this to Apple/GS card. So I asked for a CLI ($6,000 currently). I had the Apple card (along with the other 13 cards) in the SD and cycled every 9~12 months. I have 5 cards with $25K CL. So, I hit the luv button (message) and was denied for "lack of use". You talk about conservative lending standards.
I guess I will have to show more usage and try again. Does anyone know what the wait time is after rejection?
I feel your frustration, @cem13, but your heading says a lot. FICO scores are only one of many components in starting limits or CLI, but they don't carry as much weight as people sometimes think. I prefer to qualify them in a 'gatekeeper' role to allow access as long as other factors are acceptable. (IE: A low FICO is more likely to prevent a CLI than a high FICO will help it by that metric alone.) But many lenders do heavily consider how much usage a card is getting alongside other things such as income and debts-to-income. Goldman Sachs has been a lender who is known for wanting to see moderate to heavy usage to give a CLI. We compiled many data points in 2019 after the card debuted about CLI. See this thread if you want to read more.
Read my own data points at this thread where I posted about my own experiences with Apple CLI. I also provided links in that thread to my earlier experiences and observations. In particular,
"Goldman Sachs continues to reward heavier spending to get a CLI. In general, spending at least 25% to 30% of existing CL normally yields at least a nominal increase. And heavier spend in between increases typically yields a higher relative increase. Especially with lower SLs below $5K and heavy usage, Apple card has been known to grow very quickly. (See posts from @CreditAggie as proof of that.)
At one point, Goldman Sachs was allowing CLI once every 90 days but I believe current data points indicate once every six months, more in-line with many other lenders. So in your case, putting 30% of $6K or a minimum of about $2K spend on the card prior to CLI request would be a target. If you can make it to $6K or higher, that's even better.
No offense, but it's nice to know that even perfect-score people sometimes get declined. 
