Capital One CLI Advice

[Anonymous]

FicoFam,

A little backstory of my situation:

I have had Capital One Secured Card. Required $99 Deposit for a credit line of $200. I put in $150, total CL $250. 6 months credit steps increased me to: $550. Have had this account for 18 months. At 12 months in:

I Applied for a Capital One unsecured and was approved for: "Capital One Platinum" with a $300 CL. History of events was:

Statement / "Payments"

1) $31.23

2) $35.61

3) $77.96

4)$201.39

CLI Request:

Denied: Recent use of this accounts existing credit line too low

5) $129.60

6) $406.77

CLI Request:

Denied: Recent use of this account's existing credit line has been too low

7th) $218.93

CLI Request:

Automatically approved: $100

When I tried for the 3rd time after 7th statement cut via the app for a CLI instead of telling me id receive a response in two business days, it was like an automatic pop up window that said I'm approve for an increase of $100:

$300  +  $100  = $400

I felt it was sorta low, and I read that if you accept the offer THATS IT for the next six months. I figured "maybe I'll wait another month or two, keep my spend up and try again since I didn't accept the offer"

What I could use some advisement on is:

1) credit steps credit line increase where they "automatic review after 6 months" , they increased the credit line on top of my secured card automatically. Why wasn't my unsecured given the same exact treartment, or even a communication to me that they did in fact do a review and decided against a CLI. I've had to initiate CLI manually.

2) Removing my personal feelings, is $100 a significant credit limit increase against an existing line of $300? Because it's technically increasing the CL 33%? Should I accept it? Or keep increasing my monthly spend and try again in a month or two hoping for something more.

thanks!

[Anonymous]

It's not you, and it's not that they're seeing it as a 33% increase being generous. This is CapOne being CapOne - $100 CLIs is what they do. Some outliers get more but the vast majority get nothing, or $100, irrespective of spend (meaning that as long as you spend above a certain threshold, say 50-60% of your CL, it won't matter if you spend 700% of your CL per month, you'll likely only get $100). It's a joke. Spend on better cards if you have them. CapOne isn't going to grow.

[Anonymous]

Yes what @Anonymous is correct they only do $100 increments at a time, as I learned not to long ago. Another option would get a product change and get something out of the card your spending if this card is your only card. I didn't get an increase approval but did get a product change so that I can at least get points for spending now. And I always made sure to have a $0 balance before the due date and end billing cycle and still got denied. Your just never gonna know with Cap1.

[Anonymous]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

FicoFam,

A little backstory of my situation:

I have had Capital One Secured Card. Required $99 Deposit for a credit line of $200. I put in $150, total CL $250. 6 months credit steps increased me to: $550. Have had this account for 18 months. At 12 months in:

I Applied for a Capital One unsecured and was approved for: "Capital One Platinum" with a $300 CL. History of events was:

Statement / "Payments"

1) $31.23

2) $35.61

3) $77.96

4)$201.39

CLI Request:

Denied: Recent use of this accounts existing credit line too low

5) $129.60

6) $406.77

CLI Request:

Denied: Recent use of this account's existing credit line has been too low

7th) $218.93

CLI Request:

Automatically approved: $100

When I tried for the 3rd time after 7th statement cut via the app for a CLI instead of telling me id receive a response in two business days, it was like an automatic pop up window that said I'm approve for an increase of $100:

$300  +  $100  = $400

I felt it was sorta low, and I read that if you accept the offer THATS IT for the next six months. I figured "maybe I'll wait another month or two, keep my spend up and try again since I didn't accept the offer"

What I could use some advisement on is:

1) credit steps credit line increase where they "automatic review after 6 months" , they increased the credit line on top of my secured card automatically. Why wasn't my unsecured given the same exact treartment, or even a communication to me that they did in fact do a review and decided against a CLI. I've had to initiate CLI manually.

2) Removing my personal feelings, is $100 a significant credit limit increase against an existing line of $300? Because it's technically increasing the CL 33%? Should I accept it? Or keep increasing my monthly spend and try again in a month or two hoping for something more.

thanks!

---

I received the same response when I requested a CLI.

To my experience, Captial 1 dosen't care about the 10-30% utilization cap. They want to know if you can pay off your debt on time.

Its only when I spent over my credit limit that they qualified my CLI + Approved me for the Quicksilver Rewards Card with the same amount.

Seems backwards when you're really trying to discpline yourself to manage your finances the right way. But I'm usually good about paying off in full each month, and the good thing about Capital 1 is that they didn't hard pull me at anytime.

[Anonymous]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

Yes what @Anonymous is correct they only do $100 increments at a time, as I learned not to long ago. Another option would get a product change and get something out of the card your spending if this card is your only card. I didn't get an increase approval but did get a product change so that I can at least get points for spending now. And I always made sure to have a $0 balance before the due date and end billing cycle and still got denied. Your just never gonna know with Cap1.

---

Capital 1 gets there income from interest charged. I let the overlimit purchase report and then automatically received my CLI on my platinum + pre-approval for Quicksilver Rewards card for the same limit. I accepted what they gave me and kept it pushing. The Quicksilver offers more, so I will focus on building that card overtime and gaining cashback + 0% until 2022 in the meantime. I see Capital 1 as a stepping stone. It's basically compost fertilizer for my garden. Its doing its job!