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Credit cards credit limit increases

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razzy116
Established Contributor

Credit cards credit limit increases

Are there any credit cards that give credit limit increases alot? Thank you and be safe.

Starting Score: 663
Current Score: c669
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Message 1 of 19
18 REPLIES 18
Aim_High
Super Contributor

Re: Credit cards credit limit increases

How much is a lot?  Smiley Indifferent

 

That's a general question and hard to answer.  Much of it depends on the consumer profile, the lender, and usage patterns.  And today, I would add the additional factor of the economic conditions.

 

Most credit limit increases usually come from moderate to heavy responsible use of your existing credit limit combined with time.  

 

Most lenders want to see at least six months between considering increases.  Some even go a full year, such as what is reported on Discover cards since the coronavirus pandemic began.  A few, like American Express or Navy FCU may shorten that for newer cards to 60 to 90 days*. 

 

*See these links for Navy FCU and AMEX CLI information: 

https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Card-Applications/Navy-Federal-Thread-for-CLI-and-Additional...

https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Card-Applications/The-Definitive-Amex-3X-CLI-Guide/td-p/1811...

 

Some lenders want to see pretty regular and heavy use of your card in the previous few months.  (Capital One and Goldman Sach's Apple card are two excellent examples where usage really matters.)  Others will give you auto-CLI or soft pull CLI with much lower usage as the account ages.  (Discover and Bank of America are good examples.)   Still, it takes many years with most lenders to see really large credit limit increases due to age alone.

 

For the majority of lenders and cards, credit limit increases are most often a fraction of your existing credit limit. For example, a $3K credit limit typically won't even grow another $3K (or more) on an increase; the increase might be $500 to $2K.    The exception to this once again is with certain lenders and newer cards which may grow quickly.  Navy FCU and AMEX (as noted in the above threads) can grow very quickly from their starting limits, doubling or tripling in the first year.   Synchrony Bank cards can also grow very quickly (especially some like Lowe's home improvement stores) but they can also come crashing back down again, as many My Fico members have reported during the coronavirus pandemic. 

 

Some cards nicknamed "bucketed" cards may not grow at all, regardless of time or usage.  They were generally approved when the consumer had a riskier credit profile and was given a low limit.  Some Capital One cards are known for being "bucketed" and others lenders may do that also.

 

Lenders will always evaluate not only your credit score but also income, total debts, and spending history on the card among other factors before granting an increase.  So heavy spend-and-pay cycles alone on a card may not lead to an increase if the lender has concerns about your income or debt-to-income safely supporting those higher limits. 

 

Credit limits are not growing as fast or as easily these days since the economic downturn of coronavirus.


Business Cards


Length of Credit > 40 years; Total Credit Limits >$936K
Top Lender TCL - Chase 156.4 - BofA 99.9 - CITI 96.5 - AMEX 95.0 - NFCU 80.0 - SYCH - 65.0
AoOA > 31 years (Jun 1993); AoYA (Oct 2024)
* Hover cursor over cards to see name & CL, or press & hold on mobile app.
Message 2 of 19
Thomas_Thumb
Senior Contributor

Re: Credit cards credit limit increases


@razzy116 wrote:

Are there any credit cards that give credit limit increases alot? Thank you and be safe.


Discover card is pretty good.

I went from $10k to $31k in 2 years and then stopped asking. Increases were $5k, $6k, $6k, and $4k. No hard inquiries required.

Citi is ok. Incremental increases are typically smaller than Discover but, again no hard inquiries (for me anyway)

 

If you want CLIs, be prepared to ask. Best to wait 6 months between CLI requests on a given card. Look for cards that will give increases with a SP vs a HP. 

I think Bank of America, Elan Financial Services and Cap One are HP for CLI requests.

Fico 9: .......EQ 850 TU 850 EX 850
Fico 8: .......EQ 850 TU 850 EX 850
Fico 4 .....:. EQ 809 TU 823 EX 830 EX Fico 98: 842
Fico 8 BC:. EQ 892 TU 900 EX 900
Fico 8 AU:. EQ 887 TU 897 EX 899
Fico 4 BC:. EQ 826 TU 858, EX Fico 98 BC: 870
Fico 4 AU:. EQ 831 TU 872, EX Fico 98 AU: 861
VS 3.0:...... EQ 835 TU 835 EX 835
CBIS: ........EQ LN Auto 940 EQ LN Home 870 TU Auto 902 TU Home 950
Message 3 of 19
Aim_High
Super Contributor

Re: Credit cards credit limit increases


@Thomas_Thumb wrote:

@razzy116 wrote:

Are there any credit cards that give credit limit increases alot? Thank you and be safe.


Discover card is pretty good.

I went from $10k to $31k in 2 years and then stopped asking. Increases were $5k, $6k, $6k, and $4k. No hard inquiries required.

Citi is ok. Incremental increases are typically smaller than Discover but, again no hard inquiries (for me anyway)

 

If you want CLIs, be prepared to ask. Best to wait 6 months between CLI requests on a given card. Look for cards that will give increases with a SP vs a HP. 

I think Bank of America, Elan Financial Services and Cap One are always HP for CLI requests.


Thanks for adding to comments @Thomas_Thumb.  Love your profile and sometimes curious how you built it! 

 

Agree that Discover can be good.  Citi for me has been $3K at a time but that is on higher limits.  Last one went from $33K to $36K. 

 

Bank of America did used to be Hard Pulls but started doing Soft Pulls, I think last year.  When you're eligible, there's a "request CLI" button on your home page. 

 

Capital One is not hard pull and hasn't been for a long time, even though they do the dreaded triple pull for new cards.  But they are notoriously difficult and have strict rules.  Significant spending is required.  One CLI every six months or longer.  It's all automated and there's nobody to contact for recon.  CLIs are small, usually about $1K for lower credit limits or up to about $3K for larger ones.  And they've been known (recently) to credit-limit-decrease some cardholders whose spending is not sizeable relative to limits. 


Business Cards


Length of Credit > 40 years; Total Credit Limits >$936K
Top Lender TCL - Chase 156.4 - BofA 99.9 - CITI 96.5 - AMEX 95.0 - NFCU 80.0 - SYCH - 65.0
AoOA > 31 years (Jun 1993); AoYA (Oct 2024)
* Hover cursor over cards to see name & CL, or press & hold on mobile app.
Message 4 of 19
coldfusion
Credit Mentor

Re: Credit cards credit limit increases


@Aim_High wrote:

Bank of America did used to be Hard Pulls but started doing Soft Pulls, I think last year.  When you're eligible, there's a "request CLI" button on your home page. 

 

 


The transition was in May 2018, and the luv button is on the main page of whichever account(s) that BoA considers you eligible to request a CLI.   If one has multiple cards one can have multiple accounts simultaneously with luv buttons and one can get CLIs on multiple cards on the same day.

(7/2025)
FICO 8 (EX) 850 (TU) 850 (EQ) 850
FICO 9 (EX) 850 (TU) 850 (EQ) 850

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Artist formerly known as the_old_curmudgeon who was formerly known as coldfusion
Message 5 of 19
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Credit cards credit limit increases

Synchrony store cards can grow like weeds. I've even gotten a CLI on one 2 months after opening it (B&H Payboo). That card was on a 3 month schedule going forward like my Amazon Store Card. 

Synchrony majors are a bit stricter. Took me a year to get one on my PayPal Cashback but that card also started at $8K so that may have had something to do with it. Got shot down for a Marvel increase at 9 months and that card is only $2K. 

All the rest of my cards want at least 6 months between approved increases (and obviously that's the minimum, I have cards that I haven't seen an increase on in over a year and in the case of my Discover It, it's been over a year and a half). 

Message 6 of 19
Thomas_Thumb
Senior Contributor

Re: Credit cards credit limit increases


@Aim_High wrote:

@Thomas_Thumb wrote:

@razzy116 wrote:

Are there any credit cards that give credit limit increases alot? Thank you and be safe.


Discover card is pretty good.

I went from $10k to $31k in 2 years and then stopped asking. Increases were $5k, $6k, $6k, and $4k. No hard inquiries required.

Citi is ok. Incremental increases are typically smaller than Discover but, again no hard inquiries (for me anyway)

 

If you want CLIs, be prepared to ask. Best to wait 6 months between CLI requests on a given card. Look for cards that will give increases with a SP vs a HP. 

I think Bank of America, Elan Financial Services and Cap One are HP for CLI requests.


Thanks for adding to comments @Thomas_Thumb.  Love your profile and sometimes curious how you built it! 

 

Agree that Discover can be good.  Citi for me has been $3K at a time but that is on higher limits.  Last one went from $33K to $36K. 

 

Bank of America did used to be Hard Pulls but started doing Soft Pulls, I think last year.  When you're eligible, there's a "request CLI" button on your home page. 

 

Capital One is not hard pull and hasn't been for a long time, even though they do the dreaded triple pull for new cards.  But they are notoriously difficult and have strict rules.  Significant spending is required.  One CLI every six months or longer.  It's all automated and there's nobody to contact for recon.  CLIs are small, usually about $1K for lower credit limits or up to about $3K for larger ones.  And they've been known (recently) to credit-limit-decrease some cardholders whose spending is not sizeable relative to limits. 


@Aim_High 

Thanks for correcting my misinformation regarding bank HPs. The last/only BofA CLI I requested was in Nov 2017 and it ended up being a HP.  FWIW - my Citi SP CLIs were all in the $2k to $3k range. They were actually for a Charter Member AT&T universal card managed by Citi which I don't use too much.

 

As one of the above posters mentioned, there are some co-branded "store" cards with generous CLI policies.

Fico 9: .......EQ 850 TU 850 EX 850
Fico 8: .......EQ 850 TU 850 EX 850
Fico 4 .....:. EQ 809 TU 823 EX 830 EX Fico 98: 842
Fico 8 BC:. EQ 892 TU 900 EX 900
Fico 8 AU:. EQ 887 TU 897 EX 899
Fico 4 BC:. EQ 826 TU 858, EX Fico 98 BC: 870
Fico 4 AU:. EQ 831 TU 872, EX Fico 98 AU: 861
VS 3.0:...... EQ 835 TU 835 EX 835
CBIS: ........EQ LN Auto 940 EQ LN Home 870 TU Auto 902 TU Home 950
Message 7 of 19
GApeachy
Super Contributor

Re: Credit cards credit limit increases


@razzy116 wrote:

Are there any credit cards that give credit limit increases alot? Thank you and be safe.


Are you looking for padding?  If so, you don't need any majors, just store cards like Comenity that can sp cli every 2+ months.  Tread lightly around those trip wires.

My Take Home Pay Don't Take Me Home
Message 8 of 19
Aim_High
Super Contributor

Re: Credit cards credit limit increases


@GApeachy wrote:

@razzy116 wrote:

Are there any credit cards that give credit limit increases alot? Thank you and be safe.


Are you looking for padding?  If so, you don't need any majors, just store cards like Comenity that can sp cli every 2+ months.  Tread lightly around those trip wires.


In these economic times, I wouldn't just tread lightly; I wouldn't even go there, @GApeachy!

Padding utilization with store cards is always a risky proposition but especially today, if you could even manage do to it!   

It's definitely wise to keep store cards to a (very) limited part of your overall lineup, IMO.  Smiley Happy

 


Business Cards


Length of Credit > 40 years; Total Credit Limits >$936K
Top Lender TCL - Chase 156.4 - BofA 99.9 - CITI 96.5 - AMEX 95.0 - NFCU 80.0 - SYCH - 65.0
AoOA > 31 years (Jun 1993); AoYA (Oct 2024)
* Hover cursor over cards to see name & CL, or press & hold on mobile app.
Message 9 of 19
GApeachy
Super Contributor

Re: Credit cards credit limit increases

@Aim_High  Oh I agree.  I myself no longer have any since Wayfair bit the dust. (well it converted to a MC)  OP seems to be eager to hit the cli button "a lot" and the only thing I can think of are sc's.....particularly Comenity SC.  Fills the bill in the "a lot" debt.  Trip wire's everywhere. Smiley Tongue

My Take Home Pay Don't Take Me Home
Message 10 of 19
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