@Im2snaz4u wrote:I'm not really sure what heavy use would be. On one of the months I paid in full so I wouldn't have to pay interest and on the other month I had a 1500 balance and I paid 1000 of it. Is thT heavy use? Lol I'm new to all this!! 😀
If your CL was $2,000 as I recall correctly, and if you put $1500 new charges on it (especially if you did this over one or two months), that does show pretty heavy use. That is using 1500/2000 or 75% of your credit limit over that period.
"Heavy Use" definition is always at the bank's discretion, of course, but in my opinion, if you're consistently using 50-100% of a credit limit over a short period of time, you may be more likely to get offered an auto-CLI like you got to $2500. If you request a credit limit increase, some banks, like Capital One or Goldman Sachs (the new Apple card) seem to want to see at least 25% to 50% of your credit limit used over a few months to approve one. Capital One gave me increases when I used my card but also regularly turned me down if I hadn't swiped it much if any in recent months. Other lenders don't care too much about heavy use and will give you an increase regularly as long as your account is in good standing and credit scores/reports are stable. For example, I've built high credit lines that way with Bank of America and Discover over being a long-time cardholder but I've never charged anywhere near 50% or more of those high limits.
@JeffMO wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:Rumor is their official CLI policy since COVID-19 struck is to not give one until the card is a year old.
That's exactly what the nice CSR rep told me back in Feb when I called about an increase on mine, which was only 7 months old. I thought I would give them a call at the time because my scores had jumped over a 100 points and I felt like I had some pull. She told me it has nothing to do with scores at all and all to do with experience with having the card and to call back after my 1 year in July. So I'm soooo close less than 2 weeks! We shall see
Thank you for that info! 👍
I will report back in about 10 day or in Aug when I will have 3 inquiries drop off the reports. I wish I had read this 2 days ago because I just applied yesterday for a CLI and was shot down with "...not enough experience..." 😟
Here is the kicker, I opened the account 6/27/2019.
I had figured since I was past the 100 day mark since the last CLI why not apply, what possible difference could 2 or 4 more days make.
Update/Follow up to previous post:
I was away from home for a short trip, needed to make a large somewhat impromptu purchase that required a physical card to be swiped & believed I had misplaced the only CB CC that I brought with me.
So, I did called Lady Discover on the 24th of July to gather information on a CLI, among other things, while noting my account is over 1 year old but I only had 11 complete 30 Day Billing Cycles not 12.
The CSR did mention about a 6 month period between CLI...
Well to test their, I guess I will call it a 'Policy', I did consent to their request to apply for a CLI and was given the same denial reason as your DW. Although it had not yet been 6 months since my last increase (which was in Feb 2020) and due to it currently not being a part of my short term goals, at this point in time, I would not have accepted the CLI. I am trying to build out & setup my profile specifically for a successful AOD app to be approved for somewhere between 20K - 24K and hopefully at their lowest interests rate. Work, work work…
I inquired about (a.) promotional rates and (b.) how they go about determining whom is offered a BT PROMO. I received no substantial info on the topic of how their 'Marketing Dept', that is how the CSR referred to it, determines BT offers.
CSR did state I have an offer for 0% APR rate on purchases for 14 months...
Whooooa!!! Someone insert a .gif of a nuke going off because Discover just blew my mind to bits with that one.
Well, that satisfied my intented goal of calling. I only expected a promo to run for 6 to 12 months. .
I Believe Discover has only been this way with much newer cardholders while compounding the fact that most FI's have tightened down on CLI's and BT's offers due to the economic impact of the coronavirus.
To support my thoughts...
My card was opened in late June 2019. Discover It (the Balance Transfer version with 5% catagories and 0% APR's).
. My first CLI was approved at 170 day from account opening (5.5months, Dec 15th 2019; 2nd in Jan; and 3rd in Feb; 3 CLI's totaling 6,400).
My spending and payment amounts were very similar to your DW for my 1st 4 months only, which is when I first attempted a CLI and was denied, with the same reason yet two small differences.
During the first 6 months l always sent a payment twice a month and carried multiple BT's.
The other being that after the 4th month I began to carry a purchase balance through the statement cut date (of course at 0%). Then PIF and request an off-cycle update to the 3B's a few days to a week later...
I can not say when DW would receive an increase. I would say if she has 0% APR for purchases, try carrying a balance into the next billing cycle once or twice for reporting purposes only. (I thought i posted the mssg 2-3 days ago. Now i seen that you, Aim-High, participated in a thread where another poster did not receive a CLI until agyerbteybhadbdine the same)
As a reminder:
Concerning Discover and many others, our CLI request are more than likely not placed under manual review.
Give the algorithms more and or different data points to be reviewed..
I am not saying all things (profiles) are equal but as described above that is how I handled the circumstances. That's it! It is what i attempt to do. Until I can pin point what works for me, I will try something different.
This post is long but please bear with me and maybe @bird or others that research, plot & record data points to extrapolate whatever it is that they can conceive to form information and share with us which we all can ultimately benefit from if absorbed.
I have 6 open CC and 1 LOC revolvers. On my Paper credit reports that were mailed to me 3 CC's and the Navy CLOC has no payment history listed on the Experian report. I would presume it is because I PIF. Then 3 other CC's had none as well for the first several months and I can see that it seems to be because I PIF before the statement closing date. Only the HIGH BAL & Recent/Current Ball's were listed.
Just a tid-bit for you, cheers!!👌
@Credit4Growth wrote: Update/Follow up to previous post@Aim_High... called Lady Discover on the 24th of July to gather information on a CLI ... while noting my account is over 1 year old but I only had 11 complete 30 Day Billing Cycles not 12. The CSR did mention about a 6 month period between CLI...
I did consent to their request to apply for a CLI and was given the same denial reason as your DW.
I am trying to build out & setup my profile specifically for a successful AOD app to be approved for somewhere between 20K - 24K and hopefully at their lowest interests rate ...
I inquired about (a.) promotional rates and (b.) how they go about determining whom is offered a BT PROMO. I received no substantial info on the topic of how their 'Marketing Dept', that is how the CSR referred to it, determines BT offers. CSR did state I have an offer for 0% APR rate on purchases for 14 months... Whooooa!!! Someone insert a .gif of a nuke going off because Discover just blew my mind to bits with that one ... I only expected a promo to run for 6 to 12 months. .
I Believe Discover has only been this way with much newer cardholders while compounding the fact that most FI's have tightened down on CLI's and BT's offers due to the economic impact of the coronavirus.
My card was opened in late June 2019 ...first CLI was approved at 170 day from account opening (5.5months, Dec 15th 2019; 2nd in Jan; and 3rd in Feb; 3 CLI's totaling 6,400).
My spending and payment amounts were very similar to your DW for my 1st 4 months only, which is when I first attempted a CLI and was denied, with the same reason yet two small differences.
During the first 6 months l always sent a payment twice a month and carried multiple BT's.
The other being that after the 4th month I began to carry a purchase balance through the statement cut date (of course at 0%). Then PIF and request an off-cycle update to the 3B's a few days to a week later...
I can not say when DW would receive an increase. I would say if she has 0% APR for purchases, try carrying a balance into the next billing cycle once or twice for reporting purposes only.
I have 6 open CC and 1 LOC revolvers. On my Paper credit reports that were mailed to me 3 CC's and the Navy CLOC has no payment history listed on the Experian report. I would presume it is because I PIF. Then 3 other CC's had none as well for the first several months and I can see that it seems to be because I PIF before the statement closing date. Only the HIGH BAL & Recent/Current Ball's were listed.
Thanks for that detailed update @Credit4Growth!
I wouldn't be surprised if the info from @Anonymous about Discover requiring new accounts to be over 12 months old before a first CLI to be accurate information. Previous to coronavirus, I'm pretty sure they used more of a six-month timetable but all bets are off now on what lenders are doing. Since her account was opened in November 2019, that means it is over nine months old now. I'm tempted to have her apply for another CLI just to see if it will go through before 12 months since I'm curious. I definitely would expect her to be considered in Nov/Dec timeframe if nothing else. We have continued to put significant spend on the card monthly (low four-figure balances.)
I'm surprised at how many back-to-back CLI's that Discover gave you before coronavirus hit. I didn't think that was typical for them! Congrats on those!
Discover has some awesome balance transfers. Yes, they do have BT fees but with them lasting 12 months or longer, it's like a very-low interest rate loan with no additional hard credit pull. I used them a few times before when I was trying to pay down some large balances. I'm pretty sure my paying off those large balances encouraged them to give me continued CLIs on my account with them, up to the current $50K level, even though I've not put anywhere near that level of spend on it. But the account is over 27 years old, and old accounts will often continue to grow like that if you keep using them even modestly with some lenders.
In the past, Discover has not been a lender you have to play certain games with to get a CLI. I don't think there are spending thresholds (like with Capital One or Goldman Sachs Apple) and I don't think it matters if you carry a balance month-to-month, PIF, do balance transfers, or pay multiple times. If anything, in the past it's been just use the card regularly, allow a balance to post to statement, and pay it. And then wait for time to pass for eligibility for another increase. Normally a pretty simple process. So I believe all that has changed with coronavirus is that the time interval between increases has been extended.
I've actually never been aware of ANY lender that wanted you to carry a balance month-to-month to approve a CLI. I would never recommend anyone do that, regardless of 0% or not, just to try to drive data for a CLI. I just don't think it's ever needed. Sure, lenders love when you use their card and they will love you more when you pay them interest on top of the swipe fees. But from a rational viewpoint, if you have 0% interest and you're carrying a balance, you're actually COSTING them money to do it. They would rather you pay it off!
The credit bureau reporting you talked about is an interesting phenomenon. As you said, many lenders are using some sort of automated algorithms to review data. And if you PIF before statement cut, usage doesn't get reported to CRB. That lender still knows you used their card but other financial institutions that review your file may not know if you're using your credit lines. I believe in some cases, that can backfire because if you apply for a new card and don't show usage on your existing cards, it may cast doubt over whether you can responsibly manage using credit or if you NEED additional credit. On the other hand, for a CLI request, that is a different scenario. The lender you are requesting the CLI request will know much more about you than what is reported to the credit bureau, so if they choose to they incorporate information about your spending history in their algorithms, regardless of what is on your credit report. I have wondered if Capital One's algorithm looks at my actual spending versus the statement balance when I was requesting CLI's with them. I have a theory that it doesn't and that it's better to allow a statement balance to post before paying, but that is only my theory. It might make sense for them to do it that way since MOST consumers don't pay off balances early like some of us on My Fico do. Either way, it probably doesn't hurt.
Good luck with getting the AOD FCU Visa! It's an awesome card! But I wouldn't peg hopes on a high approval. That $25K is their maximum and while I got it early in the flood of approvals with high income, high scores, and low DTI, the data points from others that followed indicated they tightened up substantially for most approvals. You might get the lowest rate but not the highest CL. I think getting $10K to $15K with them now would probably be a generous starting limit. They would allow increases later, of course.
Thanks for your POV and experiences with AOD and & Discover. I am hoping for 20K which should be plenty for my perceived future. Realistically I think 10K - 15K is the best I may be offered but setting/aiming higher (22K - 24K) is just for purposes of being an ultimate goal with them as to not have to ever do a HP with them for a CLI. I do like their auto loan rates. That large purchase I recently put on the Discover was for 5 figures (head-smacking myself, would have been nice to get 3% CB for the non-categorical spend) as it was kind of unplanned in regards to the timing, yet I believe I was offered a huge discount that I certainly was not expecting at the time. Sometimes negotiating things toward the end of the month can be generously rewarding in one's favor but also it ended up being a who you know scenario combined with a friend's and family discount. Hence an impromptu flight for a group face-to-face negotiation. DW and I do have quite a few large expenses planned over the next 2 years (mostly upgrades to our humble abode). In the near future I will be scheduling a surgery for myself. Additionally I have been putting off and kicking down the road a few other things to ensure I can PIF and maintain a solid level of financial stability, ie. a partial rebuild of a 2006 Dodge Ram 1500 TRX I acquired.
I had the same train of thought with a lot of the points you made, those remain true for me today, concerning what information some lenders can and can not see. I usually just do not like tapping out an extreme amount on a mobile, my computer needs tending to.
I myself am blown away by the number of CLI they have extended, let alone all of them were back to back. Truthfully I do not understand it appropriately. However I am done making request from Lady Discover for any increase for a couple of years, they can all be automatic CLIs if she deems my management of the account worhty. More so to my point, I will even request a CLD to 20K just to round out the CL.
.... please don't judge me for the following.
I had about 6 - 8 more paragraphs of sharing insight and personal info , movie and Dal Carnegie quotes and thenI lost it all because my finger slipped on the mobile keyboard. All of my home computers need repair and this is not the 3rd time this happened this month... i think i am more pissed about this than @Meanmchine was a few last week.
Topic divergence; Mods delete if you will
/Rant.... also, i was going to post about SP approvals, preapprovals, CLIs and voluntary CLD but im done for a few day.
Everyone enjoy Sunday dinner, family time and or alone eflection time. I will be in the garden and that is it!
P.s. I will go and do some yard work to burn of aggressive energy!... until store close
I am trying to not run over to Best Buy and pick up a new laptop I had my eye on for 3 or 4 weeks.
Also, the family and I are supposed to be flying back from the Galapagos Islands vacation, as of yesterday. HELLO COVID-19