Is Capital One jerking me around on a CLI

[Anonymous]

So I have a quicksilver one card witch was originally a platinum. This is a really old card that only has a 400$ credit limit. I don't want to get rid of the account because it's like 17 years old, but I want to boost the CL so I can upgrade it to a regular quicksilver without the annual fee.

A while back ago I requested a CLI and it got declined because they said I wasn't spending enough on the card. I've been spending more and paying it off. The other day I requested the CLI again and now they are telling my recent payments have been to low.

The credit limit is only 400, so even if it was maxed out the payment would only be 25$. My last 3 payments were 243, 200, & 391... whitch are well above the minimum. My current balance is 0.

What is the deal? The explanation for denial doesn't even make sense.

[jnbowmar]

So this card is so old that it might have a fixed interest rate? Is your APR fixed and locked in or is it varriable and based on the WSJ prime + whatever cap one adds on to it?

If its grandfathered in at a fixed rate at say 5% Capital one will never make money on it, and thus no motivation to increase the limit, as that would increase their risk with little to no profit. 

You'll have to get another card if you want a higher credit line, but I would not close a 17 year old account for anything. 

[blindambition]

It's a fruitless endeavor to figure out Cap One's voodoo hocus pocus decisions. Especially on a bucketed card. That card will never grow much, so it's better to put energy and spend elsewhere.

[Anonymous]

Typical CapOne behavior. 

In order to get an increase you'll likely need to spend upwards of 50% of your limit every month for the next 4-6 months, approaching the limit at least a couple times, and pay in full each month. That may be enough to get you a garbage $100 CLI which is about all they're giving these days. Meantime you're foregoing rewards you could be earning on other cards which likely are better rewards, and are cards with much more growth potential.

Best plan? Sock-drawer the card, use it once every couple months for a Coke, and work on growing other cards. Put your spend where it'll be rewarded and use that one just enough to keep it alive.

[rostrow416]

Honestly, with Capital One, it's not even worth it.  I scratched out a $100 CLI on a 3 year old card (QS1 - 500 to 600) and just threw in the towel and closed it.  

My Platinum pc'd to regular QS with a 1k limit and despite putting a regular charge of 800 on it monthly and paying it off once it.posts, I keep getting the "not enough spend reason".  This month especially stung since they decided to report to the bureaus a few days later than usual, allowing the $800 balance to be reported.  I'm just sock drawing it for now, I'm not interested in playing this game with them anymore.

[RonM21]

I'm with everyone the other posters on this one.  Cap1 played too many games for my liking several years back on a QS1 as well. Luckily for me it was early enough in the beginning of me entering the credit game that I had no issue closing that account down.

Interestingly enough, I have a similar situation I now have with Cap1 taking over the Walmart Mastercard I have, and I'm considering cutting my loses there this year as well, just to not deal with them.

But your situation is interesting in that you have 17 years with that account, so you certainly will have to evaluate your other options. I get your frustration though. 

[Curious_George2]

I understand your frustration. I've been there. All the advice above is good and wise and well intentioned. I'm going to offer a different perspective, just in case you (like me) decide to keep trying to get a CLI from them.

Before that though, I want to emphasize two points. First, it's almost certain any CLI you get will be $100. Other than Credit Steps, auto-CLIs and some flukes that go along with product changes, that's just what they have been giving out for several months on limits of $1600 and under. Second -- and I'm sure you already know this -- it's not personal. There is no human being who looks at your CLI request. They programmed their computer with rules for processing it and right now those rules are extremely conservative. That can be infuriating, but it's a mistake to view it as insulting, because none of it is about you.

On to the business at hand... Can you please give us the exact wording of the denial reason they listed on their letter? (In case you don't have the letter handy, it's available online.) Were there any other reasons listed on the most recent letter or is that the only one? What were the dates and amounts of all payments you have made in the last six months? What was the date of your most recent denial letter? What was the date of your most recent statement?

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Typical CapOne behavior. 

In order to get an increase you'll likely need to spend upwards of 50% of your limit every month for the next 4-6 months, approaching the limit at least a couple times, and pay in full each month. That may be enough to get you a garbage $100 CLI which is about all they're giving these days. Meantime you're foregoing rewards you could be earning on other cards which likely are better rewards, and are cards with much more growth potential.

Best plan? Sock-drawer the card, use it once every couple months for a Coke, and work on growing other cards. Put your spend where it'll be rewarded and use that one just enough to keep it alive.

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Yeah, I wish I had researched info on C1 before apping them. Definitely a regret card for me. 😩

[Mr_Mojo_Risin]

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@rostrow416 wrote:

Honestly, with Capital One, it's not even worth it.  I scratched out a $100 CLI on a 3 year old card (QS1 - 500 to 600) and just threw in the towel and closed it.  

My Platinum pc'd to regular QS with a 1k limit and despite putting a regular charge of 800 on it monthly and paying it off once it.posts, I keep getting the "not enough spend reason".  This month especially stung since they decided to report to the bureaus a few days later than usual, allowing the $800 balance to be reported.  I'm just sock drawing it for now, I'm not interested in playing this game with them anymore.

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Quick thing on the balance reported later. Idk if you were aware but a few months back Cap One started doing floating statement dates.

They want you to count back 25 days from your due date to determine your statement date each month.

[OmarGB9]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Typical CapOne behavior. 

In order to get an increase you'll likely need to spend upwards of 50% of your limit every month for the next 4-6 months, approaching the limit at least a couple times, and pay in full each month. That may be enough to get you a garbage $100 CLI which is about all they're giving these days. Meantime you're foregoing rewards you could be earning on other cards which likely are better rewards, and are cards with much more growth potential.

Best plan? Sock-drawer the card, use it once every couple months for a Coke, and work on growing other cards. Put your spend where it'll be rewarded and use that one just enough to keep it alive.

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+1