CITI DC approved at $500, ~760 scores, CLI?

Anonymous · ‎05-27-2017

My credit scores are all around 760, but I tried applying to three cards in the last few days, with Citi being the last, so HP from other applications are reflected in my credit report but not new accounts. Citi DC was approved as I called one of the backdoor numbers to inquire our my application, one day after I applied online; but to my surprise, the initial cl is $500 (!!).

I was told by the cs over the phone that they are a status department and I should call the number at the back of my card for CLI after I receive my card. But I wonder if the veterans here have better advice?

Should I:

Wait for my card and request for CLI right then? (I am aware of the HP option, but since I literally just applied for the card, will they do another HP nonetheless?)
Call EO?
Anything else?

A few additional info:

I was pre-qualified for this card on the online portal, APR 24% no intro promo, idk about APR.
I have one other citi card with $4000 limit.
My total CL is $32k across 7 cards, so average is $4.6k, and min is about $4k. $500 is super unexpected for me.
HP counts on EQ EX TU should be at 4,5,6.
Citi pulled by EQ and EX for this application.

Update 5/29:

The three cards I applied for in this spree were Buypower, Cap1 Premier Dining, and Citi DC, in that order.

The first two were also approved, but for $5000, which is around my average CL.

Thanks in advance, this forum has been super helpful!

AverageJoesCredit · ‎05-27-2017

Congrats on approval. Yes wait to you receive your card to make sure the sl was not an error. Honestly, if they only gave you $500 after pulling 2 reports, the chances youll get a clu right off the bat even with another hp, seem slim. I was approved for $1200 and couldnt get a cli with another hp and its taken me a year just to get it to 1800. Of course YMMV, everyones experience is different but i would not waste another hp at the moment. Just my average pennies for the day

Anonymous · ‎05-27-2017

@AverageJoesCredit wrote:
Congrats on approval. Yes wait to you receive your card to make sure the sl was not an error. Honestly, if they only gave you $500 after pulling 2 reports, the chances youll get a clu right off the bat even with another hp, seem slim. I was approved for $1200 and couldnt get a cli with another hp and its taken me a year just to get it to 1800. Of course YMMV, everyones experience is different but i would not waste another hp at the moment. Just my average pennies for the day

Good idea on waiting to check here. I was told both by the cs and the congratulatory email that my limit is $500. But your comment reminds me of the reported instances here where people receive a card with an initial CL higher than what they were told...

Anonymous · ‎05-27-2017

Congrats on your approval.
You can ask increase if that is your SL, but will be another HP

Anonymous · ‎05-27-2017

@AverageJoesCredit wrote:
Congrats on approval. Yes wait to you receive your card to make sure the sl was not an error. Honestly, if they only gave you $500 after pulling 2 reports, the chances youll get a clu right off the bat even with another hp, seem slim. I was approved for $1200 and couldnt get a cli with another hp and its taken me a year just to get it to 1800. Of course YMMV, everyones experience is different but i would not waste another hp at the moment. Just my average pennies for the day

+1...Congratulations. Even if you called today, my experience and others have reported that they will tell you that you need to wait for the card to arrive. Some excuse about the account not being built yet.......good luck though!!

Anonymous · ‎05-27-2017

The same thing happened to me. I used the pre-approval on Citi's site and was offered the lowest apr on the DP. It was my 4th and last app that day. After getting 1 - 5k, and 2 -10k approvals on my other apps, the $500 SL from Citi was a shocker.

Everything I read told me they would do another HP eventhough the card was just approved. I considered trying for a HP CLI when the card came, but they already hit EQ and EX for that tiny limit. I highly doubted they would come close enough to a number that would make a 3rd HP worth it. I did try for a SP CLI online when my card came, but they said no. The letter came and said I'm not eligible for a CLI for 6 months. I'm trying another SP increase in a few days when I hit over 60 days with the card.

I hope you have luck getting your limit up. I'd be curious to know if you try and are successful.

Anonymous · ‎05-27-2017

@Anonymous wrote:
The same thing happened to me. I used the pre-approval on Citi's site and was offered the lowest apr on the DP. It was my 4th and last app that day. After getting 1 - 5k, and 2 -10k approvals on my other apps, the $500 SL from Citi was a shocker.

Everything I read told me they would do another HP eventhough the card was just approved. I considered trying for a HP CLI when the card came, but they already hit EQ and EX for that tiny limit. I highly doubted they would come close enough to a number that would make a 3rd HP worth it. I did try for a SP CLI online when my card came, but they said no. The letter came and said I'm not eligible for a CLI for 6 months. I'm trying another SP increase in a few days when I hit over 60 days with the card.

I hope you have luck getting your limit up. I'd be curious to know if you try and are successful.

At this point I don't have my eyes on any near future applications, so I think I will take the hit for a HP CLI when I get the card and request for something like $25k per others' posts here. I will call CS and try for an initial CLI without HP first though, emphasizing how ridiculous $500 is...

I will be sure to update here!

kdm31091 · ‎05-28-2017

As others have mentioned the only option is to take another HP and go for a manually reviewed CLI. A lot of people have been succesful with this, but the $500 limit is a borderline approval so YMMV.

You could leave it sit and just for a SP CLI in 6 months, but the SP CLIs tend to be small so it's unlikely your limit is going to go up dramatically without either waiting quite a long time or taking a HP at some point.

9CLINE · ‎05-28-2017

+1 I took an extra HP for CLI when my card came had no trouble going to 10k which is what I asked for from 4,500....
Good Luck 2 ya and welcome to the Forum and Citi DC family......

Anonymous · ‎05-28-2017

@kdm31091 wrote:
As others have mentioned the only option is to take another HP and go for a manually reviewed CLI. A lot of people have been succesful with this, but the $500 limit is a borderline approval so YMMV.

You could leave it sit and just for a SP CLI in 6 months, but the SP CLIs tend to be small so it's unlikely your limit is going to go up dramatically without either waiting quite a long time or taking a HP at some point.

+1

I would wait 6 months (12 months would be better) and then do a HP for a higher CLI. Don't SD the card. Use it to pay 1 or 2 bills a month and use autopay to PIF the balance each month. Good luck!