Citi & US Bank both gave me such a low SL

[wendyh17]

I was pretty frustrated when I applied for a US Bank Platinum Visa and Citi Simplicity card only to be given a credit limit of $1000 on each. This is the lowest SL on all the credit cards that I have and was really hoping to have a higher limit on the Citi card so that I can do a large purchase with their 0% intro APR for 21 months. Has this happened to anyone else and what are my options as far as an increase? I’m in the market to purchase a new vehicle and would rather not have them do a another hard inquiry. My FICO score is 735.

[gdale6]

In order for the members to give you good advice on this you will need to give some more info, number of accounts opened in the last 6 and 12 months, your AAoA and current utilization of your cards. In the mean time congrats on your 2 new cards

[Remedios]

Congrats on you approvals 

As far as deciphering why you ended up with lower limits, there is not enough information in your post to even start guessing 

Did you recently open any other cards, any negative info?

If you have high utilization on other cards ( I am guessing that might be it if you're opting for what are typically BT cards), that can also contribute to low SL. 

Also, in most cases, neither Citi or US Bank are famous for stellar starting limits for most

[wendyh17]

Thank you for your reply. I have zero delinquencies or late payments, my oldest account is 8 years old, although my AAoA is 3.5 years. Current utilization is less than 20% across 6 accounts. Total credit limits amongst all accounts is 30K. Last inquiries I’ve had within the past 6 months have been for auto loan preapprovals. I realize my credit profile is not much compared to other members but this is the lowest credit limit I’ve received and I’m a bit shocked. Am I expecting too much?

[wendyh17]

The intention for the BT card is so that I can make a large purchase on my Amex, accrue the points – then transfer to the Citi Simplicity.

[Anonymous]

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@wendyh17 wrote:
 Am I expecting too much?

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Yes.

You picked the 2 stingiest lenders when it comes to low limits.  Citi is known to be a low baller normally and USB can be a bit hit or miss but, they tend to be more conservative w/ CL's on new accounts.

Having cards reporting high CL's of 65K on my profile.... 

Citi opened in the 8K range and then I took a HP on both of them for an additional 5K at activation.  They grow at a snail's pace though too for about 2K/CLI every 6 months w/ exception that now this last CLI on one of them was denied for too many new accounts which was odd because it wasn't an issue before.

USB app'd for 2 cards and the computer auto denied for INQ's, called them up for a  manual review resulting in 1K/ea which prompted another call asking for 25K/ea which they countered back w/ 10K/ea.

If you want bigger limits you have to go more main stream like BOA, Amex, Chase, Etc.

[KLEXH25]

Have you looked at Discover? They can have some good 0% BT offers and starting limits.

[sjt]

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@wendyh17 wrote:
I was pretty frustrated when I applied for a US Bank Platinum Visa and Citi Simplicity card only to be given a credit limit of $1000 on each. This is the lowest SL on all the credit cards that I have and was really hoping to have a higher limit on the Citi card so that I can do a large purchase with their 0% intro APR for 21 months. Has this happened to anyone else and what are my options as far as an increase? I’m in the market to purchase a new vehicle and would rather not have them do a another hard inquiry. My FICO score is 735.

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With US Bank, you can call for a recon of your CL. If you do it within 30 days, they wont do another pull.

[Anonymous]

As sjt said, RECON as US Bank will look at your request by manual review and you may get more!

[wendyh17]

I sure wish I would've asked BEFORE I applied. I was going to apply for Discover as I had pre-qual, but was swayed with the elongated intro APR for USB and Citi (shucks!). Spoke with the underwriting team for both Citi and USB and was told that USB will do another hard pull for a CLI, while for Citi -- I'd have to await my card and request a CLI then. Citi did mention that they would initially do a SP and if I wanted a higher limit than what they could offer from the SP -- I'd have to do a HP.