After getting a CLI from WF on my Autograph card last night, I'm starting to rethink the correlation between amounts kept in WF accounts and CLI approvals and denials, and if we've been misinterpreting the language they're using in denials. It seems like it might be an "additional factor" in granting CLI increases, but not necessarily in denials.
My Autograph CLI denial letter from a month ago gave these reasons:
- "Low balance in your Wells Fargo checking/saving account over the last 9 months (We consider this additional factor)"
- Too many inquiries/credit applications in the last 6 months
- Too little time has passed since bank/credit cards were opened
Then, yesterday I got three letters from WF:
- Two were letting me know my CLI increase request was approved, going from $1700 to $5100 (tripling my limit!)
- One was dated one day later, letting me know that my CLI increase request from last week on my Active Cash card was denied
The reasons for that Active Cash denial were the following:
- Time revolving accounts have been established
- Number of accounts with delinquency (my last 30 day delinquency was about 3 years ago, so it's still on my reports)
- Loan balances too high compared to amounts
- Revolving balances too high compared to limits
So why did WF appear to change their minds? I suspect they didn't actually change their minds on the request, and actually gave me an auto-CLI after I paid my balance on my Autograph (previously, I was using just under 50% utilization in a 0% interest period). Because I had recently made a CLI request, they sent me the letter as though it was part of the request.
And since my low balances were treated as an "additional factor" in one of the denial letters, I suspect that Wells Fargo uses balances in granting increases, and is using the language to tell us (in a very confusing way) that they couldn't use account balances as an excuse to grant a CLI.
But this is all my guessing, and I really don't know what's going on at WF. I'm slightly more inclined to keep my WF checking, but only slightly.
And if WF is noting account balances over the last 9 months as a factor in granting CLIs, putting a bunch of money in an account before asking for one might not help (but probably won't hurt). If I remember correctly, both of my CLIs were granted after making larger-than-normal payments, so that appears to be given much greater weight than how much money is in the checking/savings accounts.
Edit: Am I confused? Yes. Am I also happy with the CLI? You bet! It's my largest increase to date, both as a percentage and in total dollars. I don't recall if it was the amount I asked for, but I believe it's in line with it. My original "pity" approval was for $1,000 and I transferred $700 in CL from the Active Cash to make it usable. My Autograph now finally feels like a "real" card, and I'm much more comfortable using it for travel expenses now.
