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Very difficult Amazon Chase CLI

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crazee85
New Member

Very difficult Amazon Chase CLI

I had a credit limit of $2400 on a fairly old Amazon Chase card.. I wanted to increase the credit limit since this is my only visa/mastercard with decent cashback (have to make a huge purchase in recent future and would appreciate the cash back, but they only accept Visa/Mastercard)..

 

So, I called one of the backdoor numbers for chase listed here.. The customer rep said it would be a hard pull - not my best option, but I was like fine, lets do it.. She came back and said my new credit limit is $2900.. I got really pissed off - a hard pull and a CLI of just $500.. I asked for the reason.. She transferred me to a lending analyst or someone like that.. He said my transunion report shows that my high balances are too low, so there is no reason for a credit line increase.. He said even though I have always paid my balances in full and there is nothing negative in my report, they just dont see the reason to increase my CLI since I have never maxed them out...

 

This was exactly the opposite that I had heard till now.. I though credit card utilization should be low, that's why I generally pay off any high-amount purchases before they appear on my credit card statements.. My highest balance on amazon chase was around $1000 and lesser on other cards.. I explained this to him, but he still insisted that all they look at is high balances reported on transunion report, and my high balances are too low to warrant a high CLI..

Nevertheless, after a lot of back and forth, he agreed to further review my account (no extra hard pull) and increased my CLI to $4500..

 

But this leaves me thinking - should I keep my high balances low or high!

 

 

EDIT: I always pay off all my credit card balances in full.. He was talking about the maximum credit card bills that I have had (that is what Transunion shows as high balances on its report)..

Credit Scores: TU Credit Karma - 778 - 3/9/13 | EX Credit Sesame - 801 - 3/9/13
Credit Cards: Amex BCE - $12k - 3/9/13 | Discover It - $6.5k - 3/9/13 | Amazon Chase - $4.5k - 3/9/13 | Citi Forward - $3k - 4/1/11 | BoA - $2.5k - 7/1/11
Message 1 of 17
16 REPLIES 16
LS2982
Mega Contributor

Re: Very difficult Amazon Chase CLI


@crazee85 wrote:

I had a credit limit of $2400 on a fairly old Amazon Chase card.. I wanted to increase the credit limit since this is my only visa/mastercard with decent cashback (have to make a huge purchase in recent future and would appreciate the cash back, but they only accept Visa/Mastercard)..

 

So, I called one of the backdoor numbers for chase listed here.. The customer rep said it would be a hard pull - not my best option, but I was like fine, lets do it.. She came back and said my new credit limit is $2900.. I got really pissed off - a hard pull and a CLI of just $500.. I asked for the reason.. She transferred me to a lending analyst or someone like that.. He said my transunion report shows that my high balances are too low, so there is no reason for a credit line increase.. He said even though I have always paid my balances in full and there is nothing negative in my report, they just dont see the reason to increase my CLI since I have never maxed them out...

 

This was exactly the opposite that I had heard till now.. I though credit card utilization should be low, that's why I generally pay off any high-amount purchases before they appear on my credit card statements.. My highest balance on amazon chase was around $1000 and lesser on other cards.. I explained this to him, but he still insisted that all they look at is high balances reported on transunion report, and my high balances are too low to warrant a high CLI..

Nevertheless, after a lot of back and forth, he agreed to further review my account (no extra hard pull) and increased my CLI to $4500..

 

But this leaves me thinking - should I keep my high balances low or high!


You should still keep your reported balances low but run some big bills through a card and PIF every now and then.

 

Thats the first time i've ever heard that reason for a denial on a higher CL.

 




EQ FICO 548 3/3/16
Message 2 of 17
sarkell
Frequent Contributor

Re: Very difficult Amazon Chase CLI

I think they like to see some higher spending once in awhile that's how they make money. A lot of cli in the past happened at higher spending.
Cards: CSP $5k, Capital One Cash Rewards VS $3100, Discover it $3k Capital One MasterCard $600, Orchard Bank $3k, Barclays Rewards MC $1250 Gapcard $900, BR $300, Neiman Marcus $1k, Macys $1200 Walmart $500
In the garden until I can get a BCP

Starting Score: 534
Current Score: 682 EQ SW 660 TU 636 EX 3/26/13
Goal Score: 720


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Message 3 of 17
Epcot
Valued Contributor

Re: Very difficult Amazon Chase CLI

Congrats on getting the CL up to $4500, although it took a bit of work. If it were me I would not carry high balances, keep them low, try not to pay interest.

Starting Score: EQ 717 EX 724 TU 736
Current Score: EQ 849 EX 835 TU 841
Message 4 of 17
Laugh
Frequent Contributor

Re: Very difficult Amazon Chase CLI

This is why I always let my main prime cards report about 30% every statement.

I don't believe in the 1-9% utilization unless something major is going down in the near future like a house or car.

I like to show that I'm using the credit cards when I ask for a cli or apply for a new credit card. The recon should be fine if the balances are the ONLY reason for a denial.

EDIT:My credit limits are in the low thousands. I might change my mind when the limits are 8k+. For now, 30% of the cc limit isn't so high.

EDIT2: I think I misread the OP's post. They probably want to see higher usage on the card. When I asked for my credit limit increase, I was paying in full several times a month so I don't go over the limit. Try recon again?
Cards: CSP 6k, Chase Freedom 6k, BCP 7.5k, Sallie Mae 8.9k, Discover 5k, BOFA Better Rewards 3.8k
Message 5 of 17
crazee85
New Member

Re: Very difficult Amazon Chase CLI

I have edited my post to clarify that: I always pay off all my credit card balances in full.. He was talking about the maximum credit card bills that I have had (that is what Transunion shows as high balances on its report)..

 

Do you suggest that I should let my credit card bills go high once in a while and then pay them in full? I have always tried to keep my credit card bills low till now, and have paid off any high amount purchases next day itself!

Credit Scores: TU Credit Karma - 778 - 3/9/13 | EX Credit Sesame - 801 - 3/9/13
Credit Cards: Amex BCE - $12k - 3/9/13 | Discover It - $6.5k - 3/9/13 | Amazon Chase - $4.5k - 3/9/13 | Citi Forward - $3k - 4/1/11 | BoA - $2.5k - 7/1/11
Message 6 of 17
sarkell
Frequent Contributor

Re: Very difficult Amazon Chase CLI

It all depends what you want. For instance my goal is to have a card with 10k limit and a few 5k cards but if you are okay with the limits you have than but if you never charge more than 1500 why get a higher cl make sense.
Cards: CSP $5k, Capital One Cash Rewards VS $3100, Discover it $3k Capital One MasterCard $600, Orchard Bank $3k, Barclays Rewards MC $1250 Gapcard $900, BR $300, Neiman Marcus $1k, Macys $1200 Walmart $500
In the garden until I can get a BCP

Starting Score: 534
Current Score: 682 EQ SW 660 TU 636 EX 3/26/13
Goal Score: 720


Take the myFICO Fitness Challenge
Message 7 of 17
enharu
Super Contributor

Re: Very difficult Amazon Chase CLI

really depends what you want and which company you are dealing with.

 

Some companies are okay with high balances as long as you don't just make the minimum payment and take forever to pay that balance. That's how they make money.

My Amazon Chase had an initial CL of 2000, but I swipe on average 4800 on it each month and I pay about 4500-5000 each month, by just paying a lot of times each month. I called for a CLI, and it was a HP as well, and they increased it to 5000 initially, but I called and haggled a bit here and there and got it up to 8500. 

 

Big part of it also depends on your income.

 

there comes to a point where if you just swipe 200-300 bucks (for example) on average for 2-3 years a 2000-3000 CL card, its quite obvious you don't really need a CLI for any other reason other than to pad your utilization ratio, and banks don't see why it is of any concern to them or how it is beneficial to them by extending you more credit. The remaining 1700-2700 is more than enough to cover "emergencies" and if that isn't enough, you ought to get a personal loan anyways because of the ridiculous APR on CCs.

 

JPMorgan Palladium (100k), AmEx Platinum (NPSL), AmEx SPG (46k), AmEx BCP (42k), Chase Sapphire Preferred (47k), Citi Prestige (31k), Citi Thank You Preferred (27k), Citi Executive AAdvantage (25k), JPMorgan Ritz-Carlton (21k), Merrill+ (15k), US Bank Cash+ (22.5k), Wells Fargo (12k), Bloomingdale’s (12.4k), Chase Freedom (5k), Discover IT (5k).
Message 8 of 17
webhopper
Moderator Emeritus

Re: Very difficult Amazon Chase CLI


@sarkell wrote:
I think they like to see some higher spending once in awhile that's how they make money. A lot of cli in the past happened at higher spending.

If I run an unusually high amount on a card in a month, I let that balance report before paying in full. Then i make the full payment.  EX tracks your balance history and payment history, some creditors (namely Amex) uses this info in setting your CL

This strategy has been working pretty well for me, as I've gotten a nice CLI from Discover, and nice CLs from Amex and NFCU

 

I have never asked for a CLI on my Amazon card though.  I plan to do that next year.. 5k is sufficient for what I use the card for.

FICO 9:
Filed Chapter 13 on 6/1/2017 after job loss. Discharged 6/1/2022.

Goal: Gardening!


Message 9 of 17
crazee85
New Member

Re: Very difficult Amazon Chase CLI

Thanks a lot everybody for all the helpful info.. Even I am thinking of starting to let a balance report, if I spend high in a particular month, and then pay it in full once the statement is out..

Credit Scores: TU Credit Karma - 778 - 3/9/13 | EX Credit Sesame - 801 - 3/9/13
Credit Cards: Amex BCE - $12k - 3/9/13 | Discover It - $6.5k - 3/9/13 | Amazon Chase - $4.5k - 3/9/13 | Citi Forward - $3k - 4/1/11 | BoA - $2.5k - 7/1/11
Message 10 of 17
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