I just lost my backdoor number credit card company calling virginity a few hour ago. I'm a little sore I won't lie and it was painful, but I lived through it and hopefully it will be more pleasant the next time I do it in the near future. 
I called 1-877-379-8175 to ask for a credit line increases to $25,000 (I knew I wouldn't get anywhere close to that on this call, but if you don't play the Synchrony lottery you can't win) on my Wal-Mart store card that had (don't laugh or point at me) a pathetic $400 CL and an Amazon store card with a paltry $1,000 CL.
Both cards were opened 39 months ago and through that entire time I never asked or ever received an auto-CLI from them. I only asked for a CLI this month because Wal-Mart sent me a letter stating they were auto-converting my store card to their MasterCard. I wanted to get as high a limit as possible so when the store card converts over in a few weeks so I would have the higher limit on a real MC/Visa. I had until this Friday, October 9th to make that decision. Figured if I’m popping my head out after 39 months with Wally I might as well do the same with Amazon since they're both backed by Synchrony Bank.
I called the number (robo attendant answers) and once a real person answered I could barely hear (sound quality was the worst) an Indian woman who barely spoke English starts talking to me. I told her that I wanted to talk to a Senior UW about my two accounts that I had with Synchrony Bank. I asked her if she was a Senior UW and she didn't understand what I was asking her. Not a good start. She put me on hold and I hung up hoping to get someone that spoke English. I called right back and nope still got an Indian woman and I again can barely hear her (phone connection to India was horrible) and I finally got her to transfer me to somewhere else while I was hoping I would get an English speaking UW.
I get connected to this really ghetto sounding guy and I'm like this is a Sr. UW? Again sound quality was terrible and I have full bars on my cell phone in my house not driving. I ask him if he was a Sr UW and he said I am a UW (not Sr) and he asked me how he could help me.
I said I wanted a CLI on my two cards - Wal-Mart and Amazon. He said he could ONLY help me with one card on this call and asked me which one that would be? Which is the total opposite of what others have posted that I read that when you call they could help you with both Wal-Mart/Amazon lines. I chose the Wal-Mart card. He asked for the usual card number, name, ss#, address, phone, mother's maiden. Then put me on hold for 3-4 minutes.
This part is what freaked me out (not the warm and fuzzy easy call I read this would be) he told me he had to text or call me at my home or on my cell phone number to give me a passcode that I would have to give him. I've never been asked in my life to do this for any credit card or loan application or approval. I asked why this was needed and he said he couldn’t tell me why.
I have NO personal statements, fraud alerts or credit bureau or inquiry freezes on any of the 3B either.
I gave him my cell # and I said you're going to stay on the line with me right? He said yes. He then texted me a passcode and I gave him the number. No phone number comes up on your phone, it only says the text is from 732873 and it's a 5-digit code. He says that's perfect and says he will put me back on hold again. About 3-4 minutes later he comes back and tells me we couldn’t approve you for $25K, but we can for…
I said I would take it (only a 1500% increase) and I asked how fast the CLI would take to show up online, he said in a few minutes. While still on the phone with him the CLI showed up on my online account. I asked him is 1-877-379-8175 the direct number to call his UW office and he said (I could barely understand what he said with how bad the connection was) that he can’t give out a phone number and just call the number on the back of your card. Um...no!
I hung up then restarted my phone to make sure something wasn't wrong with my phone since I couldn't barely hear anyone. I called 1-877-379-8173 this time and same auto-attendant system and the first answer is again an Indian woman. I asked her if she was a Sr. UW and she said she was a UW. She spoke a little better broken English then the last woman (not much) and she said she could help me. Reluctantly I said I would like a CLI on my Amazon store card to $25K or as much as I qualified for at this time. Same questions as before and again hold time then need to text me a passcode then put me on hold again.
About 3-4 minutes later she comes back and tells me we couldn’t approve you for $25K, but we can for…
Overall I’m highly ecstatic about the CLI's I received with my TU report and FICO score being still so bad.
I requested these two CLI’s with my TU report showing 62% of my credit limits being used! 
The only saving grace was both my Amazon and Wal-Mart cards were both at zero balances when I asked for the CLI.
I have FOUR baddies still left on my TU report that all fall off in 2016 (paroled from credit prison finally), only ONE TU inquiry (falls off in 4 months) and 2/4 of my baddies are soul-crushing that are showing as OPEN Midland Funding Collection accounts that total just under $20,000, a TruWest Credit Union $0 balance charge-off, and a Synchrony/CareCredit $0 balance charge-off.
How my scores are as high as they are with all that crap still wreaking havoc on my 3B scores is extremely encouraging to me that next year I'll hit 730-740 scores across the board.
My Credit Karma TU score pulled today before asking for a CLI was a 714.
My CCT Real FICO 08 TU score pulled today before asking for a CLI was a 667.
Going forward every month after each statement closes on each card (actually Nov.20th and Dec 21st for the remainder of this year) I will be asking for my limits to be increased to $25K for each cards. My total credit utilization instantly this morning went from 61.8% all the way down to 23.6% from these two CLI’s alone.
My TU score by 11/20 when I request another CLI on both cards if nothing else positive happens on my TU report should increase my score to the 680-700 range.
When the new credit limits report I'll take a screenshot to show how much my TU credit scores increased on both CK and CCT.
Thanks and may you dream of having multiple American Express Black Cards and bathing in chocolate pudding become a reality. Or is that just me? 
Congrats
@someg33k wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:I was hoping that wasn't a "me" thing and more about how banks are changing their security measures to stay relevant with the times. Since I've never in my life called and asked for a CLI I had no prior experience to base things off of.
For whatever my experience is worth to you... When I first applied for Lowes, rather than immediate approval it said I needed to call in. Upon calling in they sent a txt code to my cell phone as part of the verification process.
Yep, definitely not just a "you" thing.
It's really just a sign of the times. There have been (and continue to be) so many huge breaches of personally-identifying information that it is ever more likely that the person claiming to be a company's customer is not in fact that customer.
Ultimately, anything the bank is doing to effectively reduce fraud should eventually translate into a better product for the consumer. Lower APR, higher rewards, lower fees, or some combination thereof.
Unless, you know, they're a bunch of greedy bastards and roll it all into higher profits. 