18 and Clean, Thin File

[wilmer007]

i was approved for the BCP with a $1,400 limit with a FICO of around 650-675. i also earn $60k+ so it made their decision easier when i said i earned that plus i had 3 toy limits that were opened up about 5-6 months before getting the BCP. fast forward 2.5 months later and my BCP is at $4,200 CL.

so just be patient a few months and when you got the FICO range, the salary and the 6 month recent history you should have no problems getting into AMEX. 

[Anonymous]

It was mentioned to open up a credit card with a credit union, such as Navy.

Below are two links with a "healthy" amount of impressive information.

As stated previously, they don't give out Toy Limits.

Official Credit Unions Guide
http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Card-Applications/Official-Credit-Unions-Guide/td-p/4768788

Pentagon Federal Credit Union Data Share
http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Card-Applications/Pentagon-Federal-Credit-Union-Data-Share/m-...

* * *  More importantly, when one makes claims of income, just remember that upon demand one must provide POI.

If it comes to that, at that time, excuses, or weak explanations are not acceptable

* Proof of Income.

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. i also earn $60k+ so it made their decision easier

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.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

It was mentioned to open up a credit card with a credit union, such as Navy.

Below are two links with a "healthy" amount of impressive information.

As stated previously, they don't give out Toy Limits.

Official Credit Unions Guide
http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Card-Applications/Official-Credit-Unions-Guide/td-p/4768788

Pentagon Federal Credit Union Data Share
http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Card-Applications/Pentagon-Federal-Credit-Union-Data-Share/m-p/4591561

* * *  More importantly, when one makes claims of income, just remember that upon demand one must provide POI.

If it comes to that, at that time, excuses, or weak explanations are not acceptable

* Proof of Income.

---

. i also earn $60k+ so it made their decision easier

---

.

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Not sure if you were implying something here, it almost felt like you were chastising a member but okay. Also upon demand you absolutely do NOT have to provide POI if you do not want to! You will just likely not be granted any new credit and may face adverse action by an existing creditor, there is nothing that requires you to comply with the whims of the banks/credit unions unless you alone choose to. For example I have only been asked for POI one time from Amex and they wanted a 4506-T, which is equivalent to a full prostate exam... ya no thanks I made the decision that the card was not worth sacrificing my personal security and privacy for, a decision I am well within my rights to make. Suggesting otherwise is frankly ridiculous. 

Side note: I never lie or overstate my income just not going to prove myself to a bank that wants to make money off of me. 

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

It was mentioned to open up a credit card with a credit union, such as Navy.

Below are two links with a "healthy" amount of impressive information.

As stated previously, they don't give out Toy Limits.

Official Credit Unions Guide
http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Card-Applications/Official-Credit-Unions-Guide/td-p/4768788

Pentagon Federal Credit Union Data Share
http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Card-Applications/Pentagon-Federal-Credit-Union-Data-Share/m-p/4591561

* * *  More importantly, when one makes claims of income, just remember that upon demand one must provide POI.

If it comes to that, at that time, excuses, or weak explanations are not acceptable

* Proof of Income.

---

. i also earn $60k+ so it made their decision easier

---

.

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You are not required to provide POI. 

[SunriseEarth]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

It was mentioned to open up a credit card with a credit union, such as Navy.

Below are two links with a "healthy" amount of impressive information.

As stated previously, they don't give out Toy Limits.

Official Credit Unions Guide
http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Card-Applications/Official-Credit-Unions-Guide/td-p/4768788

Pentagon Federal Credit Union Data Share
http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Card-Applications/Pentagon-Federal-Credit-Union-Data-Share/m-p/4591561

* * *  More importantly, when one makes claims of income, just remember that upon demand one must provide POI.

If it comes to that, at that time, excuses, or weak explanations are not acceptable

* Proof of Income.

---

. i also earn $60k+ so it made their decision easier

---

.

---

You are not required to provide POI. 

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You might want to review OP's caveat of "upon demand".   I remember I had to submit paychecks once for a Cap One CLI from $650 to $1000 a few years ago during my rebuild.   I complied, but if I didn't, I wouldn't have got my $350 CLI.  

[Anonymous]

I understand your desire for a charge card where you are not strapped with toy limits and can actually purchase some big-ticket items every now and again.

However, getting a PRG at age 18 when the bonus is now strictly once per lifetime just seems misguided...you'll be giving up a lot of MR points by applying blindly with your far too immature file.

Once your AU account is added. Amex should have no problem giving you >$1k on their cash back cards. This is where I recommend you start. Leave the charge cards with big bonuses for when you have great credit and can milk them for the bonuses that are very valuable

[Anonymous]

So...I got an email from Capital One letting me know that my credit steps would be a CLI to $500. Dang! I saw that someone had mentioned hitting the LUV button after three months. Now does anyone know if this is 3 months after the card opening date or after the third statement hits? I hope that I might get a greater increase from this, but if not, do you guys think I should reach out to the EO to explain my story? I've spent over $3k on this card within the two months I've had it, so hopefully they will see my heavy usage as a plus.

I do still want the PRG, but I agree with what everyone here is saying! I will wait until I see at least 50k rewards points bonus (or maybe 75k if I can wait that long) before applying and then app for BCE same day if hopefully approved. 

I'm not even going to bother with Chase for at least another two years until I've built up my profile.

[Creditplz]

You don't need 6 months or a year with chase?.. I got a 10k CLI right on activation for my Hyatt card. If your reports meet the criteria you'll get it.

Just keep spending (and paying in full) and you'll see the result my friend oh and if I could give you a tip it would be, time your inquiries!!! I have a ton.. one thing I wished I learned earlier.

[Anonymous]

Haven't logged in on here in a while but your story reminds me a bit of myself so I figured I'd give you some more data points.

I applied for my first card at 18 1/2, Discover It with a 500 SL. Put in for Chase Freedom a few months later, had to recon for approval and for a 500 SL. At 6 months of credit history I applied for AMEX BCE and got a 3500 SL which made me pretty **bleep** excited. Auto CLI on my discover around the same time and got up to 650.

I've asked for CLIs on the Discover every 4 months and received them, all but one were soft pulls. Went something like 500-650-800-1050-2050-3000-4000 and now sitting at 4700.

Asked for CLIs on the BCE at 90 days and 180? days, both approved soft pull. First from 3500 to 10k and finally to 15k. No desire to increase that anymore since it's a pretty ridiculously high limit but it proves the point that AMEX does like thin young files because I hit 15k CL at about age 19 1/2 reporting 15k annual income lol.

Held that setup for a good 2 years. Fast forward to last month with about 2 1/2 years credit history. Applied for 3 more all approved -
Cap One QS (WEMC) @ 10k
Barclays Red (WEMC) Advantage Aviator @ 7.5k
Chase CSR (Visa Inf) @ 10k.

But the freedom's still at 500 haha. Don't expect a CLI on that one without a hard pull. I might transfer some limit from the CSR eventually, we'll see.

Good luck with your journey, I don't regret that two years of gardening, everything's looking pretty good for me with credit so far. Never paid a dime in interest and I've earned at least a cash value of $3000 in rewards. I always say if you can run it through a card and PIF, why not. Free money!

You just gotta set yourself up with a few cards and then sit on them gradually increasing your CLs as you can for a couple years. Nothing wrong with the occasional hard pull CLI imo.

[NRB525]

OP, congrats on the good start. 

If you want to make a $509 purchase with a $500 limit, one method to try is to push payments from a checking account at another bank, with the intention to push your balance on the CC to negative, overpaid by $20 or $50. You then have the room to charge to the Freedom and still remain under $500.

Other methods include splitting the payment on check out. Some websites allow you to pay with multiple cards; $450 on the Freedom, $59 on something else.