2.5 years with card, no CLI?

Anonymous · ‎07-20-2011

So I applied for my first credit card at the beginning of college (Sep 08), my issuer denied me for a student card because of my "lack of a credit history" (no kidding). I waited until Septermber '09 and applied for a Discover More card when I got a mailing about it; I was approved for a $500 limit (reasonable enough as a first line of credit that's unsecured).

So when I visited my bank branch in May (this year), I was asked if I wanted to be checked for instant approval on a student card. I said why not, and I got approved for a $2,000 CL on that card.

Now, I'm fairly new to the game of credit, so I'll ask: Isn't it a bit abnormal to not have any form of CLI increase in 2.5 years of good payment? The only potentially negative thing is two hard inquiries against my credit (one from a landlord, one from Wells Fargo). When I got approved for my Wells Fargo card, I was told that they sourced my credit history from Experian and my FICO score was a 795. Now, from what I've read, it would go down a bit now that I have a new line of credit, but not dramatically.

Seems odd to me, but again - newer to credit than most, so I thought I'd get some advice here. The Discover Card offers superior cashback for groceries, gas, etc. so that would make a credit line increase more appealing to use it for everyday expenses, but the $500 credit limit restricts my ability to

Also, I want to get one more line of revolving credit (an Amex - superior benefits with 90 day accidental loss/damage coverage and extended warranty on everything bought- I'm a bit of an electronics nerd). How long should I wait before applying? A year? Less? More?

trumpet-205 · ‎07-20-2011

Well, by default, lenders are not obligated to issue CLI to you. They do auto CLI, but they don't have to. You can call Discover and ask for a CLI.

tntexans72 · ‎07-20-2011

Are you looking for a 3rd card? If they refused to give you a CLI, I would look for a 3rd card from another lender. Amex pulls EX so look into one of their cards.

Anonymous · ‎07-20-2011

@trumpet-205 wrote:
Well, by default, lenders are not obligated to issue CLI to you. They do auto CLI, but they don't have to. You can call Discover and ask for a CLI.

Their robot gave me the bounce. I asked for $500 more (current: $500, desired: $500 more for a total of $1,000 CL).

@tntexans72 wrote:
Are you looking for a 3rd card? If they refused to give you a CLI, I would look for a 3rd card from another lender. Amex pulls EX so look into one of their cards.

I am interested in a third card, but I don't want to seem desperate for credit in a way that will impact my credit score. With two hard pulls in a very short timespan, and my most recent line (the $2,000 CL Wells Fargo card) being just two months old, I fear it may have a very negative effect on my credit and I would be likely to get denied anyways.

drsmith · ‎07-20-2011

I've had my cap1 card since August 2008

No CLI

Starting Score: 703
Current Score: EQ 820 4/11/16
Goal Score: 800

Take the FICO Fitness Challenge

Anonymous · ‎07-20-2011

try citi forward and fidelity amex. You might need to put household income from parents for fidelity application.

tntexans72 · ‎07-20-2011

@Anonymous wrote:
@trumpet-205 wrote:
Well, by default, lenders are not obligated to issue CLI to you. They do auto CLI, but they don't have to. You can call Discover and ask for a CLI.
Their robot gave me the bounce. I asked for $500 more (current: $500, desired: $500 more for a total of $1,000 CL).
@tntexans72 wrote:
Are you looking for a 3rd card? If they refused to give you a CLI, I would look for a 3rd card from another lender. Amex pulls EX so look into one of their cards.
I am interested in a third card, but I don't want to seem desperate for credit in a way that will impact my credit score. With two hard pulls in a very short timespan, and my most recent line (the $2,000 CL Wells Fargo card) being just two months old, I fear it may have a very negative effect on my credit and I would be likely to get denied anyways.

Which report has 2 hard pulls? Being cautious is great and good pratice. You should not app for any new cards if you don't need it. From ME, having 2 hard pulls by no mean makes you "look" desperate. If you are interested in Amex cards, take a look at your EX report. If you have less than 3 inquiries in the past year, you are in the clear. I apped for a Amex SPG card a couple of months ago and had only 1 inquiry on my EX. Instant approval.

Anonymous · ‎07-20-2011

So it seems I'm not alone in this.

They asked for my income (despite being a student, I do have income to report - working as well) and my monthly housing payment (put in my rent amount per month). IVR bounced me and said no dice on getting my $500 credit limit upped to $1,000.

So the general consensus is to apply for an Amex and just make the Discover an oft used card?

Anonymous · ‎07-20-2011

@tntexans72 wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@trumpet-205 wrote:
Well, by default, lenders are not obligated to issue CLI to you. They do auto CLI, but they don't have to. You can call Discover and ask for a CLI.
Their robot gave me the bounce. I asked for $500 more (current: $500, desired: $500 more for a total of $1,000 CL).
@tntexans72 wrote:
Are you looking for a 3rd card? If they refused to give you a CLI, I would look for a 3rd card from another lender. Amex pulls EX so look into one of their cards.
I am interested in a third card, but I don't want to seem desperate for credit in a way that will impact my credit score. With two hard pulls in a very short timespan, and my most recent line (the $2,000 CL Wells Fargo card) being just two months old, I fear it may have a very negative effect on my credit and I would be likely to get denied anyways.

Which report has 2 hard pulls? Being cautious is great and good pratice. You should not app for any new cards if you don't need it. From ME, having 2 hard pulls by no mean makes you "look" desperate. If you are interested in Amex cards, take a look at your EX report. If you have less than 3 inquiries in the past year, you are in the clear. I apped for a Amex SPG card a couple of months ago and had only 1 inquiry on my EX. Instant approval.

Last time I got my reports (free from annualcreditreport, if I'm remembering the official one linked to from FTC.gov), that was April. None at that time.

Sites that supply TransUnion information for free(e.g. CreditKarma) report two hard pulls now, when in April, they reported none (I can't see what the hard pulls are, only that I have two now). I did 4 things where my credit was pinged at the time:

Got an apartment (landlord pinged me)
Applied for and got the Wells Fargo card (in May)
Got Verizon FiOS service in my name (roommates had insufficient credit)
Got electricity set up in my name.

Don't know what Experian/Equifax are currently showing regarding the hard pulls... Unless I want to sign up for a trial to check my credit report. Which I'm fine with as I'm careful about canceling such things, I just don't want to go to a site that's a nightmare to cancel or a scam.

tntexans72 · ‎07-20-2011

www.myfico.com will give you TU & EQ fico scores. There's not alot of places on the net that will give you EX fico score. You can get your EX plus score at www.experian.com.

I have used both sites and they are pretty easy to cancel down the road. I think it's important you know what is on all 3 of your CRs if you are looking to obtain new credit in the future. You wanna see what the lenders are looking at if you know what I mean.