Cap1 is for starter/rebuilding cards. Get the ball rolling and build a credit file per say. You cant compare apples to oranges with these 2. Once you've moved up the ladder. Its up to you to hold on to them. They're not holding you back. They're helping you grow. Once bigger things come along. Eventually some folks close the bucket cards down. Like myself. Some go for the upper tier cap1 cards. Like I did. They dont bring down avg's. They add to total accounts reporting.
@Jonesie wrote:I have both Cap One cards and Amex cards, and while both serve their purpose, they are clearly not created equal.
My first card while rebooting my credit was a Cap One platinum. My second was a quicksilver. Nothing against these guys, but most of their eggs are obviously in the rebuilding basket. I upgraded the Platinum to a Savor One after about 18 months, and still have only a $700 CL. Same with my quicksilver. Meanwhile, the Amex BCE started at $1k, and went to $3k a couple months later. All the cards I've opened since were between $1-3K starting limit. The Macy's and Bloomies Amex cards I got in Sept are now at $6k.
While I'd love to show some gratitude for Cap One letting me back in the door, at this point, their low limit cards are being dragged behind the boat and are bringing down my averages that will be what future cards establish my SCL with.
Cap One has some higher end cards, but they don't seem interested in giving them to the guys who started out with the platinum card. Only the Amex members who wander in looking for a sign up bonus.
Interesting, I started out after my Chapter 13 with a CapOne secured Platinum ($1,000 limit); closed it after less than 7-weeks as the limit was a fraction of my monthly spend and they started holding all payments beyond the first of the month on me. Six months later they sent me a Quicksilver card with a $3,000 limit which has grown to $6,300 in just two years. They also sent me a SavorOne last year with a modest limit of $2,000, and because that limit seems to work pretty well for me, I haven't asked for a CLI.
On the AMEX side of things, I am persona non grata so for me at least, CapOne > AMEX.
FWIW I had an Amex Blue that I purposely lowered to $500 for years (I recently moved $2500 back to it as an experiment for product change possibilities that didn't pan out) and have a $4000 Kohl's card (which is actually $1000 higher than their maximum limit). Those cards did not affect my starting limits on dozens of cards. There's no correlation between low starting limits and having a couple of lower limit cards; starting lines are based on your overall credit profile, income, and a lender's risk tolerance.
@K-in-Boston wrote:There's no correlation between low starting limits and having a couple of lower limit cards; starting lines are based on your overall credit profile, income, and a lender's risk tolerance.
@Jonesie wrote:
While I'd love to show some gratitude for Cap One letting me back in the door, at this point, their low limit cards are being dragged behind the boat and are bringing down my averages that will be what future cards establish my SCL with.
I agree with @K-in-Boston that average credit limits are not an actual metric per-se. To raise my overall limits, I've tended to close lower limit cards while also trying to raise my upper limits. What is more important than your lowest limit card is the income and overall profile including the highest credit limits you hold. That said, IMO having a bunch of toy starter limits can burden a builder/rebuilder profile and I suggest closing those cards once they serve their purpose. That's especially important if they have fees, the CL is minimal compared to others, and aggregate utilization will not be impacted.
While other lenders cater to both prime and subprime profiles, Capital One seems to have some of the most noticeable differences in their clients. The bucket experience is real for many of our members, yet the prime card approvals are also real and valid. My Capital One Quicksilver started as a $1K Platinum, but it apparently was not bucketed. I was able to product-change it to a Quicksilver and grow it 30x to a $30K limit eventually. So YMMV. Closing a bucketed card that won't grow and later reapplying for other desirable cards as your profile strengthens seems to be the best guidance. The problem isn't "Capital One stinks." The problem was the consumer profile that existed at the card opening shadows it more than with some other cards. Accept that and don't expect a bucketed card to perform like an unbucketed card. I just wrote about this on another thread and my own experiences with Capital One if anyone cares to read.
