CLI Question

[dapps06]

So this is kind of a long shot but I'm curious so I figured I'd ask. Has anyone ever received a CLI from one lender by offering to close cards from another? I'd like to basically just stick with my Discover going forward, I like how they do business and I'd prefer to reward them for it by using only their card. I'd also like to close my two Cap 1 cards. The issue is that I have 16.8k in limits from Cap 1 and my Discover only has a limit of 2.2k. If I called Discover up and explained that I'd like to start using their card exclusively but I'd need a higher limit to do so, would letting them know that I plan on closing my Cap 1 cards make a difference at all? I'm sure they'd understand that I don't want to lose the 16.8k for utilization purposes and spending power.

[Anonymous]

In total honesty, I highly doubt it, unless the reason they stated on your original app "was too much available credit" or they gave that as a reason after you've asked for a CLI.

What I would personally do, if I asked for a CLI on the DIscover and it was denied, is increase my usage, but pay it down frequently to work within the current limit and then check back after a month or two of doing that to request a CLI but the Cap 1 card would be right in my wallet.

[takeshi74]

You can't just assume that you qualify for X total credit and that you can shift among your creditors.

Each creditor/product has its own underwriting criteria that primarily looks at your credit profile and income (and possibly some other factors that may have a smaller impact) to determine the limit or CLI that you would qualify for.  They're not necessarily all going to be willing to extend the same amount to you.

As stated above, if the amount of credit extended to you by other creidtors is a limiting factor for the creditor that you want a CLI from then reducing available credit with the other creditors can help.  However, you can't just assume that you're not getting a CLI with a given creditor solely because of limits with other creditors.

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@dapps06 wrote:

If I called Discover up and explained that I'd like to start using their card exclusively but I'd need a higher limit to do so, would letting them know that I plan on closing my Cap 1 cards make a difference at all?

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We can't say for certain.  We don't know the specifics of why Discover qualified you for your current limit.  We don't know if you currently have the headroom with Discover for a CLI.  We don't know if there are factors in your profile and/or income that are restricting you to your current limit.  Even if we knew all that we don't know the details of your credit profile or Discover's underwriting criteria.  With some more information we can try to make an educated guess.