Citi Double Cash Approved! Bad CL and APR With 764EX!

[Anonymous]

I was approved for this card about two weeks ago with a sl of $2.8k. This was with an online preapproval,  it's odd because; one day I tried it and it gave me an apr of 23.24%, I tried again the next day and it gave an apr of 13.24%. I immediately applied and was instantly approved with the listed sl but, with a good sl.  My stats are in my sign , minus 1 inq and minus 2 pts on EX and some baddies.  It is my first Citi account so I was shocked by the decent apr and the big change in apr's.  My last two approvals prior to this were $16K and $10k bumped to $19k on activation and  I considered trying for a cli upon activation, but figured it would better to wait fir some hp's to fall off. 

[Sharingan]

I probably would not have applied at all if I saw that the interest rate was going to be 23%+ beforehand. If there's no APR range in the preapproval, then it's a reasonable assumption that what you see is probably what you will get if you are approved. It's indicative of what the bank thinks of your credit in accordance with their preferred scoring model. One should expect an unsatisfactory SL to accompany such a high interest rate because evidently the bank is indentifying a greater degree of risk. Whether or not we agree with their assessment is irrelevant. Indeed, it is true that this is a rewards card and that the interest rate shouldn't matter, but I tend to look at it from a different angle when I don't like what I see. This doesn't apply in every scenario; however, more often than not, it does. It's very possible that cold app'ing could have produced more favorable terms because you would've been applying for the card without fixed terms, which may have been determined based on old information from the bureaus in the past, as you alluded to in the OP.

To answer your other questions, the DC is not always known for low limits. Contrary to the somber narrative that some posters here would like readers to believe about this product, the card isn't some anomaly with a low credit ceiling. A quick glance at other credit card resources indicate that the DC SLs aren't all that different from what many people are offered on the Chase Freedom, Discover IT, and many other popular competing credit cards; yet people seem quite satisfied and even grateful for what they receive on those other cards without stigmatizing them. The recent credit pulls DB entries for all 3 in are quite interesting. 

Personally, I received the lowest interest rate on my DC and a decent SL with similar scores as the OP's. There's just no way to ascertain at this time what Citi didn't quite like about his or her profile.

[Anonymous]

My scores are below, income is $53k right now, starting CL was $2,000!

I was a little upset after finding out but it didn't matter too much at the time because I was using other cards a lot more to meet spending requirements.

Now that is over I am wanting to put most of my general spending on the card and a dental expense of $5k to PIF and enjoy a nice 2% of that in cashback.

Requested a CLI to $10,000 tonight, will recieve a response in the next 24 hours. 

Was approved for my Prestige about a month later for $8,000 so I think it is just a stubborn product. I think Citi is doing it on purpose, they want to limit the number of people running high expenses through so they have to pay out 2% if they PIF! The majority of people who carry balances and pay interest are just spending smaller amounts and these people are how they are making their money. 

[Credit_hawk]

Thanks for all the stories that help me relate. I have noticed looking around that it seems to be more common than not to start out with paltry limits on the DC and maybe even some Citi cards in general. I went and applied for the Venture after and got approved but that was something I did almost as reassuring measure and I don't really need the card and moreover Cap One's 3 bureau pull. Well that will be it for me for a while. But it certainly is weird. Turns out Citi pulled my EQ as well which is a 789 FICO 08.

I'm enjoying and appreciating everyone's experiences with the DC card so keep them coming. Now what to do with the Venture card after I already have a CSP?

[amakol]

Opened my Citi card with a low limit too - $3500

Sharing my experience if it helps others:

6 months HP CLI to $7000

12 months HP CLI to $10500

18 months HP CLI to $15000

I requested all CLIs and the SP feature didn't give me anything so it cost me 4 HPs. But, they were all Equifax which is otherwise useless and there's only 2 still left on my report.

It may have been an extra hassle but in my experience the card grew well. I'd rather use HPs for fewer cards at higher limits than opening more cards than I can handle. Still have a 23% APR though.

[Credit_hawk]

Tyrex, I agree that they most likely employ lower credit lines on purpose to keep people from taking full advantage. It is a very good card and if we pay in full they get nothing out of it on swipes I believe since I think it's 2% per transaction swipe they get back per swipe and we are taking that in rewards. At least I had read that it was roughly 2%.

[Anonymous]

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@Credit_hawk wrote:

Tyrex, I agree that they most likely employ lower credit lines on purpose to keep people from taking full advantage. It is a very good card and if we pay in full they get nothing out of it on swipes I believe since I think it's 2% per transaction swipe they get back per swipe and we are taking that in rewards. At least I had read that it was roughly 2%.

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Yeah, I mean it makes a whole lot of financial sense to enforce lower limits otherwise they are exposing themselves to more loss. I am guessing that is why it is kind of rare to see a 2% card, because the banks are really pushing it at that point. And this is probably why CapOne haven't increased their Quicksilver card from 1.5% to 2% also.

Imagine how crazy these forums would get if a 3% cashback card came out though.

[Discover2016]

Citi uses EQ for HP CLI requests?

[boober]

Holy moly, and I thought my SL was bad when I apped for the Simplicity a week ago last Saturday and got approved for $4600.

My overall scores and everything else is good, but not as good as some of you it would appear based on what I've read here. My scores were all around 750 or so. UT at around 11% on CC limits totalling about 77k. Income is $85,000 with nothing negative. Also my inq's were anywhere from 3-9 depending on the burea.

I actually did a mini app spree that day, got a total of 4 new cards, in addition to the Simplicity, which was actually my first citi, aside from a citi card I had closed about 6 years ago or so. So quick question...

I haven't gotten my card yet, but what's the best route to ask for a CLI, as I see others here had success getting higher CL's right after getting their card. Is there an online luv button or should I call in?  Thanks.

Also I'm tempted to go for a DC card in the next day or so once I've passed the 8 day rule. I wonder what my SL will be for that card if I get approved. I think I will be approved as I just got a preapproval letter for that card in the mail a couple of days ago.

[OmarGB9]

Yea I got smilarly baited by a 0 for 21 and then 12.99% after offer for a Citi DP. I figured I could use that as my "in" with Citi so I went for it and was approved (yay!) but only for a measly $700...

Granted my UTIL was a bit high (around 28%), so it's not too surprising, but still. At least a $1k+ limit would have been nice lol.