Credit Line Increase without an existing credit score

[Anonymous]

Hi,

I am new to the credit system and have a BofA Rewards CC for 3 months now. A few days back a link labeled "Request a credit line increase" suddenly popped up in the Card Details area. I have a $1k limit as of now and I have always paid in full on/before time with <30% credit utilization every month. However, I am an international student and newly received an ITIN number (BofA has this), but as far as I can see, I do not have any credit score yet (BofA "View your credit score" shows "Score not yet available"). I do not have any previous credit history of any kind anywhere.

Is it reasonable to ask for the CLI? I do not have high requirements but a $1-2k increase would be nice. My income (stipend), rent etc. are well within this range and hence I feel it is a reasonable request. If not, when would it be reasonable to ask for the CLI?

Thanks in advance.

[AverageJoesCredit]

It would be reasonable but im not sure feasible. If you do not have a report to pull, Boa may decline on that reason alone. Honestly id wait 6 months to generate true Fico scores and in the end i think Boa will be more favorable to you. Youll have score and history. As we say here credit is a marathon not a sprint or something like that lol. Welcome to the forum by the way, youll learn alot here should you stay awhile

[HeavenOhio]

It's possible that your history with BoA and a report without baddies would be enough to grant you a CLI, despite the lack of a score. But keep in mind that it's going to involve a hard pull on your credit. If it were a soft pull, I'd say sure, what the heck. While I think your chances of a CLI might be reasonble right now, they'll only improve if you wait it out a bit.

[Anonymous]

My SO has an ITIN and a card w/ BOA. He started out a year ago w/ a $1000 SL that received an auto increase at some point around the 6 mo. mark. I encouraged him to call and ask for a CLI to $10,000 a few weeks back. He did finally call, but would only ask for $5000 and got it instantly. I'm fairly certain he left money on the table given the quickness they approved the $5000 CLI with, but I'll encourage him to request another CLI again in a few months. BOA is very generous with ITINs, so 3 mos might be too soon, but responsible use with them will definitely see CLI growth. Good luck!

[K-in-Boston]

BoA can be very generous.  No need to think "they may only approve me for $3k so that's all I should ask."  If they don't give you all that you ask for they will always counter-offer if you are eligible for a credit line increase.  That said, if they were able to approve you for a card it's very likely that their internal scoring can decide whether you are eligible or not.

[Anonymous]

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@K-in-Boston wrote:

BoA can be very generous.  No need to think "they may only approve me for $3k so that's all I should ask."  If they don't give you all that you ask for they will always counter-offer if you are eligible for a credit line increase.  That said, if they were able to approve you for a card it's very likely that their internal scoring can decide whether you are eligible or not.

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That makes a lot of sense to me. Thanks

[arkane]

Like others have said, I'd just wait another few months for a score to generate, and so your account ages a bit more as well. If it helps any, after 4 months of starting from 0 my score was 680 across all bureaus. This with perfect payment and 18% util at the time I pulled my reports. (in my case it was even more of an uphill battle since they gave me an NPSL card and I had to be very careful to not accidentally kill my utilization ratio)

I will also say that BoA is very generous since they were the only bank willing to consider my Canadian credit history, and they offered me a Cash Rewards card with $6000 SL that I stupidly asked to be reduced to $5000. After 2 years I asked for 3x CLI and was approved with minimal questioning.

[Anonymous]

Thank you for your replies.

I understand that BofA may auto-reject my request simply because they will not be able to find a credit report. However, does it hurt to click the button then? As I understand, if there's no report, there's not gonna be any hard or soft inquiry anyway.

Also, I was quite concerned with the last reply where it was stated that even with perfect payment and low utilization, the credit score was 680. How can I make sure that my credit score will be in the "good" or "excellent" range whenever it is revealed?

[HeavenOhio]

They'll be able to find a report, but there won't be a FICO score.

To optimize scoring when it's time for a score to generate, keep your reported balance between $5 and 8.9% of your limit.

[arkane]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Thank you for your replies.

I understand that BofA may auto-reject my request simply because they will not be able to find a credit report. However, does it hurt to click the button then? As I understand, if there's no report, there's not gonna be any hard or soft inquiry anyway.

Also, I was quite concerned with the last reply where it was stated that even with perfect payment and low utilization, the credit score was 680. How can I make sure that my credit score will be in the "good" or "excellent" range whenever it is revealed?

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Keep in mind that I only had one card, and it was only 4 months old. The util was also not optimal at 18% (ideally it should be <8.9%), so with a razor thin file like I had, I'm not surprised it was "only" 680.

Honestly with a thin file, there's not much you can do except to have patience and use your card responsibly so lenders have more faith in you over time. Which is why I said it's probably prudent to let your account age a bit more before asking for more credit. If it was me, I wouldn't even bother before the 6 month mark.