Credit card limits..

[Anonymous]

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@babygirl1256 wrote:

@Carloscda40 I am new to posting and looking to broaden my knowledge on CLIs. I have been thinking about closing my Chase Slate which has a $300.00 SL (since 2011) and never automatically increased but Chase was willing to review based on a HP and I declined. I have kept that trade line open only because of the account age and after reading on this forum, I'm trying to decide whether to close it. I never charge over $15.00 monthly and always pay it off as I just use it and keep current activity. Does anyone believe my Chase trade line will keep me from receiving future high CLs or CLIs? Just wondering and any comments are welcomed. Thanks so much.

Credit Card/Name	Limit
American Express Blue Cash Preferred 3/2021 (New)	$5,000.00
Chase Slate Visa 3/2011 ~ 11 yrs	$300.00
DSNB/Macy's 3/2011 ~ 11 years	$12,000.00
Discover 1/2019 ~ 2 years	$5,600.00
NFCU Mastercard 4/2021 (New)	$23,100.00
USAA “Secured” American Express 9/2017 ~ 3½ years	$1,000.00

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@babygirl1256 I don't think it is going to prevent you, but I would go ahead and spend the HP. 

[babygirl1256]

@Anonymous Thanks so much. I have only one HP per CRA and think I may do that in June 2021 if Chase will consider the Marriott Bonvoy application and the Slate CLI with the same HP (not sure if that's possible). Then I plan to head to the garden and grow my trade lines!

[FinStar]

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@babygirl1256 wrote:

@Carloscda40 I am new to posting and looking to broaden my knowledge on CLIs. I have been thinking about closing my Chase Slate which has a $300.00 SL (since 2011) and never automatically increased but Chase was willing to review based on a HP and I declined. I have kept that trade line open only because of the account age and after reading on this forum, I'm trying to decide whether to close it. I never charge over $15.00 monthly and always pay it off as I just use it and keep current activity. Does anyone believe my Chase trade line will keep me from receiving future high CLs or CLIs? Just wondering and any comments are welcomed. Thanks so much.

Credit Card/Name	Limit
American Express Blue Cash Preferred 3/2021 (New)	$5,000.00
Chase Slate Visa 3/2011 ~ 11 yrs	$300.00
DSNB/Macy's 3/2011 ~ 11 years	$12,000.00
Discover 1/2019 ~ 2 years	$5,600.00
NFCU Mastercard 4/2021 (New)	$23,100.00
USAA “Secured” American Express 9/2017 ~ 3½ years	$1,000.00

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Not to hijack the OP's thread, but to address the CL on Slate; there probably isn't much incentive for Chase to yield a CLI if your spending on the card is very infrequent or nominal.  That said, Slate isn't really a card to funnel spending per se as it's more of a balance transfer CC.  

Why not have your Slate card switched to either Freedom Unlimited or Freedom Flex?  Not sure if you've considered that as an option.  At least you'd be earning rewards rather than sit as dead weight.  In the future, if you decide to obtain another Chase card, and if the SL is substantial enough, you can reallocate limits around.

Just something to consider, especially since the card has no AF and it's one of your oldest accounts.

[FinStar]

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@babygirl1256 wrote:

@Anonymous Thanks so much. I have only one HP per CRA and think I may do that in June 2021 if Chase will consider the Marriott Bonvoy application and the Slate CLI with the same HP (not sure if that's possible). Then I plan to head to the garden and grow my trade lines!

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Unfortunately, Chase will not repurpose HPs. So, the CLI can end up with one, possibly two, and the Marriott application most likely 2 HPs.

[babygirl1256]

@FinStar Thanks, good to know . . . I will plan accordingly as I don't want too many HPs within 2 years and cause my credit score to drop.

[Curious_George2]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

The problem with a bunch of low limit cards is it drags down your average credit limit and some people believe that UW can use that to give you more lower limit cards. Also low limit cards tend to be harder to grow either because of policies like a maximum 3X CLI or because the lower limit is indicative of a borderline approval and thus there is need for the relationship to grow first. Most of us don't have a problem with $5K limits because they're still usable and don't drag down the average too much, not to mention not all of us are six figure earners here. 

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@Anonymous not a lot of people talk about average CL. I do believe it can influence future CLs.

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I wish I could share some of the UW info from my bank, I was frothing at the mouth once I found it (:

I know at least the biggest SL can help determine SLs for us, though I haven't seen anything about average CL (not that I've read our CL docs too much recently). But I'd certainly think so too, so much as other things could also segment a applicant into a lower limit/higher risk band

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Cool that you have inside knowledge. Bummer that you can't share much of it. What you wrote fits with my family's (very limited) experience. With a lengthy banking relationship, BofA seems to aim to be our highest CL. Chase, without a banking relationship, has given SL's that were our second highest. I think I found a possible pattern at Citi once, but I don't remember what it was. 

[Guyatthebeach]

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@babygirl1256 wrote:

@Carloscda40 I am new to posting and looking to broaden my knowledge on CLIs. I have been thinking about closing my Chase Slate which has a $300.00 SL (since 2011) and never automatically increased but Chase was willing to review based on a HP and I declined. I have kept that trade line open only because of the account age and after reading on this forum, I'm trying to decide whether to close it. I never charge over $15.00 monthly and always pay it off as I just use it and keep current activity. Does anyone believe my Chase trade line will keep me from receiving future high CLs or CLIs? Just wondering and any comments are welcomed. Thanks so much.

Credit Card/Name	Limit
American Express Blue Cash Preferred 3/2021 (New)	$5,000.00
Chase Slate Visa 3/2011 ~ 11 yrs	$300.00
DSNB/Macy's 3/2011 ~ 11 years	$12,000.00
Discover 1/2019 ~ 2 years	$5,600.00
NFCU Mastercard 4/2021 (New)	$23,100.00
USAA “Secured” American Express 9/2017 ~ 3½ years	$1,000.00

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Babygirl1256,

I wouldn't worry about the Chase card with a low limit. Congratulations on the approvals for the Navy Federal MC and the Amex BCP. Both of those are solid cards. Personally I would look at trying to the USAA Amex to graduate to the unsecured version.  If it graduates, you could make some nice interest with a NFCU CD.

I do have a couple of questions. Is the Macy's card a store card or the Amex version? Also, have you looked at your Experian CR to make sure everything is reporting correctly? I thought your scores would be closer together than they are.

To be honest, you're in a perfect place. I would leave the Chase card alone.  I would try the 3xCLI trick for your Amex on day 91 and try a for CLI with Navy Federal the day after the third statement cut. I would also check Chase and NFCU for preapprovals if you wanted to add a new card.

Hope this helps.

Guyatthebeach

[babygirl1256]

@Guyatthebeach Thank you so much for responding, your post does help and I really appreciate any guidance to improving my scores!

• I read on the forum that USAA is changing their policy to graduate the secured AmEx to an unsecured version. 
• My Macy's card is a retail store card and not the AmEx version (I may look to upgrade if it's a SP).
• My Experian CR is lower because they are not reporting a CU credit card that was a BT; according to EX, I was told that they can't add the trade line and the original creditor would need to report it. I am going to look into that further. That's the only difference in the three CRA's reporting.
• I will leave the Chase card alone and due to the account age.  
• I will try the 3x CLI on my Amex on day 91.
• I will try a for CLI with Navy Federal the day after my third statement.
• I will also check Chase and NFCU for any preapprovals (if they will be a SP); Chase probably won't but I will look into it.

[babygirl1256]

@FinStar you are not hijacking my thread at all and I welcome the comments. I never thought about it; but I'm sure you are correct on my Chase CL and there's probably not much of an incentive for Chase to yield a CLI since my spending on the card is very nominal. I will certainly look into having my Slate card switched to either the Freedom Unlimited or the Freedom Flex. I've never considered that as an option due to the potential of a HP and Chase's 5/24 rule (right now I'm at 2/24 with new cards and 3/24 with HP inquiries).  You've provided great information and I truly appreciate it!

[FinStar]

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@babygirl1256 wrote:

@FinStar you are not hijacking my thread at all and I welcome the comments. I never thought about it; but I'm sure you are correct on my Chase CL and there's probably not much of an incentive for Chase to yield a CLI since my spending on the card is very nominal. I will certainly look into having my Slate card switched to either the Freedom Unlimited or the Freedom Flex. I've never considered that as an option due to the potential of a HP and Chase's 5/24 rule (right now I'm at 2/24 with new cards and 3/24 with HP inquiries).  You've provided great information and I truly appreciate it!

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No problem, anytime.  

Just FYI - look at which card makes more sense rewards-wise for your spending and the network -- Freedom Unlimited is issued as Visa, Freedom Flex is MC.  Then, you can call them to make the switch.  There is no HP involved for the PC.  Your account number might change, but it will not report as a new account + you'll retain the ~11 year history on your reports.