Getting the Chase 6-month auto-CLI

Anonymous · ‎04-04-2017

I've heard tales of an auto-CLI from Chase at 6 months. What data points are out there to tell me what to do?

Thanks all!

HeavenOhio · ‎04-04-2017

Which Chase card?

I got an auto-CLI on my Amazon Visa at about four months. I didn't put any real effort into it. All I did was use the card and pay it off each month.

Anonymous · ‎04-04-2017

@HeavenOhio wrote:
Which Chase card?

I got an auto-CLI on my Amazon Visa at about four months. I didn't put any real effort into it. All I did was use the card and pay it off each month.

What was your SL and how much was your auto-CLI? What was your typical monthly spend on the card and how do your credit scores look? Thanks.

HeavenOhio · ‎04-04-2017

@Anonymous wrote:
@HeavenOhio wrote:
Which Chase card?

I got an auto-CLI on my Amazon Visa at about four months. I didn't put any real effort into it. All I did was use the card and pay it off each month.
What was your SL and how much was your auto-CLI? What was your typical monthly spend on the card and how do your credit scores look? Thanks.

Starting limit was $2,500, and it was increased to $4,000. Average monthly spending over the first four statements was $617. Statement balances were $298, $509, $–73, and $0.

I have no clue what my score was when I was approved for the card. I didn't know a thing about scoring or utilization at the time.

But I know my score was suppressed… 730s or 740s maybe? At the time I applied, Chase would have seen two inquires in the previous six weeks. And they would have seen one or possibly two new accounts. The critical thing they would have seen was a maxed out card (thank you, CareCredit). They'd have seen small balances on my other three or four cards.

My current scores range from 784 to 803. That's about where they were at the time of the CLI. If Chase would have reviewed my account a few weeks before the CLI, the scores would have been a few points lower because I was reporting more balances.

Had I known about utilization, I'd have shaped things up before applying. I'm sure I'd have started with a somewhat higher limit.

Anonymous · ‎04-06-2017

@HeavenOhio wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@HeavenOhio wrote:
Which Chase card?

I got an auto-CLI on my Amazon Visa at about four months. I didn't put any real effort into it. All I did was use the card and pay it off each month.
What was your SL and how much was your auto-CLI? What was your typical monthly spend on the card and how do your credit scores look? Thanks.
Starting limit was $2,500, and it was increased to $4,000. Average monthly spending over the first four statements was $617. Statement balances were $298, $509, $–73, and $0.

I have no clue what my score was when I was approved for the card. I didn't know a thing about scoring or utilization at the time.

But I know my score was suppressed… 730s or 740s maybe? At the time I applied, Chase would have seen two inquires in the previous six weeks. And they would have seen one or possibly two new accounts. The critical thing they would have seen was a maxed out card (thank you, CareCredit). They'd have seen small balances on my other three or four cards.

My current scores range from 784 to 803. That's about where they were at the time of the CLI. If Chase would have reviewed my account a few weeks before the CLI, the scores would have been a few points lower because I was reporting more balances.

Had I known about utilization, I'd have shaped things up before applying. I'm sure I'd have started with a somewhat higher limit.

Working on my FU now, hoping to get the Amazon card down the road. I'm watching my util closely! Did you have other limits much higher? Since my Disco has a limit more than sevenfold I'm hoping they'll be eager for my business.

HeavenOhio · ‎04-07-2017

@Anonymous wrote:
Working on my FU now, hoping to get the Amazon card down the road. I'm watching my util closely! Did you have other limits much higher? Since my Disco has a limit more than sevenfold I'm hoping they'll be eager for my business.

The short answer is that my highest limit at the time was $7,000. But I had been approved for a $5,000 limit from Barclays 12 days earlier. And I was approved for a $10,000 limit from Wells Fargo on the same day that I applied for the Chase card.

Longer answer… Chase wouldn't known anything about the brand new Wells Fargo account. They didn't even see the inquiry because they didn't check that bureau.

However, Barclays reported to TransUnion immediately after I got their card. While I was immediately approved for $5,000, I was given a $2,000 temporary limit that allowed me to use the account before I received the card. The $2,000 limit is what was appeared on my TransUnion report until Barclays reported again, and that's what Chase would have seen.

At the time of my CLI, my limits would have been approximately 3X higher than when I first applied with Chase. If anything, higher limits would have been a yellow flag. But my gut says that Chase zeroed in on my behavior in regard to their card rather than others.

Anonymous · ‎04-07-2017

I don't think there's really a pattern with Chase. It seems very random

Anonymous · ‎04-07-2017

@Anonymous wrote:
I don't think there's really a pattern with Chase. It seems very random

This. They are not known for auto CLIs thus hard to get a decent sample size.

For me, pushing CSP over 50% or even 90% UTIL on a few trips and then spending a lot less (like <20% UTIL) when I'm only using it for meals did the trick (I think it went 9K ->11K -> 16K ). But it is far from certain that this pattern is the cause for CLI or this pattern would do the trick for you. High UTIL might also hurt your FICO scores (I did not know this at the time).