How to get high CL's?

[kjonesjr00]

Hello to all. I was wondering if I could get some tips and info on how to get high credit limits? I currently have 9 cards with $51,800 in available limit with $12k being the highest limit from Discover, followed by Citi Costco at $9.5k. I did a CLI with Discover after 8 months and was turned down. I was also turned down by Capital One. I have 707 TUC, 776 EFX, and 732 EXP. I have curry balances on 2 cards, both cards having 0%. One card has a $550 balance, and the other $612. Does the credit card companies like to see high balances, or big monthly purchases to give you higher CL's? I've been heavily using my NFCU AMEX card because the limit is only $1k and I was trying to get a $15-25k limit with NFCU, either with CLI or a new account. 

[K-in-Boston]

For high credit lines, credit card companies are mostly going to look at your income (getting a $25k limit is much easier when your income is $200k than it is when it's $35k), your monthly spending, and your credit score and history.  If the 776 Equifax is a FICO 08 score you should certainly be covered on the score part for any lender looking solely at your Equifax reports.  As far as the spending goes, in general credit card companies are looking for the same thing as credit scoring: responsible use of your credit lines (under 30% reporting at statement close).  However, demonstrating that you are using a lot of a credit line also signals to a credt card company that your limit might be too low, provided you are paying off your statement balance each month.  It's a delicate balance.

[Adkins]

A long credit history with a card lender also helps. My DH has a Discover card with a $19.5K limit, on a $30K average income. He's had the account for almost 20 years though, with perfect credit history all around. 

Edited to add: When I got him to apply for an NFCU card, they gave him a $24K limit.  https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Card-Approvals/NFCU-24-1K-Approval-Platinum-Card/td-p/541043...

[Aahz]

Just my personal experience, though I'm sure others may have haunted the approval sub enough to confirm or deny, but...

When I first started playing the credit card game my highest limits came from Chase co-branded travel cards with their IHG card starting me at $24k with scores comparable to yours, a (barely) six figure income, and my highest existing limit being $10k.  Every co-branded travel card has been started with a higher limit then my existing average credit line at the time.  Then the non-cobranded cards came in to with starting limits to match those existing limits.

[AverageJoesCredit]

Great advice given so far. Ill add its also lender dependent. I think , just my opinion of course, some lenders reward you for responsible use of their cc even when income isnt great. In relation to my income, ive achieved some pretty neat limits and basing it off income alone no way should i have these limits. Use your cards responsibly and good things can happen

[Anonymous]

The way I've done it might be a little unorthodox and probably not recommended for most. When I open a new card, I max it out, or at least try to. Just normal purchases, no going crazy on things I don't need, except I pay the minimum every month, and take the rest and put it in a high-yield MM account. I may earn $200-300 in interest while taking advantage of the 0% intro. Once the 0 is done, I PIF with the cash I put in there that I didn't use to PIF every month.

My credit history is long, and I don't think I spook the card companies doing this (although the last time I did this with a new Wells card, they called me and basically said, "Really??!!!" A brand new card, ran up about $7K in two or three weeks.).  So I do it because I can get away with it and get a little extra from it. 

Maxing out the card gives me 4 benefits, and 1 ugly one. Interest income, a high "high balance" number on my account, an easy way to get an auto CLI, and showing the ability to pay large balances at once. The ugly one is a hammering of my scores.  The high balance number, I think, is related to getting a CLI (auto or requested). If they see you have used a lot of the line in the past, and have paid it responsibly, they might be inclined to increase your line in the future. If you have a 40K line, and a high balance of 33K, they might say I can increase it since the cardholder had it at 33K once, and never was late. Both Wells and Chase, whom I've not had cards with in the past until recently, have given me an auto CLI after maxing out the card. Wells did it while at 99.5% util on the card. Chase did it one month after PIF the entire balance.

Recently, I've begun requesting CLIs to boost them even more. Citi, Cap 1, and Synchrony (Lowes)  basically told me to take a hike. Had the the same CL for 10+ years with Citi and Cap 1, but it didn't matter. BoA, Discover, Amex approved me. Had BOA 10+, Discover 4 yrs, and Amex 6 yrs. 

A long, excellent payment history with a good income will get you there. Different lenders may require more effort, such as history of heavy use of the card. So that's also important. It takes time (horse and buggy). There is no overnight shipping available for large CLs.

[kjonesjr00]

My wife and I make about $150k per year. After recovering from a Chapter 13 that was discharged in Feb 2018, we don’t ever want to be over extended. We only keep small balances on 2 cards each. Usually no more than $700 each and it’s on 0% cards. A few weeks ago, I joined Navy FCU and was approved for their AMEX card. The limit was only $1k, which is by far my lowest CL. I’ve been using that one frequently and will max it out, and pay it off before the statement comes, in hopes of getting a high CLI on it after the 3/91 rule, or apply for a second card with them.

[Anonymous]

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@kjonesjr00 wrote:
My wife and I make about $150k per year. After recovering from a Chapter 13 that was discharged in Feb 2018, we don’t ever want to be over extended. We only keep small balances on 2 cards each. Usually no more than $700 each and it’s on 0% cards. A few weeks ago, I joined Navy FCU and was approved for their AMEX card. The limit was only $1k, which is by far my lowest CL. I’ve been using that one frequently and will max it out, and pay it off before the statement comes, in hopes of getting a high CLI on it after the 3/91 rule, or apply for a second card with them.

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Yeah, I guess sometimes you have to "pay" for a higher CL with credit score points. 

[CreditInspired]

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@kjonesjr00 wrote:

Hello to all. I was wondering if I could get some tips and info on how to get high credit limits? I currently have 9 cards with $51,800 in available limit with $12k being the highest limit from Discover, followed by Citi Costco at $9.5k. I did a CLI with Discover after 8 months and was turned down. I was also turned down by Capital One. I have 707 TUC, 776 EFX, and 732 EXP. I have curry balances on 2 cards, both cards having 0%. One card has a $550 balance, and the other $612. Does the credit card companies like to see high balances, or big monthly purchases to give you higher CL's? I've been heavily using my NFCU AMEX card because the limit is only $1k and I was trying to get a $15-25k limit with NFCU, either with CLI or a new account. 

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Hi,

The forumula for getting high limits encompasses a mixture of several things coming together: income, credit profile, history, CLs on other CCs in your pocket. So we need more information to guide you in the right direction because no one hands out large limits (except maybe NFCU) without these variables, which I hope you will provide: UT, AAOA, AoYA, DTI, # of inqs in the last 3/6/12 months, any baddies.

Also, can you tell us the reason the lenders gave for the declines on Discover and Cap1?

Also, I'm wondering why the disparity in your scores?

[kjonesjr00]

Great questions, and I appreciate the assistance and guidance. After looking closely, it looks like TUC is missing 3 accounts including our mortgage compared to the other 2 bureaus. Here is the breakdown:

TUC: AAoA - 7 months, UT 4%, 6 accounts, highest CL $12k Discover

EFX: AAoA - 2yrs/3 mos, UT 3-%, 8 accounts, highest CL $12k Discover

EXP: AAoA - 6yrs/11 mos, UT 56% (includes our HELOC which doesn’t report to EFX or TUC), 8 accounts, highest CL Discover

I noticed that my Apple Card that I got in August doesn’t show on any of my bureaus. Hope these DP’s help. Thanks