Merrick CLIs?

[masscredit]

My Merrick card is from when I started out rebuilding a few years ago. Now it has the lowest credit line out of all my cards and doesn't grow much.  The card's history is -

Opened the account - 8/20/12 - $1000. - 7/2013 - $1200. (Auto) 10/28/13 - $1600. (auto)

I don't use it a lot.  Once in awhle I'll run a few hundred dollars through it and sometimes that will go up to $500.00 plus. Only happens a few times each year because I don't get any rewards from this card so I feel like I'm losing money when I use it.  I don't want to cancel it because it has no annual fee so it doesn't cost me anything to have it.  Would be nice to see the CL increase more. I kind of doubt it will get to $5k.  

What is your experience with them? 

[04Cobra]

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@masscredit wrote:

My Merrick card is from when I started out rebuilding a few years ago. Now it has the lowest credit line out of all my cards and doesn't grow much.  The card's history is -

Opened the account - 8/20/12 - $1000. - 7/2013 - $1200. (Auto) 10/28/13 - $1600. (auto)

I don't use it a lot.  Once in awhle I'll run a few hundred dollars through it and sometimes that will go up to $500.00 plus. Only happens a few times each year because I don't get any rewards from this card so I feel like I'm losing money when I use it.  I don't want to cancel it because it has no annual fee so it doesn't cost me anything to have it.  Would be nice to see the CL increase more. I kind of doubt it will get to $5k.  

What is your experience with them? 

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I started out with a Hooters card back in 2010 and still have it now. The cancelled rewards program and switched to a normal Merrick Visa.  I've only had 2 CLI's since then. Seems they like a lot of usage and holding balances for a period of time till they grant a CLI

[Anonymous]

I've had my card since November 2001. I started at $600 and over the years my CL has grown to $6400. I don't use the card much, usually just a few purchases per year. I too got this card as a rebuilder but with no AF and a good AAOA, it doesn't hurt to keep it in my sock drawer. They usually give me a $500 - $600 bump once a year or so.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I've had my card since November 2001. I started at $600 and over the years my CL has grown to $6400. I don't use the card much, usually just a few purchases per year. I too got this card as a rebuilder but with no AF and a good AAOA, it doesn't hurt to keep it in my sock drawer. They usually give me a $500 - $600 bump once a year or so.

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This seems like a great card to have!  Is it gotten by invite only?

[masscredit]

If I remember correctly, they don't accept customer requests for CLI? 

[Anonymous]

I just looked on the website and the unsecured card is indeed invitation only. I applied for mine so long ago, I couldn't remember how I came about getting it. There are TONS of complaints about Merrick Bank online, but I've never had any issue with them. If you pay your bill on time and use your card reasonably, they will treat you well. They took a chance on me when almost no one else would, so that's another reason to keep the card around for a while. 

[Anonymous]

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@masscredit wrote:

If I remember correctly, they don't accept customer requests for CLI? 

All of mine have been auto CLI's... I've never asked for one, so I'm not sure.

[DaveInAZ]

Yeah, I remember someone posting that they called asking how to app and were told by pre mailed pre-qual only, that's what I got & was approved. I also remeber someone posting they called and were told customers are not allowed to request a CLI, and I just got my new card w/ new expiration date and it says "Credit Line Increases - No need to call, your account will be reviewed". I once called to see if I could get an APR lower than the punishing 25.45% and was told "Customers are not allowed to request a lower interest rate", so you pretty much can't ask for anything.

I got my card in 12/2011, just shy of 1 year after discharge of my BK7, it was my first unsecured card post BK. Initial CL of $1k, increased to $1200 after 1 year, then $1600 just 4 months later, then $2000 in 4 months, then $2300 in another 4 months. I was only charging 1-2 hundred a month and PIF. Then I needed to carry a balance, as high as $1100 and they went wild on CLIs, $2700 and then $3100 within a few months, but then I paid it off and went back to charging just a couple hundred and PIF, and it's been 1 1/2 years since a CLI.

I've since gotten better reward cards with much larger CLs and have no use for Merrick , but I don't want to close it, it's my oldest CC TL. And I don't sock drawer anything anymore, I did that to Target Red Card for almost a year and they lowered the CL from $1k to $200 and I never could get them to raise it back up, I recently got fed up and closed it. So I let $11 Netflix bill to Merrick and another small monthly bill and the occaisional small in store swiped transaction and then PIF before statement, forcing a $0 bal statement reporting.

[masscredit]

Maybe I'll give up $20-$25.00 in rewards and make this my main card for two months to see if that triggers an increase. A balance of about $950.00 will post each month. I'm going to look at past statements to see what the activity was when I received other increases. 

[masscredit]

Just got a GoScore update from them. It's now at 700. It was 667 when I received my last increase in Oct '13. That and some usage might help. Info that they list for their GoScore is -

The FICO® Score listed below is the FICO® 8 Bankcard Score. This is the same score we use to manage your account.