Question regarding high limit credit cards

Anonymous · ‎02-15-2016

I just wanted to say thanks again to the community for all of the help. I started rebuilding my credit in December 2014. Moving forward to 2/2016 I currently have Kay's Jewelry (1800.00), Barclays (3200.00) , Capital One (300.00) ,Wells Fargo (400.00 secured), Walmart (3000.00) , Amazon (3500.00) , Care Credit (7200.00) cards. I am very grateful to the lenders for working with me but I have noticed that several of you have very High Limits 20,000 + and a extreme amount of credit 200,000 + . How long did it take you guys to achieve these high limit cards? Also I would like to have an idea of what do you think my next move needs to be. Currently I am due for CLI in the next month or so with Barclays and Capital One. I have been making big payments 900+ per month and using the Barclay card (3200.00 limit) heavily and the Capital one card (300.00 Low limit) I have PIF 12 times now. The Wells Fargo ( 400.00 low limit) I have paid off many many times (20 + times) .I carry a very small balance on the Kay's account (< 300.00) because I heard they shut them down if you do not use them ( and this is my oldest account so I don't want to lose it by paying it off). Sorry for the long post but I can only assume you might want to know that I have no collection, no liens , no derogatory on credit profile as well. I do have a black eye called a Bankruptcy that happened in 2/2011. My scores are currently today Equifax - 652 / Transunion - 694 / Experian - 660.

Anonymous · ‎02-15-2016

It seems to be really just everything you would think it would be:

Perfect (and long) history (no baddies at all)
Several lines of high credit limits
Lots of use with each lender (at least at some point)
Varied credit portfolio of CC's, auto loans, mortgages
high income

Although we may never know all the specifics of FICO scoring, those seem to be the pretty obvious basics that net great results.

Anonymous · ‎02-15-2016

high income isn't very necessary. i have two creditors that have given me equal or more than my annual income in credit. good income helps, but it isn't a deal breaker.

the real question is... do you NEED a $20k limit card? keep in mind credit also isn't really a game nor a competition. seems like you're doing decently well now overall. your current cards may not reach $20k any time soon but it's a goal. also, i noticed i got better limits when i closed my cap1 platinum

elim · ‎02-15-2016

Just takes some tact, time, and minor aggression.

Go over each card and investigate what that lender likes to see in spend and do it with your normal bills/expenses. Perfect your utilization that month and call them up and go for it with honest, polite conversation. move on to the next, rinse and repeat. Some garden time definitely doesn't hurt before you start.

Two cards that will prime the pump are Venture and Lowes. I built big limits with them faster than any other cards i think. But i'm not to 20k on anything yet and it's been 18 months. If you're feeling a little crazy, you can grab 2 Ventures and combine them in 6 months. That's a quick limit for sure. Mine will be 29k soon. Do that after you CLI your current cards.

Anonymous · ‎02-15-2016

I agree, time and care are the answer...

6 months ago Cap 1 gave me a QS1 at $300 and I got a Wally card at $150. I worked on my scores and in 4 months raised my wally to $6K, got a $20K Venture at 5 months

Credit is not a game - I think understanding Fico is though. Follow the steps you learn here, As your score grows, so will your SL. Just use it responsibly. Dont get too caught up in growing your SL to astronomical numbers. Have a plan on what works for you - set the goal and make it happen.

Good Luck!

lg8302ch · ‎02-16-2016

High limit cards need a whole lot more discipline to manage because you hardly get hit with score drop for utilization. If I would use more than 9% I would probably need to file BK. IMO a dangerous game I noticed when I added this crazy amount of credit. As for time it took me from 8,5K (2 cards) end of 2012 to now early 2016 to 186K (16cards). Gradually added my cards. We can debate if this is a clever move. If I would be a lender I would never give myself more than my annual income in CLs but I got more than 3 x now. Please do not try to achieve this as nobody needs this. For my spend and income 5K - 10K limits would have been perfect but I got infected here at MyFico and once the first approval came in over 10K the others followed. The ones that were below gave me SP CLIs or auto CLIs. Looking at my last approval for Fidelity Rewards VS I got 5K and this could be the reason for having way too much credit. So it could also become contra productive at a certain stage. There are a few hotel cards I am interested in and it will show at the end of the year if I need to slash down some CLs to get new lines approved. Keep working on SP CLIs, close the store cards that you do not use and most important is the payment history. Make sure no new baddies and with time you will get there too. Not much spend on each card was needed to achieve these CLs and on certain cards there was hardly any charges on and still got the auto luv. US Bank Perks+ was an example that gave me a CLI from 7K to 10,5K with a Hulu charge every month. I just needed to wait until I could PC to Cash+ before I started to use their card. Spend and income is not the key for certain cards to grow. Remember - patience - patience - patience ..and eventueally you will get there. Good luck !

takeshi74 · ‎02-16-2016

How long can vary. It's not simply a matter of time. Time plays a part in Length of Credit but that's not the only factor that matters.

http://www.myfico.com/crediteducation/whatsinyourscore.aspx

One's credit profile and income will determine the limits that one qualifies for.'

I didn't get higher limits until my profile was clean and I got my revolving utilization dropped from the 60% it was at 4 years ago. Again, it wasn't just a matter of time but of getting everything clean on my reports.

@JmmyBrdn wrote:
Also I would like to have an idea of what do you think my next move needs to be. Currently I am due for CLI in the next month or so with Barclays and Capital One. I have been making big payments 900+ per month and using the Barclay card (3200.00 limit) heavily and the Capital one card (300.00 Low limit) I have PIF 12 times now. The Wells Fargo ( 400.00 low limit) I have paid off many many times (20 + times) .I carry a very small balance on the Kay's account (< 300.00) because I heard they shut them down if you do not use them ( and this is my oldest account so I don't want to lose it by paying it off). Sorry for the long post but I can only assume you might want to know that I have no collection, no liens , no derogatory on credit profile as well. I do have a black eye called a Bankruptcy that happened in 2/2011. My scores are currently today Equifax - 652 / Transunion - 694 / Experian - 660.

None of the stuff with regard to usage, PIF'ing or number of times PIF'ing really matter.

See the factors in the link provided above. Payment History is the biggest factor. Ensure that every payment is on time. Do whatever it takes to avoid dergos. If you have none right now then make sure it stays that way. Revolving utilization has a significant impact and falls under Amounts Owed so keep in it check. You don't have to constantly keep it at one small balance reporting. You only need to do that when applying for new credit, requesting a CLI, etc if it would provide significant benefit to you. The remaining factors mostly require time and responsible management to build.

Your scores reflect that there are issues with your credit profile and that BK will restrict you as long as it is on your reports.

As for your Kay's account, consider the information in the Closing Credit Cards thread versus relying on the assumption that you need to keep your oldest account open.

@Anonymous wrote:
Several lines of high credit limits

If that was required to get high limits then no one would have high limits as it would be a catch 22. It's not limits that matter. It is revolving utilization.

@Anonymous wrote:
Lots of use with each lender (at least at some point)

The usage meme is overstated in its importance. Consider the link above and the size of the slice for usage as far as FICO scoring is concerned. Plenty of my cards with little to no usage have seen massive CLI's. Do not rely on usage.

@JmmyBrdn wrote:
I am very grateful to the lenders for working with me but I have noticed that several of you have very High Limits 20,000 + and a extreme amount of credit 200,000 + .

Why do you want or think you need these? It takes time and respnsible management to get them. Believe me, you don't want them until you're certain that you can falwlessly maintain them. I'm glad I didn't get them before I got everything in order first. I had a BK as well but thankfully in those 10 years with it on my reports I learned to properly manage what I had. Focus on that and the high limits will show up. Don't put the cart before the horse.

Mattopotamus · ‎02-16-2016

While income may beimportant, in my experience it has not been at all. I have scores of 800 across the board and multiple cards with limits over $20k. My income is 53,000

Anonymous · ‎02-16-2016

It can be really confusing. Take my own situation. Three years ago I went thru a financial crisis and ended up with 2 collections and the only CC that I could get was a $500 secured card thru Cap1. My own bank that I've had a relationship with for 20+ years even denied me. Now I have Venture at $26k, Discover at $12k, CSP at $18k and Amex BCP at $25k plus a Amex Gold card. That's in a period of about 2 years.

I think timing and luck have a lot to do with it. The first unsecured card I got was the Venture, which started out at $18k. I think the others just piggy backed off of that, trying to match the SL. Of course, PIF every month helps, as well as not opening a lot of accounts at once. My scores aren't anything spectacular (706,685,675) and I still have several baddies on my report.

Edit: Income is $80k.

Anonymous · ‎02-16-2016

Thanks for all of the responses.