@Anonymous wrote:I have three cards that I would like to see higher CLs: USAA Signature Rewards Visa, NavyFed Cash Back Signature Visa and a Bank of America Rewards Mastercard. I've never asked for a CLI for them and don't think I've ever received an auto CLI. I'd like the increases so that I have more breathing room when I do use them. I like to keep really low utilization. Currently really only using the NavyFed at up to $2500 or so a month. I make occasionally purchases on the other two to keep them active, but I don't see much point in Rewards cards anymore.
I've always taken a don't rock the boat point of view with these cards. Especially the USAA and BofA as I got them when I was working, before I "retired" and became a SAHM. The NFCU was acquired after my new employment status using household income.
Can I even ask BofA to switch a Rewards card to a cashback card? Is it even worth it?
Can you aks for CLIs on cards you're not really using anymore? Or is it better to just apply for new cards?
If NFCU has not auto-CLI'd me. Is it better to just let sleeping dogs lie?
Hi @Anonymous! First, let me say I had to look up SAHM meaning so I'll put this out there for anyone else reading that hadn't sent that one ...
Stay At Home Mom 
(While I'm familiar with the phrase, just hadn't seen the abbreviation!)
Which Bank of America Rewards card do you have? Better Balance Rewards? From my experience, BofA is pretty easy with product changes so changing to a Cash Rewards should be easy and possible. However, whether it's worth it depends on how much you spend and the comparative rewards you would earn on either card. Cash Rewards is a great program for the right person since it pays up to 3% back on your selected category on spending of up to $10K annually. That's $300 if you max it out.
Both Bank of America and Navy Federal currently do soft-pull credit limit increases so why not just go for it? While neither one is known for requiring heavy spend before approving an increase like some lenders, putting some spend-and-pay on a card before asking for a higher limit never hurts. Lenders will normally look at how your score has changed for better or worse since they last reviewed your file, your debt load, the usage and payment history on your account, and your reported income and housing payment. Since you're a SAHM, most lenders allow you to report household income that you have access to for repayment of debt.
USAA will require a hard pull for a CLI.
If you like the cards you have and don't really want or need more credit, I'd suggest just product-changing your existing cards and trying to increase the limits. Some people don't like to have too many cards to juggle and like to just keep things simple to manage. Three cards from three lenders is a good mix, and you don't sound hungry to optimize your spending categories or complicate things.
@Aim_High
Which Bank of America Rewards card do you have? Better Balance Rewards? From my experience, BofA is pretty easy with product changes so changing to a Cash Rewards should be easy and possible. However, whether it's worth it depends on how much you spend and the comparative rewards you would earn on either card. Cash Rewards is a great program for the right person since it pays up to 3% back on your selected category on spending of up to $10K annually. That's $300 if you max it out.
It's a really really old card. It's labeled as BankAmericard Rewards World Mastercard. It's my oldest card, it was originally from MBNA and has a $17,900 CL. It's really a nothing card now, which is why I don't use it. I don't even think it's offered anymore.
I do notice that when I log in to BofA they are always asking me to update my info. So maybe doing a CLI will help re-align me as a customer. I'd just hate to lose my oldest card. I'm sure a chunk of my score is tied to that.
But I see the term I need to reasearch --> product-change
Both Bank of America and Navy Federal currently do soft-pull credit limit increases so why not just go for it?
What? What happened to super hard-pull happy NFCU? If it's just a soft pull now then yes, I'll definitely go for that.
While neither one is known for requiring heavy spend before approving an increase like some lenders, putting some spend-and-pay on a card before asking for a higher limit never hurts. Lenders will normally look at how your score has changed for better or worse since they last reviewed your file, your debt load, the usage and payment history on your account, and your reported income and housing payment. Since you're a SAHM, most lenders allow you to report household income that you have access to for repayment of debt.
USAA will require a hard pull for a CLI.
If you like the cards you have and don't really want or need more credit, I'd suggest just product-changing your existing cards and trying to increase the limits. Some people don't like to have too many cards to juggle and like to just keep things simple to manage. Three cards from three lenders is a good mix, and you don't sound hungry to optimize your spending categories or complicate things.
No, not super hungry at all. Just trying to make sure I'm getting the most out of these 800 scores I worked for over a decade to get, you know? I just opened an Chase Amazon Prime Signature Visa and a silly little Carter's Card. I want to do Discover It, but I'm timing that for 2021 or 2022 when it's time to do additional house updates to maximize that one year cash-back offer. I'll take on a little complication for a year to get that bonus and then put it aside. In general, I do value simplicity because who has the time with a little kid in the house? I sure don't.
@Anonymous wrote:
@Aim_HighWhich Bank of America Rewards card do you have? Better Balance Rewards? From my experience, BofA is pretty easy with product changes so changing to a Cash Rewards should be easy and possible. However, whether it's worth it depends on how much you spend and the comparative rewards you would earn on either card. Cash Rewards is a great program for the right person since it pays up to 3% back on your selected category on spending of up to $10K annually. That's $300 if you max it out.
It's a really really old card. It's labeled as BankAmericard Rewards World Mastercard. It's my oldest card, it was originally from MBNA and has a $17,900 CL. It's really a nothing card now, which is why I don't use it. I don't even think it's offered anymore.
I do notice that when I log in to BofA they are always asking me to update my info. So maybe doing a CLI will help re-align me as a customer. I'd just hate to lose my oldest card. I'm sure a chunk of my score is tied to that.
But I see the term I need to reasearch --> product-change
Both Bank of America and Navy Federal currently do soft-pull credit limit increases so why not just go for it?
What? What happened to super hard-pull happy NFCU? If it's just a soft pull now then yes, I'll definitely go for that.
If you like the cards you have and don't really want or need more credit, I'd suggest just product-changing your existing cards and trying to increase the limits. Some people don't like to have too many cards to juggle and like to just keep things simple to manage. Three cards from three lenders is a good mix, and you don't sound hungry to optimize your spending categories or complicate things.
No, not super hungry at all. Just trying to make sure I'm getting the most out of these 800 scores I worked for over a decade to get, you know? I just opened an Chase Amazon Prime Signature Visa and a silly little Carter's Card. I want to do Discover It, but I'm timing that for 2021 or 2022 when it's time to do additional house updates to maximize that one year cash-back offer. I'll take on a little complication for a year to get that bonus and then put it aside. In general, I do value simplicity because who has the time with a little kid in the house? I sure don't.
Ah, gotcha. I think I'm understanding better. That BankAmericard Rewards World MC sounds like maybe a card that pays (up to) about 1% flat cash-back as those were popular back then, but sometimes the returns varied a lot on how you redeemed. I still have a couple of cards that offer merchandise or gift cards in addition to cash, but the return on them is poor compared to newer cards. I remember when MBNA merged with BofA in 2006, so that's been awhile. The cash back market has become more competitive and there are more than a dozen 2% cards. With scores like yours and wanting to keep things simple, you might want to not only consider improving your existing cards but also adding a 2% or better offering. That keeps things simple while maximizing your cash back return.
The only one of your lenders that has such a card as that is Navy Federal, and that's the $49 AF Flagship Rewards. But the awesome $500 (50K points) bonus isn't available now. We're hoping we may see it again in the spring, but it basically pays your AF for the first ten years! Right now, you get a free year of Amazon Prime worth about $120 instead. That card reimburses TSA Global Entry once every four years worth a $100 credit, so saves you about $25/year if you travel out of the country, making the annual fee $24 net. And you earn 2% on everything you buy, plus 3% on all travel. If you applied for this card, Navy will let you combine the limits from your Cash Rewards card. (You could probably product-change the CR to FR and then move the FR limits which would save your older credit age on the older card.) If you product-change from Cash Rewards into the Flagship Rewards, you make up the $49 AF in earnings at the $9800 annual spend point and start making more money, even without a SUB or accounting for travel spending. I mention doing it this way in case you like working with Navy and don't want to change lenders.
There are no-AF options that might be a better choice, but they'd require applying with a new lender. If you're with USAA and Navy Federal, I imagine you've already got some military connections. For people who can do it, the number one 2% Cash Back card I recommend is the Pentagon Federal CU (PenFed) Power Cash Rewards card. While it's a base 1.5% card, if you're a military veteran you get the extra half-percentage point as a courtesy of their Honors Advantage program. If you're not a military veteran, you can get the extra half-percentage point by maintaining an Access America checking account with at least a $500 daily balance (or) a $500 monthly direct deposit. The Power Cash card has lower than most competitor's rates on APRs and fees as well as no minimum redemption (starts at a penny.)
There are many other 2% (or even up to 3%) flat cash back cards. If you're into simplicity but also saving money, having a card that pays at least 2% back on everything you buy can really add up. Many of these cards have some quirks such as minimum redemptions or account requirements. There are two that pay 3% uncapped and uncategorized from other small credit unions but there's no guarantee they'll stick around. (AOD FCU and US Alliance FCU). I love my AOD FCU Visa but going with a small lesser-known lender is not for everyone. The much-larger Alliant FCU Visa Signture pays 2.5% on purchases up to $10K per month for a $99 AF. The other most popular 2% cards are the Citibank Double Cash, Synchrony Bank PayPal Mastercard, Alliant FCU Platinum Rewards, and the Fidelity Visa (issued by Elan Financial Services.) Finally, there are a bunch of lesser-well known 2% cards from other lenders such as State Department FCU, First National Bank of Omaha, Randolph-Brooks FCU, Key Bank, BBVA, Pennsylvania State Employees CU (PSECU), and Signature FCU.
Regardless of whether you apply for a 2% or better card, I'd suggest doing a product-change on that old MBNA/BankAmericard to a simple Cash Rewards card. If you just make that your daily driver, you can select one category (and change it as often as every calendar month) where you would get 3% back on either gas, online shopping, dining, travel, drug stores, or home improvement / furnishings. You can also get 2% back at grocery stores and warehouse clubs. Those 3% and 2% categories are capped at $2500 per quarter or $10,000 per year. Then you get an unlimited 1% on anything else. It's a good general-purpose cash back card.
Yes, Navy Federal used to require those hard pulls but our members have been consistently getting soft-pull CLI's for most of this year! Sign into your account and under your credit limit number you may see "Request Credit Limit Increase" as a link.
Well, I feel a little silly! I just happened to run across your other recent postings, @Anonymous, (as well as your other card approvals) and I see you're way ahead of me! You even mentioned plans for the Alliant or PenFed cards I suggested above. Looks like you're well on your way to tweaking yours and DH's credit profiles and have a solid blueprint. Well done! 
@Aim_High wrote:Well, I feel a little silly! I just happened to run across your other recent postings, @Anonymous, (as well as your other card approvals) and I see you're way ahead of me! You even mentioned plans for the Alliant or PenFed cards I suggested above. Looks like you're well on your way to tweaking yours and DH's credit profiles and have a solid blueprint. Well done!
@Aim_High - oh please don't feel silly, I'm learning a lot from your comments and that's why I'm here! I'm a military spouse and I'm actually not quite sure if that gives me access to that PenFed bonus percentage. But you're right, we are absolutely considering it and the Alliant card for my husband. He's been a member of Alliant since 2017 when we were going to use the old personal loan trick that I learned about on here. But we got orders, had to move and when we got settled enough to get back to it, they had shut that offer down. It's the story of our military lives as the same thing just happened with the AmEx 0% personal loan - we held off until after we purchased our house as we were gardening for several years per-mortgage. Finally closed and learned that that deal went away earlier this year. Better luck next time to us.
I do think I want to see about adding me to the Alliant account, then I could access that no AF cashback card which seems to beat anything that USAA or NFCU are offering right now. If not, we will just add me as an authorized user, that should work too. It doesn't much matter to me whose card it is as long as we're maximizing our purchases on useful cards. I'll probably come back and respond specifically to that BofA info too. Just need to digest it a bit more.
@Anonymous wrote:
Okay, I just hit the CLI button on my NFCU card. Fingers crossed. The current limit is 24k, asked for 50k - I assume they will counter with something in between. Right after hitting the button there was a message that said it takes 24 hours for a response. Hopefully that isn't code for "no."
I would be very happy about a 50k limit after years of heavy use on this card. I am constantly chasing 1% utilization while still having the convenience of using credit cards. The only way I see to get there is a higher CL. We're normally around $2500/mo. But during a PCS that can get up to $5k with truck rentals, etc. I see people like yourself with hundreds of thousands of dollars available in credit lines and I'd like to be part of that club. As I'm sure it is with all of you, it's not like I'm looking to run up debt, I just want the flexibility.
That said, I guess I'm about to start spreading that $2500 around a couple of cards, now that I have the new Amazon Prime Signature card, so maybe that will make PCS time easier on my credit report if I'm not able to get the CLI.
I don't know why I'm so nervous about a product change on that BofA. I've probably just built it up into a big nothing in my own head. Maybe I'll go pull my annual credit report and remind myself exactly where I stand on everything first. I really just pull scores from what the credit cards tell me I have. You're correct that it's a 1% card. It is useless except for the AAoC, it's at least 20 years old.
Good luck with the Navy FCU credit limit increase @Anonymous! Let us know how it turns out.
There's a lot of good data points in this Navy FCU MEGA-THREAD going back to 2014. Go back as far as you like but a few months back will give you a good picture. (*In a large thread like this, you can go to the address bar in your browser, look for the "page number" at the end of the page id, and then type in a new one. It's easier than manually clicking pages forward and back. For example in the link below, overtype page 1400 instead of 1483 to skip back a long way.)
The 24-hour message is typical so nothing to worry about. I can almost guarantee you that you won't get anything close to 50K, but it didn't hurt to ask. I opened my NFCU Platinum card last November specifically because I liked having a super-low APR card as another tool in my wallet. It was towards the end of many new cards and my NFCU relationship was new. They are a relationship lender. So my SL was on the low end for me at $10K. In April, I got an $8K increase and a couple of months later, a small $500 one, so I'm at $18.5K on that card. The $8K used to be about the maximum they'd give in one approval. During the economic downturn of coronavirus, the maximum has been closer to $4K per approval. But at least it's a soft pull. A lot of lenders have tightened the purse strings this year.
That $500 reset my six-month clock, so I wish I hadn't done it. 
Navy will approve you for no more than one CLI every six months. Unlike some lenders, they leave the CLI request button visible. I got curious and clicked on it. 
I wasn't really eligible ... but during the economic hardships everyone was going through, they were approving those $500 increases as a "courtesy." I should have waited, but oh well.
Anyway, your best bet for a really high credit limit with them is to apply for a new card, then later combine the limits. Officially, they won't let you do it but unofficially, if you private message them or call customer service, they can and have done it. Navy's total lending limits are $80K revolving credit and $50K per card, except they will approve $80K on the Flagship Rewards card alone.
As far as seeing profiles like mine, most people don't really need anything close to what I've got. Some on My Fico have a lot more. Geez, I don't need all the credit that I have!! Lol 
But it's been fun putting it together. In perspective, when I was active duty military, my credit limits (and income) were much much lower. I've only been able to put these together with 30+ years of credit history, high income, high scores, low debt. I have four credit lines over 20 years old. Keep in mind that there are profiles on My Fico with members earning high six figure or even seven figure incomes. You can possibly get several multiples of your annual household income in total credit lines and some have done that on here. At the same time, if your income doesn't really support it, it can scare off some lenders and can more easily come crashing back down on you in a downturn. We've had lots of reports of sudden credit limit decreases from lenders in the past few months. It's less likely to happen if you're not overextended relative to income. So while having some extra credit for emergencies and utilization padding is nice, in reality we often need less than we may think.
That approximate 1% utilization does optimize your credit score, but there are some thresholds that have been identified where scores take a bigger hit. So the magic number is more like 8.9% from what I've read. I just round mine off to an even 10% per card in my mind. If I have a $25K limit, I don't want to exceed $2.5K monthly charges to keep individual utilization under 10%. The math is just easier that way. Plus, I usually pay most of my cards at least once before statement cut. But don't sweat utilization too much, especially if you will pay it off as you go. Utilization is very temporary. If you run up a bill with some vacation expenses, christmas gifts, or a PCS move but then pay it off within a month or so, your scores will pop right back up to where they were before the charges. If you're not applying for new credit, a temporary dip doesn't matter. And with your scores so high, dropping even 20 or 30 points temporarily would probably not adversely affect an approval or give you a worse APR. Bottom line is to manage your utilization but don't obsess about it.
It's very late, so I'll be brief.
Confirming that I received a $4k increase from NFCU with no notification of a hard pull.
Setting my clock for 6 months.