Updated! List of CLI and APR Reduction practices by company

[J0hnD0nuts]

I've lurked for a long time and this is a topic I always want to find when I'm applying for new cards so I thought a master thread of which companies do CLIs and APR reductions and how they do them would be beneficial to others. Other beneficial information would be great too.

I was thinking like:

Company name

CLIs:

Do they do CLI requests?

How often?

Hard or soft pull?

Shoot for the moon or be practical?

Any other beneficial info?

APR reductions:

Do they do them?

How often?

Hard or soft pull?

Temporary or permanent?

Any other beneficial info?

I'll start:

Chase

They only do hard pull CLIs.

Don't know how often.

Shoot for the moon because it's a hard pull anyway.

Some suggest just applying for a new card to get the most credit they'll offer you then combine limits and keep the oldest card or one with the lowest APR after the promo rate expires.

They don't do APR reductions by request.

Some have gotten letters trying

to upgrade Freedoms to Freedom Unlimited with a new APR and higher credit line.

Most here suggest you just check your pre-qualified offers on the website and reapply for the card you want when your offer APR is the lowest. 

Capital One

They do soft pull CLIs every 6 months.

You don't decide how much you get they do. 

In my experience their CLIs were kindof stingy. Only a few hundred to a few thousand here and there. 

They have given me auto CLIs in the past. Usually in the first year or two and with heavy usage.

They only do temporary APR reductions. Usually 6 to 9 months.

Discover

They do soft pull CLIs every 3 months.

You don't ask for a certain amount they just give you what they give you. 

Probably my second most generous company with CLIs and usually starting limits

They do permanent soft pull APR reductions every 6 months if you qualify. 

They also offer 0% for one year instead of permanently lowering APR. You get one or the other not both. If you choose the 0% then you have to wait the year until it's done to ask again. But if you take the permanent lowering then you can ask again in 6 months.

AMEX

They do soft pull CLIs every 6 months. 

You can usually request up to 3 times your initial limit with a CLI making it the most generous CLIs by far. 

They do permanent soft pull APR reductions every 6 months from what I've read here. 

You will also be targeted for random temporary APR reductions from time to time. Usually 9.99% for a year.

Citi

They do soft pull CLIs every 3 to 6 months.

They do hard pull CLIs every 6 months on their cobranded store cards (Best Buy from my personal experience)

They do soft pull permanent APR reductions as often as you can get them. Some here have gotten them every other day until they were told no.

There are no APR reductions for store cards. 

Bank of America

You can get a soft pull CLI whenever the LUV button shows up on your account page. That's been shown to people here from a every few weeks to every 3 months to whenever.

It used to be a hard pull but recently became soft pulls.

You can get permanent soft pull APR reductions.

I don't know how often. 

US Bank

You can get CLIs with either a soft pull or a hard pull. 

Used to be $1500 or less and it'd be a soft pull but that's no longer the case. You don't request amounts anymore. It seems most likely a hard pull but some have gotten a few thousand CLIs with soft pulls as well. 

They only give temporary soft pull APR reductions.

Wells Fargo

From one thread I've read they mention soft pull CLIs but usually pretty small and you have to specifically request a soft pull one. 

Same thread suggested that they do soft pull APR reductions as well but no idea if its temporary or permanent.

If anyone can clarify or elaborate on any of these please comment. 

[el_cazador]

Great post!

[kdm31091]

With BOA the presence of the CLI link does not mean anything in terms of approval. It simply means you're eligible to request the CLI. Does not mean it will definitely be granted. The button comes and goes with timing but its presence does not indicate a definite CLI.  BOA does honor APR reduction requests although it can be somewhat of a hassle and not a quick phone call. They (understandably) usually probe as to why you want the reduction, do you have a large purchase coming up, etc, etc...they really turn it into a conversation, which is understandable from their POV but from ours it is time consuming.

I do recall Amex had stopped doing permanent reductions and typically only offers promotional ones now, but not sure if that has changed again. They used to be very lenient with permanent reductions.

Chase is the least flexible of almost every lender on APR and CLI. Hard pull only for CLI (rare auto CLIs do happen), typically large increases are not granted, and they 99% of the time do not budge on APR.  With Chase it's best to assume the starting limit and APR will remain the same throughout the life of the account and be happily surprised if it turns out otherwise.

[K-in-Boston]

A few corrections:

In my experience, the only time Chase has asked for a CLI amount has been on a recon interrogation call with a credit analyst.  The two that I have experience with being granted by just calling and speaking with a CSR were both done with no amount requested and ended up with doubling of the credit lines from $14,000 to $28,000 and from $9,700 to $19,400.

Discover can and does do CLIs more often than every 3 months; it's very much YMMV.  I've gone as long as 7 months between increases but the card that I am an AU on has had several CLIs between 30 and 60 days after the previous one.  While I haven't done it myself, many posters have had success with double-dipping by calling and asking for a CLI immediately after being granted one online.

For Amex, rather than soft pull CLIs every 6 months, I would state it as: Amex may grant 1 SP CLI up to 3X the current credit line among all business and personal cards held by a cardmember in any 181 period; a denial for a CLI on any card for any reason other than asking too early will result in a 91 waiting period before you can ask again on any card.

Citi does not do SP CLIs every 3 to 6 months.  A new card may be eligible for a SP CLI much earlier than 6 months (often 8-12 weeks), but Citi requires 6 calendar months between credit line increases (their website and app now show you the date you are eligible if you ask too soon), unless a SP CLI is granted and a HP request for more is placed immediately after.  The language at the time of the request will clearly state whether it will be a SP or HP.  DSNB managed Citi store cards (i.e. Macy's, Macy's Amex, Bloomingdale's) generally result in SP CLIs even though the language is similar to that of CBNA store cards (Best Buy, Home Depot, etc.) which are almost always a HP.

As noted, the presence of the CLI link on a BOA account does not necessarily mean that you are eligible if you have received a recent CLI.  3 months is generally the minimum time they require between CLIs.  (MUCH experience with this growing a pair of cards past $90k with many CLI requests, mostly prior to them being SPs.)

For US Bank, most online requests since around December 2019 seem to be SPs provided enough time has passed between requests - but a SP is not guaranteed.  They can be more generous than a few thousand; my last two were $5000 and Remedios just got one for $8000 a few weeks ago.  US Bank does require 6 calendar months to pass between granted SP requests and you are not eligible until the following calendar month; example you receive CLI on the 1st of January, 6 calendar months have passed on the 1st July, but you are not eligible to request again until the 1st of August.

[lhcole77]

For APR reductions, I have been able to do the following:

1. Reduce Citi via online chat. Once I did it successfully 4 days in a row. My lowest with them is now 4.99%

2. Reduce BofA over the phone. My lowest with them is now 11.99%

3. Reduce Amex via online chat. Once I got a 4% reduction on a new card right after I activated it. The lowest I got with them was 8.49%, but later cancelled that card to make room for a new one.

4. No movement of WF or Chase due to they don't do that. No movement on Disco because I didn't qualify.

I will also say that I usually wait to app until my reports are as good as they can be so that I am better situated for a low APR.  ETA-although that is never a guarantee.

[CaptJOB]

I think I remember seeing that Chase CLIs are now 5/24 restricted... Ah found it