What Do Most Credit Card Companies Like to See?

[EW800]

I was just wondering if anyone has any idea what most credit card companies like to see, as far as cardholders that they typically give automatic CLI's to?  Would it be a customer that pretty much the bill in full every month, in which case they do not make any money on intrest -- or would they prefer an account where there is a small balance, therefore they are making a bit of intrest money.  Any idea which increases the odds of an auto increase?

[Anonymous]

It probably depends on the issuer, the card and the customer (if they view you as borderline already, carrying a balance might be a danger sign) but even if carrying a balance did increase CLI chances:  given I don't value CLIs in any case, paying interest to get them seems a bad idea!

[xsvspd]

I've asked this question several times myself, as I'm curious as to what lenders like to see. I couldn't get a CLI, auto or luv to save my life up until a few months ago, as my util was 80% (luckily my CL was 4600, so I wasn't exactly drowning). I got my util down, started using my Cap1 and BofA card for all my purchases, often PIF several times a month to keep using it. I just went on an app and CLI spree a few days ago... They liked something I was doing. My $250 Best Buy card (2 yrs old) up to $750, and my $500 BofA card (1.5 yo) to $3,000. 

I just wish I knew what it was I did exactly to get the 6x CLI. I'm guess a combo of ~1% util, and no baddies, AAoA, blah, blah, blah, but I really want to know how much of a factor usage is. I know it will vary with each lender, but it would be great knowledge.

This is just my experience, FWIW. This link has some helpful info, but doesn't really detail usage...

Veni Vidi Vinci Visa or How to Master Your Mastercard

[Anonymous]

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@EW800 wrote:

I was just wondering if anyone has any idea what most credit card companies like to see, as far as cardholders that they typically give automatic CLI's to?  Would it be a customer that pretty much the bill in full every month, in which case they do not make any money on intrest -- or would they prefer an account where there is a small balance, therefore they are making a bit of intrest money.  Any idea which increases the odds of an auto increase?

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I imagine that they have some type of internal score that combines your value to them (merchant fees + interest payments) with your risk of default, and people with high scores are more likely to get CLIs.

A person with an 825 FICO may never pay any interest, and may have lots of other options, and thus may not be prime CLI material.

[EW800]

I guess this may be one of those things that the credit card companies will never tell us - or perhaps they do not even know!    

The main reason I ask is that I was shocked when I recently received an automatic increase from Capital One from $3400 to $8400 - a $5K increase.  I have been in recovery mode and was doing every thing humalnly possible to bring UTIL down.  As soon as I got Cap 1 down to a balance of $1K is when they bumped me up to a CL of $8400.  I now have a balance of $0 with them, so I am not sure if they will continue to love me or not.  My plan from this point with them is to just make small purchases through the month and PIF each month.  

[xsvspd]

It's almost a catch 22...

I know Amex seems to love customers who PIF, while Discover (from what I've read) seems to show love towards those who carry a balance. I've only received a CLI's on cards that I've PIF. But I'm also just getting away from toy limits within the last week.

I'm just gonna keep PIF every month on every account, and run a bill thru the cards that I don't use daily to keep them active. We'll see what happens in six months.

[mongstradamus]

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@xsvspd wrote:

It's almost a catch 22...

I know Amex seems to love customers who PIF, while Discover (from what I've read) seems to show love towards those who carry a balance. I've only received a CLI's on cards that I've PIF. But I'm also just getting away from toy limits within the last week.

I'm just gonna keep PIF every month on every account, and run a bill thru the cards that I don't use daily to keep them active. We'll see what happens in six months.

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I am going to run a experiment sort of this summer with discover going to let balance post an few times to see if that will help in my chances of getting an sp cli.  I have had card since september and no chances for any sp cli but i have usually pif so nothing reports. I really would like to have my discover have credit limits similar to my other cards. RIght now its 1/4 the CL of all my other creidt cards. Quite annoying. 

[lexrjSD]

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@mongstradamus wrote:

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@xsvspd wrote:

It's almost a catch 22...

I know Amex seems to love customers who PIF, while Discover (from what I've read) seems to show love towards those who carry a balance. I've only received a CLI's on cards that I've PIF. But I'm also just getting away from toy limits within the last week.

I'm just gonna keep PIF every month on every account, and run a bill thru the cards that I don't use daily to keep them active. We'll see what happens in six months.

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I am going to run a experiment sort of this summer with discover going to let balance post an few times to see if that will help in my chances of getting an sp cli.  I have had card since september and no chances for any sp cli but i have usually pif so nothing reports. I really would like to have my discover have credit limits similar to my other cards. RIght now its 1/4 the CL of all my other creidt cards. Quite annoying. 

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I think most ppl over think this matter, IMHO it's very simple. CC companies are just like any other corporation, they are in business to make money and there are basically 2 ways they make money, swipes (spending) and interests.

Spending:

The higher income you have the more you are likely to swipe (spend), therefore you generally get higher CLs, so the more you spend and pay on time the higher your CL gets.

Interest:

If you are on the low income side, you are less likely to swipe (spend), but if you do spend you are more likely to be in debt and stay in debt, which means more interest paid, but lower CLs to lower the risk.

Now, I obviously dont know the statistics of it, such as what's considered low or high income, and there is also the risk factor based on your credit profile. For instance, If you have a history of being in debt or high utilization you're most likely going to get lower CLs to lower the risk and hopefully pay interest, if its the opposite than higher CLs and hopefully more swipes.

[awp317]

the only cards I have ever seen auto CLIs on are the ones that IM maxing out and paying off more than once a month. 

[lexrjSD]

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@awp317 wrote:

the only cards I have ever seen auto CLIs on are the ones that IM maxing out and paying off more than once a month. 

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Case and point, you have high CLs, prob high income and like you just said you're never in debt, therefore the CC companies will only make money on you with swipes...