What's my best next move?

[MisterFico]

I'd be very grateful for thoughts on where to go next in my credit building journey. Brief summary:

I have an ITIN, not an SSN. That holds me back in three main ways: not being able to use credit monitoring tools, barred by many institutions from applying, and sometimes being able to apply but not being able to use pre-approval options (if the form demands an SSN). My most recent scores, that I know of, are TU711 (31st July), EXP768 (29th June) and EQ751 (28th Jan).

I have a checking account and a Mastercard with HSBC, since 2020. The Mastercard was $7k originally, but bumped to $9k end of January this year (only time I've asked them for a CLI; they chose the amount). 

I have an Amex card opened early 2021, started on $8k then went to $11k (late January 2025) then $22k (late April). I also opened a second card with them a few days ago, starting limit $10k.

Finally, I have a Capital One Quicksilver ('for good credit'), opened late January 2025 with a limit of $2k.

HSBC and Amex I already had international relationships with when I opened the US products with them, so they're much more generous, but I was pleased when Capital One took a chance on me with no previous relationship. I really like their online card management setup.

I did until recently have specific goals about cards I wanted, but some product changes on the Venture X and a weird experience with Chase when applying for the Sapphire Reserve (application that ran for six weeks from late January, lots of phone calls and letters, then they decided I was attempting to steal my own identity and so sent me a letter saying they were removing their entry on my credit files) have resulted in my short term goal just being a general strengthening of my credit profile until something specific attracts me in the future.

As far as HSBC there's nothing I can do with them other than request another CLI. They only have two cards, which have fees of $495 and $95 (previously $0). I converted up to the $495 one end of 2024 and through experience then found it's not worth it. The $95 one isn't great either, but I'll convert down to it and swallow continuing to pay the lower fee just to keep my oldest card open longer as I build up.

With Capital One I wanted their premium card, but I don't anymore...not that they would give it to me anyway due to the TU weaker score. They have pre-approved me generally for a second card, which it seems could be any of their cards 'for good credit', but none of them appeal to me. I was thinking I could take one, just to make my profile thicker, but I don't think it's a good strategy. I strongly believe the opening limit would be even lower than my Quicksilver, because about a week back they declined any increase in its $2k limit.

Amex is the one that confuses me the most. In theory right now I could go for that 3rd 90 day CLI on my $22k card. I only learned about that strategy after my first CLI of $8k to $11k (I asked for that thinking it best not to be greedy), but before my second CLI. Even then I was nervous, so I requested a doubling rather than a tripling. I'm not sure it's worth me asking for another increase at the moment. Wouldn't it look odd to potentially have one card of some crazy high amount when compared to all my other cards? I'm also wary about being triggering an FR. With my combined limit now being $32k, and income on file about $160k, how close to the ceiling am I likely to be? I was thinking I might leave the $22k card as it is for the foreseeable future, and perhaps in 90 days see if I can just use one CLI to hopefully get the $10k card to $20k then just hold off with that one too for the foreseeable. Does that sound risky, sensible, or timid? Both of the limits as they are today are more than enough for me day-to-day for many years to come if not forever, so any further increase would just be trying to squeeze extra juice out only for the sake of trying to boost my credit profile.

I could try Chase again at some point, perhaps for some lesser card than the Sapphire Reserve. None of them particularly appeal to me, but perhaps something like the Sapphire Preferred to get a feel for their travel portal and point system, plus it's foreign transaction fee-free which is important to me as I spend more time out of the States than in them. Thing with Chase is although I can make full applications, I can't use their pre-approval options.

Finally, I could just curb the impulse to do anything more and sit back for a few months. My instinct is that's not the right strategy though, because I think my profile is still thinner than average, and I especially need some fuel on the fire to get my lagging TU score to increase. The CLIs aside my activity over the last few months is still a bit low I think. I've only opened 2 new cards in the last 24 months, and had 1 instant decline (Citi Strata Premier in June 2025) that will show at one or more bureaus. In terms of inquiries I don't have a clue, because I can't monitor my credit files. 

Thanks for reading if you made it this far. Sorry for any duplication you may have seen of parts of my backstory in other recent topics, and I look forward to any opinions good or bad.

[Yasselife]

You’ve done a solid job laying out your full credit profile, it makes it much easier to see where you stand and where the next moves could be. Given that you already have a good mix of cards and some solid limits (especially with Amex), I’d personally lean toward letting things season for a few months. That would allow your TU score to catch up, inquiries to age a bit, and your overall profile to look stronger to lenders.

For HSBC, I agree there’s not much else to do besides the occasional CLI request. Keeping your oldest card open for history is smart, even if the rewards and fees aren’t ideal.

With Capital One, I’d skip adding another card unless it’s one you truly want for the long term. If they just gave you a low-limit Quicksilver and denied a CLI, chances are a new card won’t come with a limit worth the hit to your average age of accounts.

For Amex, I think you’re right to be cautious about asking for too much, too quickly. You already have strong limits there, and avoiding an FR is worth being conservative. Waiting the full 6 months between CLIs might be the safer play, especially if you’re not in urgent need of the extra limit.

If you’re open to it, I’d also consider looking into banks or credit unions known to work with ITINs. That could broaden your options without running into the SSN roadblock as often.

[MisterFico]

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@Yasselife wrote:

You’ve done a solid job laying out your full credit profile, it makes it much easier to see where you stand and where the next moves could be. Given that you already have a good mix of cards and some solid limits (especially with Amex), I’d personally lean toward letting things season for a few months. That would allow your TU score to catch up, inquiries to age a bit, and your overall profile to look stronger to lenders.

For HSBC, I agree there’s not much else to do besides the occasional CLI request. Keeping your oldest card open for history is smart, even if the rewards and fees aren’t ideal.

With Capital One, I’d skip adding another card unless it’s one you truly want for the long term. If they just gave you a low-limit Quicksilver and denied a CLI, chances are a new card won’t come with a limit worth the hit to your average age of accounts.

For Amex, I think you’re right to be cautious about asking for too much, too quickly. You already have strong limits there, and avoiding an FR is worth being conservative. Waiting the full 6 months between CLIs might be the safer play, especially if you’re not in urgent need of the extra limit.

If you’re open to it, I’d also consider looking into banks or credit unions known to work with ITINs. That could broaden your options without running into the SSN roadblock as often.

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Thank you very much. Without seeing any other opinions what you've said has convinced me to leave Amex alone for a good while. I also sense wisdom in what you're saying about sitting back and just letting the passage of time do some work for me, and will probably go that way (that's called gardening isn't it?) but I won't fully commit to that just yet as I'm still curious to see what thoughts others might have. Maybe somebody younger and more reckless than me could talk me in to pushing my luck a bit more...probably not, but I am curious to hear all sides of the coin.

I also appreciated your mention of average age of accounts. That's something I haven't been thinking about, but I see that I should have been. Before that Quicksilver, the average age would have been about 50-51 months I think, but since the 2nd Amex I'm on about 26-27! Is that a big deal with most lenders?

[FicoMike0]

You certainly have special problems due to not having a ssn. From the lenders viewpoint, that probably represents additional risk. With three bank cards, I think you're doing well.

As far as amex, I've found they went 3X on clis until my total cl with them hut 45% reported income. They granted $9000 to 27000 at the same time us b declined any increase on a $2000 card. I've found Capone to be tight, they seem to want to see more spend.

As far as access to your reports, are you able to use annualcreditreport.com?

[MisterFico]

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@FicoMike0 wrote:

You certainly have special problems due to not having a ssn. From the lenders viewpoint, that probably represents additional risk. With three bank cards, I think you're doing well.

As far as amex, I've found they went 3X on clis until my total cl with them hut 45% reported income. They granted $9000 to 27000 at the same time us b declined any increase on a $2000 card. I've found Capone to be tight, they seem to want to see more spend.

As far as access to your reports, are you able to use annualcreditreport.com?

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Unfortunately not, I looked at annualcreditreport.com in the last 24 hours but it's the same brick wall.

That makes a lot of sense, what you said about no SSN being additional risk in their eyes. It made me just think that they probably consider the risk of me running up to the limits then leaving the country without paying. That risk to them never occurred to me, but now you've said it it seems obvious, and that could potentially hold me back to some degree forever. 

[FicoMike0]

I made the risk comment without any data. Fico, if course, has all the data. After thinking about it, if lack of a SSN were a big stastical risk, I would think it would impact your scores. There's no sign that it has. This may fall in the category with things like the all zero penalty. Probably affects so few that it's not worth ficos effort to resolve it.

As far as annualcreditreport.com, you might persue it further. Since the bureaus are required by law to provide report access to anyone who has a report, that should include you, SSN or none. You might need to make the request by mail and jump through some hoops.

As far as your tu score from capone, I'm fairly certain they use an obsolete Fico model, fico 4, or TransUnion FICO Risk Score 04. I believe the 04 indicates the model was released in 2004. This score is lower than the more current fico8 or 9 for me. Why do the use it? Who knows, why do some banks use fico8 vs fico9? Stuck in a time warp.

Another thing you might consider is non us banks that do business here. They might be more accustomed to clients without a SSN. Td bank and ubs come to mind.

[Guyatthebeach]

@MisterFico ,

My father had the same problem when he migrated to the United States in the 60's. He was lucky to find a local bank, Standard Federal Savings and Loan, a bank that has grown through mergers as Truist, which lent money and credit cards to him over the years. He honestly never had a problem using his credit cards over the years. I would look at your banks and credit unions in your area.

After reading your back story, I would avoid trying Chase, given your previous attempts. Look into Citi, TD Bank, and UBS. These three institutions have a solid history of working with clients with ITIN's.

Guyatthebeach

[MisterFico]

Thanks everybody. After a bit of gardening I will look in to Citi, TD and UBS 

I was wondering, given all my circumstances, if you were in my place would you close down the Capital One card at this point? It's not so much about the lower limit, but what I didn't appreciate at first is that it has had a big impact on my average age of account. I also only recently found out about the lounge policy change with the Venture X card, so that no longer appeals to me as something to work towards, and really none of their product range does.

Would closing it down have any negative impact in the short, mid or long term?