Hello,
I'm relatively new to credit and feel unsure how to best proceed from where I'm at (especially after recently finding out I’ve been a bit clueless/haven't been optimizing). Any advice appreciated. You can skip to 'summary' if you don't want to read the longer backstory.
Back story:
Had a low limit store card years ago in college I barely used. Let it close when I moved and they asked for proof ($0 balance)
I have student loans and was accidentally late one time years ago.
In March 2020 I got an auto loan (high interest due to relatively low score/thin file. 100% paid on time)
Late 2020 through 2021, focus on improving low 600s credit score:
Dec 2020 BoA secured $500 SL (I bank with BoA)
Feb 2021 Apple Card $2500 SL (I'd heard 2 CCs are better to increase credit score)
Mid 2021 BoA automatically switched $500 secured to $1500 unsecured
All through 2021 I put only a 2%-3% charge on each card and PIF before due (didn't know about AZEO back then).
Early 2022, became interested in optimizing CCs too:
EX 719
Jan 2022 Accepted BoA's invitation for new card, Travel Rewards, $3500 SL (I was hoping for double)
Jan 2022 Asked Apple for CLI, received $250 (taking $2500 to $2750. My bad not knowing they need to see real spend)
This was all I intended to do for now but frustrated by how low all my CLs still are I took up another mailed invitation:
Jan 2022 Discover It approved for $11K SL (finally something I can put my $6K+ monthly spend on without multiple payments)
Summary:
2020 BoA $500 SL --> $1500 in 2021 (auto increase)
2021 Apple $2500 SL --> $2750 in 2022 (requested CLI)
2022 BoA Travel Rewards $3500 SL
2022 Discover It $11K SL
EX 719
$6K+ average monthly spend
Income above 100K.
Now that I’ve been bitten by the CC bug, I have two aims:
1. Continue increasing my credit score (via continued on-time payments + AZEO + gardening)
2. Work towards high limits on multiple cards (min $25K, $50K+ ideally). I'd prefer to have fewer CCs overall (no more low limit cards). Rewards are not a primary goal at this stage.
Proposed course of action for the rest of 2022 is where I'm unsure and would especially appreciate input. Current thinking is:
a) BoA, Apple, BoA TR -- maintain each minimally (small automated monthly purchase PIF)
b) Discover It -- since my Disco CL is significantly higher than my other CLs, and I've heard this card can go to $50K+, I’ll start here by putting my monthly spend through it (PIF except 2% of CL for AZEO). Then twice this year I'll ask them for a CLI.
c) Garden — take a pause from applying for new cards until either the end of the year when I visit my extended family (which may open the door to NFCU) or until EX 740+ when I’ll apply for CSR (I’m within 5/24 but no rush bc I’ll probably always be within 5/24). I've read it's better to have a higher limit in at least one card before asking for more credit cards in the hope of receiving a high limit (since they may only give close to what others have given, which was my experience with my latest BoA card).
Questions:
1. Is this the best course of action? And, if so, should I request a CLI every 4 months (after 3 billing cycles) or should I wait six months the first time (since I'm new to Disco). I've seen both recommended 
2. Should I instead be spreading my monthly spend around to include the recent $3500 BoA TR and ask them for a CLI in 2022 too? My current thinking with BoA is wait another year until they invite me to the next CC in their line up and hope they give me a better SL since my credit score will have improved and my Disco CL will (hopefully) be $25K+ by then.
With BoA, I’m really only after their top-of-the-line card with a high limit. I’m assuming it’s better to get a new card offer from them than try to push $3500 up via CLIs and take the product change request angle. Eventually I see myself combining all the BoA toy limits onto my one BoA card, but that won’t be for years yet. I'm especially reluctant to put any effort into trying to increase the older BoA $1500 card since I've heard that cards that were once secured can have low upper boundaries (I'll keep it open for credit age for a few more years at least). I'm assuming BoA only wants to see one CC being pushed for a CLI at a time.
3. Should I hold back with BoA (don’t ask for CLI and ignore offers for the next-step card), instead waiting until I’m ready to apply for their top card? In case it wasn’t obvious, less is more for me (although I admire people who obtain/maintain dozens of cards). At the same time, I don’t want to be blinded by my preference — if stair stepping through beginner to intermediate then premium cards is just the way this works (and those who want fewer cards need to shut down the lower tier ones later).
Future plans:
At some point in the future I'll run my spend through my Apple Card and move the CL towards $50K (hopefully), which is what I should have been doing last year (oh well). Ideally I’ll eventually have one high limit card with each of: Discover, BoA, Apple, Chase & NFCU (or some other credit union). Any pointers into obtaining high CLs in any of these brands in particular would be appreciated.
If anyone wants to talk about their journey to high limits, I’d love to hear about that too
Thanks!
That's great to know re NFCU. I expected more paperwork to be required (it's my Grandfather who served). I'll keep AMEX in mind. Thank you very much for letting me know!
Congrats on the progress you've made. Thanks for sharing the background of the cards you have.
Is there only the one late on your credit file? If so, when does that drop off your reports? This is going to be key information for your journey to really increase CL.
While the Discover card can grow, my experience is that it is stalled out at just over $20k. Not a bad limit, and I don't put much spend on it, so that may be a factor. The first year cash back match is a nice earnings rate.
From other's experience here, putting $2k per month spend through the Apple Card will be an immediate way to start growing that limit. I presume you are using Apple Pay on an iPhone? Keep in mind that's a 2% earn rate when the Apple Card is used that way.
For the BofA Travel Rewards, running a lot of spend through that should also lead to increases. What is the goal card you have at BofA? Are you increasing your financial assets at BofA to try to earn the higher tiers of cash back / points earning rates?
And while you may not have rewards as a primary goal, your intent to shift all your spending over to credit cards is going to result in building up visible cash rewards, even on just the three main cards you have. Once you start to see that, your emphasis may change, in a good way
Your recognition that you want to keep your cards to a minimum list is an excellent goal. While you will notice earnings on rewards, the three cards you have will get you a simplified quality earn rate, particularly if your BofA assets boost earnings on the BofA cards.
While the AZEO will improve your score significantly on some of the scoring models, it's important to recognize how AZEO seems to help the more common FICO 8 score. AZEO is really getting your utilization down across all cards, that's the main scoring benefit. Reducing the number of cards reporting does add a few points, but not as much as keeping utilization down. So you can get to low utilization by paying down the card before statement cut. But I never do that because it's too much work when I'm running multiple cards. The bigger impact on score is ensuring any lates are off your reports, thus the question above if you know when the late will drop. Since you don't have immediate plans to apply, AZEO ( low utilization ) is going to result in a few additional points on your FICO score that no one will really see. Once you get to the point of wanting to apply for another card, then getting the reported utilization down for a statement cycle will provide the same boost to your scores leading up to that app. What I'm suggesting is that with the limits on your Apple Card and BofA TR, pushing those with lots of spend may result in some rapid CLI where those CLI help reduce concerns about how much reports on those cards each month, and also contributes to growing your total credit limits.
Good news, as far as I can tell, you can request a CLI from Discover every 10 seconds forever and there will be no negative consequences. Or to word it less extremely, you can make the request daily. I actually got approved once the second time I requested it in one calendar day. Usual caveat, my profile and journey are a bit unusual.
Bad news, this does not mean Discover will give you a CLI. Discover moves in mysterious ways.
NFCU is a go-to here for growing CLs quickly, though it did not work for me. They have consistently treated me like I'm from the wrong side of the tracks, denying most CLI requests and denying me last year for a Flagship. Again, though, my profile is weird.
I've had the most success with Amex. Citi is another good one. Both Amex and Citi are typically SP for CLI requests, as is Discover and Apple/GS.
Good luck!
Welcome to My Fico Forums, @Anonymous!
Your post speaks to me about some of my own goals and perspectives along my credit journey. I've also been seeking a more limited number of higher credit limit cards, and my focus is more on the big picture of my overall credit file (lender and payment network diversity, age of accounts, APRs, higher credit limits, customer service, perks, and other factors) as much as it is about just optimizing rewards.
I've written some longer postings about high credit limits. In a nutshell, absent a lot of assets to invest or heavy spending, most of us primarily need a lot of TIME to build up sizable limits with most lenders. There are a handful of lenders that may let you shortcut a bit but time is still your best friend. If you want to read more of my older postings go this THIS LINK and then follow the other links from that thread.
It sounds like you've read some of my postings, such as your references to high credit limits with Discover. Keep in mind that it took me over 20 years to get $50K with Discover and it's my oldest open card at about 28 years. The other links I provided in that thread slowly grew theirs with consistent spending over at least about a decade or so, I would imagine.
Bank of America cards can grow well, but again, that often depends on time and relationship. I've been with Bank of America with credit cards and/or deposit accounts for over 20 years. It's only in the past few years that I finally reached the $99.9K limit overall exposure with them, and that was after I also deposited investments into Merrill Lynch as part of the Preferred Rewards program. Again, if you focus on BofA and spend a lot over time, they may grow more quickly but many of us took a decade or more to get to limits of $50K+.
Chase is my largest lender with Total Credit Limits of $138.4K, but I've been with them for over 20 years. I also have deposit accounts with them and accrued that total with multiple new cards. Chase doesn't loosen up the purse strings quickly, and that's true of probably the majority of lenders. If you want more credit with a certain lender/card, focus spend on that and build it slowly.
Based on community data point, your Apple card will likely grow quite well if you continue to put heavy spend on it, regardless of relationship or age.
More than with some other lenders, Navy FCU and AMEX cards can grow high fairly quickly with a solid profile, good payment history, and good or better FICO. (However, we have a lot of members with more modest success with both, so there are no guarantees.)
Azeo is over-rated, IMO. It really only matters if you're applying for new credit and your score NEEDS a slight bump. For everyday purposes and if your score is already high, just keeping utilization reasonable is fine.
Yes, high limits can help lead to other high limits for the right profile, but that is a very general statement. Overall credit profile is very important, and that often includes age of credit, depth of credit file, and breadth of file to include various types of credit such as mortgages, auto loans, as well as credit cards. Also income as well as debt-to-income ratio matters and some lenders will be more particular.
I've found that focusing heavier spending on one card for a few months before asking for an increase often helps improve the success rate, but if you do this don't totally neglect your other cards.
Your gardening plans are wise if you want fewer cards with higher limits. Lenders are often more generous if you're careful and picky about your credit moves. Be strategic and thoughtful about your credit moves. A good pace I recommend to strive for is no more than one new account every six months (or less.) Plan for cards you will value for the long-term. Don't be lured by the "FOTM" (Flavor of the Month) appeal of new cards on the forum as well as attractive SUBs on cards that don't offer value beyond that.
Yes, most of us "stair-stepped" up to higher limits and premium cards but some took that route more quickly than others. Be patient. From where you are now, it will probably take some time to get where you want to go. Remember that credit is a marathon, not a sprint. Again, welcome to My Fico!
Thanks for your detailed response and the congrats on the progress I’ve made. I don’t expect the next 100 point jump in my credit score to come so easy
Yes, only one late on my file. It will drop off in three years. I keep everything on auto pay now so a not-paying-attention mistake like that can’t happen again. I’m hoping my EX 719 will get to 750+ in a year and then 781+ the year after that. If it takes a bit longer, that’s fine too. I’m not worried about obtaining perfect credit scores, I just don’t want an unnecessarily high interest rate on my next auto loan (or mortgage which I may be shopping for in 2-3 years).
I guess it’s a bit odd to be concerned with interest rates (savings) and then not care too much about CC rewards (savings). No doubt, as you suggested, seeing rewards add up as I start using my CCs for real, will encourage me to look for more. I can see myself eventually getting to the point where I’m disappointed if I didn’t get 2%-5% off everything I buy — but for now it’s higher CLs I want most (in addition to continuing to increase my credit score).
Thanks for letting me know to expect Discover to stall out above $20K (perhaps their spot will be taken by an AMEX in my far future). I’ll still push Disco this year since my 11K SL looks like the fastest way to get to a decent CL (which future cards may base SL off). I have a number of larger purchases I’ve delayed buying (furniture etc), so I can even push above my regular monthly spend this year while staying sensible. If Disco tops out quickly above $20K, I’ll then push Apple the rest of this year.
I’d be quite pleased if I could push both Disco + Apple to the highest limits they’ll offer me this year (paving the way for two new CCs next year which have a high SL — NFCU & CSR?). Somewhat ironically, that would just leave me to deal with my own bank (BoA). It’s their Premium Rewards Card I’d like to have. After giving it more thought today, I think I will ignore any offer they give me for the next credit card in their line up and just apply for their PR card when it suits me.
I’m aware BoA will give a reward boost if you park cash with them (I believe the tiers begin at $50K). My main BoA account is hooked up to my Fidelity investment account — between current interest rates and my natural inclination towards equities, I don’t keep much more than a couple of months worth of cash with BoA. I forget they have Merrill — at some point I’ll take a look at Merrill and, if satisfactory, I’ll run some investment money with them (making me eligible for BoA’s reward boost).
I think what you’re trying to tell me in your AZEO paragraph is: given I don’t need an optimized-by-AZEO credit score during the bulk of this year (since I’m not applying for anything again until early next year — just optimize with AZEO before applying), I can carry a balance which will help me bash against my CL ceilings, which may be a better strategy for getting higher increases.
Since I’ve heard your credit score goes down if you’re over 30% utilization, and score is a factor in CLI consideration, perhaps you mean carry 30% and put my monthly spend on top of that (plus any one-off purchases). I expect people with a higher credit score than mine (EX 719) could afford to go over the 30% since a drop from say, 820 to 790 is presumably meaningless for CLIs. Let me know if any of that is wrong.
So in my $11K Disco (aiming to increase), $18,750 total credit, example:
Month 1: Put monthly $6K spend on Disco, pay off $400 ($5600 is just under 30% of $18,750)
Month 2: Add half-month $3K spend ($8600), pay off $600 mid cycle ($8K), add another half-month $3K spend (hit $11K limit), pay off $5400 ($5600 statement close again)
Month 3: Repeat month 2
Month 4: Request CLI. Let’s say they give me $5K increase to $16K. Now $23,750 total credit ($7100 would be just under 30%). So I add $6K monthly spend to $5600 owing = $11,600. Now I add $3400 in delayed larger purchases to hit the new $15K limit. Pay $7900 before statement close ($7100).
Month 5: $7100 + $6K monthly spend = $13,100. Add $1900 in one-off purchases to hit CL then pay $7900 again.
Month 6: Repeat month 5
Month 7: Apply for CLI. And so on until one of us taps out I guess a version could be made where I hold well above 30% in the first/second months, then drop down to 30% in the third month before reporting and putting in my CLI request in the 4th month. And that opens the door for pushing Apple this year simultaneously (no interest in pushing BoA TR at this stage). Very interesting. I’ll have to play with the numbers
I’m relieved you view aiming for fewer cards as an excellent goal. This is important to me since I dislike the idea of having cards which serve no real use, hanging around like vestigial organs, doing nothing other than aging.
Thanks for helping me to better understand & get me to think all this through, it helped
KJinNC,
You really made me laugh with your two-in-one-day CLI with Disco -- which you actually got! That's crazy, I love it
Thanks for letting me know to temper my expectations with NFCU since they don't work out for all. And for pointing me towards AMEX and Citi -- I'll keep them in mind down the road
@Anonymous wrote:
Since I’ve heard your credit score goes down if you’re over 30% utilization, and score is a factor in CLI consideration, perhaps you mean carry 30% and put my monthly spend on top of that (plus any one-off purchases). I expect people with a higher credit score than mine (EX 719) could afford to go over the 30% since a drop from say, 820 to 790 is presumably meaningless for CLIs. Let me know if any of that is wrong.
So in my $11K Disco (aiming to increase), $18,750 total credit, example:
Month 1: Put monthly $6K spend on Disco, pay off $400 ($5600 is just under 30% of $18,750)
Month 2: Add half-month $3K spend ($8600), pay off $600 mid cycle ($8K), add another half-month $3K spend (hit $11K limit), pay off $5400 ($5600 statement close again)
Month 3: Repeat month 2
Month 4: Request CLI. Let’s say they give me $5K increase to $16K. Now $23,750 total credit ($7100 would be just under 30%). So I add $6K monthly spend to $5600 owing = $11,600. Now I add $3400 in delayed larger purchases to hit the new $15K limit. Pay $7900 before statement close ($7100).
Month 5: $7100 + $6K monthly spend = $13,100. Add $1900 in one-off purchases to hit CL then pay $7900 again.
Month 6: Repeat month 5
Month 7: Apply for CLI. And so on until one of us taps out
Oh no, @Anonymous. I don't think you understand how this works and you're greatly over-complicating things, IMO. Just to clarify, you do not have to "carry" a balance or pay a penny of interest on your cards to get credit limit increases. This is a common misunderstanding. An individual lender will recognize your new charge activity without having to let balances post. Using the card and paying it is what counts, not the posted balance. There are some of us who pay our balances in full before the statement cut and may make multiple payments per month.
On the other hand, the "30%" utilization that is often referenced on some credit websites is a great simplification of the concept. There are certain "score breaks" that have been identified and published but exactly 30% is not one of them. It's best to think of utilization is more of a sliding scale, not a hard and fast limit. And there's nothing particularly magical about 30%. Also there are break points that vary between either individual and/or total utilization ratios. Ideally, somewhere between 1% to 8.9% aggregate is the real target if you aren't taking it to the extent of Azeo. Please see THIS LINK where I detailed utilization concepts more closely.
Bank of America Preferred Rewards tiers begin at $20K with "Gold"; then goes to "Platinum" at $50K; and "Platinum Honors" with $100K+. They also recently added "Diamond" ($1M+) and "Diamond Honors" ($10M+) tiers. And yes, investments with Merrill Lynch do count.
