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what type of activity does capital one like to see when considering CLIs?

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itsxluigi
New Contributor

Re: what type of activity does capital one like to see when considering CLIs?


@Anonymous wrote:

Having a few low limit cards IMO isn't going to keep someone from [relatively] high limit SLs or CLI potential on other cards.  Lenders do see your entire CR and can see if/that you have higher limit cards and therefore know you can manage higher limit accounts.  I personally don't think growing the QS would have any impact on any of your other accounts or how other lenders view you.


Good to know. I probably won't worry about it too much then. Eventually I'd like to try to go for a few higher end Chase cards, and I might close the Amazon out and transfer the limit over to one of those. That'll really just leave me with my Target and QS right around $2000. I'm hoping by that point I'll have grown the DC, and everything else will be $5000+. The BofA and Discover are both $10k+ already, and I'm hoping when a few inquiries drop off my report, I'll be able to 3x that $6,000 AmEx to $18,000.






Message 11 of 26
Aim_High
Super Contributor

Re: what type of activity does capital one like to see when considering CLIs?


@itsxluigi wrote:


The QS really isn't THAT important to me, besides the fact that if I lost it I'd lose about 13 years of history being my oldest card. That's the only reason I'm keeping that $50 charge on it. I just don't want lenders to see a low limit card in my profile and give me lower starting limits on future cards because of it.

I'm going to disagree with some of the other advice.  If QS is your oldest card at 13 years, you want to continue to groom that history and not jeopardize it.  Current credit account age is important as well as age of oldest accounts.   I doubt Capital One would do a major CLD unless you just abandoned it long-term.  You already have a monthly recurring spend on it, so that helps maintain it, but it's so small that they'll never grow it unless you use it more. 

 

From my experience, they don't expect you to use 80% or more of your credit line to increase it.  They just like to see about three months of consistent use, but that can be smaller swipes too.  For a measly difference of one half-percentage point in cash back rewards, I think it's a fair short-term trade-off. (1.5% vs 2%)  The value of historical accounts on my credit report is worth much more to me that some small cash reward that isn't enough to be life-changing. It's probably no more than a few dollars but I can't buy credit report age for any price.  My Capital One QS is one of my mid-range age cards but it's over 10 years now.  I don't use it every month but I've grown it from a pathetic $1K limit up to $22K over time with a little attention.  To me, the building and maintaining of a solid credit file should always outweigh the significance of cash rewards, points, or SUBs.

 

It's ironic that you've made the Citi DC your daily driver yet they only give you $1200 limit and QS already gives you $2150.  IMO, Citi isn't exactly treating you well when it comes to your goal of increasing limits. And I agree that growing your overall limits (as well as having more higher limit cards) both help to get higher SLs on new apps. 

 

As usual, Discover and Bank of America are much more generous and act like they actually want your business with nice $10.4K and $13.4K limits, yet you've sock-drawered them.  Maybe I'm different but I like it when banks show me they want to do business with me, and it does make me value the cards more and want to continue to grow that relationship.  (My Discover card is my oldest currently open account at 26 years and Bank of America is over 19 years.)


Business Cards


Length of Credit > 40 years; Total Credit Limits >$850K
Top Lender TCL - Chase 156.4 - BofA 99.7 - AMEX 95.0 - CITI 94.5 - NFCU 80.0
AoOA > 30 years (Jun 1993); AoYA (Aug 2023)
* Hover cursor over cards to see name & CL, or press & hold on mobile app.
Message 12 of 26
itsxluigi
New Contributor

Re: what type of activity does capital one like to see when considering CLIs?


@Aim_High wrote:

@itsxluigi wrote:


The QS really isn't THAT important to me, besides the fact that if I lost it I'd lose about 13 years of history being my oldest card. That's the only reason I'm keeping that $50 charge on it. I just don't want lenders to see a low limit card in my profile and give me lower starting limits on future cards because of it.

I'm going to disagree with some of the other advice.  If QS is your oldest card at 13 years, you want to continue to groom that history and not jeopardize it.  Current credit account age is important as well as age of oldest accounts.   I doubt Capital One would do a major CLD unless you just abandoned it long-term.  You already have a monthly recurring spend on it, so that helps maintain it, but it's so small that they'll never grow it unless you use it more. 

 

From my experience, they don't expect you to use 80% or more of your credit line to increase it.  They just like to see about three months of consistent use, but that can be smaller swipes too.  For a measly difference of one half-percentage point in cash back rewards, I think it's a fair short-term trade-off. (1.5% vs 2%)  The value of historical accounts on my credit report is worth much more to me that some small cash reward that isn't enough to be life-changing. It's probably no more than a few dollars but I can't buy credit report age for any price.  My Capital One QS is one of my mid-range age cards but it's over 10 years now.  I don't use it every month but I've grown it from a pathetic $1K limit up to $22K over time with a little attention.  To me, the building and maintaining of a solid credit file should always outweigh the significance of cash rewards, points, or SUBs.

 

It's ironic that you've made the Citi DC your daily driver yet they only give you $1200 limit and QS already gives you $2150.  IMO, Citi isn't exactly treating you well when it comes to your goal of increasing limits. And I agree that growing your overall limits (as well as having more higher limit cards) both help to get higher SLs on new apps. 

 

As usual, Discover and Bank of America are much more generous and act like they actually want your business with nice $10.4K and $13.4K limits, yet you've sock-drawered them.  Maybe I'm different but I like it when banks show me they want to do business with me, and it does make me value the cards more and want to continue to grow that relationship.  (My Discover card is my oldest currently open account at 26 years and Bank of America is over 19 years.)


So let me try to explain some of my reasoning between my cards and usage, etc. I've just been able to start cleaning up some of my "mess" by actually paying attention to my budget a bit more, and basically... just not acting stupidly with "free money" aka credit.

 

I don't really like playing the reward game, paying attention to rotating categories and all that. To me the convenience of carrying one or two cards is worth more than the few extra dollars I might get with random quarterly 5% categories that I have to pay attention to on a calendar, remember to "opt in", etc. This is my reasoning for going with the flat 2% with the DC instead of cards like the BofA and the Discover. My Discover is 5+ years, and my BofA is I think a little over 4 years, with my DC only being 13 months. I was hoping for a little quicker growth, but with the high utilization (plus I have a ton of inquiries from trying to pad my utilization instead of just paying stuff off), I haven't been able to raise the DC higher than the QS as quick as I wanted to.

 

Up until about a year ago, my utilization was about 80%+ overall, which kept me from getting any decent CLIs and being able to grow cards such as the DC. My BofA was at 99% up until a few months ago (with a limit of about 9k), and my Discover was at about 95% until about the same time. I was able to make good progress on the BofA, get it paid off, which allowed me to get a CLI to the 13k, and then did a BT to pay off the Discover with that new BofA limit and promo rate of 0% for a year. It was really hard for me to use these cards with their 90%+, which is why I've had them sock drawered. The BofA is my only card still carrying a balance (roughly $9500/$13400) so I don't really want to be using that card while I'm trying to pay it down. Especially with the 0% BT promo rate. If I start adding charges, any payments I make will go towards the 0% and I'll still get hit with interest on the new charges.






Message 13 of 26
Lucifer
Frequent Contributor

Re: what type of activity does capital one like to see when considering CLIs?

I have a couple low limit cards (I'm looking at you Capital one!) but CHase still just opened me up at 10k.    

 

I have other 10K plus cards as well.   It's never hurt me to have the low limit one or 2 cards (glaring over at cap 1 again)  hanging around...

 

As for Cap 1, well they like usage and PIF or multiple pays.     Which they might get more of if my limit wasn't so     **bleep**    low     1500?  Really?   Useless.  But it's old so it stays....

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Message 14 of 26
M_Smart007
Legendary Contributor

Re: what type of activity does capital one like to see when considering CLIs?

 

I know they like to see a HP on each of your bureaus, but not mineSmiley Very Happy (No Cap1)

 

sorry, just could'nt resist.Smiley Tongue

 

 

Message 15 of 26
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: what type of activity does capital one like to see when considering CLIs?


@Aim_High wrote:


I'm going to disagree with some of the other advice.  If QS is your oldest card at 13 years, you want to continue to groom that history and not jeopardize it.  Current credit account age is important as well as age of oldest accounts.  


Aim High, no one is suggesting that the OP "abandon" the QS card; the OP has stated that he's got a recurring charge on it, which is more than sufficient to keep it open.  In terms of keeping one's oldest account alive, that's all that's required.  Moving spend from the DC to the QS and giving up that half percent in rewards isn't going to increase the OPs chances of that card not being shut down or anything, so I'm not really understanding your advice.

Message 16 of 26
Aim_High
Super Contributor

Re: what type of activity does capital one like to see when considering CLIs?

@itsxluigi wrote:


So let me try to explain some of my reasoning between my cards and usage, etc. I've just been able to start cleaning up some of my "mess" by actually paying attention to my budget a bit more, and basically... just not acting stupidly with "free money" aka credit.

 

I don't really like playing the reward game, paying attention to rotating categories and all that. To me the convenience of carrying one or two cards is worth more than the few extra dollars I might get with random quarterly 5% categories that I have to pay attention to on a calendar, remember to "opt in", etc. This is my reasoning for going with the flat 2% with the DC instead of cards like the BofA and the Discover. My Discover is 5+ years, and my BofA is I think a little over 4 years, with my DC only being 13 months. I was hoping for a little quicker growth, but with the high utilization (plus I have a ton of inquiries from trying to pad my utilization instead of just paying stuff off), I haven't been able to raise the DC higher than the QS as quick as I wanted to.

 

Up until about a year ago, my utilization was about 80%+ overall, which kept me from getting any decent CLIs and being able to grow cards such as the DC. My BofA was at 99% up until a few months ago (with a limit of about 9k), and my Discover was at about 95% until about the same time. I was able to make good progress on the BofA, get it paid off, which allowed me to get a CLI to the 13k, and then did a BT to pay off the Discover with that new BofA limit and promo rate of 0% for a year. It was really hard for me to use these cards with their 90%+, which is why I've had them sock drawered. The BofA is my only card still carrying a balance (roughly $9500/$13400) so I don't really want to be using that card while I'm trying to pay it down. Especially with the 0% BT promo rate. If I start adding charges, any payments I make will go towards the 0% and I'll still get hit with interest on the new charges.

 

Well, that does help to explain a few things.  I'm glad you're getting a handle on the temptation to use more of your credit lines than your budget allows.  That's always a pitfall and of course, the banks take advantage of us when we fall into that trap.  It takes a reframing of your perspective to not think about the credit line as "free money."  As you probably know the old saying, "nothing in life is free!"  So I don't blame you for 'sock-drawering' cards carrying a balance transfer, although I don't consider a card with a balance transfer as sock-drawered.  You're using it, just not for purchases. 

 

I'm totally with you on the rotating categories confusion.  I like things simple also.  My original Discover card from 26 years ago was flat cash-back from a time when any kind of cash-back card was the exception.  Eventually they came out with the categories, but I opted for the Chrome card which I use lightly (since I get 2% on gas and restaurants but only up to $1000 per quarter.)  But that is an option for you also, which would give you the same rate as your DC for the first $1K.  Actually, with the 10% bump you can get on gift card redemptions with Discover, you could get 2.1% on the first $1K with the Chrome.  (Example: $45 gets you $50 for some cards.)  I have also considered getting the MILES card because even though they call it MILES, it performs like a cash-back card and pays 1.5% on everything, no caps.  The first year (if I get a new card to later combine with the old limit), I would get 3% back since they match your 1.5% at end of year one.  So if you did a PC, either the Chrome or Miles would give you an option to lightly use the Discover card just to keep it active for a small trade-off in cashback.   I did opt for the Chase Freedom rotating category card recently but only because I got the Chase Quadfecta (CSR-CFU-CF-INK) where I can combine Ultimate Rewards points for a bonus.

 

Since you haven't used the Bank of America Cash Rewards card lately, they have made it a lot more useful a few months ago when they started allowing you to pick your 3% category and to change it once every calendar month.  You get 3% in your selected category (gas, online shopping, dining, travel, drug stores, or home improvement/furnishings) and 2% at grocery/wholesale clubs up to a maximum combined of $10K per year ($2.5K per quarter).  Then 1% on everything else.  So depending on your spend patterns, it actually can be a pretty reasonable card for a simple go-to for most everything.  Or you could combine it with a card like the Citi DC.

 

BofA pays a 10% bonus when you redeem rewards to checking account also.  And then a 25%-50%-75% bonus when you have deposits with them starting at $20K for the Preferred Rewards program.  While you probably don't have that kind of savings sitting around now if you're paying down BT's, it could be a goal to save for in the future.  That deposit amount can be invested with Merrill Lynch including IRA accounts, so you don't have to have it sitting in a low-interest bank account. 

 

Similar to the MILES card with Discover, if you want a flat 1.5% back with BofA, you could probably PC the Cash Back card to the Travel Rewards card, which basically earns 1.5% back when redeemed for travel.  I need to look into this more, but the disclosure states "Bonus Points At The Travel Center: Earn 3 points (consisting of 1.5 bonus points and 1.5 base points) for every $1 in Net Purchases, excluding insurance purchases, made through the Travel Center, with no limit on the number of bonus points you can earn" so it sounds to me like you can effectively get 3% back with it when redeemed for travel. (Note: If you cash these points instead of travel redemption, they pay out poorly at only 6/10 of a penny per point.)

 

PCing the cards to a more useful product can be one way to keep them "alive" easier so you don't lose the account age.  Who knows, eventually one or both of them may come out with another credit product that you really want and then you'd be able to PC into that one as well.  All of my oldest cards (20+ years) have been PC'd at least once over the years.

 


Business Cards


Length of Credit > 40 years; Total Credit Limits >$850K
Top Lender TCL - Chase 156.4 - BofA 99.7 - AMEX 95.0 - CITI 94.5 - NFCU 80.0
AoOA > 30 years (Jun 1993); AoYA (Aug 2023)
* Hover cursor over cards to see name & CL, or press & hold on mobile app.
Message 17 of 26
Aim_High
Super Contributor

Re: what type of activity does capital one like to see when considering CLIs?


@Lucifer wrote:

I have a couple low limit cards (I'm looking at you Capital one!) but CHase still just opened me up at 10k.    

I have other 10K plus cards as well.   It's never hurt me to have the low limit one or 2 cards (glaring over at cap 1 again)  hanging around...

As for Cap 1, well they like usage and PIF or multiple pays.     Which they might get more of if my limit wasn't so     **bleep**    low     1500?  Really?   Useless.  But it's old so it stays....


Yeah, that was me also.  Capital One is well-known for conservative limits, both SL and CLIs.

 

I got a Visa Platinum from them in 2009 when my other limits were about $5K to $15K.  I needed it for a BT offer.  They gave me that $1K limit and I was annoyed and offended that they low-balled me.  It was worthless for the BT I needed, so I SD'd the card.  Eventually they came out with the QS and I PC'd to that and began using it some for the cash-back.  With some TLC (although not constant use), I've grown it from $1K to $22K over several years, but that took time and patience.  Now, it's over 10 years old and adding to my overall account age, so I think I'll keep it.  Except for the lower limit and slow, difficult increases, I've been very pleased with Capital One overall. 


Business Cards


Length of Credit > 40 years; Total Credit Limits >$850K
Top Lender TCL - Chase 156.4 - BofA 99.7 - AMEX 95.0 - CITI 94.5 - NFCU 80.0
AoOA > 30 years (Jun 1993); AoYA (Aug 2023)
* Hover cursor over cards to see name & CL, or press & hold on mobile app.
Message 18 of 26
Aim_High
Super Contributor

Re: what type of activity does capital one like to see when considering CLIs?


@Anonymous wrote:

@Aim_High wrote:


I'm going to disagree with some of the other advice.  If QS is your oldest card at 13 years, you want to continue to groom that history and not jeopardize it.  Current credit account age is important as well as age of oldest accounts.

Aim High, no one is suggesting that the OP "abandon" the QS card; the OP has stated that he's got a recurring charge on it, which is more than sufficient to keep it open.  In terms of keeping one's oldest account alive, that's all that's required.  Moving spend from the DC to the QS and giving up that half percent in rewards isn't going to increase the OPs chances of that card not being shut down or anything, so I'm not really understanding your advice.


@BrutalBodyShots, you missed part of my posting.  After the part you quoted above, I also said,  "I doubt Capital One would do a major CLD unless you just abandoned it long-term.  You already have a monthly recurring spend on it, so that helps maintain it, but it's so small that they'll never grow it unless you use it more."  So I acknowledged that the small recurring charge would probably be enough to keep it open (UNLESS OP just 'abandoned' the card in longterm sock drawer, for which Capital One might CLD or close it.) 

 

The title of the thread and OP's question was regarding what activity is necessary to get Capital One to increase the credit line, not what activity is necessary to simply keep the card open.  The small recurring charge, from my experience, will not be enough to ever grow the card but it would probably keep it open.

 

If OP wants to grow the Capital One card, moving some uncategoried spend from the DC card would probably be required.  But IMO, that can be a worthwhile short-term trade-off for growing the credit line and making the card more useful in the overall picture.  A higher limit would give more options if BT's are desired and does help raise average credit lines when a lender reviews a report for potential new lines of credit.  And the Citi DC line may not always be there, or could be nerfed in value, or be fully utilized when OP needs to place an exceptional charge.  From my experience, with most lenders, new lines of credit normally do mirror very closely what existing lines someone has already demonstrated that they can successfully manage, so increasing overall limits has great value even if you don't expect to use the card fully. (I never expect to use the current $22K on my Capital One QS card but it's nice to have and I plan to grow it to $25K with my next CLI.)

 

To restate, the value of historical accounts on my credit report is worth much more to me that some small cash reward that isn't enough to be life-changing. It's probably no more than a few dollars but I can't buy credit report age for any price.  ... To me, the building and maintaining of a solid credit file should always outweigh the significance of cash rewards, points, or SUBs.

 


Business Cards


Length of Credit > 40 years; Total Credit Limits >$850K
Top Lender TCL - Chase 156.4 - BofA 99.7 - AMEX 95.0 - CITI 94.5 - NFCU 80.0
AoOA > 30 years (Jun 1993); AoYA (Aug 2023)
* Hover cursor over cards to see name & CL, or press & hold on mobile app.
Message 19 of 26
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: what type of activity does capital one like to see when considering CLIs?

I don't disagree with what you're saying.  I do believe that even though the OPs thread title suggest the QS card is his target, he really seems to be about growing any of his limits in order to have higher limits visible to other lenders.  That being said, my feeling on the subject is that the DC card would grow quicker/steadier than the QS card, simply because for all we know the QS card may be bucketed.  My suggestion would be simply to stay the course and roll with the spend on the DC card as he's doing, as that card IMO would grow quicker and a (say) year from now could probably net him the larger aggregate gain.  Totally his choice, though and there's no way of "knowing" what will work here.  I know that after I got my DC card I gave very little spend to my QS and saw no reason to continue trying to grow it as the card was sort of rendered irrelevant.  I then did a PC to the Savor so that I again had a worthwhile/meaningful card relative to my other cards.

Message 20 of 26
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