Examples of credit being "too good" for something?

[sarge12]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Octopus and sarge, both of you have indicated that you have a card or cards that you have not been able to get CLIs on.  From what I saw though, neither of you indicated whether or not you are requesting (and getting denied) CLIs or if you both are referring to auto CLIs simply not happening.

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Sometimes requested and denied....and I have never recieved an auto CLI except once a long time ago. Any requested CLI's are at best 50/50 and usually fairly small increases. Most starting credit limits however are usually 10k or better, at least the last few have been. I do not request CLI's very often.

[Anonymous]

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@sarge12 wrote:

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Sometimes requested and denied....and I have never recieved an auto CLI except once a long time ago. Any requested CLI's are at best 50/50 and usually fairly small increases. Most starting credit limits however are usually 10k or better, at least the last few have been. I do not request CLI's very often.

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Gotcha, thanks.  Do you chalk up the small increases or denials up to "not enough use of current credit limit" for the most part?

[Anonymous]

Last year somebody referenced an internal memo he had found from Wells Fargo.  The memo said that one of the things they look for when they are considering a CLI request is what that person's individual utilization is on that card.  Apparently the sweet spot is 21-29%.  Too small and almost by definition you don't need the CLI.  Too high and you are engaging in risky amounts of spending.

Your total utilization can be quite low -- this was WF looking at the individual U for the card in question.

So if a person is looking to get a CLI, that's something he can always consider: i.e. see if he can raise his reported utilization to 21% on that card.  Once it is reporting 21% then ask for the CLI. 

That strategy only makes sense if you can do that without spending any more than you normally would: Or if you are essentially pushing money onto the card in a way that ultimately costs you nothing or almost nothing (e.g. buying huge gift cards at a merchant you know you will buy stuff at anyway, using the CC to fund a new bank account and get a cash promotion, etc.).

Eventually all people will need to face the fact their credit limits are so large that the issuers just won't give them anything more, due to the size of their current total credit limit and current reported income.  Which is fine too.

[Anonymous]

That makes sense with the utilization amount of the card one is considering a CLI request with.  Such a sweet spot could definitely exist based on risk/reward verses perceived need for a greater CL.

[sarge12]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@sarge12 wrote:

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Sometimes requested and denied....and I have never recieved an auto CLI except once a long time ago. Any requested CLI's are at best 50/50 and usually fairly small increases. Most starting credit limits however are usually 10k or better, at least the last few have been. I do not request CLI's very often.

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Gotcha, thanks.  Do you chalk up the small increases or denials up to "not enough use of current credit limit" for the most part?

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Yes often the denial letter clearly states insufficiant use of current CL on existing credit card account...no mystery there.

[Anonymous]

Brutal,

I was referring to not getting any auto CL increases. But early yesterday morning, I logged into Discover and manually requested an increase online. Voila...a $6.5K instant increase from $16K to $22.5K! I did the same for Amex, my CL was $5.7k. I read about the 3X increase successes and decided to take the plunge. I asked for $17K and was instantly bumped to $17K. If I had known these were soft pulls, I would have requested increases years ago. Thanks to all the info posted in this thread!

[Anonymous]

Sarge,

I'm afraid to admit, I have OCD like you. When I said some cards are paid 5-6 times a month, it's more like every time a pending charge settles it's instantly paid off. BOFA only allows 4 website payments a month, for that reason I don't use it as a go-to card since they clearly want a balance to build up. Some cards allow payments when the balance is $0 but there are pending charges. I'll even make a payment in those instances. Like you, this works well for me and has gotten me to credit perfection. I hate owing anyone money. All my utility bills are on auto-pay, as well as my  credit cards in case I somehow forget to make a payment.

After living through the horror of maxxing out my cards several years ago (I racked up $65-70k in debt), I never want to fall into that trap again and that is the prime reason for my payments OCD. 

[sarge12]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Sarge,

I'm afraid to admit, I have OCD like you. When I said some cards are paid 5-6 times a month, it's more like every time a pending charge settles it's instantly paid off. BOFA only allows 4 website payments a month, for that reason I don't use it as a go-to card since they clearly want a balance to build up. Some cards allow payments when the balance is $0 but there are pending charges. I'll even make a payment in those instances. Like you, this works well for me and has gotten me to credit perfection. I hate owing anyone money. All my utility bills are on auto-pay, as well as my  credit cards in case I somehow forget to make a payment.

After living through the horror of maxxing out my cards several years ago (I racked up $65-70k in debt), I never want to fall into that trap again and that is the prime reason for my payments OCD. 

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Also like you I had exactly the opposite years ago with maxed out cards, and always paying the minimum. It was not until I learned I had an addictive nature that the solution to all my problems became clear. If you have an addictive nature, you will keep repeating the same actions over and over compulsively. I do not believe it is possible to actually change that...once an addict, always an addict. I did find out however that if you force yourself to do the opposite, it will be hard at first, but in time the act of paying debts can become just as strong of an addiction. Now I know I'm still addicted, just to a different behavior that took some time to actually become a new addiction. To a person with addictive nature, habits are a powerful force.

[Anonymous]

Hey Sarge, hey Octopus.  Just to clarify, you guys don't have all of your cards reporting $0, right?  You let at least one card report a positive balance?

[sarge12]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Hey Sarge, hey Octopus.  Just to clarify, you guys don't have all of your cards reporting $0, right?  You let at least one card report a positive balance?

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For me, one card I have is at a credit union that my sister belongs to also. I was not using that card and my sister owed money to IRS making payments. I put her as AU on that card and let her use the card, and pay the bill. That cards APR is 6.99%, and she does carry a balance of about 30%, so she pays some interest, but all charges on the card are hers. All the other cards are PIF as fast as they post. The card my sister uses takes care of the EO in AZEO. All I do is the AZ part.