Yep. I've also noticed that trend. Seems part of the trick is to get in early (with pretty decent reports / scores) before you begin acquiring high limits from other lenders.
@Anonymous wrote:I thought that might be the case. This is another theory that I have with respect to potential Discover "bucketing," where Discover seems to throw a limit out there in excess (sometimes 2X-3X) of your current highest limit to many people. It seems that many times these people get their strongest CL from Discover and then receive CLIs at a strong rate in order to attempt to stay "#1" for that individual. My highest (only) open CC at the time I was approved for Discover was $3500 (highest closed was $10k) and Discover started me at $12,500.
I guess I may fit into your bucket. My scores were between 641TU, 671EX, and 675EQ or right around there. BK 13 on the file and several 60-90 lates at the time, but all where withina few months of falling off. I only had one open secured CapOne with a 400 limit at the time. They gave me an initial 12K SL( which blew me away), then at about 3 months, I clicked the button and got another 4K. I've got a couple of 500 CLI and one 1K since then for a total of 18K now.
I did try for one a couple of weeks ago and was denied for not enough experience with current limits, but I do have about 20% utilization on it right now, so that may have been the reason too as with all the other CLI's I just had a small balance.
Oldest account is 13 years and the average is between 7-8 years.
I have a couple of closed revolvers with the highest being 2K and it has been closed quite a while. Will hit the 10 year mark next year and it is only on EQ. They did HP my EQ and EX when I applied, so not sure which gave the approval.
There were no other revolvers on my account except the 400 dollars CapOne at the time. Years ago, there would have been some higher limits in the 10K range, but none of those have been on my report for several years. Unless they have some data that points way back, I don't see how they could know about them
I was actually surprised at the SL I got with that card. It's still my highest CL. I have been able to grow my Amex Magnet from 4K to 12K in the last few months, but I did not have it at the time of Discover approval. Right now I only have the 3 cards in my name and I'm AU on one of my wife's card for a total CL of 31300
@Anonymous wrote:
I'm following the data points in this thread. I've heard disco loves thin/young files but that doesn't seem to be case for my hubby as they won't give him a cli.
I'd love to know if there is some magic formula.
Definitely no magic formulas 
Can you elaborate a bit on his thin/young file at the time of Discover approval? Things like his FICO score at the time of approval, age of accounts factors, file thickness, other revolvers and their limits, any negative info on his report, etc?
@Anonymous wrote:Can you share a little bit about your profile not now, but at the time of your Discover approval?
We all know that it's nearly impossible to "figure out" Discover, but one thing we all do when attempting to do so is compare our profiles now rather than what they were at the time of approval. It's not unreasonable to think that accounts could be "bucketed" to some degree from the day they're born based on profile data at that time; We know Capital One for example does this in part.
So, if you're one of the lucky ones that has seen strong Discover growth (which for the sake of this discussion I'll define as at least tripling your SL or better), I'd like to hear about what your profile looked like at the time of approval. I'm looking for data such as your FICO score for approval, number of revolvers you had at the time and maybe a little bit about their limits, where your payment history/utilization sat, your age of accounts, etc. I'm also sort of working off of the assumption here that your profile has remained at least equally as strong if not became stronger over time since being approved.
I discussed this topic once buried in another Discover CLI thread and thought I may have started a thread on it a while back, but after searching and a few cocktails I can't be sure, so my apoligies to anyone that may have already shot the breeze with me on this in the past.
My initial hypothesis here is that perhaps the best "bucket" for Discover members is the one where their "target customer" is realized. From reading on this forum its been discussed that Discover seems to prefer thinner files, less revolvers present, relatively low credit lines on other revolvers, and younger files (lower age of accounts factors) if they're clean. For files that are a bit older/thicker, they may like a file that isn't as pretty/perfect... perhaps some moderate (fair) utilization, maybe a few aged baddies, etc. Overall either of this files may land a credit score in the realm of 700; perhaps 670-730 could be considered the general score range for their "ideal" target customer. It seems to me that those approved with scores outside of that range (be it above or below) may struggle more to obtain CLIs, as these individuals may not be a part of the best Discover "bucket" if there is one.
Looking forward to hear back from those that have had strong Discover CLI success. Thanks to all that contribute, as always.
I applaud your effort to try to find a pattern to Discover CLI success, but I read this forum as much as you do and have never seen anything to support (a) your "initial hypothesis" that the better CLI's go to Discover's "ideal target customers", or (b) your description of what you believe the "ideal target customer" is.
I believe it's not a "nearly impossible" task, but an impossible task, because the rationality you search for doesn't exist among the Discover keyboard monkeys.
But more power to you. If you find the elusive answer to this question, you will have done a service.
