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Hello all, I have a Capital one card, 100% on time every month for 1.5 years *since I had it, so never late on this account. About 2-6% utilization rate, and 750 TU, 736EQ and 671 EX - I have a $1000 limit on my Capital One card, and they deny me all the time for a credit increase. They say I don't use it enough. I don't want to go above 10% utilization. But they will have me open a second account.
I don't understand the logic since I'll have more credit from the same bank.
I was thinking of moving up to the Capital One Venture card, and I'm approved, but didn't take it.
What is the advantage and/or disadvantage of having two cards by the same company?
@An_educated_consumer wrote:Hello all, I have a Capital one card, 100% on time every month for 1.5 years *since I had it, so never late on this account. About 2-6% utilization rate, and 750 TU, 736EQ and 671 EX - I have a $1000 limit on my Capital One card, and they deny me all the time for a credit increase. They say I don't use it enough. I don't want to go above 10% utilization. But they will have me open a second account.
I don't understand the logic since I'll have more credit from the same bank.
I was thinking of moving up to the Capital One Venture card, and I'm approved, but didn't take it.
What is the advantage and/or disadvantage of having two cards by the same company?
1. Using the card and "going above 10% utilization" are two different things.
You can spend $1000 on your $1000 card in 1 month, but as long as by time the statement is generated, your balance is $100 (which you do by paying off the bill before the statement is generated), your uitlization will still be 10%. This will show Cap1 that you are "using" the card and put yourself in a better position for a CLI.
2. Cap1's lower limit cards often don't get better limits for a whole bunch of complicated reasons that you have no control over even if you had 200k income and an 850 credit score.
If the Venture card is a good fit for you (would the Quicksilver/Savor One be better for you?) and you have a preapproval for it, you might get a much higher limit then your $1k CL now. Having two cards is just like having one card. You get two seperate bills. Two seperate cards. Two seperate credit card accounts that can both be accessed through your Capital One account.
3. Advantage of having two cards with the same company, it's easier to manage through one online account.
Disavantage? If they don't want you as a customer anymore, you lose two accounts instead of one.
I have 3. Went thru 2 others like you that were bucketed to start the rebuild. Cap1 get some flak on here. But if your still in rebuild mode. No problem. But in due time move up to other banks. Dont put all your eggs in one basket.
@An_educated_consumer wrote:Hello all, I have a Capital one card, 100% on time every month for 1.5 years *since I had it, so never late on this account. About 2-6% utilization rate, and 750 TU, 736EQ and 671 EX - I have a $1000 limit on my Capital One card, and they deny me all the time for a credit increase. They say I don't use it enough. I don't want to go above 10% utilization. But they will have me open a second account.
I don't understand the logic since I'll have more credit from the same bank.
I was thinking of moving up to the Capital One Venture card, and I'm approved, but didn't take it.
What is the advantage and/or disadvantage of having two cards by the same company?
Advantage: Easier to manage. Disadvantage: If for some inscrutable reason they suspect fraud or otherwise decide there's a problem, you might end up with multiple accounts frozen. In general, it's probably best to have a mix. Too many accounts become a pain to manage, but it's always good to have some diversity/backups just in case.
I'm in a similar boat. They've offered me the Savor One a couple times, but my Quicksilver has been stuck at $300 since I got it 18 months ago. Though while I've had no luck, DPs from other posters suggest 10% spend won't move the needle for Cap1. Reports seem to indicate Cap1 wants to see at least 30-40% utilization, over a period of at least three months. One thing I've never done but other posters suggest might help is let the card report the 30-40% balance every month (I pay mine off early, to keep utilization low). This might be worth a read, because it explains why some Cap1 cards never grow:
If you pull your credit reports regularly from AnnualCreditReport.com, you can see all the account review soft inquiries made by the financial institutions you have a relationship with. IME, Cap1 soft pulls EX and TU. If they're doing the same with you, they're seeing both your high and low score.