In the new GETTING and KEEPING high credit scores FAQ , we keep seeing questions from people who aren't so much interested in that specific topic (high scores) as they are in accumulating large credit limits.
That subject (and thread!) is massive enough without veering off into this related subject. Moreover, FW is cluttered with many repetitive posts and threads where people state very similar circumstances and then end with, "what should I do?" So, the purpose of this thread is to serve as a single place to ask and answer questions about getting bigger credit lines. I would appreciate it if, before asking a question about your own specific situation, you would do other FWFer's the courtesy of reading through the OP--AS WELL AS the other replies, at least until the thread grows too long.
OK, here are some preliminaries.
I. REASONS FOR WANTING LARGER LINES
I'm sure I'm not the only one who's chuckled at the number of recent posts asking how to get lines that are "large enough", without any details about what the poster's goals are. Before deciding what your targets will be for your line sizes, please consider this list of reasons and refine your questions accordingly (Also, please help me refine this list of reasons, as I'm sure I'm missing some.)
A. More purchasing flexibilty. This one is the most obvious. If I have a $25,000 rewards line, I probably don't have to worry about going over the limit regardless of how much spending I do in a month. Indeed, if this is the main reason for a larger line, $5,000 would be more than adequate for probably 90% of FWF members.
B. A bigger emergency "reserve fund." A great feature about credit cards is that they allow you to get quick cash when you really need it, without getting approved for a loan application. (Of course, a person who does this in a naive way could set themselves up for very high interest, but that's another discussion.) If I have $20,000 in unused, unsecured, reasonable-rate credit available, I can rest a bit easier knowing that if a medical or other tragedy should strike, I have that to fall back on.
C. Lower "credit utilization" at any given usage level. As discussed in detail on the score thread, lower utilization helps your scores and your overall credit profile. So even if you'll never "need" a $10,000 limit on your card, it's MUCH better to have this limit than, say, a $3,000 limit if you cycle often closes at $2,500 a month.
D. Better return from investing promotional-rate money. The "Investing w/ credit lines" thread goes into plenty of detail about how one can make money useing their promotional rates. For our purposes here, it's enough to observe that bigger lines = bigger profit for essentially the same hassle factor. Indeed, it's even better than that once tranfer fees are introduced. It probably doesn't make sense to do a 12 month at 0% offer on a $2,000 line if there's a $75 fee. But if it's a $20,000 line, there's a MUCH GREATER than 10x return available.
E. If you raise one, others may follow. I've seen dozens of instances in which creditor A was willing to increase a line to $x only after creditor B already did so. This is especially true with limits of $50,000 or below. There is some logic to this: if other creditors have found you worthy of $10K, then that is one reason for thinking it wouldn't be imprudent to for us to grant you $10K as well. And beyond logic, banks and creditors love to play follow the leader. (And after all, while they can't see or easily confirm your income, they can see your (reported) credit limits based on the inquiry they just did.)
After mulling these over, one should have a better sense of what their goals for line sizes are. Having explored that, let's move on to:
II. HOW TO MAKE YOUR LINES LARGER
A. DO YOUR HOMEWORK!!! Yeah, yeah, you say...but this isn't just a nag. Believe me, you will be FAR better equipped to obtain large lines if you have spend the time needed to familiarize yourself with various line-increase tactics discussed here and elsewhere. Card issuer policies differ, sometimes dramatically, and careful searching and reading here will familiarize you with which strategies should be most promising and along with possible pitfalls to avoid (like American Express's dreaded "Financial Review"). Moreover, posters at FWF and elsewhere will be far more inclined to give you useful help if it's clear you don't need to be "spoon fed." One useful step, especially if you've got five-figure lines already, is to see what has actually worked for other FWF members at the LARGE credit lines thread.
B. Cover the basics: keep the report flawless and scores high. Following the rules in the scores thread won't guarantee you high limits, but they'll make it MUCH, MUCH easier to do so.
C. Report your income as generously as the apps allow. While it's against the law to lie about your income for purposes of obtaining credit, there's no reason you can't report income in the manner most favorable to your situation. The classic case is when the application form asks for "household income" only. Well, if you live with roommates or parents, it isn't technically inaccurate to include an estimate of all that income. Of course, if they asked you to document YOUR income, that would be a different matter. But 99 times out of 100, they won't. And if they do, you can answer truthfully.
D. Consider requesting balance transfers at application time. This is hard to track, but many issuers have seemed to give larger initial credit increases if you're willing to transfer a balance at the time of application. These practices vary considerably, even with the same issuer, so YMMV...but if you have a good "destination" elligible for a balance trasfer (sometimes even a checking account will do), this is a strategy to consider as well. (Thanks SecondCor521 for the reminder).
E. Strategically "spend" credit inquiries on increase requests. FWF contains untold paragraphs waxing enthusiastic on getting NEW lines of credit. But few seem to think carefully about how to bolster current credit lines. Why not get your credit in tip-top shape, along the lines of the credit line thread; and then submit several line increase requests at once, "AOR style"? The great thing is that unless your utilization has grown so high that your lines are cut, you will only be BETTER off 6 months from this "application spree". Why? (a) the significance of the inquiries will fade away, (b) all your lines will be six months older, and (c) at least some of them will almost surely be larger than they otherwise would have been....further boosting your credit score/profile.
F. Watch for "hard inquiry free" line increase opportunities. Some issuers will give you a chance online or over the phone to "see if you're elligible" for a line increase. Often, when you indicate your assent, you'll be prompted that a credit inquiry/check/evaluation will be needed. This ALWAYS means a "hard inquiry". But sometimes, it will instantly approve you without such a prompt. Usually in such cases, you'll get the approval without the "hard inquiry". There's a data thread maintained by dlr3 about what as worked here (thanks markkundinger).
G. Selectively reallocate and consolidate your lines. I explain on the credit score thread that generally, reallocation (moving part of the credit line from card A to card B) is better than consolidation (closing card B and moving it all to card A). But either way, when done carefully, this can be the most rapid and reliable way to crack new "limit tiers." For example, many FWF members haven't cracked $25K on any one line, but have well over $25K with a single issuer...especially after all the mergers (MBNA & BofA; First USA & BankOne & Chase, et cetera). If you're in that situation, then after DOING YOUR HOMEWORK per above, why not see if you can reallocate and consolidate your way to $48K on one and $2K on the other? That might be just the thing to start cracking $25K on your other lines too. For info on which card issuer has been/is allowing which consolidation, please visit SIS's reallocation data-points thread.
H. A special note about AU status and line sizes. In the credit score thread I discussed the strategic use of "authorized user" status. In the context of getting larger lines, it can be even more helpful. For example, suppose your largest line is $5K, but your parents have a 10-year old line with their credit union for $25K. Well, odds are that if you're made an AU on that line, creditors will be much more willing to move your other lines closer up to that $25K...especially if you can provide decent sized income numbers to match. (I've actually done this for a couple of close friends, and it's worked like a charm.) Are your parents/friends/siblings wary of trusting you with that much credit? That's not mean of them, they're just being smart! What we did was, I made them AU, but they never even saw the card or the number, as it was sent to my address. They had no plastic to charge up, and literally didn't even know who to call to find out their number. Now of course I'm not suggesting that this will be much of a deterrent if someone's determined to charge up their new AU card. But if you proposed to Mom or Dad, "hey, if you make me an AU, it will help me, and I don't even want you to give me the card or number...", it might provide the assurance they need to get you that coveted status.
No doubt they'll be much more editing to come, but hopefully that will get us started. As always, comments, suggestions, and on-topic questions are most appreciated. TIA, and I hope this is useful.
(This post and others written by its author in this forum are hereby licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.5 License , subject to enforceable restrictions of the Fatwallet user agreement.)
Good post. This is relavent to my interests, as I am fairly young (24) and am currently bound by that first limit of 10k on two of my cards. Maybe with a little work I can get up to that 25k mark. I'd like to play the BT game after I get my first house, so if I could have at least 50k in credit, it would make it much more worth my while.
Thanks for the informative post!
chipcollector
Senior Member
posted: Jul. 23, 2006 @ 7:56p
I've done re-allocations with MBNA and CHASE. They are relatively easy and straight-forward. Any experience with BofA ? I'm thinking of applying for the new BofA AMEX card and (after reeipt of the new card) re-allocating some of my BofA VISA line.
Has anyone done this yet?
markkundinger
Senior Member - 2K
posted: Jul. 23, 2006 @ 8:09p
Here's an easy subject.
"Soft pulls" on your existing cards
Often, requesting an increased line of credit results in a new inquiry to your credit report by the lender (a "hard" inquiry). While one or two inquiries isn't a big deal, if you're in the middle of an app-o-rama, you want to conserve those for important things.
Fortunately, number of issuers have "Credit Limit Increase" request buttons on their websites, or automated phone systems to request a CLI. In general, if these links don't have a disclaimer that mentioned accessing a credit report, then you can click them. For instance, AMEX has perhaps the best known credit limit increase button. If you click it, you might get an instant increase. But, If you get a form that you need to fill out, then that will result in a new inquiry on your report.
Each card issuer may impose it's own limits (no increases over $25k, account must be open at least 6 months, one request per month, etc.).
These soft request are a good source of "low-hanging fruit" if you've had your cards for a while and see what you can do to boost your limit.
Increases through usage (or lack thereof
Many issuers will also increase limits over time. The factors that are considered vary by issuer, and are perhaps more mysterious than anything else. However, there are a few likely suspects:
- Account age (older is better) - Account balance (having a low current balance is probably useful, lenders don't tend to increase maxed out lines) - Maximum balance or usage (heavy use may tend push an increase).
Is it OT here to mention requesting balance transfers at application time? Not sure if you're limiting this discussion to getting larger existing lines or getting larger lines in general.
2Cor521
mariojm
Senior Member - 2K
posted: Jul. 23, 2006 @ 8:36p
Thanks for this thread, Dave! I'm confused about the relevance of income. Folks in this recent thread have reported receiving double the credit line after leaving out their incomes. I've also read elsewhere (I believe it may have been in Liz Pulliam Weston's book about credit scoring) that students with no income often get higher CL's than when they become working adults, presumably because the parents were going to bail out the student, but later the person has to pay the cards off from his or her own income.
markkundinger said: Many issuers will also increase limits over time. The factors that are considered vary by issuer, and are perhaps more mysterious than anything else. However, there are a few likely suspects:
- Account age (older is better) - Account balance (having a low current balance is probably useful, lenders don't tend to increase maxed out lines) - Maximum balance or usage (heavy use may tend push an increase). While some of these factors make sense, I don't think I will ever understand the mysteries behind these limit increase decisions. Case in point - my AMEX card is just about 2 yrs old and started off with a 4k limit. But 2 yrs later, the limit is $60k. I never asked for the increase but kept on getting a letter almost every quarter announcing the new limit. And its not as if I have a very long credit history, its just about 3 yrs. Not that I am complaining since other issuers have also increased limits pretty substantially following AMEX's lead.
Reallocation is certainly on topic for this thread, but let's not turn it into a "how do you reallocate at x" discussion please. Per markkundinger's helpful suggestion, I've linked dlr3's thread that contains data on who allows this.
SecondCor521, your suggestion on BTs at application is certainly on topic...I've added it to the OP. Thanks for the reminder.
mariojm, you raise a good point about the inconsistancies on income. You're absolutely right that college students often receive better limits while in school than they do afterwards, especially when their first jobs have low pay (and their income is truthfully reported to the credit grantor).
The case of the larger line being given when NO income is reported, is definitely an outlying case. Generally speaking, income will be required for a CLI AND for an initial application. And ALWAYS, more is better, UNLESS it seems un-credible and a human credit analyst decides to intervene, request docus, etc.
bozo007, that "auto-granted" AMEX line in that short a time frame is remarkable. Congrats! Would you consider posting as many details as you can to the LARGE lines thread ?
mariojm
Senior Member - 2K
posted: Jul. 23, 2006 @ 9:07p
bozo007 said: While some of these factors make sense, I don't think I will ever understand the mysteries behind these limit increase decisions. Case in point - my AMEX card is just about 2 yrs old and started off with a 4k limit. But 2 yrs later, the limit is $60k. I never asked for the increase but kept on getting a letter almost every quarter announcing the new limit. And its not as if I have a very long credit history, its just about 3 yrs. Not that I am complaining since other issuers have also increased limits pretty substantially following AMEX's lead.
Very interesting, did you do anything unusual in the 3 years, like win the lottery? My credit history is about equally as long, perhaps a little longer, and my highest card is now 10k. I noticed on one of my cards (local CU-issued) they would never increase my credit line without me asking for it, then I stopped charging to it when my CL was about 5-6k, and now about 2 years later it's gradually increased to 10k!
Someone I know got his first CC in college and built up a 20k credit line while barely ever using the card and never requesting an increase. Then he applied for a different card once he started working and only got $200 CL! (Could it be that his old account was closed due to inactivity and doesn't show on his report? I thought they stay on the report for another 6 or so years?)
mariojm
Senior Member - 2K
posted: Jul. 23, 2006 @ 9:16p
This may be a stupid question, but are there any guidelines available for what kind of CL someone can realistically shoot for given income, length of credit history, etc. if they don't have any negative information in their credit report? Or are there too many factors involved? I'm thinking there are only so many different variables in a credit report and so many similar situations that people are in, there ought to be a similarity. For instance, I make a decent engineer's salary, pay my bills, have a few cards, always pay them off on time, don't have many inquiries; yet my highest CL at 10k seems lower than most folks here. (maybe they just have a much fatter wallet?) Maybe I don't ask aggressively enough? I usually go with the small increases they offer for not pulling a report.
mariojm said: This may be a stupid question, but are there any guidelines available for what kind of CL someone can realistically shoot for given income, length of credit history, etc....Not at all stupid. But it is very much YMMV.
It sounds like you're following all the "rules" as outlined in the credit score thread. The next step is using the strategies above to be more aggressive about bumping those lines up. In time, some of your lines will no doubt rise automatically..but by requesting increases every 6 months to a year on those that don't, reallocating when it makes sense, etc., you'll no doubt be able to pull them up.
Keep in mind that the "CC investing" crowd at FWF is not remotely typical when it comes to line sizes.
SecondCor521
Senior Member
posted: Jul. 23, 2006 @ 11:22p
mariojm said: This may be a stupid question, but are there any guidelines available for what kind of CL someone can realistically shoot for given income, length of credit history, etc. if they don't have any negative information in their credit report? Or are there too many factors involved? I'm thinking there are only so many different variables in a credit report and so many similar situations that people are in, there ought to be a similarity. For instance, I make a decent engineer's salary, pay my bills, have a few cards, always pay them off on time, don't have many inquiries; yet my highest CL at 10k seems lower than most folks here. (maybe they just have a much fatter wallet?) Maybe I don't ask aggressively enough? I usually go with the small increases they offer for not pulling a report.
I think you answered your own question there. I was in a similar situation until I started asking for increases more. Now I have four lines at or above $20K and a total CL of just over $200K. I doubt my income or credit profile is much different from yours. You just have to get into a ballsy FW frame of mind.
2Cor521
dvrice
Senior Member
posted: Jul. 24, 2006 @ 12:00a
A little off topic, but if I was single and fresh out of college, I would get the largest line of credit I could and put my full credit limit along with any free cash all into extremely aggressive stocks (actually I would buy options).
One of two things will happen. You would hit the market or a stock at the right time and make a lot of money (then immediately pay off the debt). The other option is you lose money, can't repay the debt, and file bankruptcy.
The key here is that if you are single with no assets, the risk (filing bankruptcy) is not really that bad. This strategy is similar to what the guy used who wrote the book "Wealth without risk". It has been awile since I read the book, but if I remember correctly he filied bankruptcy twice before becoming a multi-millionaire.
I would love to try this, but I have a house, wife, two kids, Roth IRA's, 401k, etc. Therefore, I cannot take the risk.
I have actually thought of getting divorced (to separate us financially) and giving my wife all the assets, cash, retirement accounts. Then, I could try this strategy as a broke single guy.
mariojm
Senior Member - 2K
posted: Jul. 24, 2006 @ 12:57a
As far as filing bankruptcy for someone fresh out of college, I think they would be in for a decade of trouble paying for insurance, being approved for rent, etc. and may end up far behind in life than someone who does it a less risky way. You can probably get a higher sustained CL and return by not risking everything.
(Edited to bring remark on topic.)
codename47
Senior Member - 3K
posted: Jul. 24, 2006 @ 1:03a
I kinda walk the line between buying options with borrowed money, and doing the CD thing. I like dividend paying stocks, which have been great to me.
On a side note, two things I saw.
#1 you aren't going to generally get what you don't ask for. I ALWAYS ask for the max line. If I get turned down, no big deal. I can come work my way up to the max credit line down the road, but if you only ask for 10k, you probably are't going to get much more than that.
#2 Building credit lines is really key. I have worked up to over 30k with USAA's MC, and I think I had like one credit pull or maybe two the whole way. We are talking 5 or 6 increases over a period of years. You wait 6 months or whatever the timeframe is, then ask for an increase. I know BOA is like 9 months.
DaveHanson said: bozo007, that "auto-granted" AMEX line in that short a time frame is remarkable. Congrats! Would you consider posting as many details as you can to the LARGE lines thread ? Done. I have a suspicion that this may also be linked to my use of an AMEX corporate card which I got in June 2005. Nominal limit on it is $20k with typical monthly spend around $10-15k. While I am not responsible for payment, AMEX did ask for my SSN while issuing me the card (there was no hard pull though).
On a related note, my wife also has a limit of $40k on her own card with no independent income or employment which is only adding to the mystery.
My AMEX TrueEarnings has my fastest growing CL (though not the highest). Opened in fall of 2005 with a $2k limit, used the online form twice for a CLI request and they also gave me an automatic increase. The first time the CL jumped to $8k, I reallocated $2k from a different (<$5k) AMEX, they then increased my CL to $12k, and I asked for another CLI and I now have $15k on it in less than 10 months.
ragnacor1234
Happy Member
posted: Jul. 27, 2006 @ 9:22a
dvrice said: A little off topic, but if I was single and fresh out of college, I would get the largest line of credit I could and put my full credit limit along with any free cash all into extremely aggressive stocks (actually I would buy options).
One of two things will happen. You would hit the market or a stock at the right time and make a lot of money (then immediately pay off the debt). The other option is you lose money, can't repay the debt, and file bankruptcy.
The key here is that if you are single with no assets, the risk (filing bankruptcy) is not really that bad. This strategy is similar to what the guy used who wrote the book "Wealth without risk". It has been awile since I read the book, but if I remember correctly he filied bankruptcy twice before becoming a multi-millionaire.
I would love to try this, but I have a house, wife, two kids, Roth IRA's, 401k, etc. Therefore, I cannot take the risk.
I have actually thought of getting divorced (to separate us financially) and giving my wife all the assets, cash, retirement accounts. Then, I could try this strategy as a broke single guy.
And you wonder why they recently changed the bankruptcy laws... Screwballs like you ruined it for people that really needed the protection.
codename47
Senior Member - 3K
posted: Jul. 27, 2006 @ 9:48a
Half of all BK's were caused by catastrophic medical expenses. Irresponsible people, gamblers, etc... were not a majority or significant percentage.
The only people that messed up the BK bill were lobbyists and people in Congress. Financial companies made tons of money before and are making tons of money now as well.
RS4Rings
Back in Rehab
posted: Jul. 27, 2006 @ 9:50a
I applied for the MBNA Quantum card last week. I called first and asked about how one would go about getting a higher limit since they say CL's up to $250k. I was told you must fill out the application and get the card with whatever limit they decide to start you on. I am now waiting for the card and to find out what limit they gave me. I figure the first step is just get the card and then call about how to increase line. I know some issuers like AMEX will require past couple years of 1040's. I don't know much about moving limits between cards but I have an MBNA card which has a $30k limit and was wondering if it would be dumb to add that line to the Quantum card and then close it. Card is only about 2 years old so I don't think it would affect my score much
SlimJr
Senior Member
posted: Jul. 27, 2006 @ 10:05a
scott1961 said: I applied for the MBNA Quantum card last week. I called first and asked about how one would go about getting a higher limit since they say CL's up to $250k. I was told you must fill out the application and get the card with whatever limit they decide to start you on. I am now waiting for the card and to find out what limit they gave me. I figure the first step is just get the card and then call about how to increase line. I know some issuers like AMEX will require past couple years of 1040's. I don't know much about moving limits between cards but I have an MBNA card which has a $30k limit and was wondering if it would be dumb to add that line to the Quantum card and then close it. Card is only about 2 years old so I don't think it would affect my score much
I think having to wait until after the line is open to know/adjust your credit line is pretty par for the course. If you have a few older cards consoldating your current MBNA card probably won't hurt it too much.
The standard wisdom is that you will hurt your average age a bit and you reduce the number of opportunities to get promo offers by having only one card instead of two.
Also, I know you are very proud of your 800+ credit score and you were upset when your score dropped 8 points. I am not going to attempt to quantify the drop but I just wanted you to be aware that consolidating (which shows up as a closure on your report) could lower your score by a *few* points.
RS4Rings
Back in Rehab
posted: Jul. 27, 2006 @ 10:41a
SlimJr said:
Also, I know you are very proud of your 800+ credit score and you were upset when your score dropped 8 points.
Since I applied for the new card I have not received an alert from MyFico telling me my score changed. Seems they just monitor changes on your Equifax report. I noticed MBNA did the pull from Experian so I just paid the $14.95 to get my current Experian FICO and was very surprised to see a new all time high of 828
SCOTT July 27, 2006
Credit record source: Experian Your FICO score of 828 summarizes the information on your Experian credit report as of July 27, 2006. FICO scores range between 300 and 850™. Higher scores are considered better scores. That is, the higher your score, the more favorably lenders look upon you as a credit risk. Your score is well above the average score of U.S. consumers and clearly demonstrates to lenders that you are an exceptional borrower.
828
The Bottom Line: What a FICO score of 828 means to you More than 75% of the applications for credit in the U.S. last year were decided with the help of a FICO score. Lenders consider many factors in addition to your credit score when making credit decisions. Looking solely at your FICO score, however, most lenders would consider this score as excellent.
This means:
It is extremely unlikely your application for credit cards or for a mortgage or auto loan would be turned down, based on your score alone. You should be able to obtain relatively high credit limits on your credit card. Most lenders will consider offering you their most attractive and most competitive rates. Many lenders will also offer you special incentives and rewards targeted to their "best" customers. It is important to understand that different lenders set their own policies and tolerance for risk when making credit decisions, so there is no single "cutoff score" used by all lenders.
Summary of factors affecting your score The FICO score is calculated based on the information contained in your Experian credit history. While knowing your actual score is a good start, understanding the key factors affecting your FICO score is much more important. These factors will provide you direction on how you can increase or maintain your FICO score over time.
Negative Factors Here are the top factors where you have the most opportunity to take action that will increase your FICO score over time (they are listed in priority of impact on your score):
You have recently been seeking credit or other services, as reflected by the number of inquiries posted on your credit file in the last 12 months More information You have too many accounts that were recently opened
RagingBull
Ancient Member
posted: Jul. 28, 2006 @ 12:49a
Anyone here ever had luck moving a credit line over from a chase business card to a chase personal card? One rep said he could do it then another rep said it can't because they're business and person, but they are both under my ssn anyway.
RagingBull said: Anyone here ever had luck moving a credit line over from a chase business card to a chase personal card? One rep said he could do it then another rep said it can't because they're business and person, but they are both under my ssn anyway.yes read the reallocation thread.
troyb
Member
posted: Jul. 28, 2006 @ 1:20p
SUCKISSTAPLES said: RagingBull said: Anyone here ever had luck moving a credit line over from a chase business card to a chase personal card? One rep said he could do it then another rep said it can't because they're business and person, but they are both under my ssn anyway.yes read the reallocation thread.
I actually had a similar question and could not find an answer on the reallocation thread. Does anyone have experience moving from a Chase personal line to a Chase business line?
Thanks. Troy
grrarrgh
Member
posted: Jul. 28, 2006 @ 2:37p
2 people stated that they were able to do so; I was unable to do so after calling both the personal CSR and business CSR, being fairly persuasive, etc, so YMMV.
I used to get odd effects involving reallocations depending on whether historically, a given card was originally chase issued vs firstusa/bankone issued, but not sure if relevant here. (similarly, when chase was integrating firstusa, i was able to view my card on both online systems, but only get certain BT deals on existing accounts when logged into one system, but not the other.)
mbaker4096
Senior Member - 1K
posted: Jul. 28, 2006 @ 3:25p
troyb said: I actually had a similar question and could not find an answer on the reallocation thread. Does anyone have experience moving from a Chase personal line to a Chase business line?What did Chase tell you when you called them?
C'MON PEOPLE, it doesn't HURT you to call them up and ASK. The worst they can do is say, "no, we can't do that". Why do people think that posting these sort of questions here is helpful?
Get some answers YOURSELF and post the information in the APPROPRIATE thread. (not this one)
Edit: Even if one CSR denies you, try calling back. The first CSR might not have understood what you were asking for and/or known how to do it in their system. It's free and worthwhile to call again and get a second opinion.
troyb said: SUCKISSTAPLES said: RagingBull said: Anyone here ever had luck moving a credit line over from a chase business card to a chase personal card? One rep said he could do it then another rep said it can't because they're business and person, but they are both under my ssn anyway.yes read the reallocation thread.
I actually had a similar question and could not find an answer on the reallocation thread. Does anyone have experience moving from a Chase personal line to a Chase business line?
Thanks. Troy It was asked in the reallocation thread a couple days ago and I answered it there. I also updated the quicksummary there. So the answer is both on the first and last page of the reallocation page.
HOW is it you were not able to find the info?
RagingBull
Ancient Member
posted: Jul. 29, 2006 @ 12:07a
You mentioned that you can move the credit line from a Chase Personal to Chase Business, but not vice versa.
slunk
New Member
posted: Jul. 29, 2006 @ 10:26a
Generally, how often can someone request a CL increase? My last requested increases were about 45 days ago, and I would like to request another increase before applying for a few cards.
SlimJr
Senior Member
posted: Jul. 29, 2006 @ 10:40a
slunk said: Generally, how often can someone request a CL increase? My last requested increases were about 45 days ago, and I would like to request another increase before applying for a few cards.
If it doesn't require a hard pull (and epsecially doesn't require human intervention) like AMEX/Citi online buttons, no harm in trying. I generally try the online ones every 3 months and call (Discover) every 6 months.
I don't think there is a universal rule.
KnickFanRA
Geeky member
posted: Aug. 5, 2006 @ 7:02p
Is it true that one can have a credit limit that is "too high" that can hurt your credit score? Will lender's think that if you have a TON of available credit, that you're a higher credit risk?
At what point will it start hurting your credit score?
I have 4 cards, each with a $5000 limit, which is obviously very low in the spectrum, but I am trying to figure out if I should try to get some of them raised.
markkundinger
Senior Member - 2K
posted: Aug. 5, 2006 @ 7:09p
Having too much available credit will never hurt your score. It might make a human being nervous if they are reviewing an app, though.
hiphiphooray
Senior Member - 1K
posted: Aug. 5, 2006 @ 7:36p
markkundinger said: Having too much available credit will never hurt your score. It might make a human being nervous if they are reviewing an app, though.
Will a computer ever look at that as a factor when doing an automatic approval process?
mariojm
Senior Member - 2K
posted: Aug. 5, 2006 @ 8:03p
SlimJr said: slunk said: Generally, how often can someone request a CL increase? My last requested increases were about 45 days ago, and I would like to request another increase before applying for a few cards.
If it doesn't require a hard pull (and epsecially doesn't require human intervention) like AMEX/Citi online buttons, no harm in trying. I generally try the online ones every 3 months and call (Discover) every 6 months.
I don't think there is a universal rule.
Earlier this year, encouraged by reading the strategy on a FW thread, I tried the Citi CL increase function many times and always waited for the non-hard pull increases. My CL went from $3k to $7k+ within a couple of months. It would give me a new non-hard pull increase about once a month. A year ago my CL was $2k on that card and I only asked for increases ~ one or twice a year back then. More recently I stopped using the card and have not gotten any non-hard pull increases anymore. Coincidence?
5star bank declined to renew my account due to the fact my open credit lines were higher than their acceptable limits.
who knew. i forgot about that bank along time ago. but nevertheless it goes to show some banks have stupid limitations from days gone by "still in effect".
Automate
Happy Member
posted: Aug. 25, 2006 @ 7:02p
Good post Dave. One thing that surprised me was there is no mention of HELOCs. For people with a lot of equity in their homes I would think they could use a HELOC to boost their credit cards CL. For many people getting above $25K CL on a credit card is difficult but if they have a lot of equity in their house, getting a $75K HELOC is not difficult. Taking out a HELOC and not using much of it would drastically reduce your overall % of CL usage.
Also, most credit agencies know exactly how much you owe on a house but don't have a clue as to how much your house is worth and therefore how much equity you have in the house. People with a lot of home equity are not going to be inclined to declare bankruptcy. The appraisal and HELOC approval process shows or "proves" that you have significant equity in your house.
Thoughts?
psychtobe
Senior Member - 2K
posted: Aug. 25, 2006 @ 7:55p
codename47 said: Half of all BK's were caused by catastrophic medical expenses. Irresponsible people, gamblers, etc... were not a majority or significant percentage.
The only people that messed up the BK bill were lobbyists and people in Congress. Financial companies made tons of money before and are making tons of money now as well.
I hate this quote. First of all, it's inaccurate, as the data actually says that 1/2 of all BKs are caused my medical expenses OR job losses OR divorces, not just medical expenses. Second, it would be even more accurate to say that the PROXIMATE cause of 1/2 of BKs are the above events. In fact, if you have always saved a substantial portion of your income for emergencies, and lived well within your means, and taken out appropriate medical and disability insurance, a serious medical illness is much less likely to cause a BK. With a national savings rate of -1%, of course any moderate-sized emergency will lead to a BK. IF the national savings rate were closer to 10% or 20%, people would have more of a cushion to fall back on when the inevitable emergencies hit.
Skipping 146 Messages...
LaJollaInvestor
Senior Member
posted: Jun. 27, 2008 @ 10:16a
DaveHanson said: I would appreciate any constructive suggestions for updating the OP in light of the emerging credit crunch, or for recent data points that might shed light on how creditors are handling increase tactics differently than in the past. TIA.
Regarding AU accounts.
It is well known that FICO is planning to phase out this benefit over the next year or so because of abuses (people "selling" authorized status on good accounts to boost strangers' credit scores- called Piggybacking)
This has upset companies like Am3x who make a lot of money providing additional cards (sub accounts) to parents who want to help establish their kids' credit. In response, Am3x has made a shift in the date they assign to additional card holder's individual accounts.
To clarify: Dad has an Am3x account since 1987. He adds Junior as an additional card holder. Junior applies for his Own Individual Am3x Card.
Am3x gives Junior "since 1987" status on his own card (and reports it that way to CRAs)
There is no way to predict if this will last. If your parents have long established Am3x accounts you may want to ask them to add you now.
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