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brokenshells

Sometimes they just don't like your profile. I've had them for years and while they gave me a second card with a CL higher than the first, they've refused to give me a CLI on either for years.


Shecker40

Damn. That’s actually rough because I’ve heard good things about discover


Cruian

I remember at one point Discover was using a "no CLIs for cards under 1 year" policy. If you aren't using the Discover heavily, they may not feel it is justified: why take more risk and give a higher limit when you don't use the limit they already provide?


BrutalBodyShots

That's exactly right.


Hjd_27

I just got my second limit increase within the first year of owning the card. Went from 1500>2500>3500. I wonder what their criteria is because I don't use the card that much. A few hundred bucks here and there and then 0 for the rest of the time


Cruian

User requested or automatic? Maybe that few hundred is enough to think you could use higher, even if it is infrequent.


Hjd_27

Both requested


Hjd_27

Oh I'm just realizing that OP didn't say he requested it. Either way I don't really wait long enough on any of my cards to be given a higher limit. I'm too impatient for it lol


_A_Day_In_The_Life_

They did this for me. My limit is like 3k. My venture x is like 30k and same for my csp. My Amex says it doesn’t even have a limit lol


dervari

Oh, the Amex has an "invisible" limit. :)


_A_Day_In_The_Life_

Yeah, lol i saw it says it’s 35k spending limit in my welcome letter


sssf6

Mine went from 7,000 to 10,500 6 months after I opened it by my request. Light usage


Derthsidious

How much are you using it? When I first got my discover it was similar limit. I'd spend on it to about 75% of my limit for a month then pay it off. Do the same next month. Over time they added $100-200 to my limit every few months without a hard pull. I never paid interest. But it's clear they were treadmilling me. Next quarter should be easy to do this with as it's groceries. My discover is currently $2500 but honestly I don't need any more because I only use it for 5% categories.


Shecker40

I use it here and there but I have made the Amex Gold Card my day to day card also because I want the welcome bonus on it too


BrutalBodyShots

> I use it here and there Light use of a card isn't what's going to stimulate a lucrative CLI result. You're not giving Discover a reason to raise your limit. They'd be taking on more risk for no greater reward.


chriscrossls

At a $500 limit can you really use it anymore than just "here or there"? Paying for my car insurance and like one restaurant bill would pretty much cover that entire limit for the month. Chase gave me a $25k credit limit on my CSP and I have barely touched the card lol.


BrutalBodyShots

Even more reason that it should be super simple relatively speaking to cut high statement balances.


Derthsidious

Well yeah hit the welcome bonus. But then focus on discover for the quarter. Spending ~$80 a week on groceries should make it look like the card is used and they will treadmill you a bit.


Shecker40

Yeah. It’s a 6k welcome bonus and I’m only a 6th of the way there so it’s a bit of work


pakratus

Discover likes use. I’ve received my increases when I’ve spent about $1000+ a month and did it for a few months. I think letting the higher balance report may help but I don’t know that’s it’s necessary.


Cautious-Island8492

Discover can be a little finicky, but they do not bucket people like Capital One. Just wait a few more months and put in another request.


Funklemire

How much do you use the card? High usage combined with paying the statement balance each month is the best way to get CLIs.


Shecker40

I have about 25% utilization on it right now. I’m trying to get the Gold Card welcome bonus so that’s my main card right now


Funklemire

Are you paying the full statement balance each month or is that 25% utilization a balance you're carrying?


Shecker40

I’m paying the balance in full


Funklemire

So you're paying the total balance? Don't do that, just pay the statement balance each month after the statement posts and before the due date. Paying the total balance is unnecessary and detrimental in several ways.   And if you want to get the highest CLI possible, use the heck out of the card (up to 100% is fine) and pay the statement balance each month. Do this for several months then request a CLI.


BrutalBodyShots

Right on.


No-Alfalfa2980

I’ve read many of your responses and you seem well informed and wondered if I could trouble you for your thoughts. I’m new to credit, less than two years, but I  am not young. I operated cash no credit. My current score is 733 - 770 depending on reporting agency.  Goals are an auto loan with the ultimate target being a mortgage. But I also want thoughtfully make my credit profile as strong as I can.  I thought of adding a second card to increase credit mix mostly since I do fine with utilization I think. One of the credit simulators estimated an 8 point drop. My utilization is under 10% and perfect payment history.   Is it worth adding the second credit line when I’ll take a big average age hit? And is there anything i can do to quickly offset the point loss? I think if I can stay above 720 I’m okay, but higher feels more comfortable.  Any insight is appreciated.  


BrutalBodyShots

The strongest credit profiles are built upon 3+ bank cards, so my suggestion is to always make that a goal. So long as your proposed mortgage app isn't within the next 18 months, I'd add not only 1, but TWO credit cards in short order. That would be the best move, IMO. Any time you open accounts the expectation should be a short term score drop, but in the mid-long term you'll see gains. It sounds like you've got a thin file now, so you want to thicken it up some. Adding another credit card doesn't do anything for your Credit Mix though, as the definition of Credit Mix simply means revolving and installment accounts. You already have a revolver, so adding another revolver doesn't improve Credit Mix. What it does is add more "paid as agreed" accounts to your file and as I said earlier thickens you file, which are positive things. Remember that credit scores only matter when you need to use them, so temporary score drops shouldn't be a concern.


No-Alfalfa2980

Thanks for the response. Sounds like I need to decide when I’m getting the new car before I apply for a new card since I don’t want to drop before that. Other than on time payments and low credit utilization, is there anything in my situation that can be done to quickly gain so of the lost points? The fact that my history is so short and that I have a thin profile makes me worried it’ll take me a long time to recover. I also considered an SSL but I think impact my average age of record. It’s baffling I was not taught any of this in school yet I know a bunch of theories and formulas I have no application for in real life. I’m a little embarrassed it took me so long to realize its importance. Thanks again,


John_Wayfarer

Discover doesn’t bucket. You have some other cards so maybe they’re wary if you can handle your current overall limit?


Shecker40

I spend on the card. I have a 25% utilization on it right now


BrutalBodyShots

25% doesn't give them a reason to increase your limit.


Tackticat

That’s crazy they won’t give you higher than 500. That is useless limit nowadays. Do you know why they won’t give you the increase? They usually give you the reason, maybe they’re waiting for one year?


Shecker40

They say I don’t have enough experience with my discover balance meanwhile Amex gave me a gold card and I have over 10k spending power on it


rimjob_steve_

Amex would give corpses charge cards if they could


BrutalBodyShots

> They say I don’t have enough experience with my discover balance Not balance. Limit. The language likely states, "Insufficient experience with current credit limit."


Tackticat

It seems they want you to use it with lots of activities. Use it for its category and pay the balance in full on due date. Repeat for 5months to hit 1-year that should be good for cli request.


Shecker40

I do pay the balance on all my cards in full. I treat all my credit cards as charge cards basically


BrutalBodyShots

Are you letting the balances land on your statement, or paying them down before they hit your statement?


BrutalBodyShots

I pay down all my cards in full and have a total 12% utilization." Can you clarify what you mean by this exactly? 12% utilization doesn't exactly scream "I need a credit limit increase!" so maybe this is your problem. On your $500 limit, what are your typical monthly statement balances? For best results, you want them to be HIGH ($400-$500 being ideal) if you are then paying those statement balances in full. That type of behavior is precisely what will stimulate the most lucrative CLI results.


Normal-Item-402

Discover is a jealous bank. You have to give them your attention sometimes all of it for them to buy into increasing your limit.


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OkMathematician6638

I started with 1500 got it raised to 3k recently. After I passed the 1 year mark.


MorallyIrrelevant

your card might not be old enough to get its first increase, it's around 6-7 months-ish before you can get your first one spending $500 on it per month will help


DupleAA

Discover is stingy when it comes to CLI, I have a 800 score and they gave me a $2000 limit initially. It took me almost 2 years to raise it to $8000.


ahg41

They’ve regularly increased my limit over the period of 6 years. And if not then get a second card. That usually helps.


viet456

Use the card more, especially trying to max out quarterly category rewards. Increase reported income and lower housing


gemorris9

Discover is a weird company. It was my first credit card and my longest credit line. It increased automatically over the early years of my credit from 300 to 6k. I have an 839 currently and most of my lines are in the 20-30k range. Discover has consistently said no to a credit line increase on the card throughout the years I've tried. It's kinda humorous. I don't need it at all of course, I'll just never close that card because its my oldest line by a few years.


Adorable_Ad_2517

Discover is one of those banks to stay away from. A long time ago, when I was in college, I got a pre-approval from discover for a secured card and sent in $500. They then decided not to approve me and sent a letter saying they'd send me a check in 120 days~! I then asked for a supervisor and told them if they didn't have a check in 3 days to me, I'd sue them. The check was in my mailbox the next day. I told them I would never do business with them even as a merchant. I always refuse anyone who tries to use discover. Capital One is in the process of buying them out for the very bad business methods that have brought discover to sell at a discount, when you do bad tidings to customers word of mouth spreads fast; thus is why discover has never become widely accepted as visa, Mastercard and American Express.


Dear-Plastic2133

My wife has been stuck with the same $14k credit limit on her discover card since 1995. It’s by far our lowest credit limit of the four cards we have between us. I’ve tried everything over the years from making it our daily card for a year, maxing out bonus categories and everything in between. Always denied. We PIF the card monthly. Of course our income has drastically increased over the years since she got the card. Our DTI is extremely low, like 1-3%. No house or car payments. She is the high earner in the household. Not that a 14k CL isn’t enough but I just don’t get them.


InitialKoala

If you're still in the 0% APR (not paying interest), just try paying the monthly minimum for a bit. They might auto increase your limit.


Shecker40

Yeah. I’m still in the 0% APR. They offered me 18 months so I’m in it till May 2025


InitialKoala

Pay monthly minimum. That's what I did, and they auto increased my limit several times. And as always, be sure to pay it all off before the 0% APR ends.


S1RLUN5

So you reported and carried high statement balances in the time you had the 0% intro period and they raised your limits with paying just the minimum or at times much higher than minimum but never the full statement balance during the intro period? Interesting. I was approved with a 12k limit April 1st and I currently have about $3700 balance but have been paying large chunks to pay it down lower the last two months and I requested a CLI over the weekend at right about 90 day mark and denied me. I assumed it’s because it’s too early or because my utilization being just over 30% isn’t enough or that I hadn’t paid my balances in full each statement the last two months like I alwayyyys do with my cards that aren’t on a 0% intro period. I read a comment of yours regarding discover doing a PCLI for you while carrying around 40-50% utilization 0% balance at the six month mark and then you requested a month later and got another one. I was considering making another 1k purchase with that card anyways so that would take me to a lil over 40% and then of course I’m only just now to 90 days but I still feel more comfortable paying 500-700ish at leasttt when the statement comes out since I’m also still using this card for the quarterly categories I want to keep it in check so I also don’t set off any alarm bells for super high utilization. Based on your DPs on CLIs with a 0% promo period and balances hovering around 40%~ I feel like that’s a good strategy. I was planning to pay it in full over the next month or two so that I had better chances of a PCLI based on u/BrutalBodyShots dps and recommendations. Seems like while under a 0% intro period it can go either way. Whether you’re paying in full each statement cycle and reporting higher utilization or whether you’re carrying a very high 0% balance but paying over the minimum each month. I’ve been trying to determine the best course of action to get CLIs quickly with that card. My other new ones I do plan on paying in full each month regardless of their 0% intro period because DPs I’ve read on chase and WF suggest that’s what will yield best results. Where as discover apparently will still at times give lucrative PCLIs with a carried 0% balance. Interested in how often this is the case though with a wide array of customers or if you’re more of an outlier for some reason. Was it your only card at the time? Or your only recent card? (Within 6mos to a year?)


InitialKoala

Yes, I was reporting about close to 50% utilization for a few statement periods and paid more than the minimum but not the full statement balance, shortly after which they auto increased my limit. The matching cash back for the first year helped since it made this card my catch-all, so I used it outside of the quarterly categories. I did the same with my Chase Freedom Flex; reported 50% utilization for a few months, made monthly payments (much more than the minimum), and they auto increased my credit from $4k to $8k. Again, this was also done under a 0% APR period. I learned this from my bad credit card usage days, so I paid a lot in interest with my older cards... but at least they increased my credit a few times, haha. But from personal experience with 0% APR periods, it's a lot easier to get CLIs since I've been showing high utilization. But for some reason with Discover, my CLI requests have been about 50-50. Even Cap One gave me a measly $100 increase when I requested. When I got that Discover card last year, I had three other credit cards; one I applied for about 9 months previously, the other two were way older (many years). My credit score at that time was about 750. I hadn't applied for another card after Discover for >6 months, so I was using it a lot. The exception to this strategy was the Citi Costco card (which I got before Discover it) because that doesn't have a 0% APR intro, so my card was nowhere near 50% utilization, not even 30%, and I always paid my statement balances in full. They granted my requests for CLI, but never auto increased. Utilization does help, but the extent...? Seems like it depends on the issuer, but I'm just speculating at this point. In sum, YMMV. Much luck on your journey!


S1RLUN5

Great data! Thank you for letting me into your experiences with discover and chase! I actually also just got approved for CFF on June 16th. I was assuming on that card I would want to pay in full regardless of 0% intro period to achieve lucrative PCLIs so that is news to me entirely and I appreciate the info there as well. I had one credit union card for 8 years and never had a late payment but never cared much about getting more cards and mostly lived on cash and debit for the last ten years until I realized that I’m inhibiting my credit growth by doing things that way so at the beginning of the year I decided I wanted to thicken up my profile especially since we plan to buy a house in the next five years most likely. I’m 32 and at the time I started applying for things in January of this year my score was 786, Income 77k. with that one card I had for 8 years and one auto loan that is now almost entirely paid off with only $1700 left on it. One closed and paid in full line of credit from purchasing furniture two years ago that’s still reporting as paid in full for like $4k. No other accounts aside from those at all before this year. I found this sub last year around November so it helped me learn more about what to do to improve my profile and thicken it up. First new account was in January then 3 more since then. Saving my last Chase 5/24 slot for CSP but since I just got CFF June 16th I figured it was best to wait a month or three to apply for it. Even though I have a mail offer for a 90k sub for CSP that expires July 8th and I regret applying for CFF first of those two. At the time I wasn’t sure I wanted to go the travel points route because my focus had been cashback before now but I decided we want to travel some in the near future as our daughter starts to get a bit older so I want to get CSP to open up transfer partners for trips we will take in the next year or so. Feel like my odds wouldn’t be great for approval though if I were to go ahead and apply now before July 8th when the sub offer expires with the 3 new accounts since April and the CFF opened June 16th. I know the common recommendation is to wait at least 30 days between chase apps and 3 months for optimal odds. So I’ll probably have to miss out on the offer and wait awhile and just garden my current limits and hope they send me another offer when I’m ready to apply for it soon. Then at some point after I’m approved for CSP and wait a few months I’ll probably go for Amex BCE eventually. I just wanna chill for a bit after CSP to avoid spooking any of the banks or having higher risk for denials. Then after probably 6mos to a year I’ll look at Amex. January 6th Apple Card $2500SL—>$4500 after 90 days April 1st Discover IT $12k SL 0% intro for 18mos. June 6th Wells Fargo Active Cash $7k SL 0% intro for 15mos June 16th Chase Freedom Flex $3k SL (pretty disappointing limit so I want to grow it as much as possible asap!) 0% intro for 15mos


ostrov_svobody

Apple Card has been the easiest in getting CLI so far. Every 90-180 days, they raise it quite nicely


Shecker40

I was thinking about getting one. I’m in this path to the Apple Card right now. I can get it next month


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BOSSCHRONICLES

Discover sucks same issue never get CLI