A friend of mine, who has much better credit than I do, recently got a solicitation from Capital One. The familiar green Visa was being offered with no annual fee and a 12.9% fixed interest rate. I think this shows what the ultimate results could be when you negotiate (from a position of strength) with Capital One. Considering my friend's superior credit record, it's amusing that the offer was "pre-selected" rather than pre-approved. Capital One doesn't make pre-approved offers lightly, at least not of the green Visa. My own pre-approved offer is costing me $59 per year, while the web site offers the same card without preapproval for $29 per year.
Capital One will issue your friend a card with a credit line of $500.00. I applied for both Capital One and E-Card (First USA) at the same time and received a credit line of $500.00 from Capital One and $15,500.00 from FirstUSA. I don't apply for credit cards much (same single Amex since 1984 and one gold card from a credit union for 10 years). I have to say, I was boldly insulted and closed the account.
I was tempted to do likewise with my $200 card, but I honestly believe that holding the card for a year has helped to build and rebuild my lightly damaged but mostly nonexistent credit record.
Capital One seems to have adopted a strategy of issuing cards with low credit limits and high fees. You may get old before it grants any substantial increases. Stay away from this bank. There are other banks that will extend better offers even to subprimers.
Capital one has been good to me. I was near my limit and was stranded once and needed to rent a car. I had emptied my wallet of most of my credit cards as my trip was pre-paid except for this unplanned event. The rental agency needed to swipe the card and freeze $300, which I didn't have. I called cap one, and they raised my credit limit on-the-spot by $500. The kicker is I had had the card only a few months (the reason I was so close to my limit is because I had just bought some furniture and hadn't gotten my bill yet).
Go ahead and try the instant approval on the capital one site. I did it 4 months ago and they approved me with a $1000.00 limit. The only disadvantage is they report only what you charge on the card at the credit bureaus meaning if I only use the card and my highest purchase is $200.00 that is the limit listed on your credit reports. Everthing is ok so far.
They don't report your credit limits because they don't want other credit card issuers to woo you away with offers of higher limits.
Interesting point. But all it takes to lure me away from Capital One is no annual fee and a decent interest rate. A limit sufficient to transfer my balance is all I need.