I got a Cap One Silver Card 24 months back. $99 for $1000 credit limit. 12 months back they offered me another $500 credit for another deposit of $49. Now I had $1500 CL, with a security deposit of $148. I called and asked for an increase about 3 weeks ago when the card renewed-in about a month. The REP checked and said if approved, I could see it on my next statement or thru the 800#. I asked the Rep to scan what my chances were for an increase. They saw: never over limit made large payments- often the balance no bad checks never late They gave me a $300 increase. Now $1800 Silver limit. This was about 5/20/00. NOW -Got New card, had made balance payment ($1349) via the web. Cap One raised the card limit AGAIN, to my new Silver Mastercard account limit of $2300. 5/27/00. They charge me 19.8% and all is available in cash if necessary. Shows that if you treat them well, they do work well also. I expect they continually will raise credit limits for AAA performance.
Not quite my experience with them. I have a secured Visa, $2300 on deposit, $5000 limit, for 4 nearly 5 years; Two $300 limit cards for 3 years. Just got $100 increases on the last two after 36 months of perfect history. Just was refused a limit increase, unsecured status, or lower interest rate on the $5000 limit Visa after 4 3/4 years of perfect history. I went a few dollars over limit 5 years ago, one time. I'm looking forward to $100 increases on the other two cards in another 3 years. The cards are silver, however, which means the world to me Just goes to show you, but I'm not quite sure what.
Perhaps your usage differs from the other person. Sounds like he's making some large purchases and paying them off rather quickly. I did the same thing and Capital One rasised my credit limit 250. But the interesting part was they just denied me an increase after ASKING for it three weeks ago. Maybe asking is viewed as being cash poor or credit hungry? Based on my experience, with Capital One and other creditors, they have no reason to increase your limit just because the cardholder desires an increase. You have to use a substantial portion of the existing line. But use only up to 75% of your credit line and never get near the limit. Show them you have resources to purchase big ticket items and pay them off in several months. Put every monthly expense on the card you can and when you get paid, whack it down to say 10% or so of the balance. Make several large payments each month, but let the account cycle and allow interest to accrue. Then wait a month or two and do the same thing again. They might change their tune after you do this a few times. Of course, Capital One monitors your credit reports at least every quarter, so don't do anything to drop your score or forget an increase anytime soon.
Yup - many times I put hotel, computer stuff, run it to a lot or small part of the limit. Normally, I pay off everything B4 the bill is rendered via web. But, I have carried 50 or 70 % of the balance for a few periods - then pay it to $0.
Interesting that at CapOne, with the Silver Mastercard, you can get limits up to $5000. Mine is $2300. Their great GOLD VISA has a maximum credit line of $2000. ($200 to $2000) Strange.
On-line payments Managing a credit line is much easier when the creditor has this feature. I make all my payments via the online service. It costs nothing and it posts most faster than snail-maling a check. Never had any problems with it at all.
You don't think that they look at your credit scores? http://www.carreonandassociates.com/ has a lot of info.
Of course they do, didn't I state this clearly in my post? Without question, the credit score is a big deciding factor. Beyond the score, experience with a particular creditor seems to be the biggest factor used in determining credit lines, in my experience. Especially in the case of sub-prime creditors. The www site you mentioned is very informative.
I disagree with your advice "not to charge near the limit". It seems to me this is precisely what you want to do to demonstrate that the credit limit is too low for your spending habits. I started with a $500 limit and charged it up all the way to within a $1 (not by design but I really needed to) and rapidly paid it down, if not the whole $500 then at least $250 or $200. In 8 months time I was offerd a credit line of "up to $2,100" by making commensurate deposits of security funds.
Credit use Well, yes you are right to a point. But too often its the charge that is forgotten or that automatic payment that hits the account and sends it over-limit. That spells death for credit limit increases. I tried doing what you suggest and screwed myself by not keeping close tabs. It is very easy to do even when your intention is to track every penny.
