While making payments on a closed account to Household Bank I applied for and was accept for an account from Orchard Bank in May 04. I was given a 300 Credit Line and have been keeping it up over 200 on average which leaves me a high utilization. They just started reporting to all 3 CRA's. Equifax has been reported for May, June, July. Experian for June and July, Trans Union only for July. I have since paid off the Household Bank account by doing a BT to Bank Of America (parent's new card offer 0% until April, listed as an AU so the balance on it and CL report under my #) HouseHold Bank was paid off as of 8/3/04 The reason I'm looking for a CL increase is to lower the utililzation % even further. I have gone back to college part time starting in Sept, and am a member of the Union now. I did open an account with the Credit Union that is offered through my job but have not depostied any money there yet or tried to get a Credit Card from them., I do owe the IRS about 900.00 and they are adding interest but it does not show on my credit report and there is no judgement against me. if I could get a high enough CL I would like to pay off the IRS.
I have had orchard for about 11 months, Perfect pay history, I called and asked for a CLI and was told it would cost me $25 for a $100 credit line increase, she told me that that is all I can expect for at least 12 months of good pay history. I have not seen much luck with CLI from them on this board. Good luck and keep us posted.
Same here, but I wasn't even offered a CL increase. They told me verbally they'd pull a hard, but then they didn't even bother. They turned me down flat, and suggested that in addition to making timely payments that I keep the balance down and make above the minimum payment. Tough to do both when my limit is $300.
household is orchard..or vice-versa. i doubt you will get far with them increase wise, not without some outrageous fees.
Re: Should I ask Orchard for Incre I know that now, but didn't know when I was approved by Orchard. I'm suprised I was approved based on my bad history with Household.
Re: Should I ask Orchard for Incre Forget about Orchard Bank. I had them now for 2 years. CL increase that i got from them (even keeping it low, or high balance or whatever), is $300. And, they wont allow me to apply other card from household because "I have similiar product". Go with CAP ONE, I think. I started like $300, and within 6 months I have 2000 CL. Or Patelco, 3k to kick off.
Re: Re: Should I ask Orchard for Incre Sebel, do you know if HSBC (which bought Household Bank in 2003) is considered a similar product? I applied for an HSBC secured card while I was offered an Orchard by mail. So far, I'm $300CL for $59annual fee. Might have to toss Orchard if HSBC comes thru with a card. Their max CL is $3,000, which is better than a sh**ty CL of only $300 from Orchard.
Re: Re: Should I ask Orchard for Incre I don't think I can go with Cap One as I was in colections with them and I don't think they will give me a new account. Do you think I can get an account with Parelco with my scores?
Re: Re: Should I ask Orchard for Incre In May of last year I got the Orchard Card with a $300 CL. Since then I've received increases of $150, $150 and $150 for a total limit of $750. The first increase came after about seven months. I have better cards, limit wise, (Cap1 $2250 and Patelco $2500) but its been an okay card for me. Never had problems. I'm wondering when I reach the $1000 limit if I should ask to be switch to their Household Gold Card?
Re: Re: Should I ask Orchard for Incre broncsboi, did Orchard Bank do another hard pull on your credit (or verify employment/income, debt-to-income, etc. over the phone)?? Seems they don't do automatic increases unless the customer has a long history, a good 'score' in their internal system, or something else. Something I think everyone should know about credit card companies is they __** ALL ** __, whether they would admit it or not, have a scoring profile of the customer. When you call, without even looking at the notes, they can tell how VALUABLE of a customer you are. Believe it or not, that is how it is. It would be irrational to assume otherwise.
Re: Re: Should I ask Orchard for Incre Nope. No hard pulls for the CLI. They just upped my limit. I had, before the one year period, clicked on the 'request credit limit increase' button on their website but was denied because of 'length of time I had the card (under one year)' - paraphrasing here. I waited and then the limit increases began.
Re: Re: Should I ask Orchard for Incre My wife and I have 4 household products between us. (Orchard and household cards) and after about a year we received automatic increases on all of them. They have done it about 2 times since then. happens about every 6-9 months now. 100-200 at a time. We have never called and asked for one and they have never pulled a hard.
Re: Re: Should I ask Orchard for Incre I've been reading these boards for months, and it seems one thing is clear....they give CLI's to some customers....but others are stuck. I have 20 months of perfect payment history. I used to carry a balance, but not its at zero for the past 3 months. They never offer a credit limit increase, and I've gotten none. I can only speculate...I have a bankruptcy in the past, and maybe their internal scoring system doesn't like bankruptcies....most people don't give enough details to discern a pattern. Another thought I had....kind of a paranoid thought, but if you apply for a credit limit, they won't give you one....I mean why should they give you one, if they get a hint you are willing to pay for it....LOL, but I doubt thats really it. In any event, if it helps anyone else figure out their crazy system...I have high income, I have patelco's at 3k, my score has gone up over a hundred points to a 668....and 20 months of history, and never received a single cli.
Re: Re: Re: Should I ask Orchard for Incre MarkTime, why bother with Household with a 668 score? Try for another company (perhaps HSBC, the parent company of Household?) or Fleet or Bank of America...you have hundreds of choices. Throw a secured card in with your unsecured cards to build credit faster.
Re: Re: Re: Should I ask Orchard for Incre I got a surprise last time I logged in to check my Orchard card online. I had just paid it down to $0 after carrying a low balance for 6 months (limit was $300 opened in 11-03) and found that after I paid it to $0, they raised my limit to $450. I didn't ask for this and no soft or hard pull was done. PS-I did ask for an increase about 3 months ago and was denied. No hard or soft that time either. My opinion is the sooner I can get away from these guys the better, but for now they help my utilization.
Re: Re: Re: Should I ask Orchard for Incre It's good advice...and I am following it. By that I mean, as I mentioned I have 3,000 cl on my patelco's...unsecured, and I didn't mention before but I have a secured Fleet card as well. Now...you mentioned BoA, they hate bk's, and I would be instantly denied for a BoA card, and I was denied for a US Bank card also. but...in addition to them, I carry a Orchard Bank card...why? because it was my first card...I don't recommend them to others, but since they are my oldest card, I am going to keep them for now. It's especially important to my wife...she has a 720 score on Equifax, and gets denied credit...the reason for her denials are ....limited credit history. That orchard card (which is joint)...at 20 months old, is her oldest card...and her other cards (BoA and Fleet) are only 3 months old right now.... so we are stuck with Orchard for a while....the great thing about the secured cards, is we can up the limit at will....but the card we'd really like to have at 2,000 ....the Orchard card...is stuck (on manual review it would look great to have a 2,000 + account with over 2 years history...)....but oh well....
Re: Re: Re: Should I ask Orchard for Incre Something I thought very important to point out about FICO and how their scoring system works: -It weighs heavily on your credit utilization -A long credit history (10yrs+) counts heavily toward reaching the highest rungs -A credit utilization of 30-49% max at the end of each closing date (the date creditors report your balance) is essential if you want your score to increase Although FICO seems to have some funky algorithm that is thought of as uncrackable I don't believe it. It can be manipulated and secured cards can help with that. I love giving myself a CL increase every 3 mos. In effect, I am my own bank and CRA in one Now onto other matters, BofA, Chase, Citibank and any of their associated/managed accounts are anti-BK. Stay away if you are in that boat. There are still plenty of banks and credit unions that want to do business with you. Personally, I scr*w*ed both BofA & Citi in BK court. Do I get brownie points for this? Over the long term, it matters less about whether your account is secure or unsecured. What matters...and listen carefully...is upping that CL and paying on time. Can't wait to see what my credit score is 2yrs out of BK.
