Requesting Credit Increase - When?
 

Hi,

I hope this isn't too off-topic... I'm hoping to increase my credit limit on one of my points earning cards.

For one card in particular, I've been paying it off 3-6 times each month. Sometimes, I'm charging 4x my credit limit in a month. It is always paid in full each month.

When is best to request a credit limit increase? When utilization is high or when utilization is low?

Thanks,
Tim

The bank is going to look at the long term not the short term. It won't matter. But you will see a hard pull on your CR.

Perhaps you are likely to see a hard pull, but it's not certain. When I've done (modest) credit line increase requests online at Amex twice this year (I had to wait 6 months between them), they didn't do a hard pull. But then Amex is known for not always doing a hard pull for exiting customers even on credit card apps. Amex does soft pulls regularly and for existing customers it may just use that data for some credit line increases and/or some credit card applications. I don't know if any other banks do this or not.

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/amer...it-report.html

What bank/issuer and or which cards? Policies vary so what goes for one card/bank may not work for another. Capital One for instance is famous for doing hard pulls for nearly any request in CL. How long have you had these accounts? All CC issuers review accounts periodically and will often adjust limits up or down based upon various factors.

Generally if the account is being handled well and or holder meets certain standards of creditworthiness increases happen automatically. That is you get an email or letter saying "congratulations, based upon...... we've raised your limit to....".

Problem with making multiple payments per month is it won't always be reflected on credit reports.

Most issuers report to major credit bureaus once a month. This report will contain payment information, balance owed and credit limit. Thus making multiple payments per month is great for keeping utilization down for a particular card, but other than the issuer and yourself no one else is ever likely to know because those extra payments aren't reflected on you CR and or credit score.

Either contact issuer and or come back to us with names of cards to find out if bank in question is likely to do a hard pull for a CL increase. If they don't then you have nothing to loose by making the request either online or via telephone customer service.

OTOH if you *know* a hard pull will be done I'd not go crazy making too many requests in a short period of time.

Capital One Spark Business card.

Not really concerned about my credit score. No plans for major financing needs in the near- or medium-term future, so hard vs soft pull is largely irrelevant to me.

If that is the only card you are going to request an increase for the time being, then go for it; hard pull or soft.

Thing you want to avoid is many hard pulls occurring within a short period of time. Not only does this ding your score but can (and often does) send warning signals to anyone issuing credit.

At best it looks like someone in a tough financial spot. At worst multiple hard credit pulls can signal suspicious activity like credit fraud.

Just go ahead and make the request; they can only say "yes" or "no".