How can I get a higher limit credit card?

Posted On: April 10, 2005

Post subject: What to Do On Cleaning Up My Husbands Credit?

joan
Date: 11/6/2000 4:45 pm CDT

I have been reading the posts on this site an haven’t seen my question addressed. I have been working on cleaning up my husbands credit report for 2 years and am at witts end. It takes 2 months to get any answers from the credit reporting agencies and have things corrected. Recently married, my husband works away all week and up until 2 years ago did not have a credit card. He applied for a capitol one secured card and got one with a $300.00 limit and that was raised to $500 last year.(always paid as agreed, never late) Going back and fourth between applying for credit cards getting the denial and requesting another report is getting pretty upsetting. He has not had any derogatory info on his report since 1996. And that was a few lates, due to a layoff. Since then those accounts were paid off and closed. My husband makes 60,000 a year and we only owe about $35,000 including mortgage, a loan and a credit card with everything to be paid off in the next 4 years. Why can we walk into the bank and walk out with whatever amount we want because they say “we have excellent credit”. But we cant get a credit card over a $500 limit? He recently applied for a Capitol One Gold Card and was instantly approved for $200.00. The information came in the mail and guess what? The credit limit is $200.00. Not even worth carrying if you as me. Should I cancel this card or keep it since now there is another inquiry on his report and other potential creditors have held that against him. What to do?

dave
Date: 11/6/2000 5:55 pm CDT

Joan–

Revolving credit takes a little longer to build because it is riskier for lenders than mortgages and installment loans. After about two years of revolving credit history with at least two open lines, things improve. I have experience with Capital One also. I recently closed two accounts because I was frustrated by the slow credit line increases combined with the high fees.

It is unlikely that your husband will be able to jump into a high limit card soon but you can try other lenders who are a bit more generous about credit limits.

Some names that come to mind are Providian and Orchard Bank.
Providian is particularly noted for substantial credit line increases over short periods of time. The cost of the card is high but after a while you can negotiate about that.

If you are feeling really brave, apply for the Citibank Aadvantage card. Recently, Citibank has been approving applicants with minor credit bumps in the road as long as they are old and not serious like a bankruptcy. Your husband sounds like a good candidate for this card. Credit limits are generous and the card earns miles.

joan
Date: 11/6/2000 8:11 pm CDT

Thanks for the info Dave. It does become very frustrating because he has been turned down because of insufficient length of credit history, too many inquiries, too many new accounts, whatever that means as we only have a short term mortgage, a short term loan and two credit cards. Sams Club credit just gave him $800 in instant credit which was a shock to us at the time when capitol one has only increased his limit once in the last 10 months. Its not that we really need these cards, but their good to have in case of an emergency. Nowadays, you can’t even rent a car without a major credit card and some motels require one too. With limits so small, you can’t afford to go on vacation even if you have the cash on hand. It has taken 2 years to establish a credit line of $500.00 on one card and $200 on another? with no over the limits or no late payments. What does he have to do? We hate to keep applying for cards as he keeps getting turned down for insufficient length of credit history and now too many inquiries. Without a revolving credit history they decline, if you ask too many times they say no. I’m still scratching my head.

Eugene
Date: 11/7/2000 1:46 am CDT

Joan, this whole thing sounds puzzling to me. Your husband had “a couple of lates” in 1996, and that is the only negative info you are mentioning. Yet, it has been two years, and he can barely get unsecured credit. Even excessive inquiries cannot look that bad on his report. Look for some other reasons (possibly, some other negative information in the report), or some accounts in good standing not reported at all.

Next. You are saying you tried to correct something with the credit bureaus. If you mean removing those late payments, it cannot be done earlier than required by law, unless the creditor made a mistake.

Another contradiction is that you say you don’t need credit so desperately, yet you (your husband) keep applying. I guess you see this yourself now - it’s not the best way to build credit. “The more you want it, the faster you have to do it” - just doesn’t work here. It contradicts human nature, just like “Run when you see a bear” does. In fact, “playing dead” works much better with both bears and sometimes with creditors. I noticed that just opening one (secured) card, using it responsibly and waiting for the solicitations to come in the mail sometimes works better than actively seeking credit. It saves your time (you don’t have to look for credit, it will find you), it saves your effort (card research is degraded to basic binary “garbage-gold” decisions), and it saves your money (most often you don’t even need to keep the secured card with high fees for more than just a year), and, most importantly - it gets you to the level you want to be in, more effectively.

He recently applied for a Capitol One Gold Card and was instantly approved for $200.00. The information came in the mail and guess what? The credit limit is $200.00. Not even worth carrying if you as me.

Well, it’s better than nothing if you ask me. Most importantly - it can help you further build credit.

Should I cancel this card

I’d say it depends on the fees on that card compared to other cards you have and build credit with. If there is a steep annual fee that the issuer will waive if you cancel (they don’t have to do this - you owe them the annual fee the second they approve you, you just get billed later), it might be a good idea to cancel. If you already paid processing fee or something of that kind, it would not be a good idea to cancel now.

Low credit line alone is NOT a reason to cancel in your situation, since even this low a credit line helps you build credit just as good as any other.

…or keep it since now there is another inquiry on his report and other potential creditors have held that against him.

The inquiry is there, you can do nothing about it now, except to let it go and allow some time. Instead, consider what this card can (or cannot) do for you now and in the future, and whether it can do it better or faster than the other cards you have, and make your decision based on that.

Speaking about decisions, why did you decide to apply for Sams Club, and not something better known and wider accepted, like, say… Visa? If you actually plan on using that card, it’s fine, but just having a card does not help you build credit.

Joan, I understand you feel frustrated and “out of control”, and I did not tell you anything that would cheer you up, so here is the fact that might do just that:

“Excessive inquiries” do not lower your credit score as long as other negative entries on a credit report. Once you stop filling out every application you come across and just use your existing cards responsibly, your score can go up in a matter of just months. Next thing you know - creditors are trying to get your attention themselves.

And let’s admit it - they choose us better than we can ever choose them. We don’t know their criteria, they do. We don’t make a living on this, they do. A bank’s profit from a good customer is higher than a customer’s reward from a good card (let’s put convenience apart).

I should say, though, that when you need something more than just generic credit (perhaps, cash rebates for using a card at a particular merchant, or airmiles for a particular airline), you will most probably need to apply. Otherwise, “playing dead” can really pay off.

Eugene.

joan
Date: 11/7/2000 2:32 pm CDT

Eugene: Thanks for the reply, It certainly has us puzzled My husband never requested a copy of his credit report until 2 years ago. We discovered that there were a few accounts that not even we could verify and had no idea where they came from. It has taken 2 years to get them off. Dealing with the Credit Reporting Agencies is slow going. I finally had to request that they verify all accounts reported and they finally removed 5 unverifiable accounts. They also were reporting my husbands employer wrong (he has worked for the same company 25 years, and they had 3 different addresses. My husband has lived in our home his whole life.
As far as I can see, there is nothing derogatory on the updated reports except for those few lates 4-5 years ago and they all reflect a 3 month period when my husband was laid off. These accounts have long since been paid off with no more lates. By the way, Trans Union is the only one we have straitened out. I’ve been dealing with Experian and Equifax the same amount of time and have gotten nowhere. I requested that they too verify all accounts, to this date, I have not even heard from Equifax. And Experian wont even comply with my request since my husband hasn’t been denied credit with anyone that has checked with them. They wont even correct information, which we know is wrong, unless we pay a fee to do so. I feel that if they are authorized to report credit, then It should be correct. They have about another week before we report them to someone.

joan
Date: 11/7/2000 2:34 pm CDT

Eugene
Date: 11/8/2000 2:09 am CDT

Those ghost account might be the reason why you can’t get credit, especially if they are in bad standing, so concentrate on removing them and forget about those old lates, they do not have so much influence.

You might want to attach the corrected report from TU to your letter to the other two.

Good luck!

Eugene.

joan
Date: 11/8/2000 8:24 am CDT

Eugene: What ghost accounts are you referring to? I don’t understand. Please advise.
Joan