Should I increase my credit limit?

You can get a high limit credit card by having excellent credit and a large income. Picking the right credit card goes a long way, too.

If you’re applying for a new credit card with a high limit, your best bet is to target cards known for high minimum initial credit limits. Cards’ terms and conditions usually show the minimum limit, and there are plenty of cards that start at $5,000 to $10,000, such as Chase Sapphire Preferred/Reserve, Bank of America Cash Rewards and Capital One Venture. But you should make sure you know the ins and outs of high limit credit cards before you apply.… read full answer

In general, your credit limit is determined by the credit card issuer, based primarily on your income and credit history. So, the higher your income and the better your credit history, the more likely you will receive a new card with a high initial credit limit. But issuers take other things into account too, like the number of other accounts you have and the length of your history.

Here is how you can get a high credit limit on your credit card:

• Apply for a credit card with a high starting limit. Chase Sapphire Reserve has a $10,000 minimum. Chase Sapphire Preferred and Capital One Venture are some of the credit cards with minimum credit limits of $5,000.
  High limit cards usually come with annual fees ($450 for Sapphire Reserve), so you’ll have to decide if high spending power is worth it. They also often have good travel rewards. Sapphire Reserve gives you a $300 travel credit each year, and Venture offers 50,000 initial bonus points, redeemable for $500 in travel purchases. And they require good or excellent credit. If this limits your options, consider a card with fewer rewards and a smaller limit. Capital One Quicksilver’s minimum limit is $300, but it requires only limited credit and gives 1.5% cash back on all purchases.
• Improve your credit score. High limit credit cards typically require good or excellent credit. If you check your latest credit score and discover that you don’t qualify, that means you have some work to do.
  You need to add positive information to your credit report, which you can do by using a credit card responsibly and catching up on any past-due bills, among other things. A good credit card to use in the meantime is Capital One QuicksilverOne. Its minimum credit limit is only $300, but you can get approved with limited credit, and you’ll earn 1.5% cash back on all purchases. There is a $39 annual fee, though.
• Earn a higher credit limit with good behavior. Once you have paid on time for several months, you will be eligible for credit limit increases. The issuer may automatically raise your credit limit after reviewing your account, usually in 6 to 12 month intervals. How much depends on how responsibly you are using the card. Not all issuers will give automatic increases.
  An automatic increase is typically a soft inquiry which will not show up on your credit report. An issuer must get your permission to generate a hard inquiry for a credit limit increase.
• Request a credit limit increase. You can also request a credit limit increase, either online or by calling the issuer’s customer service department. You will either get the requested increase, receive a lower counteroffer from the issuer or be denied the increase.
  Requesting a credit limit increase usually results in a hard inquiry, which could hurt your credit score. However, some issuers – including Discover and Wells Fargo – now use soft inquiries in most cases.

A high limit credit card will help raise the total available credit listed on your credit report, which can help to lower your overall credit utilization ratio. You should aim for credit utilization below 30%. If you’re unable to get a high limit card, you can pay off purchases right away to free up spending power.

Requesting a credit limit increase will likely trigger a hard inquiry and cause a short-term decrease in your credit score. Receiving an automatic credit limit increase (i.e. your issuer increases your credit limit without you asking) will not hurt your score. No matter how you receive a credit limit increase, it will provide long-term credit-score benefits to responsible users.… read full answer

A credit limit increase will give you access to more available credit to use. As a result, you will get a better credit utilization ratio, assuming your spending does not increase, too. The lower the ratio, the better your credit score. If you continue to spend and maintain a high balance on your account, you will see a negative impact on your credit score. A credit limit won’t help your credit score if you just max it out immediately.