Ok, currently I'm a full time student in college having a hard time getting an increased credit limit. Last month I actually got approved for a card that had a 1k spending limit. I've been using a secured credit card as soon as i turned 18 and now I'm 19. My question is how do i increase my limit faster? I could definitely use a higher limit... I don't usually put anything in my checking account and have an online savings. Could this be the reason why they deny me more credit? I also tend to take my credit card to the limit the majority of the time because its such a low number. BTW. My credit score last time i checked January was 649. Thanks!
putting regular funds in to your checking account increases your credit rating. if you have paypal account or money booker (would be even better) a good way to show increased usage and paying you bill is. use your credit card to pay money in to your account. then withdraw the amount to your bank account and then take money from the bank account and pay the credit card bill. your credit history will improve as it shows regular funds going through your bank, high usage of your credit card and quick payment of your credit card bill. if you have a cash back facility on your card where you make money on your payments back you can also earn some money doing it (not much tho)
It probably doesn't help much that you are a student. Most CC companies put alot of limits on students because they don't have a good income. But every 2-3 months you can just call the credit card company and request a limit increase. They will look at your payment history mostly to see if you are making payments on time. If you are, then they can increase your limit quite a bit every few months.
Since your a student, your in luck, there are alot of cards out their designed just for students, many of them offer reward programs and 0% interest offers. While they may not give you a huge limit that is just something you will have to deal with... You said you are hitting the limit on your current credit card. I hope you are paying it down that same month or within a month or two. One of the factors that is used to determine your credit score and credit "worthiness" is based off the total amount of credit you have been issued vs total used, in your case $1000 is your total credit, they take this number and the amount of credit you have used, which is also $1000(if you are maxing out your card) and of course, thats 100% of your credit which looks reallllly bad.... That in turn lowers your credit score and in creditors eyes looks terrible, you need to pay that card down as quickly as you can if you want higher limit or a better card. Doing so will raise your credit score and make it much much more likely for you to get a higher limit and better interest rates I personally dont agree with another reply said about "Putting regular funds into your checking increases your credit score" - It really doesnt... Having a checking account is pretty much required in most cases these days but its not up to them how much you have in it or put in it. I would certainly try not to overdraw or bounce checks/charges out of your checking, that looks bad... Also, make sure you are paying all bills on time, if you have a cell phone, are you on your own plan? Cell phone carriers often report to credit bureaus... You can find more info @ getCredit365 - We also have a nice section of Student Credit Cards
The fastest Legal way to build credit is with aged trade lines added onto you credit profile. You are 19 years of age so your credit file hasn't been established for a while so here is a legit way around this. No creditor want's to be the first creditor to give you a large credit line until they see someone else do this. There are companies that sell this type of information but this is free for you friend. This is the fastest way to building credit fast. 1 Take one thousand dollars with this walk into bank 1. Open a secured loan for 1000$. They give you the check for the loan and put your funds in a cd. You then cash the check and you have your thousand dollars back. Do this again 3 times with the same bank and now you 4 loans. Do it with different increments. $1000, $900,$800,$700. When you leave the bank you have the same amount you left with $1000 dollars becuase the give you checks for the loans when you get them. You did this all with the original $1000 dollars. You gave 1000$ and got back $1000 Then you gave 900$ and got back 900$. You did this on all 4 loans. Then you take the same $1000 to bank to and do the exact same thing. You now have 8 loans that you pay on time for 6 months, a year is better but it works with 6 months. So you would have 8 loans with 2 banks. Then you take the 1000$ and open a secured credit card. This is a total of 9 positive trade lines. Now don't be worried with 9 payments. This is how you cover this. When you go to pay the 8 loans monthly. You only need the money from one. When you make a payment on one you can withdraw the payment out and get you money back the second you made the payment. Use the same funds to pay all 8 loan payments. This is so your not worried of making 8 payments all you need is money for one and you can withdraw the payment out immeditaly to pay on the other 7, one at a time within the same bank visit. Next step. With the 1000$ credit card get 1000$ worth of money orders so the card is maxed out. Then take the same money orders cash them and pay the 1000$ off on the card a month later. You can do this a month after maxing the card out. This shows you can borrow the money and pay off large sums fast. Next Step Find your mom,dad, or relative with a couple of large paid on time credit cards with big maximum levels. You going to use their aged credit. Say for example they had a card of 10,000. Tell them to put them on the card as a signer but that you don't want the card you just backing their card for a few months in which when they put you on their card their enitire payment history shows up on credit profile. So say they had a card paid on time for 5 years you now have aged credit on your profile. You do this the last 3 months of the 6 month program. Now on the 6 month you pay off all the 8 loans with the same 1000$ you started with. You don't want to many open accounts and dont want your debt ratio high. Make sure the trade lines from you family is under a 30% ltv or for every 1000$ in debt they only owe 300$. By 7 month you should look like this 8 closed loans paid in full 8 positive trade lines (high quanity of positives) 1 or 2 Aged trade lines for sharing account with family or parent. (2 high aged raising you credit line bar trade lines to 10,000) 1 secured new revovling account (Shows you have different types of credit lines. 7 month you apply for a couple of large cards and you are approved fast. Along with your dream care without taking a beating. Welcome to the 750 club P.S. After this you can remove youself as a signature from your parents accounts or family accounts you now have large credit cards your self. How do i know? I do Business Credit Building for Large Corporations On tax IDs and Personal credit building associated with starting business. Best Wishes.
The best way to increase a credit card limit is to charge, then pay your bill OFF, 100%. The next best way is to NOT get a Capital One Card!
Mia, funny you say stay away from Capitol One... I wrote an article on a huge problem me, and other consumers have had with them... You can see it here..Cancelling a Capital One Credit Card - The Never Ending Task
Definitely stay away from Capital One. See if you can get an AMEX - they have a form on their website for credit limit increases that is VERY generous. Coincidentally, I'm currently working on a page about building credit specifically for people in your situation (young, little to no credit history); when it's done it'll go into the credit section of my website
Trying for an AMEX card isn't a bad idea, however, they tend to have higher credit score requirements... Honestly, at this point, I would really recommend paying your card off completely before trying to get a new card. Having your credit issued to credit used ratio above like 30%-40% is bad enough, if you are constantly maxing your card out then it looks terrible. If you really want to shoot for a new card, try something like the student credit cards by Discover or even the Chase Flexible Student rewards card....Both offer 0% for 6 Months on purchases and no annual fee. You can find those cards and more here Student Credit Cards Feel free to PM me if you have any questions ALSO! - If you havent done so already, there is a law that states you are entitled to one free credit report a year, if you havent used it already, I would really recommend getting your free credit report to see what accounts you have open, etc. - I dont mean to come off as spamming my page but you can find some info about your credit report here Credit Report Basics Part 1
Captial One makes it's money by screwing people. I have a Captial One card specifially because they have SMALL balances.. I did not want a HUGE balance, because I pay my card off every month! I have the small balance card for things like, booking a hotel, getting gas, small items, etc... Things when I do not have cash handy, or need a card for whatever reason. Captial One will intentionally let your card go over limit, even by 1 cent, so they can charge you an ass rape fee. Also, they encourge you to pay online, however, (and I pay all my bills on the due date) if you pay online the payments are not instantly posted... It could take days.. So even if you have a receipt showing you paid on the due date, or a day prior, they will ass rape you again with a late fee.. So far I have been able to have any late fees or overlimit fees removed as a result of bitching to them about it... Their job is to screw you.... I've never had an interest payment with them... I would be willing to bet a lot of people do that, and they look for ways to earn money from people who do not pay interest. I am also willing to bet that most of the people they give their low balance cards to cannot even handle a 300 limit and end up paying heavy interest and or penalties on that 300 bucks...
First of all, your bank accounts (checking or savings) have nothing to do with your credit. Your bank account is not considered a tradeline, so it does not get reported to your credit report. Secondly, there's no fast way to increase your credit limit. The credit limit they provide you is based on your credit history, and from the looks of your age, your credit history is still young. A score of 649 isn't too bad considering the average American has a score of 678. However, it could be possible your credit score has dropped since you last checked because your credit line is almost maxed out. Instead of trying to increase your credit limit, have you tried applying for a new credit card?
Applying for a new card is a sure fire way to see a 20 point credit score drop. Inquires tend to drop/affect your credit score. Paying off a balance in full, or making a substantial payment on a major balance can send your credit score skyrocketing in the other direction. I tend to subscribe to Experian in order to see my credit report, real time. I get email notifications when there is a change in the score. I charged like, $3800 recently, then paid it off.. Within days I had an email saying my score went down, then up, as a result of a "balance change".
You are mistaken...it does not drop your score 20 points just for applying for a new card. Yes, multiple inquiries within a short time period may hurt your score, but not by 20 points in one shot. Not sure if you have any experience in the credit, banking and mortgage industry, but I do. Also, he wanted a fast solution. Paying the balance off in full is the ideal solution, but its obvious he doesn't have the money to do so, otherwise, he wouldn't be looking for more credit. Even if he were to pay off the debt, it would take at least a couple of months before his score would start to see some improvements.
Why tell him to apply for a new card? Especially considering he has said that he regularly maxs his card out. If he is not paying that down in full applying for a new card is pretty much trivial, as I have said over and over again with a ratio of credit issued to credit used like he has, I doubt he will get approved for any card, much less one with a decent limit or decent rate. My advice, pay your credit off completely, or pretty damn close before you try applying for a new credit card.
What makes you think that? I need more credit limit because I can't pay with cash and don't like using debit card. I pay my bill on time. Always.
Ok...Sorry for the assumption, but if you have so much money, why don't you just pay off your credit card? It's fairly common sense.
The more you pay off your balance, the more they tend to raise your credit limit. It's interesting... I especially like what happens when you do not use some CC's... I have some large limit CC's, that I never use, they keep sending me offers for balance transfers, checks, and increased credit limits.
KniveZ, if you dont want to apply for a new card, just call up the company for your current card, and tell them 'I would like you to raise my credit limit, otherwise, ill be doing my business elsewhere" - Something like that pretty much always works - The same can be said for getting lower interest rates. Its more expensive for them to try and reel in new customers then it is to give in to your requests every once in a while to keep you as a customer....