Thread: Discover and limits

So, wait...you were unhappy with your current Discover Card limit from April, so you opened a second Discover Card? So between the two, you have $10K from Discover.

With the CARD Act, they will only be able to give you an auto CLI in the first 12 months; after that, they will only "pre-approve" you for a CLI once you have provided income info or you will have to initiate the CLI on your own. You seem to have opened quite a few cards recently, that could be one of the reasons for your lower CL.

They are very conservative with their limits and frankly, the Cashback Bonus isn't what it used to be. I would concentrate on your Cash + now while you can before US Bank goes and changes it.

My only suggestion would be to call them up at some point and see if they will combine the two cards. I am not sure if they do that, but it doesn't hurt to ask.

My Discover is 13 years old and I only recently got the limit up to $9K. I was at $7,800 for 7 years before that....I hardly use it though.

Originally Posted by MemberSince99

I only have one. I closed the other card (5.5k card). I have a total of 4.5k with Discover. Sorry for not being more clear.

If US Bank does nerf that card, I'll just go to my Associated non rewards card and to hell with it. They obviously want me to use that since it has no rewards, and let's face it these companies aren't going to do that forever. I haven't paid them a penny in interest and I NEVER plan to. I'm not that stupid - I may be dumb, but not THAT dumb. So I guess I'm not a high profit guy for them. I was seriously thinking, maybe I should just use that card, no reason for them to ever nerf it there is nothing to nerf. It's all the limit I ever need.

I don't know CC.

Yes I have opened a few cards recently. The reason for that is, eventually my student loans will be paid off. They are my oldest accounts at over 10 years old. If I could I'd drag them out for another 10 just for AAoA as the interest rate is low and it's not much money (I could pay them off now if I wanted to but I don't want to). So I know my score will drop when I pay them off, and I wanted other accounts to have aged by then to build up my AAoA. That's the sole reason for looking for new cards, as well as wanting to diversify which doesn't hurt. I'd ideally like cards to keep for many years. But maybe I should just forget the rewards cards they won't last. Amex nerfed theirs I keep hearing of the impending nerf of Cash +, if you think about it, if you don't pay them interest, they are basically giving you their swipe fees and no one can stay in business doing that. so I've known for some time this won't last and it won't.

Food for thought.

Oh, sorry about that. It makes sense as you only have the one Discover listed in your signature. I am not judging you by your recent approvals...I went quite crazy in my early 20s with opening accounts. Now, in my early 30s they have all aged quite nicely. If I recall, you also opened a few Amex's that you recently closed. But those will stay on for 10 years so that will also help your AAoA. I think it is good to have a few cards to help beef up your score and as you said, they eventually will be old and thus helping your AAoA.

Didn't mean to put you off to the Cash + card. It has been my experience with Discover, Citibank Dividend and Chase Freedom that they all start out great, and then over the years the rewards are not what they once were. This is relatively unchartered waters with US Bank and I think they have been surprised by how popular their Cash + card has been. I have no personal experience with US Bank but I have only heard good things about them. Reward cards are here to stay; it is actually difficult to find a basic card these days. You just have to change with the changing programs. Discover initially was the only cash back card and it was pretty decent...over the years it has become, at least for me, quite sad. In 2004 I converted my lowly Platinum Select Citibank MasterCard to the Dividend MasterCard and it was awesome. 5% cash back on groceries, gasoline and drug stores-places that I frequented quite often. Then it went to 2% but they added utilities...then they went to 1% with the quarterly 5% bonuses which this year did not include gas or groceries at all. I only keep it because I managed to get the EMV chip on it. So, now I use BofA BankAmericard Cash Rewards for the 3-2-1 rewards. But I still use my Discover and Freedom for their 5% bonuses. So obviously, the banks are going to do what they need to do to remain profitable (i.e. changing reward structures), but they are unlikely to completely discontiue a reward program.

Back to your original posting...give it a few more months to see if they auto CLI you. I have been reading on other forums that Discover is much like Chase in that they usually do give an auto CLI within the first year. This year, after 7 years of no auto CLI (which I didn't expect as I rarely use mine anymore) a button appeared next to my credit line on the online account management screen entitled, "Request a credit line increase." I pressed it, entered my income and I was approved. No hard pull. So my advice would be to give it a little time but I would for sure keep it open. As another poster stated, Discover really likes to see usage more than other banks. Discover is a great company overall.

I'm a recent college graduate, I applied for the DiscoverMore card with no credit history and got approved for a $750 credit limit. I recently applied for an AmEx Green and got approved with NPSL.

A buddy I graduated with went the opposite way, he got his AmEx Green immediately after starting work. At about the same time I got my AmEx i sent him the refer a friend for the Discover. He got approved for a 5500 line of credit. I don't get it, we make similar income levels, the only difference is that he started with the AmEx NPSL.

Anyway, on January 3 when I hit my 6 months, I'll ask for a CLI to $3000 and see what they counter with.

Originally Posted by plc44

I'm a recent college graduate, I applied for the DiscoverMore card with no credit history and got approved for a $750 credit limit. I recently applied for an AmEx Green and got approved with NPSL.

A buddy I graduated with went the opposite way, he got his AmEx Green immediately after starting work. At about the same time I got my AmEx i sent him the refer a friend for the Discover. He got approved for a 5500 line of credit. I don't get it, we make similar income levels, the only difference is that he started with the AmEx NPSL.

Anyway, on January 3 when I hit my 6 months, I'll ask for a CLI to $3000 and see what they counter with.

I would strongly encourage you to continue heavily utilizing your Discover and let them give you an auto CLI instead of asking for one. It has been my experience that the auto credit line increases from them will outweigh any that you ask for. This should happen within the first year of cardmembership as it would follow the CARD Act regulations. If, after a year you do not get an auto CLI, then you may want to request one.

Regardless of your choice, please let us know what happens.