Average credit limit?

**plainjane** · Oct 17, 10, 7:19 pm

What is the average credit limit on a credit card? I recently applied for (and was approved) for a card from my bank but the credit limit was only $1,500. I have good credit too with no negatives on my record. Would this be an average credit limit for a new credit card account?

**Mogul of Pineapples** · Oct 20, 10, 6:06 pm

Ever since the financial crash happened, I would say the average credit limit for a new card from a new issuer is $2k to $4.5k for those with good credit.

Those with excellent credit probably have an average credit limit on new cards that is higher, if they already have high limit accounts.

**Cucumber** · Oct 30, 10, 1:48 pm

My best guess:

average credit limit on credit card if you have great credit - $7,000

average credit limit on credit card if you have good credit - $4,000

and everyone else has no credit limit because the banks don't want to loan to them anymore

**obelisque** · Nov 3, 10, 2:19 pm

The credit limits on my cards range from $2,000 to $11,200. I would have to get out a calculator to find the average credit limit but I believe it would be around $5,000. I do have excellent credit.

**DoingHomework** · Nov 12, 10, 10:33 am

My cards have limits of $35,000, $12,000, and unlimited. I routinely put $5000-$7000 a month on the unlimited card.

I have very good credit, scores around 750.

Both the $12000 and the unlimited card are relatively new, 2 years and 1 year old respectively. That means the are both "post crash"

**Mogul of Pineapples** · Nov 20, 10, 3:18 pm

DoingHomework, remember no-preset doesn't mean unlimited. Basically charges will be approved until your deemed a risk and then you are cut off. Spending more than normal may be enough to trigger the cutoff.

**jeffysdad** · Nov 21, 10, 5:14 am

I used to have a B of A card with a $55k limit, but that was before the crash. I now have about $28k of credit with FIA (which is B of A) spread over three cards. At Chase I have about $37k in credit spread over three cards.

Most banks will let you reassign some or all of your available credit from one card to another if you call and ask them to, fyi.

Then there's another $22k on a Blue Cash card, which I never use. On Discover I have a limit of about $8,500, which is what I think I started with years ago. They've never raised it and I've never asked them to.

My available credit is way out of proportion to my income. I'll never use this much credit, and I don't carry balances. I would be disappointed if any of my limits were cut for no apparent reason. However, in reality I have to say Discover is the only credit provider that seems to take a rational approach to setting limits, at least from a risk management perspective.

**JL70** · Nov 21, 10, 4:59 pm

Originally Posted by Cucumber

My best guess:

average credit limit on credit card if you have great credit - $7,000

average credit limit on credit card if you have good credit - $4,000

and everyone else has no credit limit because the banks don't want to loan to them anymore

That would be right on the money. (Pun intended)...

I have what for most issuers consider "very good" FICO's (EQ 737, EX 742), and recently opened my two newest cards, a CITI Diamond ($8.7k) and a Blue Cash (8.3k), bringing my total CL's to $34.5k

**DoingHomework** · Nov 22, 10, 3:29 pm

Originally Posted by Mogul of Pineapples

DoingHomework, remember no-preset doesn't mean unlimited. Basically charges will be approved until your deemed a risk and then you are cut off. Spending more than normal may be enough to trigger the cutoff.

Yeah. I'm aware of that. But I use such a small fraction of my available credit that being cut off is a negligible risk. There's more to credit than score. I'm doing a refi now. Our income and assets are factored in, as they are by AMEX models. Based on the summary ratios I'm not worried about being cut off. No one ever seems to talk about it but AMEX and other lenders actually care as much about income and assets as FICO score.

**Mogul of Pineapples** · Nov 28, 10, 7:52 pm

Originally Posted by DoingHomework

No one ever seems to talk about it but AMEX and other lenders actually care as much about income and assets as FICO score.

There is no debating Amex cares about income, because if a financial review is done and your income doesn't match your tax return, I hear that reportedly your accounts will be closed. But then on the other hand there is the Zync with no official income requirement and others that have a very low requirement- I don't recall the specific numbers but I believe the Blue and others have a requirement along the lines of 18k. What I think this means is that income is given little weight for initial approval but in order to get a high credit limit, income will be factored in.

I have what for most issuers consider "very good" FICO's (EQ 737, EX 742), and recently opened my two newest cards, a CITI Diamond ($8.7k) and a Blue Cash (8.3k), bringing my total CL's to $34.5k

During the crash there was someone posting on here with an 830 FICO only getting approved for the Blue with a 2k limit. I heard a lot of that during '09 so it's good to hear decent starting limits have returned.

I used to have a B of A card with a $55k limit, but that was before the crash. I now have about $28k of credit with FIA (which is B of A) spread over three cards.

How much do you charge per year on your B of A cards? My limit was slashed significantly in '09 because of claims I didn't use it enough. It's not a card I normally use but I would still consistently charge anywhere from 3 to 6k annually on it.

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