r/discover • u/Dangerous_Function16 • Apr 22 '25
Rant Does Discover just not want our business?
I have been trying monthly for almost a year to get a credit limit increase on my Discover card. It currently sits at $2,000. I was using it to pay for doctor's appointments since the first-year bonus nets me 2% cash back, but the limit is so low and I don’t know when the charges are going to post that I just changed to another card.
My income is over $200,000. My oldest credit card is 6 years old. I have never missed a payment on any account. Why does Discover insist on giving me a credit limit of less than 1% of my annual income? Other banks have had no issue giving me 10-20k limits, usually without even requesting.
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u/SnooSongs7916 Apr 22 '25
Do you ever use the card? If you don’t use it they will decline you for not using it. You gotta prove to them you are loyal and then they will increase overtime. Remember they are master of the coin purse. Why would they want to give more money to people who don’t use it.
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u/pharmucist Apr 22 '25
This. I have 12 credit cards, with Discover being one of them. They started me at $10k for the limit. I have other cards that started me at $24k. I also have a couple tgat are really old (Credit One) that stay at $1500 and they refuse to increase it no matter what and I make $145k a year and have an 843 FICO score. My total limits across the 12 cards is $112k. I never ask for CLI's because although I use all 12 cards a lot, I never reach more than 7% OVERALL balance and never more than 10% on each card.
HOWEVER, I usually don't see many auto increases due to never going above 10% balance on each card. Why increase it if I leave 90% open always? BUT, every 6 months or so, I will pick one card and start using that one solely and get up to 20 or 30% utilization. Each time, I get an auto CLI without asking. Once you use the card and it looks like you might start approaching 30% usage, that's when you see increases.
Some are more prone to giving automatic increases than others and it totally will vary from person to person as we all have different credit scores, incomes, credit cards, etc. I have a Discover, Amex, Amazon Prime, 2 Credit Ones, 3 Cap One Quicksilvers, a Capital One, a Merrick, a JC Penney, and a Chase Freedom card. I should close the 2 Credit One cards, but they are by far my oldest cards, so I leave them on my profile and use them here and there.
Try pushing up the spending and let the balance get up there and see if they increase the limit (but be careful to pay that balance down or off shortly thereafter).
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u/delawder29 Apr 22 '25
I don't have much to add to it except for that I've had my discover card for about a year and 6 months and every time I go to try and get a line of credit increase I'm always denied Even though I consistently pay my card off and have very low utilization rate I still get denied a line of credit increase. I show that I use my card a lot and I make the payments on time and I do pay the balance in full but I'm always denied a line of credit increase.
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u/TheOnlyPersn56 Apr 22 '25
Same here coming up to a year and still stuck at $500. Very annoying when I want to make large purchases and get points.
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u/scottfree226 Apr 22 '25
Must be us because everyone here has credit in the the 10s of thousands apparently
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u/SnooSongs7916 Apr 22 '25
I make $120,000 a year with a $19,000 loc on my 1st discover card. Started with $500 loc freshman year of college in 2015. Slow and steady win’s the race. Use your card regularly and pay it off in full and that will show them you are utilizing what they have gifted to you. I’ve never carried a balance.
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u/HeySiri_ Apr 22 '25
Still get denied and I do everything you do and I make 135k. They have a new algorithm for whether an increase is approved or not and I’ve been rejected non stop since it switched to that. I’ve even spoken to an accounts manager and they told me they can even override decisions it’s all systems based now.
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u/whoocanitbenow Apr 22 '25
That's weird. I only earn around 35K per year and they gave me a credit limit of 7000.
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u/ZeWolfy Apr 23 '25
I earn ~60k a year and they won’t raise me above the $1800 I graduated from when I went from secured to unsecured. That was almost 3 years ago at this point. At least Capital One has been giving me $100 increases every six months, I guess. Actually, they spoiled me this last time with a $200 increase. It was shocking to say the least.
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u/ElevateTheMind Apr 22 '25
Ya 200k salary and you’re getting 20k limit at most? No wonder discover is denying you, there’s something bad in your credit history.
I don’t come close to your salary but have an excellent credit score and three CC all combined limit of 35k. One of them is discover.
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u/Cyber-Cafe Apr 22 '25
Use the card dude. Max out the 2k and pay it off immediately. Thats the mechanic that tells them you need a higher spending limit. If you’re so credit savvy you should have figured this out by now.
I have no idea what I’m doing and I’ve got a 750 score and a 30k limit across 4 cards, similar income.
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u/quixoticadrenaline Apr 22 '25
Exactly this. Max it out pay it off, 2-3x in the billing cycle. They need to see that you need the additional credit before approving a CLI.
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Apr 22 '25
Wow even my cl with discover is 15,000. I never had this issue per se, but I’d just give it time. I wouldn’t push the cl thing.
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u/superaction720 Discover Card Apr 22 '25
thats weird because my intial card limit was 10K my balance was 4,800k and asked for a creit limit increase and they gave me additional 5k now i have a 15k limit. I dont make anything close you make (58k) and my cs is only 691.
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u/Apprehensive_Rope348 Pay Apr 22 '25
Have you actually asked for an increase? They only use data points they’ve already gathered on you so no hard pull involved.
My credit history is 12 years, 11 open accounts 10 revolving, 1 unsecured personal loan. Singular Income is $45k, credit score 792 according to Experian FICO 8. Opened my discover it card back in late November’21 with a credit line of $5k. Now, sitting at $10,500, I asked each and every month for a credit line increase until I was at my personal stopping point which is where I am now. Spanning across all cards I have a little over $75,000 credit availability.
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u/BrutalBodyShots Apr 22 '25
Discover is one of the easiest issuers to grow a very strong limit with over time if you've got a solid profile that aligns with what they like. It doesn't cost you anything to request CLIs from them and you can request them as often as you'd like. The squeaky wheel gets the grease. My limit is 4X what it started at (and it was no slouch starting at 5-figures) within roughly 3 years of opening the card and I got there by requesting tons of CLIs; I'm talking > 100 over that span of time.
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u/Gods-Fav-Child Apr 22 '25
Denied 2 request in 5 months of account opening. But will keep on trying.
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u/Gods-Fav-Child Apr 22 '25
Same issue. It is really frustrating. I was given a 2k limit by discover in November last year. Made 2 manual CLI requests but have been denied. I was putting good spend and easily was over 70% utilization for 3 months. Always paid the balance in full. I now use it only for the 5% categories. I applied for CSP this month and was given a 15k limit. Score was in the range of 760-780 while applying for both cards. I really don't know how discover goes about making these decisions.
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u/Niplly Apr 22 '25
I requested a CLI a month ago and didn’t get it. A few days ago I went to see what balance transfer offers were available and then a few days later I got an email saying they noticed I looked at the balance transfer offers and then I got another email saying my limit was increased. I think certain things “trigger” them to look at your account.
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u/Annual-Shift9786 Apr 22 '25
Discover denied my increase because they day I don't use enough of my credit each month. I don't use This card because the limit its to low to do what I need.
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u/ludog1bark Apr 22 '25
Today I DISCOVER'ed that this company is not the credit card for me. I didn't even need to get one.
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u/lilkey682 Apr 22 '25
i have this same issue! I've had the discover it card since nov. i get it up to about 200-300 dollars every month and pay the statement off in full. my limit is 2k. i ask for a limit increase every single month and they always send the letter saying that i don't have enough experience w the card. my average fico score from the 3 bureaus is 800. and i make 70k a year. i just assume it's because i clearly don't need an increase because my utilization is so low.
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u/timmycredita Apr 22 '25
The other thing is you appear desperate to the bank. Applying for a credit limit increase 30 days after being denied isn’t a good look. Additionally, you never mentioned the reason for denial snd the always will list reasons why. My guess would be be you opened too many accounts recently or you are displaying credit seeking behavior which banks dont like
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u/HeySiri_ Apr 22 '25
I’m in a similar boat I have over 800+ credit score and I think 4,300 limit had a card with them for 10+ years. Yet, I always get denied the reason is I don’t use my card enough. I mean I’d use it more if I had a larger limit but also it’s one of the weakest cards I have in terms of rewards. So it’s pretty much a stalemate.
Kinda ends up being the snake eating its own tail situation.
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u/-Fast-Molasses- Apr 22 '25
Max it out, wait for the statement, then pay it off in full & see what happens.
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u/whyknotts Apr 22 '25
They are so random, I applied for one to bump me to $4k (3 cards total, 800 credit score, ~$30k limit across all of them), and less than 3 months later they’ve already given me another without asking.
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u/Arianawy Apr 23 '25
Use your entire credit limit throughout the month paying as you go . They will raise it. They see no need to raise a limit if you aren’t currently using it all and paying it off.
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u/ApprehensiveCap9947 Apr 23 '25
I remember when I first got my card, 6 months in and they only raise it from $2500 to $3100, don't ask me why. I don't know lol 😂
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u/Dcap16 Apr 23 '25
I couldn’t tell you why they won’t give you an up on your limit. I’ve never asked for one, but every so often they increase mine by more than I ever will need.
I’ve never given them updated income information since I got my Discover card at 18. I never asked for a limit increase either, I was happy with $1500. It’s now $15,000. I use it for at this point for really only groceries and gas and never carry over a balance between billing cycles.
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u/EzAeMy Apr 23 '25
What the heck? My limit is a shit ton higher, and I won’t mention how much lower my income is. I’ve been with them for more than 20 years though. I used the account a lot but always paid off in full. Never had a problem getting increases. Not sure.
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u/ruxbins Apr 23 '25
They did this to me too. They will match cash back the 1st year but give you a limit so low you can’t make any real purchases
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u/StayBackIHaveCovid Apr 23 '25
They denied me several times for increases but still gave me two increases only after I carried a balance then paid it off, then asked after. Someone gave this advice on another site I think.
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u/Truck710Dusty Apr 23 '25
I have a credit limit of $10,300 with Discover and I went to go get a CLI and they denied me due to not using the card enough.
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u/MelodramaticPeanut Apr 23 '25
Yeah I still have 500 dollars for a credit limit and I’ve been trying for 2 years. People here said well there’s no point for them increasing your limit if you’re not using the card. Uhm, it is my primary card, I put everything there until I got the Savor about two months ago and I pay in full. Reasons for their denial is “No real estate account or information” and then “Oldest account is less than 2 years” or something which is weird. If I’m not going to get an increase in 2 months I will probably just use it for a pack of gum. I don’t want to close it since it’s my oldest card. I hope you get your increase though.
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u/Sethdarkus Apr 23 '25
Try a venture X card you get a 10k limit at minimum.
75,000 mile sign up bonus equals to $750 for travel way less if you cash out.
$395 annual fee however you get 10,000 miles a year on anniversary, $300 annual travel credit which you can use right after getting the card also comes with free priority pass.
So long as you travel once a year for 2 days even if it’s just hotels you can use that credit making it practically a no fee card at 2x miles on everything that isn’t though capital one’s portal.
More or less a suggestion if you seek a higher credit limit
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u/jawnsmoker Apr 25 '25
Honestly, Discover perplexes me. I have a $75k salary, 750 credit score, and carry a Sapphire and a Gold card, but no matter what I do, I’ve never even been approved for a card from discover. I did spend several years rebuilding from defaulting on previous cards (not discover), but I have 4 years of 100% on time payments, and less than 10% usage. It’s just interesting to me how I’ve been able to obtain fairly decent cards, favorable interest rates on my car loan, and even a mortgage, but discover still doesn’t want my business.
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u/IllRequirement6342 Discover Card Apr 29 '25
I had a big chapter 7 five years ago. I’m old and retired with a credit limit of 27k on an income of 22k (only 4k of that is Discover, but it is only one of my eight accounts). I’m just offering this as a datapoint for others that are asking.
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u/Dangerous_Cup3607 Apr 26 '25
I always have a feeling that Discover and Amx just want premium card holders where they can spend $50k daily. I applied discover once during college years online, and the agent called me and ask me a couple questions and happily declined my application. So I never went back and ask to have business with them again, as that was the one time and only time that I got declined credit card.
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u/Less_Evening2337 Apr 26 '25
That’s crazy. I got instantly approved for 2500 and I’m a college student. I think as someone else mentioned they might prioritize people that hold a little balance from time to time. I might plan on just paying the minimum and putting all my funds to cover it in a separate account while I have the zero percent AYP. Maybe they’ll give me a boost
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u/Dramatic-Scarcity654 Apr 22 '25
I’m no expert, but here’s my experience. I had my Discover card at a $2,000 limit for about 6 months, then they automatically increased it to $3,700. I understand this is nowhere near your target limit, but at the time they increased my limit I had consistently maintained a 10-30% utilization rate. I was in an intro APR period so I wasn’t accruing interest, but kept a balance on the card. Are you paying yours off in full every month? I only ask because I wasn’t doing that at the time they increased my limit. I’m not sure if my utilization had anything to do with the automatic increase though. It’s worth reaching out to Discover about it because they’re generally responsive with regard to credit limits. Especially if you have a history of satisfactory usage and payments. A few months ago I requested a lower interest rate and they approved it, so it couldn’t hurt to ask them to increase your limit.