Credit card question

Stover

So, I am a senior at a university. Over the summer, I have a full time internship, worth about $600 a week. During school, that amount drops to about $200 a week. The college fund my parents set up for me helps me with housing, so I have a pretty significant amount of income.

I have one credit card, the monthly limit of which is $500. I got it as a freshman, and have never missed a payment. I've never asked for the limit to increase, and the credit card company has never offered to do so either. I've never really had a problem with it.

That is, until a few months ago, I would start getting declined, because I'd reached my limit. So today I call to have the line of credit increased. I'm told that in order to do this, the CC company needs to have a credit report "pulled", which results in a hit to my credit rating. The man I was talking to said it would be about 4 points.

My questions are thus:
1) Is this legitimate? It seems ridiculous that the mere act of requesting a credit increase will result in a lower credit score

2) If there's nothing I can do about it, is 4 points significant? Consider that I've never missed payments on loans and rent.

Thanks for your help,
hugs and kisses.

MikeMcSomething

It's not really uncommon, but your bank generates a 'soft' credit report for you every month that you use it anyway. Try asking the employee why they can't use the one you already have on file.

CooterTKE

you can also just apply for another credit card.

Thanatos

Yeah, just get a new card. There's no reason a credit check should be a hit to your rating, so that guy must be doing some funky shit.

MikeMcSomething

If he applies for a new card the new bank has to do a credit check(which will impact his rating). The advantage to going with a bank he already has a card with is, provided that it shows activity for the past month, they will have already generated a credit report that didn't impact his score.

MikeMcSomething

Thanatos wrote: »

Yeah, just get a new card. There's no reason a credit check should be a hit to your rating, so that guy must be doing some funky shit.

A credit check always hits your rating, but for some people the impact is negligible. A college student without much more than a $500 card will suffer more from a credit inquiry (which he will generate if he applies for a new card) than someone who has more established credit.

Hlubocky

When I graduated and got a job making mad bucks, the first thing I did was apply for a credit card. I thought for sure with a good salary I was a shoe-in. DECLINED. I couldn't believe it. Then I applied for the student version of the very same card. I didn't even have to enter info about my income. COME ON IN. WTF. I had to buy some furniture and stuff so asked for them to raise my limit by a whole bunch a year or so after I started working and had no problem. I don't think I had much credit... the usual college stuff (name on bills, etc).

Feral

Some companies do a "hard pull" when doing a CLI (credit line increase). However, others do a periodic "soft pull" and will just use your most recent soft pull instead. A hard pull minorly impacts your credit rating, a soft pull does not.

When you talk to the credit rep, ask them to do a soft pull. However, if for whatever reason, they have to do a hard pull, keep in mind that a single hard pull on your credit report has a negligible impact. Your credit will benefit overall because your ratio of open credit to maximum credit lines will decrease.

beacon1045

I just applied for Capitol One Platinum Master card and was approved for 300 dollars. My questions is they keep sending me pre approved offers for the same card, can I apply for another card since it says pre approved.