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Getting a higher credit limit on your credit card could help you cover a larger expense, whether you need to do so now or you just want to have the credit available in case of an emergency. If you don't increase the balance that you owe on the card, a higher credit limit could also lower your credit utilization ratio, and that could improve your credit score.
Here's the information you need to know if you own a Capital One credit card and you want to request a credit limit increase.
Applying for a credit limit increase
As with most credit cards, there are several ways to request a credit limit increase on your Capital One card. Arguably the easiest is by either phoning the issuer directly or making the request online through your account's web portal.
Either way, Capital One will want some information from you, most notably your:
Employment status
Total annual income
Monthly mortgage or rent payment
This data meets federal requirements for the information needed in a credit limit increase request.
5.00/5
Our ratings are based on a 5 star scale.
5 stars equals Best.
4 stars equals Excellent.
3 stars equals Good.
2 stars equals Fair.
1 star equals Poor.
We want your money to work harder for you. Which is why our ratings are biased toward offers that deliver versatility while cutting out-of-pocket costs. = Best = Excellent = Good = Fair = Poor
Rating image, 5.00 out of 5 stars.
5.00/5
Our ratings are based on a 5 star scale.
5 stars equals Best.
4 stars equals Excellent.
3 stars equals Good.
2 stars equals Fair.
1 star equals Poor.
We want your money to work harder for you. Which is why our ratings are biased toward offers that deliver versatility while cutting out-of-pocket costs. = Best = Excellent = Good = Fair = Poor
Rating image, 4.00 out of 5 stars.
4.00/5
Our ratings are based on a 5 star scale.
5 stars equals Best.
4 stars equals Excellent.
3 stars equals Good.
2 stars equals Fair.
1 star equals Poor.
We want your money to work harder for you. Which is why our ratings are biased toward offers that deliver versatility while cutting out-of-pocket costs. = Best = Excellent = Good = Fair = Poor
Rating image, 4.00 out of 5 stars.
4.00/5
Our ratings are based on a 5 star scale.
5 stars equals Best.
4 stars equals Excellent.
3 stars equals Good.
2 stars equals Fair.
1 star equals Poor.
We want your money to work harder for you. Which is why our ratings are biased toward offers that deliver versatility while cutting out-of-pocket costs. = Best = Excellent = Good = Fair = Poor
Rating image, 4.50 out of 5 stars.
4.50/5
Our ratings are based on a 5 star scale.
5 stars equals Best.
4 stars equals Excellent.
3 stars equals Good.
2 stars equals Fair.
1 star equals Poor.
We want your money to work harder for you. Which is why our ratings are biased toward offers that deliver versatility while cutting out-of-pocket costs. = Best = Excellent = Good = Fair = Poor
Rating image, 4.50 out of 5 stars.
4.50/5
Our ratings are based on a 5 star scale.
5 stars equals Best.
4 stars equals Excellent.
3 stars equals Good.
2 stars equals Fair.
1 star equals Poor.
We want your money to work harder for you. Which is why our ratings are biased toward offers that deliver versatility while cutting out-of-pocket costs. = Best = Excellent = Good = Fair = Poor
Credit Rating Requirement:
Falling within this credit range does not guarantee approval by the issuer. An application must be submitted to the issuer for a potential approval decision. There are different types of credit scores and creditors use a variety of credit scores to make lending decisions.
Recommended Credit Score required for this offer is: Good/Excellent (670-850)
Poor
Fair
Good
Excellent
300-579
580-669
670-739
740-850
Good/Excellent (670-850)
Credit Rating Requirement:
Falling within this credit range does not guarantee approval by the issuer. An application must be submitted to the issuer for a potential approval decision. There are different types of credit scores and creditors use a variety of credit scores to make lending decisions.
Recommended Credit Score required for this offer is: Good/Excellent (670-850)
Poor
Fair
Good
Excellent
300-579
580-669
670-739
740-850
Good/Excellent (670-850)
Credit Rating Requirement:
Falling within this credit range does not guarantee approval by the issuer. An application must be submitted to the issuer for a potential approval decision. There are different types of credit scores and creditors use a variety of credit scores to make lending decisions.
Recommended Credit Score required for this offer is: Excellent (740-850)
Poor
Fair
Good
Excellent
300-579
580-669
670-739
740-850
Excellent (740-850)
Welcome Offer:
75,000 Miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within 3 months from account opening
75,000 Miles
Welcome Offer:
20,000 Miles once you spend $500 on purchases within 3 months from account opening
20,000 Miles
Welcome Offer:
75,000 Miles when you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening
75,000 Miles
Rewards Program:
Earn unlimited 2X miles on every purchase. Earn unlimited 5X miles on hotels, vacation rentals, and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel, where you'll get Capital One's best prices on thousands of trip options.
2X-5X miles
Rewards Program:
Earn unlimited 1.25X miles on every purchase, every day. Earn 5X miles on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel, where you'll get Capital One's best prices on thousands of trip options.
1.25X-5X miles
Rewards Program:
Earn unlimited 10X miles on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel and 5X miles on flights and vacation rentals booked through Capital One Travel. Earn unlimited 2X miles on all other purchases.
2X-10X miles
Intro APR:
Purchases: N/A
Balance Transfers: N/A
Intro APR:
Purchases: 0% intro on purchases for 15 months
Balance Transfers: 0% intro on balance transfers for 15 months (Balance Transfer Fee Applies)
Intro APR:
Purchases: N/A
Balance Transfers: N/A
Regular APR:
19.99% - 29.49% (Variable)
Regular APR:
19.49% - 29.49% (Variable)
Regular APR:
19.99% - 29.49% (Variable)
Annual Fee:
$95
Annual Fee:
$0
Annual Fee:
$395
Highlights:
Enjoy a one-time bonus of 75,000 miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within 3 months from account opening, equal to $750 in travel
Earn unlimited 2X miles on every purchase, every day
Earn 5X miles on hotels, vacation rentals and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel, where you'll get Capital One's best prices on thousands of trip options
Miles won't expire for the life of the account and there's no limit to how many you can earn
Receive up to a $120 credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck®
Use your miles to get reimbursed for any travel purchase—or redeem by booking a trip through Capital One Travel
Enjoy a $50 experience credit and other premium benefits with every hotel and vacation rental booked from the Lifestyle Collection
Transfer your miles to your choice of 15+ travel loyalty programs
Highlights:
$0 annual fee and no foreign transaction fees
Earn a bonus of 20,000 miles once you spend $500 on purchases within 3 months from account opening, equal to $200 in travel
Earn unlimited 1.25X miles on every purchase, every day
Miles won't expire for the life of the account and there's no limit to how many you can earn
Earn 5X miles on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel, where you'll get Capital One's best prices on thousands of trip options
Use your miles to get reimbursed for any travel purchase—or redeem by booking a trip through Capital One Travel
Transfer your miles to your choice of 15+ travel loyalty programs
Enjoy 0% intro APR on purchases and balance transfers for 15 months; 19.49% - 29.49% variable APR after that; balance transfer fee applies
Highlights:
Earn 75,000 bonus miles when you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening, equal to $750 in travel
Receive a $300 annual credit for bookings through Capital One Travel, where you'll get Capital One's best prices on thousands of trip options
Get 10,000 bonus miles (equal to $100 towards travel) every year, starting on your first anniversary
Earn unlimited 10X miles on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel and 5X miles on flights and vacation rentals booked through Capital One Travel
Earn unlimited 2X miles on all other purchases
Enjoy complimentary access to 1,300+ airport lounges worldwide, including Capital One Lounge locations and the Partner Lounge Network
Use your Venture X miles to easily cover travel expenses, including flights, hotels, rental cars and more—you can even transfer your miles to your choice of 15+ travel loyalty programs
Enjoy a $100 experience credit and other premium benefits with every hotel and vacation rental booked from the Premier Collection
Receive up to a $120 credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck®
Good practices when asking for a credit limit increase
Every card issuer has slightly different criteria when evaluating a credit limit increase request from a cardholder. But it's safe to bet that your issuer will prioritize the same classic data points, heavily weighing items such as income, credit utilization, and payment history.
When it comes to big banks, most credit limit decisions are done by a computer, and are not at the discretion of any customer service rep. Here are some tips for optimizing your chances of success:
Pay on time, every time.
Pay off your charges every month, or as soon as possible.
If your income has increased, let the representative know.
If your expenses have gone down (especially housing costs), be sure to note that.
Make your request reasonable -- a general rule is to ask for a maximum lift of around 25% (although Capital One will determine the new limit itself in the case of approval).
If you can state your case to a human, emphasize the above points that apply to you.
Are you eligible for a Capital One credit increase?
To be eligible for a credit limit boost, a Capital One credit card account has to meet the following criteria:
Hasn't had a credit limit increase or decrease within the last several months.
Assuming you've passed those hurdles, Capital One uses these factors to decide if you can get a credit limit increase:
Whether you pay your credit card bills on time. (This includes all of your cards, not just Capital One products.)
You consistently pay more than the minimum payment. Your balances should be headed down over time, not up.
Your employment and income information is up to date.
When to ask for a credit limit increase
Just because you can request a credit limit increase doesn't mean you should. Before you make your request, see if any of these situations apply to you, and then make the best choice for you.
Reasons not to get a credit limit increase
There are two primary scenarios when requesting a credit limit increase may not be the best option for you:
Your credit score is low. If you don't have good to excellent credit, you might not want to apply for a credit line increase yet. Requests may result in a hard pull on your credit file, which can further reduce your score. Hard inquiries stay on your credit report for two years, but they only affect your credit score for one year. If you're in that situation, you could work on improving your credit first and requesting an increase down the road.
You're making less money or are between jobs. Your credit line is partly based on your income. If you report lower income, the card issuer might refuse your request for a higher limit.
Reasons you might want to get a credit limit increase
If you qualify for an increase and you routinely pay your credit card bills on time, a credit limit increase could give you peace of mind that you can handle an emergency expense even if you don't have the savings to cover it.
There's another big benefit to a credit limit increase: Your credit score might go up. That's because a big part of your score is based on your credit utilization ratio, or how much your balance is compared to your limit. Let's say you have one credit card, the limit is $1,000, and your balance is $500. Your credit utilization ratio is 50%. If you get a credit line increase approved and your limit goes up to $2,000, your utilization drops to 25% (assuming you don't add to your existing balance). Credit scores tend to go up as utilization goes down, so don't be surprised to see significant credit score improvement in a situation like this. Utilization is calculated for each card, and for all cards combined. So don't max out one card even if you have others.
An excellent tool for drilling down into the details of your credit score -- and, crucially, how it can be improved -- is CreditWise by Capital One. CreditWise is an online tool that provides credit scores free of charge not only to Capital One cardholders, but to anyone who wants to monitor their score. You'll get information about what factors are affecting your score and actions you can take to increase your credit score.
Automatic credit limit increases
An ideal situation as a credit card holder would be to receive a credit limit increase without doing anything. And that sometimes happens.
Some new Capital One cardholders have been pleasantly surprised to receive a credit bump within the first six months of owning their card. It seems that the issuer automatically boosts the credit limit for certain cards after the owner has made their first five payments on time -- at least for some account holders. (Automatic increases are never guaranteed.)
Also, some credit card issuers review their accounts every few months. They may award automatic credit limit increases to cardholders who regularly pay their statement balances on time and, ideally, in full.
That said, don't count exclusively on Capital One's generosity for a credit limit improvement. Work on paying your credit card bills on time (and in full when possible). Those consistent payments, combined with borrowing only what you can afford, can help you qualify for a credit limit increase.
Credit limit increases are always at the discretion of the creditor, and they don't reveal how or why they make their decisions. If you check out Reddit, you'll find quite a few threads where consumers claim that Capital One "buckets" some accounts, meaning the accounts were considered high risk when they were opened, and that status does not change. For these consumers, repeated requests for a credit limit increase are denied.
If Capital One denies your credit limit increase request more than once but you have a good history on the card, you could consider applying for a different credit card.
Technically, you can ask for a credit limit increase any time you want. It's safe to do so if your credit card issuer does a soft pull on your credit. If it does a hard pull, you'd want to apply sparingly to protect your credit score. Most banks aren't likely to entertain a credit limit increase request more often than every three to six months. Unfortunately, there's no guarantee that you will be approved in the future, even if you address the reason for a past denial.
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Kimberly Rotter has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
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