Citi Credit Line Increase

[dockers]

Citi Credit Line Increases (CLIs) are supremely easy to do (surprisingly).

I was maxing out my Access More card each month, and cycling credit on it due to MS. I'd rather not poke the bear, so I Googled around, and all info I found was out of date about CLIs. DoC had a great post about it, but it was 2 years old, so I didn't put too much trust in it since things change so quickly in this game.

I was the data point I wanted to see.

Turns out it's super simple to request a CLI from Citi, and Citi even forewarns you if it'll be a hard pull or soft.

Log in, click to Account Management -> "Request a Credit Line Increase"

If you see this, there is a hard pull to increase your limit:



If you see this, there is no hard pull:



Done and done. Citi doubled my AxMore credit limit with a couple of clicks and no hard pull.

 

[Someone]

That page was been known to go bonkers in the distant past. Google "citi cli on crack". Fatwallet had threads about various cc issuers cli pages being on crack back in the day.

I remember taking two Citicards from $5k each to $25k each in one day as they gave out cli's in ~$2k increments and you could just keep requesting more (up to $25k).

 

[donuts]

Just tried this today. It worked for the first increase of $2100. But 2nd time through it wanted a hard pull.

 

[Taylor]

I too wanted a CLI due to not wanting to cycle from gift card reselling, and this was a nice way to ask for one without the hard pull. I'm not sure if it is due to age or usage, but I have 2 AA cards that were both opened within ~2 months of each other, and only 1 had the "no hard pull" language.

 

[scdc]

Wow this was a great tip, thanks! I've gone through several customer services reps without success trying to get a higher credit line and/or moving credit around for my ATT card but each time I was told it'd be a hard pull. Not so online....thanks again!

 

[Taylor]

After the online CLI, I called to close one of the AA cards, and they offered to move a portion of the closed line over to the other AA (the one that just had the CLI).

 

[billygoat]

I tried doing this with my citi plat world dividend and they said someone will review your request. 3 days later i get a letter in the mail saying that my credit reports are frozen and that i need to unfreeze them to get the cli. My state allows the $10 charge, so thats not going to happen. What gives?

 

[currid7]

Thanks for the reminder. Did this last year for my wife's card. Just checked again and got a free increase, no HP.

 

[currid7]

I tried doing this with my citi plat world dividend and they said someone will review your request. 3 days later i get a letter in the mail saying that my credit reports are frozen and that i need to unfreeze them to get the cli. My state allows the $10 charge, so thats not going to happen. What gives?

Did it say they'd need to obtain a report? If so, seems self-explanatory. If they did not, then maybe they went to use your current file but it didn't pop up or something...?

 

[billygoat]

Did it say they'd need to obtain a report? If so, seems self-explanatory. If they did not, then maybe they went to use your current file but it didn't pop up or something...?

No - didnt give much of an explanation beyond needed to access that. I dont understand as the already should have access to my credit file as they report monthly on my file.
Not that it matters but

 http://www.experian.com/blogs/ask-experian/credit-education/preventing-fraud/security-freeze/ 
  says : A security freeze generally does not apply to circumstances in which you have an existing account relationship and a copy of your report is requested by your existing creditor or its agents or affiliates for certain types of account review, collection, fraud control or similar activities.

...anyway.

 

[currid7]

No - didnt give much of an explanation beyond needed to access that. I dont understand as the already should have access to my credit file as they report monthly on my file.
Not that it matters but

 http://www.experian.com/blogs/ask-experian/credit-education/preventing-fraud/security-freeze/
  says : A security freeze generally does not apply to circumstances in which you have an existing account relationship and a copy of your report is requested by your existing creditor or its agents or affiliates for certain types of account review, collection, fraud control or similar activities.

...anyway.

Ahhh, got it. Weird.

 

[36902BRF]

I have had soft pulls fail with frozen credit reports. Back when I applied for a BoA checking account (for a bonus) it kept failing saying I had to go in branch. On a hunch I unfroze by Experian (only one that was frozen) and was immediately approved for the checking account. Again this was soft pull. And note I already had several credit cards with BoA so I had an existing relationship.