When Should You Ask Your Bank For A Credit Limit Increase

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Credit Management

April 17, 2024

When Should You Ask Your Bank For A Credit Limit Increase

Written by

Sophia Lin

Sophia Lin merges her economic expertise and credit counseling experience to demystify financial concepts, offering practical advice on debt management and credit building. Her empowering approach motivates readers towards financial independence and resilience.

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We recently reported that Chase stopped doing a hard pull on your credit report when requesting a credit limit increase.

Hard pulls affect your credit score (but not much). Soft pulls do not affect your credit at all.

So I decided to put together an updated list of which banks do a hard pull and which banks do a soft pull when requesting a credit limit increase.

American Express

Most requests do not result in a hard credit pull.
You can request a credit increase in as little as 60 days from opening the account. There are a lot of data points saying that they got up to a 200% increase from their current credit line.
It is recommended to wait six months between requests.

Barclay

A credit line increase usually results in a hard credit pull.
You can request a credit line increase at any time over the phone, or online – under account management.

Bank of America

A credit increase will result in a soft credit pull only.
It is recommended to wait six months before you request another credit increase.

Capital One

No hard credit pull.
You can request a credit increase every six months over the phone.
Capital One will usually want to see high credit usage before approving a credit line increase.

Chase

Update: Chase no longer does hard pulls for credit limit increases. A credit limit increase will only result in a soft pull.
A credit line increase can be requested over the phone or online.

Citi

No hard credit pull.
It is recommended to wait six months before requesting a credit increase.

Discover

Discover usually does not do a hard pull when requesting a credit increase. If they do need to do a hard pull they will notify you.
You can request a credit increase once every 90 days over the phone or online.** **

US Bank

No hard credit pull.
It can be done online or by phone.

Wells Fargo

You can request a credit line increase with a soft pull. If you’re not approved, then you can request a credit line increase with a hard pull.

Synchrony

A credit limit increase can be done without a hard pull.
It can be done by phone or online.
Some suggest requesting the increase by phone rather than online; they claim approval rates are higher by phone than online.

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"Boost your credit limit without hurting your score! Discover which banks do soft pulls for credit increases, including Chase, American Express, and more. Get your credit line up with ease and confidence!"

Sample Caption
Rating	Credit Score Range	Description
Poor	<580	This credit score is well below the average score of U.S. consumers and demonstrates to lenders that the borrower may be a risk.
Fair	580-669	This credit score is below the average score of U.S. consumers, though many lenders will approve loans with this score.
Good	670-739	This credit score is near or slightly above the average of U.S. consumers and most lenders consider this a good score.
Very Good	740-799	This credit score is above the average of U.S. consumers and demonstrates to lenders that the borrower is very dependable.
Exceptional	800+	This credit score is well above the average score of U.S. consumers and clearly demonstrates to lenders that the borrower is an exceptionally low risk.