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Does Increasing Your Credit Limit Affect Your Credit Score?

4 min read

Last Updated: July 18, 2024

Table of contents

Key Takeaways

An increase in your credit limit may help your credit score if you keep your credit utilization low.
If your lender does a hard inquiry to approve your credit score increase, your score may go down.
An increase in income can make you eligible for a credit limit increase.

Your credit limit is the maximum balance you can have on your credit card. When you increase your credit limit it could help your credit score, leave it unchanged, or lower your score, depending on the circumstances.

Find out what factors could cause you to hurt your credit score, and when it’s the right time to ask for a credit limit increase.

How can increasing your credit limit affect your credit score?

All things being equal, increasing your credit card limit will reduce your credit utilization ratio. The credit utilization rate is the amount you owe as a percentage of your total credit limit. A low credit utilization rate may help your credit score more than a high utilization ratio.

If you increase your credit limit, your spending habits remain about the same, and you continue to make on-time monthly payments, your utilization ratio would go down, and this could have a positive impact your credit score.

However, if you increase your spending too much after increasing your credit card limit, your credit utilization ratio may increase, and that could negatively impact your credit score.

For example, if you have a $1,000 credit card limit and spend $500 before you pay the bill, that’s a 50% credit utilization ratio. But if you get a credit limit increase to $2,000 and then spend $1,500 before you pay the bill, your credit utilization ratio will go up to 75%.

The Office of Financial Readiness says that your utilization ratio makes up 30% of your credit score and that a lower credit usage (1–10%) is better.

Your credit score may change when you request a credit card limit increase. Your lender obtains a copy of your credit report to decide whether to grant your request. Hard inquiries like this usually don’t have a significant impact on credit scores unless many occur in a short period of time.

When to ask for a credit limit increase

Good timing could affect your chance of approval for a credit line increase. Consider these things before requesting a credit limit increase from your credit card company.

You received a raise: Report an income increase to show credit card issuers you can repay more debt.
You make on-time payments: Credit card issuers take into account your payment history and how reliably you make payments on all your loans.
You have a low credit utilization ratio: Use only a small percentage of your available credit to show that you can manage debt responsibly.
Your credit score is good to excellent: Credit card issuers are more likely to issue additional credit if you manage your existing credit well. A good credit score usually indicates responsible credit card use.

You can request a credit limit increase on your Discover^® Card by logging into the Discover Account Center, selecting “Card Services” and then “Credit Line Increase”. Or on your Discover Mobile app, select “Services” and then “Credit Line Increase”.

You can also request a credit line increase by calling the phone number on the back of your Discover^® Card.

What you should consider before requesting a credit limit increase

You applied for a new line of credit: When you apply for a new line of credit or request a higher credit limit, they can both result in a hard inquiry. Multiple hard inquiries could negatively impact your credit score and potentially show financial hardship.
Your income has decreased: If you recently transitioned to a lower-paying job, it could affect your approval odds for a credit limit increase.
Your credit isn’t good: If your credit isn’t good, it may be best to improve your credit score before requesting a credit limit increase.

Did you know?

If you’re looking for new credit, you may want to consider a credit card that rewards you for cash back on all your purchases. You can compare Discover credit cards with other industry-leading cards to find the one that best fits you and how you spend.

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Automatic credit limit increases

Requesting a higher credit limit isn’t the only way to get one. If you have used your credit card responsibly and have made on-time payments, your credit card issuer may automatically increase your credit limit.

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