The 10-Second Credit Limit Increase

I logged into my Citi credit card account online today to make some changes to my profile when I decided to try to get an automatic credit line increase. I figured I was already logged in doing other things, a few button clicks to see if I could increase the limit certainly wasn’t going to cost me much time. I swung up to Tools & Services and click on Request a Credit Line Increase. If you recently did this, the option won’t be there.

I clicked on it and this is what appeared:

So, Citi card holders, this is your semi-annual reminder to try increasing the credit limit on your credit cards. Citi’s great about this because they let you do it all online and oftentimes without a credit check (as they explicitly tell you that a credit bureau report was not pulled).

Benefits of a Credit Increase

Credit utilization is one of the more significant factors in your credit score. Take your credit card balances at the end of the month, divide by your total credit limit – that’s your utilization. By increasing your total amount of credit, you decrease your utilization and increase your attractiveness to lenders.

You also give yourself a larger line of unsecured credit …