How to Increase Your Capital One Credit Limit

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.

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:

1. Hasn't had a credit limit increase or decrease within the last several months.
2. Be more than a few months old
3. Not be a secured credit card

Assuming you've passed those hurdles, Capital One uses these factors to decide if you can get a credit limit increase:

1. Whether you pay your credit card bills on time. (This includes all of your cards, not just Capital One products.)
2. You consistently pay more than the minimum payment. Your balances should be headed down over time, not up.
3. 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:

1. 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.
2. 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.

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:

1. Employment status
2. Total annual income
3. Monthly mortgage or rent payment

This data meets federal requirements for the information needed in a credit limit increase request.

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:

1. Pay on time, every time.
2. Pay off your charges every month, or as soon as possible.
3. If your income has increased, let the representative know.
4. If your expenses have gone down (especially housing costs), be sure to note that.
5. 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.

Still have questions?

Some other questions we've answered:

• How do I apply for Capital One credit cards?
• How do I redeem my Capital One Venture miles?
• How do you increase your credit limit?