Bank of America Allowing Some Cardholders To Request A Credit Limit Increase Without A Hard Pull

Reader Ian noticed that under his ‘special offers & deals’ he saw an offer to request a credit limit increase.

This took him to a new credit limit increase page that states a credit bureau inquiry will not be done. When you normally click the request a credit line increase this verbiage is not present.

Normally when you request a credit limit increase from Bank of America it does result in a hard pull (although they sometimes do their own automatic credit limit increases that don’t have a hard pull attached). Hopefully Bank of America is trialing this new option and it will become open to all cardholders at some stage (just remember that if you click ‘request a credit line increase’ through the normal way it will still be a hard pull).

Hat tip to reader Ian
    William Charles
  • On June 26, 2017, 12:00

View Comments (20)

  • I just requested a 14K increase (from 11K to 25K) on my BofA Customized Cash Rewards Visa via the app and got instantly approved without a hard pull.

  • I REALLY liked the idea of no credit pull !! I went for it and rec'd a 5K increase. Will make checking the special offers tab a regular habit.

    Thanks Doc.

  • didn't know that a request for CL increase needs a HP......

    done it twice recently!!!

  • also if you do take a HP for an increase, aim high , they counter, and 90 pct of time that TU hp will be allowed for cc apps for 30 days. vs using experian for new app and that being valid 30 days

  • Thanks. Followed link in my offers and awarded$2,500 increase! Great that no HP was done!

  • No link for me. I have no right to complain. My MLB Cash Rewards card doubled my loball CL about one year after I got it in my April 2016 Apporama.

    When I decided to get the new BankAmericard recently, they gave me a CL about 3X my MLB Cash Rewards card.. I chose to look at the 0% BT as a nice replacement for the usual sign up bonus since it is not taxed. I made good use of the card BTs some current GC cards to smooth out the $12000.00 of GC purchases. I put some of the money into the 5% Insight Card. I found some private placement ways to put some of that money to work up to 8.25% tax free reducing balance over time.

  • THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!! I never noticed this personally. I followed steps, logged in and was approved for a $3k increase! ALL increases are beneficial as you should all know by now.

    • Same here, Marcus. I was stuck with a paltry $2,500 limit for almost three years. They finally gave me a $3K increase, bringing my limit up to a more tolerable $5,500.

    • I wonder if this is really good or not. If you are getting letters from BA that we have already extended too much credit to you, why should I apply for a credit increase, especially for a card I am not using. Seems to me I should be closing BA accounts to be ready for the next deal.
      Your thoughts, Doc.

      • Sounds like it's definitely not good for YOU if they've sent you a letter saying you've been extended your max credit. But that is definitely not the case for others. As always, on a blog like this, every post isn't applicable for everyone. Just like the hobby in general, YMMV

      • Depends what your goals are, some people aren't wanting to get additional cards but want additional spending capacity or just want to increase their total credit limits to lower utilization.

  • That's nothing new at all, I have received the same offer twice for my cash rewards card.

    • If nobody tells us then we can post before, I never knew this was possible.

      • I didn't think it was newsworthy either. It's been showing up for a specific card every time I logout for the last month. I keep checking which card, hoping it would cycle to other cards, but it hasn't.

          • I definitely appreciate the post, because I only pay my bill on the mobile app and never use the desktop website.

      • I think that everybody should be checking their special offers tab often, as I have also seen the no hard pull CLI a few times as well. I didn't think it was news-worthy, but I guess I will notify DoC next time I see it as well.

        For my family of 4 who have CC's with BofA, none of us were targeted this time.

Leave a Comment