In the process of creating our “which credit card companies do a hard pull for credit limit increases” post we came across Navy Federal Credit Unions (NFCU) strange process and decided to their credit limit increase (CLI) process in full.
- You request a credit limit increase and it’s automatically approved, this will result in a soft pull and you should be able to request another increase and be approved without causing a hard pull.
- You request a credit limit and NFCU counters with a lower limit, this will result in a soft pull. If you request another CLI it will probably result in a hard pull.
- You request a credit limit increased and are told you will be notified of the outcome in 3-5 days, this will result in a hard pull and somebody manually looking at your credit report.
If you request a CLI and receive the 3-5 day notice you may be able to avoid a hard pull.
If you call up and ask them to cancel the CLI you may be able to avoid them doing a hard pull on your report, this used to work 100% of the time but it’s now more likely a 50% 50% proposition.
Rules for asking for a NFCU CLI
- Always ask for your credit limit to be increased to $25,000. Even if you have a credit limit of $1,000, worst case scenario they’ll counter-offer. By doing small credit limit increase requests you just increase your chances of being hit with a hard credit inquiry.
- You need to wait a minimum of three months before applying for a credit limit increase.
- You should also wait a minimum of 180 days in between applying for increases.
- The max limit you can have with NFCU across all cards is $180,000. Max limit for Flagship Visa is $80k, others are $50k
Hat tip to the myFICO forums
View Comments (109)
I should add I make very good money in the oilfields direct deposit to NFCU. Sure that helps my standings with them. Been with US. Bank 7 years 2 credit cards with them still $300 secured and both 2 years old.
US Bank lost my direct deposit, they should remember me from before I had heart attack with bad insurance.
I have horrible credit had heart attack 6 years ago. I joined NFCU a little over 1 year ago, $500 secured card. 6 months to the day graduation to $2,000 unsecured. About 6 months later with 560 vantage did prequalify said pre-qualified for all, I went crazy flagship, instant $9,000. Other day I requested $3,000 on the original gave me $1,500. Total credit $12,500 650 vantage. Thank you. Navy Federal for having faith in me!
I don't know when this was written seems like three or four years ago but there's a lot of things that have changed a lot of this information is incorrect whoever wrote it needs to update it to 2021. Max across the board for credit cards is $80,000 between the three. If you do a credit limit increase on the app it's a soft pull. If you call it in it's a hard pull. Those are just a couple things I noticed that are incorrect. Most of the other stuff is just hogwash you can't apply for two credit limit increases at the same time that doesn't work in 2021 first credit limit increase is 91 days from getting your card. Second credit limit increase you have to wait 6 months or 181 days. Hopefully the author researches this and updates it. By the time it gets to it it'll probably have changed again. Navy Federal is known for changing the way they do things on a whim
So I have had my account for 10 years , they gave me a $5000 limit 10 years ago but within 10 years I have never had any increases. I called and they said well unfortunately that is how it is , it just doesn't make sense to me . has anyone had this issue ? I feel like 10 years is a longgg time for a credit limit not be increased . I have made on time payments throughout this whole 10 years . any advice ?
Interesting because I've had mines almost 5 years and they have automatically increased it by over 2K twice without me even asking. I just login and randomly it's been increased each time.
Yes I am in your boat now and it sucks! NF has also refinanced my 16,000 car but still will not increase my credit card
You have to request an increase within six months to apply for another CC with the 91/3 rule.
I’ve got a question I got a navy federal card year ago I was offered $15,000 three months in I requested an increase which went up to $22,000 . I’d like more available credit as a strategy I’m not sure if I should ask for another increase or get a New card... I’ve opened up a total of six credit cards around the time I got my navy federal card so on my credit report it says all of my cards are fairly new. So because of that I’m afraid I’ll get denied for a new credit card. I feel like so if I go for a new credit card I’ll have my hooks in them and then I can increase with those cards anytime I really don’t know what to do can someone tell me from experience
Honestly….they care about if you can pay them back. There’s no limit on how many you can apply for. Just have a good score (no late payment history ) and a good salary.
Old topic but figured I'd post. Did a credit increase request from $25k to $30k. Got the Under 24 hours review. Called Navy Fed, they confirmed that this type of increase is indeed a HARD PULL.
I am glad you posted this. I too have a 25k cc, and was curious about asking for a CLI... just to help boost my credit score. I've only had the card for about 3 months. I definitely want to stay clear of a HARD PULL.
I tried this last year, I was around 650 credit score went on vacation and was actually close on maxing my card out at 3k limit. I requested a 25k CLI and they immediately counter with 9K. It was a HARD pull personally didn't care because already a homeowner, purchased new car, no need for future loans at the present time or near future.
I just tried the method of increasing my credit limit by requesting 25k. My current limit is 8k, my credit score is ~740s, spotless payment history with Navy Fed for ~4 years. I was initially given a "24 hour wait" for them to make a decision, to which they emailed me and told me the next day that I was not approved. The email said I would be given reasons in the mail within 7-10 days....no counter-offer, no immediate increase, nothing. They have previously "automatically" increased my limit without requesting it, but it's been well over 3 months since then. I have not seen a hard pull on my credit...yet. I would not recommend this method of blindly asking for 25k, it would probably have been better to just go in the branch and discuss versus risking a pull on my credit + no increase.
I followed the advice above, and it did not end well for me.
I've been a member with NFCU since 2009. My credit card limit is $4,000, never had a late payment. FICO score: 778. Experian score 748. I applied for a $25,000 credit limit increase as this article said to "always" do.. Navy Federal said I would hear a response in 24 hours. Credit Karma then notified me of a hard pull on my Experian report. I reached out to Navy Federal and they said I was declined and they would be sending me a letter stating so. They did not counter offer, I asked if they ever do counter offers, and they said no - it's either approved or denied. They said if I tried to do another credit limit increase in 3 months, it would trigger another hard pull. Some good news: the customer service rep was able to enable my account to be checked monthly to see if I can be granted automatic increases without initiating a hard pull. Hope this helps!
I just asked for 10K on an already 6K credit line and was approved. On another card with them, I had a 1K line and asked for 5K, I was counter offered at 3K. On a third card, I also asked for 5K on a $2300 cl and was told they'd send me a letter with 24 hours. I'm sure ut was declined since my cl didn't go up, like on the other 2 cards. I'm trying to rebuild my credit and was ecstatic with the 10K cli. Instead of asking for a 25K bump in 6 months, think I'll stick with a 5K bump to be safe. Lol 706 fico 8, 736 fico 9 and a 646 trans. I paid off all my credit cards and my trans dropped 21 points to, where the fico's went up. Go figure...
Just saw the update and maybe I will try the 25K in 6 months, what do I have to lose...
NEXT DAY UPDATE: I just got an email from NFCU saying they've **approved** a change to my credit limit, and my new limit of $25,000 is effective immediately. I checked my account, and it shows my new credit limit of $25k! I'm confused, but happy about the change. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Opened card in August 2018 with 20k SL, requested a CLI to 25k on March 31 2019 and was given a "we'll let you know within 24 hours" message and hit with an automatic hard inquiry on my Equifax report.
Do I try apply for increase by calling, my navy federal app, or do I need to use desktop computer. Just tried to call and operator said they would do a hard pull on my credit report.