Capital One Credit Limit

SeanB1994

Hi all, does anyone know if Capital one cards have any scope of going above £1500? It says on their website at the application page, max limit 1500, but I'm not sure if this is the max initial limit, or the max limit all together.
Thanks in advance

[Deleted User]

Limits go way beyond that, including upon application, depending on the card you apply for.

jbrassy

I've had a Capital One card since 2014. My credit limit is £2,000, but they absolutely refuse to increase it beyond that. This is despite the fact I have a good credit history (I pay all my bills in full and on time) and I have other credit cards with much higher limits. 

They told me on the phone that they simply don't offer the high limits that other credit card companies do because that is not their business model (although admittedly it used to be). In sum, yes you can go higher than £1500, but don't expect it to go up by much. 

Sandtree

Did you look at their website?

The "Balance Transfer Card" for example says it has a limit of up to £8,000

jbrassy

Sandtree said:

Did you look at their website?

The "Balance Transfer Card" for example says it has a limit of up to £8,000

To be honest, no I didn't look at their website as I have never had an interest in balance transfer cards, but thanks for flagging. I may put this to them next time I ring them up. 

I think a hidden reason why they won't give me a credit limit above £2k is because I have a legacy cashback card which pays 0.5% interest. Given I pay my bill off in full every month, it's possible they now make a loss on me as an individual customer and thus want to limit their losses. 

[Deleted User]

jbrassy said:

Sandtree said:

Did you look at their website?

The "Balance Transfer Card" for example says it has a limit of up to £8,000

To be honest, no I didn't look at their website as I have never had an interest in balance transfer cards, but thanks for flagging. I may put this to them next time I ring them up. 

I think a hidden reason why they won't give me a credit limit above £2k is because I have a legacy cashback card which pays 0.5% interest. Given I pay my bill off in full every month, it's possible they now make a loss on me as an individual customer and thus want to limit their losses. 

The issuer gets merchant fees every time you spend, the more you spend, the more they make. It is a total myth that they lose money on people who pay back in full, even if there is cashback. It's simply responsible lending. People who hold sub-prime cards like capital one, Vanquis etc are almost always in a risk profile that makes them likely to not pay their debts, so their model will make allowance for that, affecting those like you simply taking advantage of their offers to make profit at your end. Prime lenders will give higher card limits as that is their market.

Ohfeelya

I have the Capitol One 0.5% cashback card too, and my credit limit is £2750. My initial credit limit was lower than that however. 

jbrassy

Deleted_User said:

jbrassy said:

Sandtree said:

Did you look at their website?

The "Balance Transfer Card" for example says it has a limit of up to £8,000

To be honest, no I didn't look at their website as I have never had an interest in balance transfer cards, but thanks for flagging. I may put this to them next time I ring them up. 

I think a hidden reason why they won't give me a credit limit above £2k is because I have a legacy cashback card which pays 0.5% interest. Given I pay my bill off in full every month, it's possible they now make a loss on me as an individual customer and thus want to limit their losses. 

The issuer gets merchant fees every time you spend, the more you spend, the more they make. It is a total myth that they lose money on people who pay back in full, even if there is cashback. It's simply responsible lending. People who hold sub-prime cards like capital one, Vanquis etc are almost always in a risk profile that makes them likely to not pay their debts, so their model will make allowance for that, affecting those like you simply taking advantage of their offers to make profit at your end. Prime lenders will give higher card limits as that is their market.

Fair enough. However, what I I can tell you for a fact is that credit card companies fund the cashback through the interchange fees which are capped at 0.3% by law. They do not fund it through cross-subsidising customers who pay their bill of in full with customers that pay interest on their balances. 

Ohfeelya said:

I have the Capitol One 0.5% cashback card too, and my credit limit is £2750. My initial credit limit was lower than that however. 

This is very enlightening and I may give Cap1 a ring and push them for a higher limit. I don't use Cap1 much as I put most my spending on Amex which has superior cashback and a much higher credit limit. I only put about £100-£200 worth of spending on my Cap1, but it's always nice to have a bit more headroom in case I want to make a big purchase from a retailer which doesn't accept Amex.

CRISPIANNE3

jbrassy said:

I've had a Capital One card since 2014. My credit limit is £2,000, but they absolutely refuse to increase it beyond that. This is despite the fact I have a good credit history (I pay all my bills in full and on time) and I have other credit cards with much higher limits. 

They told me on the phone that they simply don't offer the high limits that other credit card companies do because that is not their business model (although admittedly it used to be). In sum, yes you can go higher than £1500, but don't expect it to go up by much. 

They must have changed their criteria because I had one a few years ago and had a £6,000 limit.

maxximus75

Capital One do have several tiers of card. The high tier card you will have to qualify for that in the first instance.

If you are accepted on a low or mid tier card, then you will be stuck within the constraints of that maximum credit limit and you will never be upgraded to the high tier.

phillw

Deleted_User said:
It is a total myth that they lose money on people who pay back in full, even if there is cashback.

It would depend on how you class "lose money". If they divide up the cost of running the entire company between all of the customers and compare it to how much money they made from each one, then they could easily lose money on some customers.