Credit Limit Increase (CLI) can make normal spending more smoothly, and by indirectly decreasing the utilization, you might improve your credit score because of this. Some banks, however, pull the credit report from one of the credit bureaus when you request a CLI, it’s called Hard Pull (HP), which is somewhat harmful to your credit history. So it』s necessary to figure out which banks can increase your credit limit without a HP.
AmEx
AmEx can increase your credit limit without a HP, and it also has the benefit that as soon as you can get the credit card, you can triple your credit limit, and 6 months after requesting a credit limit increase each time, you can still triple your credit limit, and the maximum limit might be $25,000. What a generous bank in terms of the credit limit! Note that this 6 months restriction is for all the AmEx account, that is to say, if you request a CLI for credit card A, you have to wait for 6 months after that to request a CLI for credit card B.
Barclaycard
Barclaycard will do a HP on the credit report if you request a credit limit increase. But you can wait until the bank increases the credit limit automatically, and usually they』re quite generous about this.
BoA
BoA will do a HP on the credit report if you request a credit limit increase. But you can wait until the bank increases the credit limit automatically.
Capital One
Capital One won』t do a HP on the credit report and you can request a credit limit increase every 6 months.
Chase
Chase will do a HP on the credit report if you request a credit limit increase. But you can wait until the bank increases the credit limit automatically.
Citi
Citi may or may not do a HP if you request a credit limit increase. After clicking the button to request a credit limit increase, you may see: 「It』s easy to find out if you qualify for a credit limit increase. By clicking 「Continue」 you understand that we will obtain a credit bureau report to evaluate your request. Our credit department will review your request within 24 hours.」 And it indicates that Citi will do a HP on the credit report. You may also see: 「It』s easy to find out if you qualify for a credit limit increase. A credit bureau report will not be requested and you will receive an instant decision.」 And it indicates that Citi will not do a HP on the credit report. You』re free to click the button. If no HP is done, you can request a credit limit increase every 6 months, and several requests within this 6 months are invalid.
Discover
If you request a credit limit increase and get approved immediately, Discover will not do a HP; if you don’t get an instant approval, and need a further review, then they will ask you if you agree to let them do a hard pull, you should stop this CLI if you don’t want a hard pull. If function unavailable is shown on the website, you can call them to request a credit limit increase and tell them in advance that there is no need to pull the credit report. Based on experience, they increase your credit limit a bit even after your request has been rejected.
US Bank
You can click this link to request a credit limit increase. The prerequisite is that you have kept your account for at least 6 months. Statistics from the Internet show that US Bank will do a HP if more than $1500 is increased, and otherwise no.