Forum: money.stackexchange.com
Tags: <credit-card>
Title: Can I increase my credit limit by transferring money to my Credit Card account?
Question: I have a credit card with a credit limit of $1000, but I would like to make a purchase of $1500. If I transfer $500 into my credit card account, would that increase my credit limit to $1500?

Answers:
sents: text: When in doubt, call (the card issuer) and ask.
text: Ask if you overpay your current bill if the overpayment becomes available credit and tell them why you are asking.
text: It can go either way.
text: For what it's worth, I made a payment that was well over what was due, and this is a snapshot of my balance.
text: My credit line is $25,000, but since I overpaid, I can now charge $26,600 if I wish.
text: This doesn't "answer" the question, as each card issuer has his own rules, and OP needs to ask.
text: But, it proves that what he proposes is possible.
text: As the comment below notes, trying to charge $26,600 may (most likely) will not go through, a fraud alert would block it.
text: But.
text: I doubt if one does this with a $1000 credit limit card, pushing the available credit to $2000, that it would trip, or trip as fast.
text: To close this one - personal anecdotes only can suggest what 'might' be.
text: To actually do this, call the card issuer, they'll be happy to answer the question.
answer_details: author: money.stackexchange.com/users/187/JTP - Apologise to Monica
score: 19
sents: text: I live in Canada and have a BMO mastercard.
text: I called them and asked them and their answer was "of course!".
text: I have put thousands of dollars on my mastercard from my bank account to pay for rare, large purchases.
text: The money I put on appears differently on my online mastercard account though.
text: EX: account balance: $6,000.00 CR available credit: $3,000.00
text: This confused me at first, but when I called and asked them, they said my available credit doesn't change (ie: how much BMO lends me), but when I add my available credit + what I've put on my card
text: (my account balance, which is CR (meaning my balance has a surplus of money)), then my spending limit is $9,000.00
text: So, I don't increase my "credit" limit, but I do increase my spending limit.
text: It just comes down to terminology.
text: I assume it is like this for other credit cards, but I would recommend calling and asking, just to be on the safe side. Heath
answer_details: author: money.stackexchange.com/users/7311/Heather
score: 11
sents: text: No. You will need to call your credit card issuer and ask for a credit limit increase.
text: If you plan to pay off your card then I see no problem in this.
text: You could also ask the seller if they will put $1000 on your card, and $500 in cash.
text: (Ask for a cash discount too.)
text: Found some anecdotes!
text: http://ask.metafilter.com/143018/Can-I-prepay-my-credit-card-and-use-it-like-a-debit-card-to-help-me-spend-more-responsibly#2047093 http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/Can-I-prepay-to-increase-limit/m-p/670376#M214222
answer_details: author: money.stackexchange.com/users/91/MrChrister
score: 7
sents: text: My card keeps a separate 'cash advance' limit, that's lower than the regular rate.
text: I believe balance transfers also trigger that limit and (much higher) interest rate.
answer_details: author: money.stackexchange.com/users/2410/jldugger
score: 1
sents: text: I have an upcoming purchase that will be just over $2000, and recalled this question.
text: I tried to pay $2000 more than my balance on my card, and this is the note I got back via email.
text: Now, I did try to pay it directly to the card issuing bank.
text: I do
text: n't (yet) know what they'd do if I made a payment via ACH through my own bank.
text: So for this type of situation, I'd suggest calling customer service and ask how they handle these.
text: (Yes, the Joe was edited in.
text: The rest is factual)
text: I know this contradicts my older answer, but it serves as a counter-example.
text: Not all banks handle the same.
answer_details: author: money.stackexchange.com/users/187/JTP - Apologise to Monica
score: 1
sents: text: I had a macys card which only had $75.00 credit limit...
text: I accidently paid over the limit so the card had $100.00 in it.
text: I left it that way for a month..
text: My credit limit turned into 100..
text: So I do think its possible to increase your credit limit that way..
text: I've tried many times requesting for a credit limit increase..
text: I was denied many times..
text: The only thing I have is to add money but the tricky thing is that you'll have to add money and spend the whole amount and then pay it off at once for the credit limit to stick.
text: But since you have great credit assuming because your limit is 1000, you should request for an increase of your credit limit.
answer_details: author: money.stackexchange.com/users/7586/Brenda
score: 0

Summary of the answers:
You will need to call your card company and ask for an increase to your credit limit.
Not all banks handle this the same. You will need to call your credit card issuer and ask for a credit limit increase.  If you pay money in, you don't increase your "credit" limit, but you do increase your “spending” limit.