Consumer complaint received 2025-12-08 00:00:00
Product: Credit card — General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Trouble using your card — Credit card company won't increase or decrease your credit limit
Company: CAPITAL ONE FINANCIAL CORPORATION
State: AZ

Complaint narrative:
am complaining about Capital Ones handling of my credit limits and its treatment of me as a XXXX customer. 

I currently have three Capital One credit cards, each with a credit limit of {$1000.00}. These accounts have been open for several years and I have used them responsibly. Despite this, Capital One has kept all three cards at the same starter-level {$1000.00} limit and has repeatedly declined requests for increases. 

I am a XXXX consumer on long-term XXXX income, with a credit file that includes approximately XXXX active tradelines across multiple institutions. My overall profile is not that of a thin-file or first-time borrower. Nevertheless, Capital One continues to treat all three of my accounts as if I am permanently stuck in an entry-level tier. 

When I request credit line increases, Capital One either denies the requests outright or provides only generic, boilerplate reasons ( for example, references to internal score or high utilization ) without any clear explanation of why three long-tenured accounts must remain at {$1000.00} each. There is no transparent path for these accounts to graduate into normal limits consistent with my history. 

In addition, Capital One recently approved me for a XXXX XXXX card but assigned it a credit limit of only {$300.00}. XXXX XXXX is marketed as a premium travel card typically associated with substantially higher limits and meaningful purchasing power. Issuing a premium-branded card with a {$300.00} limit, while keeping my three older Capital One cards at {$1000.00} each, reinforces my concern that Capital Ones systems are keeping me in a permanent low-limit tier regardless of product type, history, or overall profile. The branding and product type change, but the underlying algorithm appears to treat me as a permanently constrained, high-yield, low-limit customer. 

My concern is not only the low nominal limits, but the long-term erosion of real value and access. Over the past decade, inflation has significantly reduced the purchasing power of a {$1000.00} limit. Leaving these accounts frozen at {$1000.00} ( and {$300.00} for XXXX XXXX ) for years effectively shrinks the real credit available to me over time, even as I maintain the relationships and make payments. 

Taken together with similar treatment by XXXX on a long-tenured ex-secured account ( a separate complaint already filed with CFPB ), I am concerned that this reflects a broader pattern in which XXXX and financially vulnerable customers are kept in a permanent low-limit tier with : No meaningful re-underwriting over time Repeated denials based on opaque internal scores Little or no explanation that would allow the consumer to improve their position Under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act and Regulation B, creditors must provide specific and accurate reasons for adverse actions and should not maintain policies that have an unfair or discriminatory effect on protected groups. In my case, the combination of : Three Capital One cards held at {$1000.00} each for years, A XXXX XXXX premium card limited to {$300.00}, A broad, established credit file with 46 tradelines, and My status as a XXXX consumer on fixed income, suggests that Capital Ones systems XXXX be producing an unfair or disparate outcome for XXXX and financially fragile customers.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation