What triggers credit limit enhancement from HDFC

[lpshreyas]

I currently hold HDFC Millennia (7+ years) and Neu Infinity (4 months), and have been stuck with my current credit limit for over 2 years now. I have no defaults and I also have a salary account with the bank, but that never helped in moving the needle. I have also tried every trick suggested to me to trigger a credit limit enhancement or an upgrade from the bank without any success.

• I have underspent (less than 10k a month for 6 months)
• I have overspent (more than 3L in a quarter)
• I took a second card in Tata Neu Infinity and spent 1.9L in the first 3 months
• I wrote to the CC team, grievance redressal, priority redressal, escalation desk, and PNO
• I spoke with my corporate RM, and escalation contact
• I even spoke to my RM (this must tell you how desperate I must have gotten)

But every time it is the same thing. Either they ask me to wait another 6 months, or they tell me that I already have the best limit they can offer. What also annoys me is that HDFC has quoted my credit limit (4.5L) as a reason for not offering Regalia Gold and DCB, even though Regalia Gold isn't on the same level as DCB. They are offering Diners Privilege to me on FYF basis but aren't giving a higher limit with the upgrade.

I am fresh out of ideas and, to be honest, a bit frustrated after seeing people getting their Neu cards converted to LTF, receiving everything from 10% to 200% limit enhancements, LTF Swiggy, and LTF Regalia Gold on corporate offers (which I also qualify, btw) while I get nothing. So, I would love to know if there's anything I can do in order to tip the scales in my favour?

 

[ahtsham]

There are a lot of permutations combinations for CLE in HDFC, but at the end, the the centre of gravity is "Give Business To HDFC".
I am pretty much sure of one thing "High spends on Hdfc CC do not garuntee CLE". Stop sending ITR's to Chennai address (This method gives hardly 15-20% CLE - practically tried by myself). Our goal is "Atleast 50% CLE". Stop chasing RMs', they are useless (They will force you into Investment Plans etc...).
1. Start Autopay (Smartpay) on your Credit card, even if you don't need.
2. Start Autopay (Smartpay) on your DEBIT card, even if you don't need.
3. Convert atleast 1 large transaction of your Credit Card into Emi with interest for atleast 6 months term, even if you are capable of paying in full.
4. Take atleast 1 No cost EMI on your Credit Card for atleast 6 months, even if you are capable of paying in full.
5. Open a FD of atleast Rs. 25000 /- or higher for atleast 6 months term. Open another Rs. 10000 FD with a sweep in facility. Take an Overdraft on your FDs.
6. Open a RD of atleast Rs. 1000 /- or higher per month for atleast 6 mnths term.
7. Add a Family member to your Savings account. Add a Kids account (if having kids).
8. Do not share any Financial document, ITR, Salary slip, other Credit Card Limits, anything with HDFC or RM or via Email or to Chennai address - Never. This hinders Auto-Limit enhancement on your Credit card.
9. Let the Auto-Limit Enhancement kick-in on your card by waiting for atleast 6 months to 1 year doing all these steps from 1 to 8.
10. Lastly, keep upgrading your Credit Card whenever offered even if CLE is not offered (Your upgraded card may not be according to your taste, but still upgrade it. Its temporary.) Upgraded cards have higher chances of Limit Enhancements.
11. Do atleast 1 small amount International Transaction every month on your Credit card.
12. Open a Trading & Demat account linked to your Savings account. I know you dont need it. But still open it. Add a silly 500 Rs. SIP in a silly Liquid Fund. You can close this account after your goal is achieved.
13. Invest in Mutual Funds (again a silly Rs. 500 SIP in a silly fund) through InvestTrack ie. the mutual Fund TAB on your HDFC NETBANKING page.
I hope, these 13 steps are more than enough for your Goal ie. "50% to 100% CLE over next 6 months to 1 year".
I had succesfully recieved 100% CLE on my Diners Black CC 3 years ago by following these above steps. Immediately, I had sent the Credit Card Upgrde form (Upgrade to Infinia request without CLE requirement) to Chennai address and the card was upgraded to Infinia. I now have Infinia metal.

You missed one thing.
14. Buy atleast 1 share of HDFC bank from the demat account you opened with HDFC.

 

[CMGCMG is verified member.]

There are a lot of permutations combinations for CLE in HDFC, but at the end, the the centre of gravity is "Give Business To HDFC".
I am pretty much sure of one thing "High spends on Hdfc CC do not garuntee CLE". Stop sending ITR's to Chennai address (This method gives hardly 15-20% CLE - practically tried by myself). Our goal is "Atleast 50% CLE". Stop chasing RMs', they are useless (They will force you into Investment Plans etc...).
1. Start Autopay (Smartpay) on your Credit card, even if you don't need.
2. Start Autopay (Smartpay) on your DEBIT card, even if you don't need.
3. Convert atleast 1 large transaction of your Credit Card into Emi with interest for atleast 6 months term, even if you are capable of paying in full.
4. Take atleast 1 No cost EMI on your Credit Card for atleast 6 months, even if you are capable of paying in full.
5. Open a FD of atleast Rs. 25000 /- or higher for atleast 6 months term. Open another Rs. 10000 FD with a sweep in facility. Take an Overdraft on your FDs.
6. Open a RD of atleast Rs. 1000 /- or higher per month for atleast 6 mnths term.
7. Add a Family member to your Savings account. Add a Kids account (if having kids).
8. Do not share any Financial document, ITR, Salary slip, other Credit Card Limits, anything with HDFC or RM or via Email or to Chennai address - Never. This hinders Auto-Limit enhancement on your Credit card.
9. Let the Auto-Limit Enhancement kick-in on your card by waiting for atleast 6 months to 1 year doing all these steps from 1 to 8.
10. Lastly, keep upgrading your Credit Card whenever offered even if CLE is not offered (Your upgraded card may not be according to your taste, but still upgrade it. Its temporary.) Upgraded cards have higher chances of Limit Enhancements.
11. Do atleast 1 small amount International Transaction every month on your Credit card.
12. Open a Trading & Demat account linked to your Savings account. I know you dont need it. But still open it. Add a silly 500 Rs. SIP in a silly Liquid Fund. You can close this account after your goal is achieved.
13. Invest in Mutual Funds (again a silly Rs. 500 SIP in a silly fund) through InvestTrack ie. the mutual Fund TAB on your HDFC NETBANKING page.
I hope, these 13 steps are more than enough for your Goal ie. "50% to 100% CLE over next 6 months to 1 year".
I had succesfully recieved 100% CLE on my Diners Black CC 3 years ago by following these above steps. Immediately, I had sent the Credit Card Upgrde form (Upgrade to Infinia request without CLE requirement) to Chennai address and the card was upgraded to Infinia. I now have Infinia metal.

Point 8 might be correct. A few people in my circle have experienced this issue. Those who sent a mail for LE never received an automatic LE after that. Others who didn’t send any mail received regular LE, despite missing several points mentioned above, but they use the card infrequently.

 

[HumorSimpson]

No Credit Limit is ever sufficient especially if someone is looking for an upgrade.

Agree 👍 even with 14 Lakh CL, they didn't even upgrade to millnia from money back +

 

[card-shard]

I'll give you a couple of reasons why having a credit limit which is about 4 times my monthly income is insufficient:

• Limit sharing - I have 3 credit cards from HDFC, and I have a different use case for all 3 of them which cover nearly 60% of all my monthly expenses.
• Large transactions - While this might only happen 5-6 times a year, I do have some big, once-a-year or once-a-quarter transactions (like insurance premiums, maintenance charges, fees, bills that generate quarterly/half yearly/annually ... and they can sometimes fall in the same month) which easily eat up more than 30% of my current credit limit per transaction!

30% utilization philosophy is not written in stone (it's just BEST PRACTICE). Nothing wrong happens if you spend more than that (given that you pay back after statement is generated).
Eg: I have used 70% of my limit to purchase vehicle, which I paid back immediately, and there wasn't any dip on CIBIL.
Even if CIBIL drops by few points, it will recover in a month or two.

And god forbid, if CIBIL drops temporarily by few points: neither will police arrest the person, now they will be terminated by their company, nor they will blocked from their apartment whatsapp's group, nor they will be abandoned by their family.
Then why fear a few points temp drop in CIBIL anyways?? 🤷‍♂️ 🤷‍♂️ 🤷‍♂️

 

[card-shard]

No Credit Limit is ever sufficient especially if someone is looking for an upgrade.

As long as you've base eligible limit for any higher card, limit higher than that doesn't matter.
Banks need more revenue from you, and they do that by making you spend certain amount in 6-12 months, and they get MDR fee for all your increased spending.

We've immediate confirmation as well.

Agree 👍 even with 14 Lakh CL, they didn't even upgrade to millnia from money back +

 

[lpshreyas]

30% utilization philosophy is not written in stone (it's just BEST PRACTICE). Nothing wrong happens if you spend more than that (given that you pay back after statement is generated).
Eg: I have used 70% of my limit to purchase vehicle, which I paid back immediately, and there wasn't any dip on CIBIL.
Even if CIBIL drops by few points, it will recover in a month or two.

And god forbid, if CIBIL drops temporarily by few points: neither will police arrest the person, now they will be terminated by their company, nor they will blocked from their apartment whatsapp's group, nor they will be abandoned by their family.
Then why fear a few points temp drop in CIBIL anyways?? 🤷‍♂️ 🤷‍♂️ 🤷‍♂️

Did I mention CIBIL score anywhere in my comment? Yet your entire response revolves around that non-existent term.

I said that I am able exhaust as much has 30% of my limit with a single transaction. So, in months where multiple large transactions are imminent, I actually have to keep an eye on the remaining limit available on the HDFC cards. And I am not a fan of immediately crediting that amount to the card just to enable me to use more of it. Also, I hate that fact that despite HDFC being my oldest card, it has the second lowest limit of all my cards. It not only makes things harder for when making larger transactions. it also limits my upgrade options

 

[card-shard]

Did I mention CIBIL score anywhere in my comment? Yet your entire response revolves around that non-existent term.

I said that I am able exhaust as much has 30% of my limit with a single transaction. So, in months where multiple large transactions are imminent, I actually have to keep an eye on the remaining limit available on the HDFC cards. And I am not a fan of immediately crediting that amount to the card just to enable me to use more of it. Also, I hate that fact that despite HDFC being my oldest card, it has the second lowest limit of all my cards. It not only makes things harder for when making larger transactions. it also limits my upgrade options

As soon as you start using your HDFC card upto 80-90% limit, and pay back after statement generation, your limit will increase in a few months time.
(Assuming it's not already 3-4 times your monthly income)

Furthermore, your whole argument is based on once in an yr event, where multiple insurance payments line up in a single month.
Since you've multiple cards, and others hv higher limits, then I am wondering why not redirect some of these payments to other cards.

You can dislike my posts as much as you want, but I am not convinced that you are actually facing such severe problem where all of your major expenses line up in a single month and you are struggling JUST BCOZ OF LIMIT.
IMHO, it feels that you are using a mild inconvenience (higher than normal expenses), exxagerating it just to put up an argument..
Can you plz share your statement of that ONE MONTH, just for reference (you can hide sensitive details) where your LEGIT PERSONAL EXPENSES overshoot your limit.

 

[lpshreyas]

As soon as you start using your HDFC card upto 80-90% limit, and pay back after statement generation, your limit will increase in a few months time.
(Assuming it's not already 3-4 times your monthly income)

Furthermore, your whole argument is based on once in an yr event, where multiple insurance payments line up in a single month.
Since you've multiple cards, and others hv higher limits, then I am wondering why not redirect some of these payments to other cards.

You can dislike my posts as much as you want, but I am not convinced that you are actually facing such severe problem where all of your major expenses line up in a single month and you are struggling JUST BCOZ OF LIMIT.
IMHO, it feels that you are using a mild inconvenience (higher than normal expenses), exxagerating it just to put up a point..

Can you plz share your statement of that ONE MONTH, just for reference (you can hide sensitive details) where your LEGIT PERSONAL EXPENSES overshoot your limit.

Not sure how accurate that 80% usage or the 3-4 times monthly income rule is because the bank doesn't ask you for salary slips or ITR when giving auto CLEs. HDFC has handed out as high as 10-12 times limit enhancements to people this month on cards like Moneyback+ who rarely use their cards.

Coming to my spends; just because you cannot comprehend someone else's use case, doesn't mean it makes that invalid or an exaggeration. And even though you might find it unbelievable, I actually have been redirecting some of these payments to other cards. Why don't I like/prefer doing that? Because not all cards are equally rewarding and some straight up don't give anything. Until last year, I was using my amazon pay card on amazon to make these large payments as it gave cashback and has a much higher limit. But amazon stopped CC payments for insurance and I had to get Tata Neu and SC Smart as alternatives.

Now, to address the unnecessarily toxic parts of your comment; Who made you the king of judging someone else's spends, problems or inconveniences? And then ask for proof? Are you for real? I used to think that the level of discourse on TF was much higher than other forums and platforms but you have single-handedly brought it down.

 

[card-shard]

Not sure how accurate that 80% usage or the 3-4 times monthly income rule is because the bank doesn't ask you for salary slips or ITR when giving auto CLEs. HDFC has handed out as high as 10-12 times limit enhancements to people this month on cards like Moneyback+ who rarely use their cards.

Coming to my spends; just because you cannot comprehend someone else's use case, doesn't mean it makes that invalid or an exaggeration. And even though you might find it unbelievable, I actually have been redirecting some of these payments to other cards. Why don't I like/prefer doing that? Because not all cards are equally rewarding and some straight up don't give anything. Until last year, I was using my amazon pay card on amazon to make these large payments as it gave cashback and has a much higher limit. But amazon stopped CC payments for insurance and I had to get Tata Neu and SC Smart as alternatives.

Now, to address the unnecessarily toxic parts of your comment; Who made you the king of judging someone else's spends, problems or inconveniences? And then ask for proof? Are you for real? I used to think that the level of discourse on TF was much higher than other forums and platforms but you have single-handedly brought it down.

if cards are not rewarding, you can shift few expenses payment dates to a diff month.
Eg : Make a one time quarterly payment, so that next payment date is 3 months apart, and then do annual payments.

I repeat, that I fail to understand how come all your major once a year expenses have come up in same month, which coincidentally exceeds your card limit, and there is nothing you can do to move those payments to different month.
My comments are stern, but only bcoz I see loopholes in your story. I am just calling spade a spade.

If you share your that ONE MONTH's example, great (It will be good learning for me as well), otherwise we can choose to ignore each other's comments and chill-out. ✌️ ✌️

 

[lpshreyas]

if cards are not rewarding, you can shift few expenses payment dates to a diff month.
Eg : Make a one time quarterly payment, so that next payment date is 3 months apart, and then do annual payments.

I repeat, that I fail to understand how come all your major once a year expenses have come up in same month, which coincidentally exceeds your card limit, and there is nothing you can do to move those payments to different month.
My comments are stern, but only bcoz I see loopholes in your story. I am just calling spade a spade.

If you share your that ONE MONTH's example, great (It will be good learning for me as well), otherwise we can choose to ignore each other's comments and chill-out. ✌️ ✌️

As far as I know, date of LIC premiums cannot be changed, but I'll surely look into it. As for why they fall in the same month, it is because they were all done in my birthday month across multiple years and all of them have an annual frequency.

Now, this month happens to be the beginning of a quarter, so society charges and fees also needs to be paid, which are charged quarterly and I cannot change the dates for it. I'm not really sure why you think this so shocking or miraculous.

I don't mind you being skeptical but it's hard to have a conversation with someone who is adamant for no good reason. And you strangely continue to ask for my monthly statement, as if that's a common thing strangers on the internet share with each other

 

[card-shard]

As far as I know, date of LIC premiums cannot be changed, but I'll surely look into it. As for why they fall in the same month, it is because they were all done in my birthday month across multiple years and all of them have an annual frequency.

Now, this month happens to be the beginning of a quarter, so society charges and fees also needs to be paid, which are charged quarterly and I cannot change the dates for it. I'm not really sure why you think this so shocking or miraculous.

I don't mind you being skeptical but it's hard to have a conversation with someone who is adamant for no good reason. And you strangely continue to ask for my monthly statement, as if that's a common thing strangers on the internet share with each other

LOL. your posts are not consistent. Further validating my hypothesis that you're exxagerating your higher than normal expenses.

First you complained about low limit on HDFC citing need for multiple premium payments.
Then you mentioned that you have been using APay card for insurance payments, and which has now moved to tata neu.

If you are paying insurance payments from apay card, then how is that causing issues on HDFC card.
Society fees is not that high that will eat up your credit limit. Usually I've seen 10-20k per quater for 2-3bhk in gradeA buildings.

Lastly: People do share screenshots of statement on this forum with identity info hidden for various reasons including to get/share clarifications.

 

[D₹V]

Stop fighting please 🙀🙀

 

[realjayt]

Stop fighting please 🙀🙀

Main popcorn laane wala tha!😒

 

[vega]

Finally I got LE yesterday on my millenia, after 6 glorious years... from 2.77 to 3.6.
Last LE was in May 2018 from 1.2 to 2.77.

In between these 6 years, even the card got upgraded, but not the limit on it. HDFC upgraded my moneyback to millenia in March 2022 as they had discontinued moneyback.

Current usage:
I'm hardly using this card from past ~1 year, except for some bills/recharges which I've to pay through this card only for reimbursement, as this card is mapped in my office's reimbursement portal. In last 10 months, 2 months have bill ~4k, 6 months less than ₹800 & 2 months absolute zero! Last bill was infact ₹95 only. So no idea how & why they're offering this LE now, that too just 30%.

PS: I've cards from ICICI, SC, IDFC & Yes bank with CL > 9.5L each, but I guess this doesn't matter for HDFC.

How many cards do you have from HDFC?

 

[atx]

How many cards do you have from HDFC?

When I posted that, I had just 1 cc from HDFC - millenia.

But recently got Swiggy LTF offer, so now I've 2.

Apologies for late reply.