CLI Strategy: Soft vs Hard Pull by Issuer
Which issuers process an online credit-limit-increase request as a soft pull vs a hard pull, so you can grow your limits without burning unnecessary inquiries.
How to use this page
Only request a CLI from issuers marked Soft if your goal is to avoid hard inquiries. Space requests out — a commonly cited cadence is roughly every 90 days per card, though some issuers enforce their own minimum wait internally regardless of what you ask for. Request a modest, defensible increase relative to your income and current limit rather than the maximum the tool will let you type in; large jumps are more likely to escalate to a hard pull or manual review even at an issuer that’s normally soft.
A credit limit increase (CLI) raises your available credit on a card you already have — useful for utilization, or just to grow a long-held account’s limit over time. The catch: depending on the issuer, requesting one can trigger a hard inquiry on your credit report. The table below only covers requesting a CLI through an issuer’s own online self-service tool — not a phone call to a rep, which can behave differently even at a normally soft-pull issuer, and not an automatic/unsolicited increase the issuer initiates on its own (those are effectively always soft, since you didn’t request anything).
| Issuer / Program | Pull Type | |
|---|---|---|
| American Express | Soft | Soft for both self-requested and Amex-initiated automatic increases, up to roughly 3x your current limit — requesting more can trigger a hard pull (Amex asks permission first). Must wait 60 days after account opening, or have another Amex card open 6+ months, before your first request; 6 months required between CLI requests across all Amex cards. |
| Bank of America | Soft | Reported as soft since around May 2018. Requesting more than a pre-approved/special offer amount may trigger a different review — reports conflict on whether that escalates to hard, treat as unconfirmed. |
| Barclays | Varies | Sources directly conflict: some report self-initiated online/phone requests as a hard pull (Barclays asks permission first), others report Barclays has shifted toward soft, automatic reviews after 6-12 months of account history. Treat as unresolved pending better sourcing. |
| Capital One | Soft | Once every 6 months via the app/online is reported as soft. Requests are also reportedly often denied outright rather than countered with a hard pull. |
| Chase | Varies | Soft if Chase shows a pre-approved increase in-app before you submit; hard if you self-initiate an unsolicited increase that isn't already pre-approved. No fixed re-request interval documented. |
| Citi | Varies | Citi's online/app tool reportedly previews whether your specific request will be a soft or hard pull before you submit — an instant decision usually means soft, a delayed/manual review usually means hard. |
| Discover | Varies | Small increases that are auto-approved are soft with an instant decision; if Discover counters your requested amount instead of auto-approving it, that escalates to a hard pull. No documented dollar threshold. |
| Goldman Sachs / Apple Card | Varies | Reported as soft by default (Goldman/Marcus states it asks permission before any hard pull), but multiple more recent reports describe hard pulls on some CLI requests with no clear predictor. One of the least-confident entries in this table. |
| Navy Federal | Varies | Conflicting reports: one line says proactive/automatic increases are soft while any self-initiated online request is hard; another says cumulative limits under $25,000 stay soft and only requests pushing you past $25,000 trigger a hard pull. Treat as unresolved. |
| Synchrony | Varies | DoctorOfCredit's own research states it isn't reliably possible to predict soft vs hard for a Synchrony CLI request. Some newer reports suggest soft unless the account is under 60 days old. The least-confident entry in this table. |
| US Bank | Soft | Soft is the norm — requests under roughly $1,500 are reported as reliably soft, $1,500+ may trigger a hard pull (single-source figure, not independently corroborated). Minimum 6 months account age required before requesting. |
| Wells Fargo | Varies | Mostly reported as soft, with real documented exceptions reported as hard. No documented dollar threshold or wait interval. |
| All Store Cards | Hard | Most of the store cards are hard pulls and to begin with give small limits and small increases on their own. The hard inquiry is not worth pursuing on these cards because the increase they'll give is negligible. |
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