Discover is one of the easier credit card companies when it comes to being approved for a new card. However, that could mean your starting credit limit with Discover could be quite low. If you have little to no credit history and limited income, you might be approved with a credit limit as low as $300. However, for most people, a starting credit line between $500 and $1500 is more typical with Discover, especially if you don’t have a very long credit history.
If you do have a longer credit history, say 5 years or more, Discover is more likely to give you a starting credit limit of $2000 to $5000. This will depend on the length of your history, your income, and how many other credit lines you currently have open.
What is the Maximum Discover Card Credit Limit?
Over time, Discover may increase your credit limit. With the standard Discover It Cash Back Credit Card, your limit could go over $5000 and even approach $10,000 as a maximum. The Discover Student Cash Back Credit Card is not going to go that high; your credit limit on that card would likely have a maximum credit limit of $2000, at least while you are still a college student.
Discover will often give automatic credit limit increases, and you can also request a credit limit increase if you feel your limit is too low. Note that Discover is more likely to increase your limit if you actively use the card and have been paying your card bill on time every month. If you rarely use the card or have been late on a payment or two, don’t expect Discover to give you a higher limit.
Where some credit card companies will increase your credit limit to try to motivate you to use their cards more often, Discover is more of a “show me” card company when it comes to giving bigger credit lines — they want to see consistent usage of your Discover Card before they’ll consider increasing your credit limit.
Author: Adam Jusko