 TITLE: 7 Surprising Things That Can Affect Your Credit CONTENT: 2\\. Requests for a Credit Limit Increase\n----------------------------------------\nThere are several reasons to request a credit limit increase on your credit card. Not only does it give you more spending power, but it can also improve your credit over time by reducing your credit utilization rate.\nBut applying for a line increase will likely cause your lender to conduct an underwriting process similar to what's done when you first applied for the credit card. This often includes a credit check to determine whether you're eligible, which can result in a hard inquiry on your credit report.\nIndividual hard inquiries don't do much damage to your credit, and it's unlikely the addition of a hard inquiry will have a noticeable impact on your creditworthiness. According to FICO, each additional inquiry knocks fewer than five points off your score. But if you've submitted a lot of credit applications recently, adding another inquiry could have a compounding effect and hurt your credit even more. END