Your credit limit is the maximum amount of money you can borrow with a credit card at any one time.
Your credit limit you're approved for is calculated via a mix of factors including your income, assets, expenses, and credit score.
Sometimes you can request a credit limit when you apply for a card. But as credit limits are subject to the credit card company's lending criteria, there's no way to calculate your exact limit in advance.
What is the minimum credit limit?
The minimum credit limit is the smallest amount of credit you can get with a particular credit card. In Australia, the minimum credit limit can be as low as $500 or over $10,000 depending on the card.
How can I calculate my own credit limit?
There's no way to work out the exact credit limit you'll be offered, but you can estimate the credit limit you might be offered by using the following questions:
How much do you earn? It goes without saying, the more you earn, the higher your credit limit will be. Most banks have a minimum income to apply for each credit card, and a minimum credit limit. For instance, on a card with a minimum income requirement of $75,000, their minimum credit limit typically sits at around $6,000.
What are your current, regular expenses? This could include rent or mortgage repayments, supermarket shopping, electricity bills, phone bills and fuel or transport costs.
How much money is leftover from your income after you've paid your essential bills? If you earn $5,000 per month and spend $3,000 on bills, that leaves you with $2,000 'disposable income' for other spending, including credit card payments.
How much money do you want to spend on your credit card? Consider what you want to use your credit card for. Is it to fund a holiday or help with cashflow for everyday purchases? It's easy to end up with a credit card debt in a short period of time, so it might be best to start with a lower credit card limit to begin with.
Alternatively, you could request a specific credit limit based on your budget, or use a credit card repayment calculator to get a sense of what's affordable.
What is an online credit card limit calculator?
Online credit card limit calculators can give you some idea of what your credit limit might look like. Unfortunately, you can't determine exactly what your credit limit is and you can't be entirely sure of how your credit card provider will calculate your limit.
At the end of the day, it's your card provider who establishes exactly what your credit limit should be when you get a card application approved.
How can I increase my credit limit?
If you already have a credit card and want to increase your credit limit, you can usually submit a request online. Your bank or provider will assess your request based on its lending criteria. To help increase your chances of approval, here are some steps you can take before you request a credit limit increase:
Establish creditworthiness. If you can prove that you’re a reliable borrower, there’s a good chance that the lender in question would approve your credit limit request. Make timely repayments and try to pay off your balance each month.
Don’t exceed your credit limit. If you’ve gone over your card’s limit once or more in the past and didn't immediately pay it back, this is not a good sign to your lender.
Use your card regularly. Making purchases with your credit card and repaying them on time helps show that you're managing your card responsibly.
Be patient. If you've just got a new credit card, wait at least 6 months before you consider applying for a credit limit increase. This helps you build a relationship with the provider. And if you make all your repayments on time, it can even improve your credit score.
What factors can affect my credit limit?
Whether you're applying for a new credit card or want to increase your existing card's credit limit, the bank or provider will look at a range of factors to assess your application. This usually includes:
Income
Employment status
Your expenses
Your credit score
The card you're applying for
Our expert says: You can lower your credit limit too
"If you want a smaller credit card limit, you can request a credit limit decrease online or by calling your credit card company. Just make sure the limit you request is higher than any balance you have on the card. For example, if you owed $5,000 on a card with a $10,000 credit limit, you couldn't request a $2,000 credit limit because it would mean you owe more than the new limit."
What to watch out for when changing your credit limit
Increasing your card’s credit limit gives you access to more money when you need it and decreasing it can help you keep your expenses in check. In either case, it is important that you account for the following.
Overspending
An increased credit limit translates into you getting more money to spend, and this could lead to a build-up of debt that you may have issues repaying. The higher the credit limit, the higher the chances of overspending.
Interest charges
If you have an outstanding balance on your card that rolls over from one month to the next, it will attract interest. An increased credit limit has the potential to increase the outstanding balance, which would lead to higher interest charges. So if you don’t pay your account’s balance in full every month, a credit limit increase might not be a good option right now.
Defaulting
An increased credit limit gives you more spending power but also means you could have a bigger balance to repay. If your balance and any interest charges get to a point where you can't repay at least the minimum amount listed by a statement's due date, you risk defaulting on the account. But contacting your credit card provider when you have concerns about repayments can help you work out a solution.
Frequently asked questions
With credit card providers that accept online applications for increase in credit limit, you can complete your application in around 5-10 minutes, provided you have all the required information close at hand.
This can vary from one card provider to the next, where while some inform you of their decision almost immediately, some others can take a few days.
New credit card accounts typically don’t qualify for credit limit increases, and you’ll have to wait for 6 to 9 months. Once you get an increase or decrease in your credit limit, you cannot ask for another one in the next 3-6 months, depending on your provider.
Yes, you can, but this should be within the maximum allowed limit of the given card, and it remains subject to approval.
Amy is an experienced journalist with over 16 years of experience, contributing to major publications like Money Magazine, The Sydney Morning Herald, and ABC News Australia. Specialising in personal finance, she frequently appeared in media outlets and on radio. Amy holds a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism and Drama from Griffith University and earned RG146 certifications in Tier 1 Generic Knowledge and Tier 2 General Advice Deposit Products, ensuring her expertise is grounded in current financial regulations. Amy was Finder's Senior Writer for Credit Cards from 2016 to 2024. See full bio
Amy's expertise
Amy has written 526 Finder guides across topics including:
A Qantas Money card can give you free Qantas Frequent Flyer membership, points on your everyday spending and travel perks, but which one would you choose?
Compare credit cards that give you an outcome within 60 seconds of when you submit your application online and find out how to increase your chances of getting this type of "instant" credit card approval.
When you apply for a credit card online, you could receive a response within 60 seconds. Find out how you to find a card that you're eligible for and increase your chances of approval.
Important information about this website
Finder makes money from featured partners, but editorial opinions are our own.
Finder is one of Australia's leading comparison websites. We are committed to our readers and stand by our editorial principles.
We try to take an open and transparent approach and provide a broad-based comparison service. However, you should be aware that while we are an independently owned service, our comparison service does not include all providers or all products available in the market.
Some product issuers may provide products or offer services through multiple brands, associated companies or different labeling arrangements. This can make it difficult for consumers to compare alternatives or identify the companies behind the products. However, we aim to provide information to enable consumers to understand these issues.
We make money by featuring products on our site. Compensation received from the providers featured on our site can influence which products we write about as well as where and how products appear on our page, but the order or placement of these products does not influence our assessment or opinions of them, nor is it an endorsement or recommendation for them.
Products marked as 'Top Pick', 'Promoted' or 'Advertisement' are prominently displayed either as a result of a commercial advertising arrangement or to highlight a particular product, provider or feature. Finder may receive remuneration from the Provider if you click on the related link, purchase or enquire about the product. Finder's decision to show a 'promoted' product is neither a recommendation that the product is appropriate for you nor an indication that the product is the best in its category. We encourage you to use the tools and information we provide to compare your options.
Where our site links to particular products or displays 'Go to site' buttons, we may receive a commission, referral fee or payment when you click on those buttons or apply for a product.
When products are grouped in a table or list, the order in which they are initially sorted may be influenced by a range of factors including price, fees and discounts; commercial partnerships; product features; and brand popularity. We provide tools so you can sort and filter these lists to highlight features that matter to you.
Please read our website terms of use and privacy policy for more information about our services and our approach to privacy.
We update our data regularly, but information can change between updates. Confirm details with the provider you're interested in before making a decision.
How likely would you be to recommend Finder to a friend or colleague?
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Very UnlikelyExtremely Likely
Required
Thank you for your feedback.
Our goal is to create the best possible product, and your thoughts, ideas and suggestions play a major role in helping us identify opportunities to improve.