Credit Limit
Also called: credit line, spending limit
A credit limit is the maximum balance a card or line of credit allows. Raising it lowers your utilization ratio, which can lift your score without you borrowing a cent — provided the increase doesn't require a hard inquiry and doesn't quietly increase your spending. Issuers cut limits during downturns and after missed payments, which mechanically spikes utilization and can drop a score sharply through no new behaviour of your own.