Chase Credit Card Denied Time Before Appling Again

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Coming out of college into my start full-time job, ane of my fiscal goals was to get a credit card of my ain.

I had a credit card previously when my mom had the foresight to open a joint credit card when I started college — with her every bit a co-owner — to help me build credit. After four years of responsible usage, I had a credit score in the mid-700s.

After combing through the NextAdvisor credit carte reviews, I fix my sights on the Chase Freedom Unlimited® for its generous cash back in categories I knew I'd employ, no annual fee, and generous intro bonus.

I applied online — and was promptly denied.

The online form didn't provide any details, and I would need to wait several days for a mailed letter explaining the conclusion.

I turned to NextAdvisor'south senior writer and resident credit card good, Kendall Petty, for advice. "Call Hunt and ask them for details and to appeal the decision," Kendall told me. "At the very to the lowest degree, you'll get a meliorate agreement of why you were denied," she explained.

I called Chase customer service and politely explained my state of affairs, and so asked if they could tell me why my application was rejected. The representative gave me several reasons, two of which stuck out to me:

1. The total bachelor credit line — the maximum amount I could borrow — on my current joint credit bill of fare was as well depression.
2. I had too many recently opened loan accounts (I'd taken out some educatee loans the previous semester).

The Hunt representative offered to submit a reconsideration asking for me. I provided some information about my current employer, bacon, employment history, and my reasons for wanting the Chase Freedom Unlimited card.

After some additional steps to verify my identity, I received a welcome package for the Chase Freedom Unlimited Carte in the mail.

All in all, the whole process took around 4 weeks and a surprising amount of piece of work. Aside from discovering the power of a polite phone call to client service, here are 5 lessons I learned from the experience.

1. The credit score used by lenders may be dissimilar than what you lot see

In lieu of paying a fee to check my credit score, I used my bank'southward free credit score reporting service, which uses TransUnion'due south FICO scores. I thought I had a good credit score in the recommended range for the Hunt Freedom Unlimited menu.

When I got the decision letter from Hunt, however, the score they listed was almost twenty points lower than what my bank had reported. According to the letter, Chase used its own proprietary scoring system and data from Equifax. Although information technology seems that my credit score was non the tipping point of the decision, the significant difference nonetheless surprised me.

The lesson I learned from this is that scores can vary depending on where you become them. Just  considering you're in the recommended score range doesn't hateful you lot're guaranteed to get a sure card.

two. Information technology takes more than than on-fourth dimension payments to build credit

Even bookkeeping for the variance, my credit score was still considered good to very skillful by most standards. Withal, the decision letter of the alphabet listed several factors other than my credit score equally grounds for deprival, including too low of a credit line on my current articulation card and likewise many recently opened accounts.

For a long time, I had causeless that paying your bills on time and in full was enough. Information technology'due south truthful your credit score plays a major role in credit applications, and payment history accounts for the largest share of your credit score calculation. Only I should've taken into account all the other factors that could affect my credit application.

In hindsight, I could have paid more attention to my credit utilization ratio — the amount borrowed divided past total credit bachelor. The recommended credit utilization is under 30%, and because I had a depression credit line with my previous card, my normal spending sometimes pushed me over the threshold.

I also wish I had spaced out the timing of my credit card application and so that information technology didn't come so soon after I took out my educatee loans since lenders view recently opened credit accounts equally risky.

3. Your current credit line tin touch on your future credit applications

The affair that surprised me the most was how my credit line on my existing joint credit carte du jour affected my awarding. Your credit line itself doesn't factor into your credit score calculation — simply your credit utilization ratio. I didn't spend much with my bill of fare, and so I never bothered to utilize for an increase to the $500 credit line I started out with.

Afterward several years of making on-time payments, I probably would've qualified for a credit line increase if I had asked for i. If I had known my credit line would affect my hereafter card applications, I would've washed the actress work to apply for a credit line increase.

4. Be patient and apply strategically

Afterwards being denied, I immediately started scouting out other options. I held dorsum on actually applying, though, considering I didn't want new credit inquiries to hurt my credit score further. Thankfully, I convinced Chase to reconsider my application. But even if I had been rejected a second fourth dimension, information technology would've been better to wait for the case to exist airtight completely before trying somewhere else.

Fifty-fifty though things worked out in the end, I probably could've saved myself some fourth dimension and hassle by applying for a card with easier requirements. While it's skillful to research which cards have the best rewards and perks, I learned that it'due south also important to have realistic expectations and apply strategically for the cards y'all have the best run a risk of qualifying for.

Pro Tip

While regularly monitoring your credit score is always a adept idea, go along in mind that the credit score yous check may not friction match the credit score lenders cheque.

5. It's of import to build credit early

Ane thing I did do right — cheers to my mom — was edifice credit early. Looking back, I'm grateful that my mom helped me get that joint credit bill of fare earlier I saw the need for one. Having an existing credit history made information technology possible for me to cull a high-value rewards cards for my starting time independent credit carte.

For any parents out there, I recommend adding your teenager as an authorized user on your credit menu or opening a joint credit carte together. Teach them how to use it properly equally presently equally they're one-time plenty to handle the responsibility. Higher students and immature adults who want a card independent of their parents tin consider applying for secured cards and pupil cards specifically designed to help people with no credit history build credit.

Why I Chose the Chase Freedom Unlimited

When I was doing my initial inquiry to decide which credit carte du jour I should get, I had two other contenders as well the Hunt Freedom Unlimited: the Citi® Double Cash Card and the Uppercase I SavorOne Greenbacks Rewards Credit Carte du jour. Though all three were highly-rated cash dorsum cards with no annual fee — my almost important consideration — I ultimately decided on the Chase Freedom Unlimited for two reasons:

• Intro bonus: Unlike the Citi Double Cash Bill of fare, the Chase Freedom Unlimited Card came with a $200 intro bonus afterwards yous spend $500 on purchases within the starting time iii months of account opening. Even though the Citi Double Greenbacks Menu had a higher overall base of operations cashback percentage (2% vs. 1.v%, not considering additional rewards categories), information technology would take $40,000 of spending for the deviation in greenbacks back rewards to exceed the value of the intro bonus — way more that I would spend in a year.
• Spending categories: My biggest monthly expense aside from hire and utilities is food. The Chase Freedom Unlimited Carte and Majuscule Ane SavorOne both offer a $200 intro bonus and iii% cash back on restaurant dining. The Hunt Liberty Unlimited offers v% cash back on grocery store purchases (not including Target® or Walmart® purchases) on upward to $12,000 spent in the first year, 1.five% greenbacks back on all purchases and the Upper-case letter One SavorOne offers three% greenbacks dorsum on grocery stores (excluding superstores like Walmart® and Target®) and 1% cash dorsum on other purchases. While I normally like to cook, part of my plan for coming together the $500 into bonus spending requirement was to eat out more. I knew that my food budget for the side by side three months would include more takeout than groceries, so I evaluated the cashback categories accordingly.

• Intro offer:

  $200 greenbacks rewards

• Annual fee:

  $0

• Regular Apr:

  15.74%, 20.74%, or 25.74% Variable APR

• Recommended credit:

  670-850 (Good to Excellent)

• Employ At present At Wells Fargo'due south secure site Run into Rates & Fees.

• Intro offer:

  Due north/A

• Almanac fee:

  $0

• Regular APR:

  14.74% – 24.74% (Variable)

• Recommended credit:

  670-850 (Good to Fantabulous)

• Learn more At our partner'south secure site

Of course, I made these decisions based on my personal fiscal situation and goals — equally a twenty-something living independently, with no big purchases on the horizon and no reason to spend money on anything more than the necessities. For someone who has more opportunities for spending — for instance, someone providing for a whole family — a higher cash dorsum rate might be more benign than an intro bonus. Similarly, if y'all spend more in certain categories, it'south worth picking a bill of fare that has cash back bonuses specific to that category.

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Source: https://time.com/nextadvisor/credit-cards/chase/how-i-convinced-chase-to-reconsider-my-credit-card-application/