topic Re: Discover Approval 'Caveats'? in Credit Cards

Discover Approval 'Caveats'?

daveg38 — Sat, 29 Dec 2012 16:12:54 GMT

I jockey back and forth between here and Credit Pulls Database and see how people get approved for Discover Cards. This is what I've ascertained:

*Semi-recent baddies are ok

*Older 30 Day lates are ok

*Limited history is doable

*Scores can dip as low as 620's (FICO)

...but

High utilization, no baddies, no lates and 2 years AAoA gets no love. Maybe I'm lost somewhere, but wouldn't baddies throw higher red flags than someone aggressively using credit (yet paying down frequently)?

Help me to understand Discover logic and if applying with above (higher utilization yet nothing bad) would fly or not.

Re: Discover Approval 'Caveats'?

HiLine — Sat, 29 Dec 2012 16:14:03 GMT

How high is high utilization do you think?

Re: Discover Approval 'Caveats'?

daveg38 — Sat, 29 Dec 2012 16:21:11 GMT

Pretty high. We'll just leave it there. Lower than 1 month ago.

FYI, Chase nearly doubled my line with Util. at 90%. Now we're lower than that, however.

Re: Discover Approval 'Caveats'?

HiLine — Sat, 29 Dec 2012 16:23:22 GMT

Did you have a banking relationship or a long credit history with Chase?

Re: Discover Approval 'Caveats'?

daveg38 — Sat, 29 Dec 2012 16:25:46 GMT

Nope to both. Just explained my high util. and they appreciated the honesty and raised me.

(most of it revolves around Sandy expenses, $2100 of unrecoverable losses BofA refuses to give back because I exceeded SOL on charging back).

BofA reporting a hefty balances with no CL hurts, too.

Re: Discover Approval 'Caveats'?

lithium78 — Sat, 29 Dec 2012 16:27:38 GMT

Most credit card companies won't approve with high utilization because that tells them that the consumer uses the credit and doesn't pay it back in a prompt manner, which means that the credit card is running a serious risk of losing money on the account. If you pay down your util, Discover will probably approve you. They approved me for a More card when I had lots and lots of old baddies and only a 650 FICO score.

Re: Discover Approval 'Caveats'?

DailyDriver — Sat, 29 Dec 2012 17:53:31 GMT

I had 89% utilization over two cards. AAoA was around 5 years, no baddies. Discover had sent me preapproval offers twice a month, so I decided to go for it. I received a starting CL of 5.5k, which I used for 18 months 0% apr balance transfer (3% fee). I have made 3 payments, each higher than minimum, and just received an auto CLI of $750.

If you have not pulled your free annualcreditreport, I would recommend doing so and seeing if Discover is soft pulling (unless you have opted out).

Re: Discover Approval 'Caveats'?

daveg38 — Sat, 29 Dec 2012 18:57:18 GMT

I will be at 87% when 1-1-13 hits...Oldest account is 9.6 years, AAoA is at 2.

EQ is showing only Cap1 AR softs, Chase soft and some irrelevant product softs (Triple Advantage, myFico, etc.)...

Wonder if an explanation of my high UTIL to recon dept. would render anything...FICO showing 571 on here...I saw on Credit Pulls database someone get a Discover More with -620.

Re: Discover Approval 'Caveats'?

HiLine — Sat, 29 Dec 2012 19:02:44 GMT

At 89% will raise a red flag with virtually any creditor ...

Re: Discover Approval 'Caveats'?

LS2982 — Sun, 30 Dec 2012 00:10:39 GMT

daveg38 wrote:
I will be at 87% when 1-1-13 hits...Oldest account is 9.6 years, AAoA is at 2.

EQ is showing only Cap1 AR softs, Chase soft and some irrelevant product softs (Triple Advantage, myFico, etc.)...

Wonder if an explanation of my high UTIL to recon dept. would render anything...FICO showing 571 on here...I saw on Credit Pulls database someone get a Discover More with -620.

The bolded is exactly why you were declined. Fix the util. and your FICO will go up, knock 2 birds out with 1 stone.

Re: Discover Approval 'Caveats'?

Swapmeet — Sun, 30 Dec 2012 00:23:17 GMT

Re: Discover Approval 'Caveats'?

Rhaeny — Sun, 30 Dec 2012 01:43:51 GMT

LS2982 wrote:
daveg38 wrote:
I will be at 87% when 1-1-13 hits...Oldest account is 9.6 years, AAoA is at 2.

EQ is showing only Cap1 AR softs, Chase soft and some irrelevant product softs (Triple Advantage, myFico, etc.)...

Wonder if an explanation of my high UTIL to recon dept. would render anything...FICO showing 571 on here...I saw on Credit Pulls database someone get a Discover More with -620.
The bolded is exactly why you were declined. Fix the util. and your FICO will go up, knock 2 birds out with 1 stone.

I beleive at this point you will just be wasting an hp. A score that low coupled with high util does not put you in a position for them to offer you credit. I'm sorry about your situation with Sandy, I know this has to be some very trying times for you. I wish you the best.

Re: Discover Approval 'Caveats'?

Sparkz1920 — Sun, 30 Dec 2012 01:49:03 GMT

daveg38 wrote:
I jockey back and forth between here and Credit Pulls Database and see how people get approved for Discover Cards. This is what I've ascertained:

*Semi-recent baddies are ok
*Older 30 Day lates are ok
*Limited history is doable
*Scores can dip as low as 620's (FICO)

...but

High utilization, no baddies, no lates and 2 years AAoA gets no love. Maybe I'm lost somewhere, but wouldn't baddies throw higher red flags than someone aggressively using credit (yet paying down frequently)?

Help me to understand Discover logic and if applying with above (higher utilization yet nothing bad) would fly or not.

I dunno...I have two lates from last year and my baddies are paid and over 2 years old, one is gone in 2014...But my util was probably 3% at the time. Of course they called and asked me questions before approving me. But I would think that somone might have learned from their past mistakes and it shows by having a history of paying on time and keeping balances down

I dont care what your scores are and whats on your reports...No way would i give a person a line of credit when it looks like they are struggling to pay off their currents debts on paper