5 1/5 years post BK7 discharge, and man do Barclays & Cap One love me, and I love them!

[DaveInAZ]

I've been very happy with Barclays, they approved me for the Rewards MC back in April 2012, 1 yr 3 mos post BK7 discharge; I don't recall the SL, but I got it up to $5700 CL. These days I just use it for the 2% rewards categories, electric bill (no surcharge for CC payment), groceries & gas, so the rewards add up fast!  Approved for NFL card in March, frankly just for the 18 month 0% BT, to pay off a Prosper 11% APR loan. They gave me a $5k SL, and I moved $2700 from Rewards. They gave me a $1k auto CLI last winter, so up to $8700 CL.

I finally paid off the BT in July, the 0% BT was due to expire this month. So today I app'd for Cash Forward, and got the 10 day review response. I wasn't surpised, I already have 2 cards w/them with $11,700 total CL. So I called a credit analyst from the Backdoor numbers in the CC Applications forum. Took 5 minutes, re-confirmed my government employment with the local county since March 2012 & asked about BK7 discharged in Jan 2011 - uninsured $80k medical expenses. Approved for $2500  SL. I then told her I wanted to close NFL & move the CL to Cash Forward. That took another minute or so, and now I have a Cash Forward MC with $11,200 CL! $100 spend bonus for charging $500 within 3 months, and 12 months 0% on charges, and 1.5% cashback rewards on all purchases. I never had a Barclays account prior to BK, so they were never "burned".

I did include a couple large Cap One cards in my BK, so I avoided them, until I discovered MyFico forum in 2014. So I tried their pre-qual site Oct. 2014 and they pre-approved for a Quicksilver card so I app'd, still not convinced they'd really let me bback in. Wrong! I was blown away with the $10k CL they approved me for! Then I app'd for a Spark Select biz card in 9/2015, nice $300 spend bonus; approved for $5k SL, got it increased to $8k last spring. 

So since I'd take a hit to the credit score for the Barclays Cash Forward hard pull & new account, I thought I'd try for another Quicksilver card as the pre-qual showed they'd approve it. I thought they might give me maybe a $2500 SL as I already have $18k with the other 2 cards, I'd just use of the $100 spend bonus & then consolidate it with the other Quicksilver as they never want to give me a CLI on it. Wrong! They approved me for $10k on the new Quicksilver! So, $12,500 in new CLs today! Woot!

Now, back into the garden I go.

[Datx]

Wow, congrats on your success!! It seems like Cap One and Barclays has been great creditors for BK rebuilders. I hope to get back in with Barclays maybe sometime next year. 

[Scupra]

So proud for you Dave! Barclay has been great for me as well. Keep doing what you're doing

[Shooting-For-800]

Barclays does not treat me bad, but boy does Capital One treat me better!

Congrats OP!

[Anonymous]

Congrats. That's big.

[jmclaughlin1982]

Congrats OP. App'd for Barclays Rewards a couple days ago, about 1 month post DC. Denial like I expected. Called for recon and the nice lady said all I needed was a couple more TL's. Got denial letter and only reason listed is "insufficient history."
App'd for Kohls today and got $300! That's a Cap 1. App' for QS a couple days ago and they declined without a pull. I have a secured through Cap 1. Called for recon and they said immediate decline was because I'd opened a Cap 1 card less than 6 mos ago. Will give it a few months and re app for both. I'll have 3 new TL's for Rewards card and 6 months since getting Secured with Cap 1! Hope they'll like me 1/2 as much as they like you. Haha.

[DaveInAZ]

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@jmclaughlin1982 wrote:
Congrats OP. App'd for Barclays Rewards a couple days ago, about 1 month post DC. Denial like I expected. Called for recon and the nice lady said all I needed was a couple more TL's. Got denial letter and only reason listed is "insufficient history."
App'd for Kohls today and got $300! That's a Cap 1. App' for QS a couple days ago and they declined without a pull. I have a secured through Cap 1. Called for recon and they said immediate decline was because I'd opened a Cap 1 card less than 6 mos ago. Will give it a few months and re app for both. I'll have 3 new TL's for Rewards card and 6 months since getting Secured with Cap 1! Hope they'll like me 1/2 as much as they like you. Haha.

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Sounds like you're on a solid rebuild, but when you say things like "denial as expected" I recommend you limit new applications to ones with a reasonable expectation of success. The # of inquires is only 10% of your credit score, but too many inquiries can make many lenders nervous as it makes you appear too desperate for new credit.

My BK7 was discharged 1/31/11. I was unemployed & getting by with odd jobs & selling things on eBay & Amazon, so my rebuild was slow - I didn't want a lot of new credit I couldn't repay; been there, done that. I opened a secured CC in 7/2011, and then took a mailed invite to app for a Best Buy MC in 10/2011, approved for $500CL w/$59 AF (BB MC then was issued by a subprime lender, now is issued by Citi & much stricter). Then I took a mailed invite to app for a Merrick Bank CC in 12/2011, approved for $1k w/no fees (you can't app for Merrick, they have to send you an invite w/code, and these days they often have fees). Then Barclays mailed me an invite to app in 4/2012, 1 yr. 2 mos post DC, with 3 poz tradelines.

Good luck on your rebuild, and all the best!

[jmclaughlin1982]

Thanks Dave! I definitely understand the concern about too many inquiries. I have read that Barclays is VERY BK friendly, but I wasn't sure how forgiving they would be a month post DC. I haven't app'd anything since DC except for my car, (all my other credit was secured and I got it shortly after my 341 meeting) so I figured I had some leeway.
I do fully support your statement though, most shouldn't waste an inquiry on something they don't think they'll get.
I've been approved for the 2 lines I wanted as Barclays told me to and I'm gardening for a while. I'll re app again in about 4-6 mos and see if they're nice. Only reason listed on denial was "insufficient credit" they didn't even mention BK!