620 Used to Mean Something

[Anonymous]

Ugh!

I have struggled with poor credit my entire adult life. No excuses here, just a fact. I used to work in all types of retail and sales and remember seeing folks with 620 or better scores. These were golden deals. They were always approved and with good rates to boot. 

Two of my scores are finally over 620, barely but they are and I cannot get approved for a cc to save my life. What's the deal?

[cutemarty1]

Considering the credit crunch ---- standards are higher nowadays from approval, as it seems.  Some even have 700+ and get denied outright.

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@Anonymous wrote:

Ugh!

I have struggled with poor credit my entire adult life. No excuses here, just a fact. I used to work in all types of retail and sales and remember seeing folks with 620 or better scores. These were golden deals. They were always approved and with good rates to boot. 

Two of my scores are finally over 620, barely but they are and I cannot get approved for a cc to save my life. What's the deal?

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[Creditaddict]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Ugh!

I have struggled with poor credit my entire adult life. No excuses here, just a fact. I used to work in all types of retail and sales and remember seeing folks with 620 or better scores. These were golden deals. They were always approved and with good rates to boot. 

Two of my scores are finally over 620, barely but they are and I cannot get approved for a cc to save my life. What's the deal?

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Depends who you are applying with, if you have no credit, you can't start with Chase, Bank of America, or Amex with a 620.

You have to start small, Capital One, Best Buy MC, maybe a Secured card... Then in 6 months if your scores go up over 650, you should be able to start stepping up to better cards if your treating the little ones well

[JayRizzo]

Right!  And to add salt to the wound, those who "do" get approved are getting low limits and have to build up over time as if they are brand new to credit again.  I've seen people with high 700's and low 800's get declined.  Remember, it's not all about your score.  Other factors are considered.

[vish1]

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@Creditaddict wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

Ugh!

I have struggled with poor credit my entire adult life. No excuses here, just a fact. I used to work in all types of retail and sales and remember seeing folks with 620 or better scores. These were golden deals. They were always approved and with good rates to boot. 

Two of my scores are finally over 620, barely but they are and I cannot get approved for a cc to save my life. What's the deal?

---

Depends who you are applying with, if you have no credit, you can't start with Chase, Bank of America, or Amex with a 620.

You have to start small, Capital One, Best Buy MC, maybe a Secured card... Then in 6 months if your scores go up over 650, you should be able to start stepping up to better cards if your treating the little ones well

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Its my opinion, but I think unless you have something like Cap1 / secure / store card for about 8-9 months and got atleast one of them (say jcp/gemb) to a decent limit like 1500, you should not try prime cards. The chances of denial are much higher and even if you get approved, CLs would be pathetic.

On the other hand, if you have 2-3 cards with atleast 1 reporting > 1500 CL your chances improve and you get good CL

[dwhanc00]

I have recently applied for Chase and an increase to my Keybank getting denied for both.  My current EQ is 680 and TU is 650.  Reason for denial was late payments (all back in 2007) and a recent collection (medical's for $20 and $15...go figure).  All are being removed within the next few months.  Those are huge factors in their decision.  I have very little debt, but can't get new CC's to save my life!  Utilization is around 10%.  So if you have either, be careful what you apply for before taking care of them. 

Just my experience....

[corleone]

I had scores in the high 400s back in Jan. 2008.   I took the time to research and under my credit issues and problems.   I would have been happy with at least 600 at the time.   I got on the ball, set a plan and started paying off my debts.   This forum really helped.  I applied for new credit as my score zoomed upwards.  I took advantage of  0% APR balance transfers etc. to help me pay down those high balances faster.    I was able to get car financing at 0.9% no money down, etc.   I touched 801 exactly in Dec 2010 only to drop 50+ points last month (I splurged on Christmas).  I knew that was going happen because I now understand how credit works.   I will have that debt paid off by the end of the month and be back to where I was in the next couple of months.   You have to put time on your side.

[Anonymous]

You said you touched 801 is that a fico score or fako scores?

[corleone]

that was a true FICO score.