Best Time to App? Another Question

[BarryNTexas]

I know many of you track your credit scores monthly to determine which part of the month your scores are maximized thus triggering your app timing, but I’m wondering if anyone has ever tracked credit card approvals vs. the CCC’s end of fiscal quarter?  I’m in sales and know that personally we tend to become very lenient at end of quarter with discounts and various negotiable items in order to hit quotas.  To that end I can imagine CCC have quarterly forecasts for such things as overall CC market share, total customers in portfolio, new customers in each category, etc. etc.  I also assume underwriters have quotas to meet which leads me to wonder if the last month or couple weeks of the CCC’s quarter would be the best time to apply? Would their qualifications ease both in their online instant approval logic as well as with the over the phone reconsiderations?  This is probably a shot in the dark but something I wonder if anyone has studied?

FYI looking at JPMorgan Chase Bank’s earnings report here are their end of quarters: 

Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2012 and Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarters ended March 31, 2013, June 30, 2013, and September 30, 2013

Please chime in with your thoughts.  Thanks, Barry

Edited for TYPO

[coldnmn]

In my opinion I doubt it. It seems computers make all the decisions. In order to override the computer algorithm the underwriters would have to have a very good reason to do it. They have management to answer to and they care about good loans and their own jobs then meeting quotas. Some credit card companys can't override the computer no matter the reason.

[pizzadude]

Moved to CCs

[red259]

---

@BarryNTexas wrote:

I know many of you track your credit scores monthly to determine which part of the month your scores are maximized thus triggering your app timing, but I’m wondering if anyone has ever tracked credit card approvals vs. the CCC’s end of fiscal quarter?  I’m in sales and know that personally we tend to become very lenient at end of quarter with discounts and various negotiable items in order to hit quotas.  To that end I can imagine CCC have quarterly forecasts for such things as overall CC market share, total customers in portfolio, new customers in each category, etc. etc.  I also assume underwriters have quotas to meet which leads me to wonder if the last month or couple weeks of the CCC’s quarter would be the best time to apply? Would their qualifications ease both in their online instant approval logic as well as with the over the phone reconsiderations?  This is probably a shot in the dark but something I wonder if anyone has studied?

FYI looking at JPMorgan Chase Bank’s earnings report here are their end of quarters: 

Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2012 and Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarters ended March 31, 2013, June 30, 2013, and September 30, 2013

Please chime in with your thoughts.  Thanks, Barry

Edited for TYPO

---

Its unlikely they will lower their approval requirements to meet quotas. What you will see is if a lender is not getting enough cards out into circulation they will come up with better signup bonuses/promotional offers to get people in the door. In my mind the best time to apply (assuming your credit report is in order) is when the card you want has the best promotional offer. Sometimes these things can be predicted as they do the promotions at the same time each year, depening on the card.

[VinnyofLegend]

I think this might be true of instant decision criteria where a change in factor is possible.

Here's a story,  I app'd for the Barclaycard Ring card at the very end of Dec 2012. I think it was even the 30th or the 31st. Was approved instantly but with a very low limit. I later found out on the community boards that during the time that I had applied, there was coincidentally "a less stringent credit criteria model only for Barclaycard Ring applicants".

Perhaps it was just a coincidence or perhaps they were looking to increase their pool of Ring card holders at the end of that year.