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Citi Denial Reason, Hard to Believe ?!@#$%^&*

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loviedovie
Regular Contributor

Re: Citi Denial Reason, Hard to Believe ?!@#$%^&*

I had a long talk with my Citi branch manager about this the first time I applied for one of their cards and was turned down for low utilization. I've read that Amex makes 3% or so on everything you charge. Citi makes theirs on the interest they earn. They prefer if you carry some balance each month. 

 

This could be a good choice for someone who wants to carry a balance. As opposed to the Amex route where they would be penalized. 

Starting Score: 580
Current Score: 754
Goal Score: 800


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Message 21 of 43
bichonmom
Senior Contributor

Re: Citi Denial Reason, Hard to Believe ?!@#$%^&*


@Platinum wrote:

@navigatethis12 wrote:

Citi is the only lender that I know will do this. To them, if you are not using what you already have, why do you need more? You can try letting a card report and then faxing them the updated report. You may get another hard pull, or you may not.


I too believe that Citi is the only lender that will do this. As I already mentioned I do not need more credit. I have enough, more then $200.000 in revolver accounts available. The main reason was to save aprox. $20 per month on my AT&T bill when I pay with this card. If I knew for sure that they will not pull again another report I would be sending them reconsideration letter, otherwise it's not worth it. 

 

I also wanted everyone on this board to be aware of this ridiculous Citi application computer system setting before they apply for Citi card to have at least one revolver account report more then $0 balance.


I wonder if this is a factor. $200k in total avail credit is a lot (at least to most people). If you were just starting out and had maybe $5 or 10 or 20k in total credit w/0% util, I wonder if they would still deny you because you have 0 balances.

 

Also, when CCs pull your CR, they can see the "high balance" so they know at the very least the max that you've owed on a card, so they can see that you use them.

 

You might want to call the backdoor and ask for a supervisor, if necessary, and explain that you usually pay all of your balances online before the stmt cuts.

EQ FICO 750 | TU FICO 761 (Walmart) | EX FAKO 767 | Goal: 800+

Edits, funky spacing and spelling due to my iPad not getting along with the forum editor!

Message 22 of 43
Platinum
Frequent Contributor

Re: Citi Denial Reason, Hard to Believe ?!@#$%^&*


@bs6054 wrote:

We need to remember that the general credit population aren't FICO aware/utilization-obsessed/whatever term you wish.   Citi is a business, and my guess is that most people showing 0 balances on everything are not heavy card users and will not be profitable.

 

While the cost of an extra customer is probably quite small (especially if you enforce electronic statements and payments) it's not zero, so it may simply not be worth Citi doing even a slightly deeper analysis. (I think number of accounts with non-zero balances is a standard figure they get, so no work there).   For every good customer they fail to acquire like OP, there are possibly at least as many they would not want after a more extensive look.

 

It sounds like this card would be useful to you, and you have a good case (they didn't reject you because of 3 BKs and 4 bank fraud convictions for example!) so with some effort you should be able to get the decision changed.  Have to decide if your annoyance at them outweighs the benefit of the card.  (BTW, what about Cash Plus, that will give 6.25% on those bills)

I think that is what it is. Nicely said.

 

Message 23 of 43
Platinum
Frequent Contributor

Re: Citi Denial Reason, Hard to Believe ?!@#$%^&*


@bichonmom wrote:

@Platinum wrote:

@navigatethis12 wrote:

Citi is the only lender that I know will do this. To them, if you are not using what you already have, why do you need more? You can try letting a card report and then faxing them the updated report. You may get another hard pull, or you may not.


I too believe that Citi is the only lender that will do this. As I already mentioned I do not need more credit. I have enough, more then $200.000 in revolver accounts available. The main reason was to save aprox. $20 per month on my AT&T bill when I pay with this card. If I knew for sure that they will not pull again another report I would be sending them reconsideration letter, otherwise it's not worth it. 

 

I also wanted everyone on this board to be aware of this ridiculous Citi application computer system setting before they apply for Citi card to have at least one revolver account report more then $0 balance.


I wonder if this is a factor. $200k in total avail credit is a lot (at least to most people). If you were just starting out and had maybe $5 or 10 or 20k in total credit w/0% util, I wonder if they would still deny you because you have 0 balances.

 

Also, when CCs pull your CR, they can see the "high balance" so they know at the very least the max that you've owed on a card, so they can see that you use them.

 

You might want to call the backdoor and ask for a supervisor, if necessary, and explain that you usually pay all of your balances online before the stmt cuts.


I believe that their system is set up to deny automatically those who have no balances on revolver accounts. I don't think the amount (credit) available with their competitors matters at all.

 

It's not that I don't know the reason. I do. They told me over the phone and now I am waiting for the letter.

Message 24 of 43
bs6054
Valued Contributor

Re: Citi Denial Reason, Hard to Believe ?!@#$%^&*


@loviedovie wrote:

I had a long talk with my Citi branch manager about this the first time I applied for one of their cards and was turned down for low utilization. I've read that Amex makes 3% or so on everything you charge. Citi makes theirs on the interest they earn. They prefer if you carry some balance each month. 

 

This could be a good choice for someone who wants to carry a balance. As opposed to the Amex route where they would be penalized. 


All issuers make money on each transaction!   Amex generally charges more because they convince merchants that their customers are more affluent and will charge more.  (Some merchants don't take Amex because of the extra charge). They claim to have a "spend-centric" model more because of their no specified credit limit, whereas other issuers cap spend when a user reaches the CL.

 

Visa Signature and World (Elite) MC generally get more per swipe than other lower-level cards.

 

There are a lot of ways that the companies make money, not all apply to every card

 

1) Swipe fees

2) Interest charges

3) Annual fee

4) Partnerships (malls, special offers etc)

 

Someone not using their card, with no AF, doesn't generate revenue...

Message 25 of 43
MovingForward_2012
Valued Contributor

Re: Citi Denial Reason, Hard to Believe ?!@#$%^&*

Can you just ask to fax in your last month statements to show you were actively using the cards?
Cards: Orchard Bank ($1100) | Cap1 Cash Rewards ($2500) | Chase Freedom ($1000) | Best Buy ($2500) | Discover It ($1000) | Barclay Rewards ($2500) | Current scores: EX FAKO: 684, CK TU: 649, FICO EQ: 680, FICO TU: 698, FICO EX: 658 Happy Homeowner Since 2/6/13! Smiley Happy Last App: 4/5/13 Gardening until July 2014
Message 26 of 43
Walt_K
Senior Contributor

Re: Citi Denial Reason, Hard to Believe ?!@#$%^&*

Citi denied me earlier this year for too many inquiries. I called recon line and explained they were from mortgage app. I was approved without another inquiry.

Starting Score: ~500 (12/01/2008)
Current Score: EQ 681 (04/05/13); TU 98 728 (01/06/12), TU 08? 760 (provided by Barclay 1/2/14), TU 04 728 (lender pull 01/12/12); EX 742 (lender pull 01/12/12)
Goal Score: 720


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Message 27 of 43
Platinum
Frequent Contributor

Re: Citi Denial Reason, Hard to Believe ?!@#$%^&*


@MovingForward_2012 wrote:
Can you just ask to fax in your last month statements to show you were actively using the cards?

They can see it if they manually review my Experian report which was pulled at the time of application. Experian shows everything month by month 24 months back: balance amount, due amount, actual payment, payment date...

 

The question here is how to get them to look at my report. Backdoor number representative tried to make me believe the decision was made by underwriter. I know it's BS because I called 1 minute after I received: "we received your application". The decision was made by the computer. I may try Exec. Office on Monday since talking to everyone else (frontline reps at Citi)  is just like talking to the wall.

Message 28 of 43
Walt_K
Senior Contributor

Re: Citi Denial Reason, Hard to Believe ?!@#$%^&*

I remember a post a while back that said the reports that lenders get do not have that history that EX shows. That seems unlikely to me, but I wonder if anyone else knows if that is something that lenders see or if that is only something an individual sees, kind of like soft pulls.

Starting Score: ~500 (12/01/2008)
Current Score: EQ 681 (04/05/13); TU 98 728 (01/06/12), TU 08? 760 (provided by Barclay 1/2/14), TU 04 728 (lender pull 01/12/12); EX 742 (lender pull 01/12/12)
Goal Score: 720


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Message 29 of 43
trumpet-205
Valued Contributor

Re: Citi Denial Reason, Hard to Believe ?!@#$%^&*


@Platinum wrote:

It's Citi AT&T Universal which gives you 10% off (rebate) on your AT&T purchases for the first 12 months, 5% thereafter. Since my AT&T iPhone bill goes to up to $200 monthly I was gonna save like $20 per month and that was the main reason why I applied. In general I do not need more credit. I have more then $200.000 in available credit on my other cards.


It is actually 5% the first year and 2.5% the second year. I'll explain.

 

To get AT&T rebate, you must do match spending on other purchases. That means to get rebate on $200 AT&T monthly bill, I need to also spend $200 worth of non-AT&T related expenses monthly.

 

I just closed this card. Match spending sucks.

Message 30 of 43
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