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Citi denial, help?

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Anonymous
Not applicable

Citi denial, help?

I recently applied for a citi platinum select student card and was denied. They pulled equifax and I received the following reason for denial:

-- "Your total credit obligations, which include outstanding credit lines, are too high to meet our approval guidelines, when compared to your stated income."

I felt this was untrue and tried to recon several times, eventually I ended up with some upper level who told me there was nothing they could do since they only receive a partial score, and that if I wanted a reconsider I would have to send them my report plus a letter explaining why.
(She also gave me an email address)

So I went ahead and got my equifax through my FICO my score is 729, outstanding debt is $23. I have 0 baddies, 7 month history with my WF student 1kcard limit, PIT each month.

Im having a really hard time understanding their reasoning for the denial!? I was wondering if you guys could help me understand this better, and assist me in writing the recon email? For example other then saying I want a recon because I feel you are wrong what else should I include?

Thanks for the help
Message 1 of 17
16 REPLIES 16
MagicShot
Contributor

Re: Citi denial, help?

Your stated income is too low to extend you more credit is what the denial means.

Message 2 of 17
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Citi denial, help?

My income as a student is 7k, I don't understand how having 1k in available credit is too much? What bothers me is I know of people with less money and lower scores getting approved Smiley Frustrated
Message 3 of 17
MagicShot
Contributor

Re: Citi denial, help?

So you dont have student loans at all either just 1k of availble credit? Have you checked all your reports not just TU? Citi likes to pull EX or EQ more than TU from what I have noticed. Citi Bank is also fairly conserative in their approvals. Took my 6 years of good credit to finally get a Citi Card.

Message 4 of 17
MagicShot
Contributor

Re: Citi denial, help?

What is your AA?

Message 5 of 17
navigatethis12
Valued Contributor

Re: Citi denial, help?

7000 is not a lot, and a lot of people in college overspend and end up in massive debt that they can not pay off. If they give you 1000 then that is 2000 you have in available credit. I really would not expect too many approvals with such a short history and low income.

Message 6 of 17
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Citi denial, help?

I don't have any other loans/debts ect, only the WF card. I would really like to start a relationship with citi as I have heard great things about their prime cards for when I am out of school.

They specifically mentioned Equifax so that's the score I pulled (729)

Im not sure what AA means, age of account? If so its 7 been months (15% util)
Message 7 of 17
kimmiller112
Frequent Contributor

Re: Citi denial, help?

Have you considered either the Discover More student card or Capital One's student card (I think it might be the Journey)?  Citi can be very hard to get a credit card with.

Barclays USAir World MC $8300 - DCU $7500 - USAA World MC $7000 - PayPal Extras MC (GE) $5500 - Chase Saphire Preferred $5000 - Discover It $6000 - Barclays Sallie May $2700 - Chase Freedom $1000 - Capital One $8500 (business) - store cards ranging from $500-$9500
Message 8 of 17
bichonmom
Senior Contributor

Re: Citi denial, help?


@Anonymous wrote:
I recently applied for a citi platinum select student card and was denied. They pulled equifax and I received the following reason for denial:

-- "Your total credit obligations, which include outstanding credit lines, are too high to meet our approval guidelines, when compared to your stated income."

I felt this was untrue and tried to recon several times, eventually I ended up with some upper level who told me there was nothing they could do since they only receive a partial score, and that if I wanted a reconsider I would have to send them my report plus a letter explaining why.
(She also gave me an email address)

So I went ahead and got my equifax through my FICO my score is 729, outstanding debt is $23. I have 0 baddies, 7 month history with my WF student 1kcard limit, PIT each month.

Im having a really hard time understanding their reasoning for the denial!? I was wondering if you guys could help me understand this better, and assist me in writing the recon email? For example other then saying I want a recon because I feel you are wrong what else should I include?

Thanks for the help

 

You PIF your WF card each month, but is that after the statement prints? If so, then your CR will be showing a balance owing to WF, even though you PIF each month. Let's say, you charge $700 in July and at the end of the month, the statement cuts showing your $700 balance due 8/15. So, you PIF by the due date of 8/15. Normally, that's just fine. The problem is that FICO (and anyone seeing your CR) can't tell that you PIF each month. All they see is the $700 balance on a $1k card, which is close to the CL.

 

If you're going to be applying for credit, it's a good idea to PIF the balance *BEFORE* the statement cuts. That way, a balance of zero will be reported to the CRAs. Your FICO will be higher and anyone seeing your CR will see that you don't owe any money. (Or let a small balance of <10% report.)

 

It's also a good idea to pull your CR before you apply for a CC, to be sure everything looks okay and that your payments have updated on the CR.

 

Assuming all of that was done and you were still denied, then I'd try to recon again. I agree that $1k total CL w/ $7k income isn't much. Many people have total CLs that are 50% or greater of their annual income.

 

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 9 of 17
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Citi denial, help?

If your outstanding debt it 23/1000 dollars, your utilization should be around 2.3%. But in some of your other recent posts, you mentioned your utilizaton is 16%. Your TU report indicated 500/1000 (50% utilization). Do you know if they pulled your TU as well? Either way, having only 7k in income, means that even 1k more in CL's will be almost 30% of your income which starts to get a little grey for lenders. They do not want to extend too much credit in fear you might not be able to pay it back. Remember, a lot of the times denials issue very broad context reasons and can be interpreted several ways. Since your WF card is your only debt, my guess is their biggest concern is your income. Do you have any other income? The income you do receive, is it through employment or other means (this can affect their decision as well). Your credit history is very short as well which may have an impact.

Message 10 of 17
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