Did my HSCB Pre-Qualify online, any advice?

[Anonymous]

I have not applied for ccs in years, after a very tough 2001 to 2005.

Cleaned up CRAs as much as I could, all scores between 655 and 665.

Experian is the highest but only because of a 19 year old paid Ballys account, otherwise it has recent paid and old unpaid collections and a recent paid judgement (from an old account) and an HSBC charge-off

TU has an old Cap1 CO that ages off in July and a paid lien that ages of in March, two old unpaid collections (one of which is household bank), and 3 decent AU accounts (parents)

Efx has the old cap1 co, the 3 AUs, and the paid medical collection.

Not sure which they looked at.

I was going to wait to get a couple more of these disputed off (and i requested doc to remove the paid collection) and maybe get on my parents 35 yo Amex as AU so I can apply and rebuild.

In any event, to my surprise I was pre-Q'd for the following HSBC cards:

Cash Back (0% apr for 12 months, No AnnFe)
Cash or Fly (ditto)
Mastercard with Plus Rewards (ditto)
HSBC Platinum

I can't see having been offered Platinum on any of these CRAs, let alone any of them if they pulled Efx or TU which stil have 7 yo HSBC.

Is this just a way to get me to apply?

Do most people get approved for the cards they pre-qualify for?

Should I wait now until I can get 1 or 2 items off (especially the Household Collection) and or the Amex AU on?

Any insights appreciated.

[Anonymous]

Interesting, I went to financeglobe to check the cards they offered me out, almost all of them say they have a low approval rate, and require in most cases 20 to 100 points (Platinum Card) then I have. Why would they do a soft-pull, find lower scores then they want AND derogs AND I put in a low income and still pre-approve me for these cards?

[creditstudent]

My DW did have similar scores to your when she did the preapproval and got the same offers you did. She got the Cash of Fly card but with a very low CL of $300. Preapproval does not mean approved but in her case she did received one of the cards they preapproved her for. This was however about 8 months ago when things were better with CCC. I hope this helps.

[Anonymous]

Thanks CreditStudent.

If I apply for each card, will I get a hard-pull for each?

I'm thinking I might do better to wait for the Amex AU and to see if I can get the recent collection off, that should raise (at least Efx) me close to 700.

[Anonymous]

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nyccc2 wrote:
Thanks CreditStudent.

If I apply for each card, will I get a hard-pull for each?

I'm thinking I might do better to wait for the Amex AU and to see if I can get the recent collection off, that should raise (at least Efx) me close to 700.

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DO NOT apply for each card!!!

HSBC has a "one card per person" rule, and if you are approved for one, they will instantly deny you for any more.

Yes, you will get a hard pull for each one you apply for, even if you're denied due to the "one card" rule.

So don't burn a bunch of inquiries for no reason.

Message Edited by cheddar on 02-06-2008 02:01 PM

[Geordi]

It would seem that your mileage varies with HSBC and the maximum number of CCs that they will allow you to carry.

I myself have 2 HSBC cards: a Platinum card and a Best Best Reward Zone MC.

If I try to apply for another HSBC card, I get the you have the maximum number of cards message. However there are others in the forums that have 3 or 5 HSBC cards.

However, what I have noticed that it seems that people that have PRIME HSBC cards (those with CLs of $5k and up) tend to be allowed to hold 3 to 5 HSBC cards. Those who have sub-prime credit are limited to a couple, and those who are sub-sub-prime just a single card.

Again, YMMV

[Anonymous]

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Geordi wrote:
It would seem that your mileage varies with HSBC and the maximum number of CCs that they will allow you to carry.

I myself have 2 HSBC cards: a Platinum card and a Best Best Reward Zone MC.

If I try to apply for another HSBC card, I get the you have the maximum number of cards message. However there are others in the forums that have 3 or 5 HSBC cards.

However, what I have noticed that it seems that people that have PRIME HSBC cards (those with CLs of $5k and up) tend to be allowed to hold 3 to 5 HSBC cards. Those who have sub-prime credit are limited to a couple, and those who are sub-sub-prime just a single card.

Again, YMMV

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You are allowed to hold multiple cards if you received the second or third one through a preapproval in the mail.

This is also a new rule that went into effect last summer sometime.  So if your cards are older than that, it doesn't apply.

I will agree that YMMV, though.