Need help regarding credit card application - (Fair credit)

[Anonymous]

Hi all

Thanks for having me on the forum and I hope all of you are enjoying the holidays.

I am currently a student and I need some help making a decision as to which CC to apply.

I have had a BoA student CC for about 4 years of which I have used up around 90% of the limit. I had applied for some credit cards earlier in the year which got rejected.

A few months ago in October, I was in my local WF branch to withdraw some cash and one lady over there asked me if I wanted to apply for the WF Visa college rewards cash back credit card. I wasn't so sure about getting accepted but she still went ahead and applied on my behalf. Surprisingly I got approved instantly with a 1500 limit.

I got my CC a week later with a report from Experian showing a score of 636.

As of now I only have used up $200 of the $1500 CL from WF. My credit utilization roughly come out to 60 %. I have not missed any payments as yet.

A few days ago I approached WF for a personal loan and again I got approved but with a high interest rate of 23%. I have 2 weeks to decide about going through with the loan.

I haven't applied for any other CC/loan apart from the 2 mentioned above.

Over the past few months I have received CC application offers for Citi Diamond Rewards and Capital One Platinum.

I haven't applied for any of them yet but I am considering applying for a Citi Dividend/Forward CC for college students or one of the Discover student CC. I read that I would need to be in the "good credit"  range in order to get accepted.

I think I may just fall short of a few points in order to be considered for the good credit.

My problem is that I don't have an income as of now and I am getting by from the help of my parents and relatives but I have very few expenses I don't have a car and I don't pay rent.

I haven't asked for a recent credit report but I don't think my score would have changed much.

I know that credit score isn't the only critieria used to decide approvals but given my score of 636 and the fact that I am currently enrolled, is it a good idea to apply for the Citi student CC or would I stand a better chance getting  a Cap One Platinum which apparently falls in the "fair/avg" range? Besides Cap One is offering me a Intro  % apr for 7 months.

Is it a good idea to apply for both of them? If so, which one should I apply first?

Is the process of getting a CC easier at a credit union?

At this point in time, I am more eager to get my applications approved esp fpr the cards that offer intro apr than for rewards/points etc

Thanks a lot for reading my post and I'd be grateful if some of you can offer me some advice.

[CreditWorld2013]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Hi all

Thanks for having me on the forum and I hope all of you are enjoying the holidays.

I am currently a student and I need some help making a decision as to which CC to apply.

I have had a BoA student CC for about 4 years of which I have used up around 90% of the limit. I had applied for some credit cards earlier in the year which got rejected.

A few months ago in October, I was in my local WF branch to withdraw some cash and one lady over there asked me if I wanted to apply for the WF Visa college rewards cash back credit card. I wasn't so sure about getting accepted but she still went ahead and applied on my behalf. Surprisingly I got approved instantly with a 1500 limit.

I got my CC a week later with a report from Experian showing a score of 636.

As of now I only have used up $200 of the $1500 CL from WF. My credit utilization roughly come out to 60 %. I have not missed any payments as yet.

A few days ago I approached WF for a personal loan and again I got approved but with a high interest rate of 23%. I have 2 weeks to decide about going through with the loan.

I haven't applied for any other CC/loan apart from the 2 mentioned above.

Over the past few months I have received CC application offers for Citi Diamond Rewards and Capital One Platinum.

I haven't applied for any of them yet but I am considering applying for a Citi Dividend/Forward CC for college students or one of the Discover student CC. I read that I would need to be in the "good credit"  range in order to get accepted.

I think I may just fall short of a few points in order to be considered for the good credit.

My problem is that I don't have an income as of now and I am getting by from the help of my parents and relatives but I have very few expenses I don't have a car and I don't pay rent.

I haven't asked for a recent credit report but I don't think my score would have changed much.

I know that credit score isn't the only critieria used to decide approvals but given my score of 636 and the fact that I am currently enrolled, is it a good idea to apply for the Citi student CC or would I stand a better chance getting  a Cap One Platinum which apparently falls in the "fair/avg" range? Besides Cap One is offering me a Intro  % apr for 7 months.

Is it a good idea to apply for both of them? If so, which one should I apply first?

Is the process of getting a CC easier at a credit union?

At this point in time, I am more eager to get my applications approved esp fpr the cards that offer intro apr than for rewards/points etc

Thanks a lot for reading my post and I'd be grateful if some of you can offer me some advice.

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From what I gather you seem to have high utilization on the Bank of America card which is what is keeping your score down (Unless you have some negatives on your reports?). The ending part says you don't have income at the moment. I don't think you need a new credit card right now but rather pay down the Bank of America account. Once that is low about1-9% (or at most 10-30%  <-- that is still quite high for a student) and if you have no negatives on your reports...you can apply for any of the cards you want and will probably get a very decent Credit Line if you have a decent income to put down. If you still don't have any income you can put down you probably will not get approved either. Good Luck!

[Anonymous]

Thanks for your reply.

I am working on paying down my debt but I am in urgent need of a credit card.

Would it be still worth applying for any of the cards in the fair - good credit range?

Is there a possibility I may get approved for a student CC as I am enrolled full time or do they use the same stringent criteria for approving student CCs?

[toppers555]

You need to work on getting your utilization down,  60% is to high. You stated you have very few bills and no income, and have an urgent need for a card , which is somewhat hinting you are trying to use cc to supplement income. My best advice would be to get utilzation down , you do not want to get into credit card debit, and ruin your credit. 

[nicholasyud]

Everyone need to start somewhere and i know how you feel about how to used and building your credit but as of right now,it's hardly for you to obtain any credit card without income source. CRedit card company grant credit base on income and many others factor on your credit report. We not talking about apply for any other cards yet. Here's a few things i suggest :

1. Check your credit report at https://www.annualcreditreport.com/cra/index.jsp ( It's free but you need some type of document in hand and know where you stand at. There might be some hidden collection on your credit report and you haven't known.
2. Check everything correct on your credit report. Address, CC, Colletion if any...etc......
3. Also run your credit report at Fico.com for 10 days free trial. Cancel after 10 days if needed. ( Real score )

After credit report step i should move to score and credit card target.

1. Ask yourself do you really need another credit card ??? Why would you want it ??? You need some credit ?? Extra cash in hand ??? ....etc.......If i was you I would stay with my current credit card and maintain them good before move on to apply for another credit card unless you want to build your credit at this moment.
2. You dont wanna stuck in debt and paid $100 dollars or more credit card interest every months since you dont have any income and can't afford to paid for any of it. For most Fico Member, we used credit card to earn rewards, build credit, obtain a morgate in a near future and many other things that god know.........

Anyway,

• I would stay with what you current had.

• Request credit increase every 6 months.
• Stay under 9% of total credit available.
• PAid bills on time.
• Dont apply for credit that you dont need.
• Let your new wellsfargo account stay for at leat 1 year to 2 then apply for something you really want.
• Best of luck.

[CreditWorld2013]

Alright, I and others have told you the advice you needed to hear. BUT if you are still going to follow through with applying I'll give you some advice. Student Cards just have a lower approval criteria because they expect students to have little to no credit. In other words, student cards can be approved if you have no credit but almost everything else is the same between a "regular card". If you've had the Bank of Americ card for 4 years and always in good standing you already have a somewhat solid/established credit history. If you have some income you can put down (Citi and Chase allow you add grants as income) So if you can claim some income I would probably offer to balance transfer that Bank of America card on a new credit application. This way they don't hold that much utilization over your head but rather focus on your payment history, if you have a clean report, low inqs, etc. (Also the Balance Transfer will limit the damage on the balance as you are probably paying quite a bit of interest with that current card and a new card usually offers 0% for a certain time) This will also benefit you if you want to/have to recon the decision.

I would probably go for a card like the Citi Forward or Chase Slate, or Chase Freedom. These cards are quite common with young adults and they are with the 2 banks that give you flexibility in terms of income reporting. Also Chase is pretty good with recons. I would probably stay away from Capital One as they don't give decent initial credit lines. Usually they give you $300, $500, etc and put you into credit steps. They do give decent limits on their "excellent credit cards" but those require that you have a card with at least a $5,000. I would also check to see if you prequalify first using these links before actually applying for any card: 

Citi Prequaify: https://www.accountonline.com/cards/acq/preQualUserInfo.do?screenID=3204&isInvitation=N 

Chase Prequalify: https://ccsic.fni-stl.com/redes/index.php/chase_app/psonChase.pl?jp_ltg=leftnav 

If you prequalify....apply for one of them. 

[Anonymous]

Thanks a lot everyone for the sound advice.

As nicholasyud says , I'll go ahead with the free credit report to check for errors etc.

I realize that my utilization has to go down and that I would have to show some income.

That is why given my situation, I was surprised that I got approved for the WF college rewards CC which has offered me an intro 0 % apr as well.

The WF approval has given some hope to consider applying for another CC..of which I am considering Cap One Platinum as I have read that the approval for the card isn't as stringent and that it accepts the credit score that I currently have.

I got an offer of Citi Diamond as well but I feel its out of my league right now.

I would love to get either one of Citi Dividend/Forward but I feel that I have a slim chance of getting through as I think I am near to the "good credit" zone. btw are they picky about the " good" or "fair" score range?

CC365, thanks for the links...I checked both of them out and it didn't match me with any offers.

The recent "pre selected" offer I have received was from First premier.

Also, how does it go with credit unions? Does the approval critieria remain the same or are they a bit lenient?

[CreditWorld2013]

Credit unions can vary from area to area. With that being said, most credit unions are easier to get approved for as it is a more personal banking relationship so they can be more understanding and overlook some issues. I would definitely pull your free reports right now and check for negatives. I believe that you might have a few negatives as your score seems a bit too low for only high utilization given the length of time and the few accounts you have. Once you pull the reports come back and post what you find. The amount of inquiries, etc and we can help you determine a plan of action. I will advise you to stay away from First Premier as they charge a very high interest rate, fees, etc. Give the fact that you have Bank of Ameria and Wells Fargo I find no need for First Premier. 

[Anonymous]

Wish you all a happy new year 2013.

CC365, I checked my credit reports from TU and Experian. They don't have any info wrong according to me.

I don't have any negative reports..it all says OK with my accounts in good standing.

I have had 9 inquiries in all since the beginning of 2011. The two latest ones were by Wells Fargo. The recent one was a few days ago on the 26th and I was approved for a personal loan. The one before that was in October when I was approved for my college cash back WF credit card.

I was approved for one of the AMEX Gold rewards CC which don't have a CL but require you to pay off the balance in full at the end of each month. I didn't use it at all and I closed it within a month.

The bad spot on the report which is going against me is the high balance which I am carrying.

Do any of you still think I should give any of those credit apps a shot as I was approved for the WF CC?

Thanks a lot!

[Anonymous]

I'm no expert but from what i've seen in the past your walking a thin line and apping for more credit with no steady income is going to burn you in the long run. Don't app for anymore credit and get a part-time job and pay your current cards down. Your young and have a long road ahead of you so make it count and do the right thing. Good Luck!