USAA denial

[jeffm4688]

Got a denial from USAA today, or well, got the letter.

I have a terrible problem with burning INQ's but it is what it is. I put in an app for one of their cards and got denied solely based on the reason "maximum credit extended", nothing else. I have 3 USAA cards currently, one secured for $3K, and 2 open ended for $1500 each but they are useless (no rewards, 20.9% APR, no cash advance, etc) so I don't bother using them. One of these days they'll have to let me in with at least a decent card, even if lower limit to start.

Mind you income is $170K, AAoA is 2 years and I have ~50K open ended credit currently with 3% util. Score they pulled was 680's.

Has anyone else experienced and overcome this?

[UncleB]

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@jeffm4688 wrote:

Got a denial from USAA today, or well, got the letter.

I have a terrible problem with burning INQ's but it is what it is. I put in an app for one of their cards and got denied solely based on the reason "maximum credit extended", nothing else. I have 3 USAA cards currently, one secured for $3K, and 2 open ended for $1500 each but they are useless (no rewards, 20.9% APR, no cash advance, etc) so I don't bother using them. One of these days they'll have to let me in with at least a decent card, even if lower limit to start.

Mind you income is $170K, AAoA is 2 years and I have ~50K open ended debt currently. Score they pulled was 680's.

Does anyone have any experienced and overcome this?

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I'm sorry to hear of your problems with USAA.  Did you have an 'offer' with a set APR before you applied?

They are known to be rather conservative.  When I got my USAA Visa card, my income was (is) much lower than yours, but my utilization was less than 10%.  As a data point, my credit score was similar to yours (was in 690s); I have two six year old COs holding me back.

They aren't known to be recon-friendly, so if it were me I would see about doing something with the secured card you have with them.  At one time their secured cards didn't ever graduate, but this may have changed - it certainly can't hurt to check.

With your current debt level and a sub-700 score, you're likely genuinely at your limit with them.  As you said, their cards are nothing stellar, so you might be better off on concentrating your efforts on getting an account somewhere else.  If you're eligible, you might consider NFCU... they are known around here to be much more generous than USAA with their credit lines, and they are said to be 'forgiving' of past transgressions as well.  I would also check out the Capital One pre-qual site... with your income and scores you'll likely have an offer for a Venture at a decent rate, and they are known to give generous starting credit lines as well.

I'm sorry I don't have more to offer, but maybe some of this post will be of use or others will have better suggestions. 

[jeffm4688]

My util is 4% so very low, DTI very low too.

I did not have an offer for USAA, never have gotten one. The only other person i've seen that had one got approved for a $9500 card with only 8 months prior history and income at $40K so usaa can be generous sometimes. 

I do not have a cap1 offer, I would love a venture1 or venture but don't want to pull the trigger just yet, all of my recent accounts are about to hit 6 months old in 4 weeks, and 5 will hit a year old.

[UncleB]

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@jeffm4688 wrote:

My util is 4% so very low, DTI very low too.

I did not have an offer for USAA, never have gotten one. The only other person i've seen that had one got approved for a $9500 card with only 8 months prior history and income at $40K so usaa can be generous sometimes. 

I do not have a cap1 offer, I would love a venture1 or venture but don't want to pull the trigger just yet, all of my recent accounts are about to hit 6 months old in 4 weeks, and 5 will hit a year old.

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Ah, OK.  Your comment about "~50K open ended debt" threw me off... I took that to mean you had ~$50k in revolving debt.

4% util is much better! 

The only other suggestion I have is to find out what's holding your scores back (if you don't already know), and work on that - since you have the secured card with USAA you likely do already know and have been working on it, which is an excellent start.  Also, other than USAA, who are your accounts with?  There might be some 'room' to work with what you already have (CLIs) rather than lowering your score even more with inquiries from fruitless apps.

At this point, I'm a bit perplexed as to why you don't have any offers with Capital One since you state your AAoA is over two years, unless you've opted-out of pre-approved offers at some point.  I have a family member with an active judgement, and even she gets something back from the Capital One pre-qual site (it's not very good, but it's something). 

I agree with holding off on a Venture application... unless you know you've opted out applying with Capital One right now would be like throwing dice... three times - since they do a HP on each credit bureau for all apps.

[msbia]

Good morning!

Your June 2015 EQ was 635, is the current 680 a FICO score? If not, I would check that first. Also, are you a full member with USAA? If not, that may be a reason they are giving you the "maximum credit extended" message. I would consider closing the secured card and getting the deposit back, placing that money into your checking and seeing if they send any offers. As UncleB stated, USAA can be conservative at times, but once your score rises above 700 you're good. I started with. $250 secured in January 2014, applied in April 2014 for unsecured and got immediate approval for $7k with a 676 EQ. So I would definitely recheck your FICO and your CR to deal with any derogatories. Bright side, you have Penfed!!! Have you asked them for a CLI? Your credit limits are pretty consistent, and many creditors are hesitant to be the first to give that HUGE SCL. Good luck to you! 

[takeshi74]

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@jeffm4688 wrote:

Mind you income is $170K, AAoA is 2 years and I have ~50K open ended debt currently. Score they pulled was 680's.

Has anyone else experienced and overcome this?

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@jeffm4688 wrote:

I have a terrible problem with burning INQ's but it is what it is

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Every creditor has a limit on what they're willing to extend to a given credit profile.  They will generally extend less to profiles that are seen as more risky and more to profiles that seem less risky.  I don't know what scoring model USAA uses but a 680 suggests to me that you have deficiencies with your credit profile that you need to address.  To really provide relevant feedback we need a better understanding of your credit profile.  When was the last time you pulled all of your reports?  Do you have FICO 8's or other FICO's for all 3 of the major CRA's?

It sounds like you would benefit from having a better understanding of your credit.  It seems that you're familiar with some factors like revolving utilization and AAoA but there are the other factors as well:

http://www.myfico.com/crediteducation/whatsinyourscore.aspx

The link above doesn't cover everything.  If, for example, you have any derogs then you need to see if you can address them as derogs can have a signficant impact and hold one down.

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@jeffm4688 wrote:

 have 3 USAA cards currently, one secured for $3K, and 2 open ended for $1500 each but they are useless (no rewards, 20.9% APR, no cash advance, etc) so I don't bother using them.

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If you're unhappy with 3 USAA cards why are you seeking yet another?  If your credit profile and income support them you can get CLI's and APR reductions on existing accounts.  Whether you take the new card or CLI/APR reduction approach your credit profile has to improve to qualify.

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@jeffm4688 wrote:

I have ~50K open ended debt currently

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Don't conflate credit and debt.  As stated above, it's very confusing when you say you have "50K of open ended debt" when you mean that you have "50K of open ended credit".

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@jeffm4688 wrote:

One of these days they'll have to let me in with at least a decent card, even if lower limit to start.

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Not necessarily.  Again, it's all based on crdit profile and income.  If it improves you'll see the response you're looking for.  If it does not then you will not.  Don't just rely on time.

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@UncleB wrote:

They are known to be rather conservative.  When I got my USAA Visa card, my income was (is) much lower than yours, but my utilization was less than 10%.  As a data point, my credit score was similar to yours (was in 690s); I have two six year old COs holding me back.

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It has been a while since I went through rebuilding and it was even longer when I apped for my USAA cards with a BK reporting but at that time they extended me the biggest limits and lowest APR's of all my creditors.  In 2008 they were my only creditor that did not CLD or rate hike.  Granted, things could have easily changed since then but having 6 CO's does not make for a good data point on whether or not a creditor is conservative.  Multiple derogs like that will cause concern with most creditors.  Even a single derog can have a significant impact.

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@jeffm4688 wrote:

I did not have an offer for USAA, never have gotten one. The only other person i've seen that had one got approved for a $9500 card with only 8 months prior history and income at $40K so usaa can be generous sometimes. 

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Despite how people tend to view creditors here it's not about "generosity" or "stingyness" but risk assessment of one's credit profile.

PenFed is known as "conservative" and I have a $30K card from them.  It's never just about the creditor.  That's just half of the equation.  One's credit profile and income are the other major part of the matter.

[UncleB]

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@takeshi74 wrote:

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@UncleB wrote:

They are known to be rather conservative.  When I got my USAA Visa card, my income was (is) much lower than yours, but my utilization was less than 10%.  As a data point, my credit score was similar to yours (was in 690s); I have two six year old COs holding me back.

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It has been a while since I went through rebuilding and it was even longer when I apped for my USAA cards with a BK reporting but at that time they extended me the biggest limits and lowest APR's of all my creditors.  In 2008 they were my only creditor that did not CLD or rate hike.  Granted, things could have easily changed since then but having 6 CO's does not make for a good data point on whether or not a creditor is conservative.  Multiple derogs like that will cause concern with most creditors. Even a single derog can have a significant impact.

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I never said I had six COs, I said I had two six year old COs... there's a big difference.

Also, I'm not trying to make an argument one way or another; I'm merely providing data points for the OP.  It is the opinion of many folks on myFICO - myself included - that USAA is one of the more conservative lenders.  The fact that I got approved with two old charge offs doesn't negate this fact.

The other stuff you mentioned is "Credit 101"; I'm assuming that the OP is aware that "multiple derogs cause concern".  Instead of stating what he is likely already aware of, I am attempting to provide useful data points to help him guage where he currently stands in regard to getting a higher approval with USAA.

[jeffm4688]

I called and closed 2 cards today, one of which was my USAA mastercard. I only kept my USAA amex because it's my only card with an amex logo and I can use it at costco instead of debit.

I'd like to keep my current USAA secured visa for at least a few more months (in fact i'm about 6 months away from it being two years old), I'm coming close to CLI's and I have a feeling I might be on the brink of finally getting a real amex / discover.

I have 2 CO's from 2011 which are PIF(and small $200 ea), I had 1 CA when I app'd but it's on it's way to being removed.

I've also been a full USAA member for 6 years, holding a checking/savings and have my insurance through them  I'm simply trying to understand a denial strictly based on "maximum credit extended" as the only reason for denial.

[pharaohkhan]

USAA can be a bit conservative but once you've built a relationship with them they'll show you a lot of love. I started with a USAA Rate Advantage MasterCard -10% APR with a limit of $16k and an American Express Rewards card - 14% APR with the same limit as well. My Equifax FICO score at the time was above 720. But when I recently just asked for a credit line increase my score may have been between 690-700. On the other hand, I had the cards for little over a year USAA Rate Advantage MasterCard from $16K to $28k and American Express Rewards from $16k to $22k. However, the maximum exposure for their cards per a representative I spoke to is $35k for a single card, but if you have multiple cards they will cap it at $50k cominbed. I have met my maximum exposure for their credit cards but at the same time of the approvals of those cards, I was approved for a $25k unsecured loan at 11.74% for 84 months and a $35k auto loan at 3.74% for 84 months.