Examples of credit being "too good" for something?

[Anonymous]

As a general consensus on these boards, we all more or less agree that credit scores of 740 or 760 and above are "just as good" as a top 850 score.  By just as good, I mean someone with a 760 score 99 times out of 100 can obtain the same products with the same terms as someone with an 850 score be it a credit card, mortgage at the best interest rate, etc.  Of course the higher the score the better though, as it provides a buffer should an adverse scoring event such as higher utilization, inquiries/new accounts or anything else be introduced to the credit profile.

My question though, is whether or not credit can be "too good" in certain instances?  By "too good" I mean has anyone encountered any examples where greater scores could possibly have resulted in a less favorable credit result?  Of course any examples provided will be pure speculation, as a potential credit is never going to give the reason, "your credit is too good..." denial for something.  At least I wouldn't think so, anyway. 

I can think of 2 examples of what I'm talking about. 

Last summer when Blispay was the flavor of the month around here, a ton of people on the forum were applying.  There were a bunch of people getting denied that had 800+ scores, where those with scores in mid 600's to low 700's were being approved.  There was some speculation that perhaps Blispay felt that those profiles were "too good" in that those customers may not be as profitable as they may never pay a penny of interest or carry balances like someone with a slightly weaker profile may. 

Another example.  My father last year applied for the same credit card as me a month or so after I did and got approved for it.  His profile was significantly stronger than mine.  While we both had 1% utilization at the time of applying, his file was much thicker, much older, was squeaky clean (I had multiple accounts with baddies) and he hadn't applied for credit in a very long time so he probably had no inquries where I had a few.  Our incomes were also similar.  Due to his much stronger profile, his scores were about 100 points higher than mine as he was in the 830's and I was in the 730's.  Not only was I approved for the card with a higher SL than him, I was able to just about double my credit limit with SP CLIs over 6 months where he was only able to get one CLI during that time.  I completely understand that his profile and mine are obviously vastly different and that there are tons of factors that can be considered here, but this is just an observation.

I'd like to hear if anyone else has encountered any instances of credit possibly being "too good" or any other opinions on this subject as I think it could be a fun discussion.

[Anonymous]

I think there was a discussion on the forum about Credit One turning down people with higher scores. If I recall, somehow you could get your credit score for free as a result. I've no doubt my scores are outside their demographic but even the most remote possibility of being approved scares me...I'll never try.

Myself...never been turned away based on score good or bad. It's true that a 800+ won't really get you anything extra.
I also think an often overlooked aspect of have a higher score is having that cushion. For example I no longer worry about reported utilization. It doesn't matter if all my acct report a bal or not at the end of the day I'm still getting the best rates.

[Anonymous]

I could see a predatory lender like Credit One turning down those that they think they wouldn't make much money on because their profile is too strong to be the type to succumb to their BS.

[Revelate]

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@Anonymous wrote:
I think there was a discussion on the forum about Credit One turning down people with higher scores. If I recall, somehow you could get your credit score for free as a result. I've no doubt my scores are outside their demographic but even the most remote possibility of being approved scares me...I'll never try.

Myself...never been turned away based on score good or bad. It's true that a 800+ won't really get you anything extra.
I also think an often overlooked aspect of have a higher score is having that cushion. For example I no longer worry about reported utilization. It doesn't matter if all my acct report a bal or not at the end of the day I'm still getting the best rates.

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This is the example I remember, but there's a certain wisdom for simply turning down customers who aren't in your target demographic and not going through the cost of UW and account maintenance.

I'm certain it's happened with other lenders, you dirty 800's!

[Anonymous]

I'm in a similar situation. Once I surpassed the 800 point mark, CL increases were extremely rare. I now have a perfect 850 score (FICO 8 Experian) and not one of my cards has issued a CL increase in over a year. In fact, the last one I received was 15 months ago for a measly $2k bump on a $5k CL.  I asked Amex and Discover why they never soft review my account for increases, they can't seem to give me a reason and encouraged me to ask for one. It's probably because I never carry a balance and haven't paid a dime in interest to any of my cards in well over 5 years.  I refuse to request any manual increases since I don't want the hard inquries. AAoA is 17-18 yrs, oldest account 21 years. 

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I'm in a similar situation. Once I surpassed the 800 point mark, CL increases were extremely rare. I now have a perfect 850 score (FICO 8 Experian) and not one of my cards has issued a CL increase in over a year. In fact, the last one I received was 15 months ago for a measly $2k bump on a $5k CL.  I asked Amex and Discover why they never soft review my account for increases, they can't seem to give me a reason and encouraged me to ask for one. It's probably because I never carry a balance and haven't paid a dime in interest to any of my cards in well over 5 years.  I refuse to request any manual increases since I don't want the hard inquries. AAoA is 17-18 yrs, oldest account 21 years. 

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Interesting.  What are you total credit limits and how about your income?  Those are the only 2 things I would think could be limiting factors on a virtually perfect file.

[Adidas]

Octopus, FYI CLI requests from Discover and AmEx have been soft pulls in my experience. So if they are telling you they didn't know why you haven't gotten one automatically then you might actually request it!

[Anonymous]

Hi Octopus.  Many CC issuers do soft pulls for CLI requests.  Here is a nice guide that goes through some of the major issuers and indicates whether they do soft or hard pulls.

http://www.doctorofcredit.com/credit-cards/which-credit-card-companies-do-a-hard-pull-for-a-credit-l...

Amex and Discover both have soft pull options for consumer initiated CLI requests, as you'll see.

Of course your CLs may be far higher than you really will ever use, so maybe it doesn't matter.

[Anonymous]

Hi BBS.  If trended data end up becoming a reliable part of the CRA datasets, then we'll certainly see some of what you are talking about.  (And indeed it's possible that some issuers are doing some of this now.)

That is, a person may end up having a great 300-850 score -- and remember that the score traditionally measures only the risk of the person becoming severely delinquent, not whether he is profitable to a CC issuer -- but the trended data show him as a person who generates very little money in swipe fees and no money whatsoever in interest.  That would be sombody like me.  My FICO 8 and 9 scores are in the 820s but I make the CC issuers negative revenue owing to my low spending, bonus chasing, and refusal to ever carry a balance.

[sarge12]

BBS...Often the very thing that gets one a high credit score will result in lower chance of CLI for sure...low utilization...It increases a score, but creditors do not see the need to increase the limit for a customer that has never even used 20% of their current limit. They are wise to the fact that people are requesting it only to help their score, not because they actually need the extra credit. I have a very hard time getting CLI's from any of my current creditors since I always PIF and have low utilization...I do however understand the issuers point..it is not due to high scrore, but both high score and lack of needing CLI are both due to low utilization.