Cap1 Approved, Barclay Rewards Denied, What’s my next app & when?

[Anonymous]

mc90403: No, you having a bank account with Bank of America does not influence the pre-qualification process.

If you do not qualify for anything, you will see just that, no matter what.

I bank with them, and when I started stablishing my credit history, I logged in and checked if I was pre-qualified for anything. I got no offers.

After about a year, I recently checked and received a pre-qualified offer for their Cash Rewards, Travel Rewards, Better Balance Rewards, and their BankAmericard which is for people that want the lowest APR they offer instead of rewards.

Just be careful using the Pre-Qualification tool. Some tools clearly state that they do not have any pre-qualified offer for you at the moment, but do recommend applying anyways for such and such cards.

Other tools make it hard to distinguish if you are looking at pre-qualified offers or recommendations AFTER you have been denied a pre-qualified offer.

Hope this helps.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

mc90403: No, you having a bank account with Bank of America does not influence the pre-qualification process.

If you do not qualify for anything, you will see just that, no matter what.

I bank with them, and when I started stablishing my credit history, I logged in and checked if I was pre-qualified for anything. I got no offers.

After about a year, I recently checked and received a pre-qualified offer for their Cash Rewards, Travel Rewards, Better Balance Rewards, and their BankAmericard which is for people that want the lowest APR they offer instead of rewards.

Just be careful using the Pre-Qualification tool. Some tools clearly state that they do not have any pre-qualified offer for you at the moment, but do recommend applying anyways for such and such cards.

Other tools make it hard to distinguish if you are looking at pre-qualified offers or recommendations AFTER you have been denied a pre-qualified offer.

Hope this helps.

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Interesting, it doesn't say "Pre-Qualified", it just says We Recommend...

Do they actually state you are pre-qualified when you are?

The link to the tool itself says customized offers, wondering if I am in the wrong place.

[Anonymous]

You are in the right place. To tell you the truth, I would not trust their pre-qualification tool. One time I entered random information, and gave me the We Recommend message.

If you want to give it a shot that is up to you, but the most reliable Pre-Qualification tools are from CHASE and Capital One.

[Anonymous]

Decided to wait on B of A. They pull from EX and I have a 10 yr old tax lien sitting there, which shows as unpaid when it was resolved a few months later. Disputed and waiting for it to come off. After that, and with 6 mos of use on my Cap one card I should be close to the 700 mark on EX and would have an easier time getting approved. In the interim, I only have 1 card to start with, the Cap One QS. I don't want to do store cards, since they issue low CL, which could potentialy decrease CL issued later on. I really don't want fingerhut showing up on my credit report. Would rather find a CU or other place that will do a 5-10K secured card.

Sucks to go in the Garden with only one card, but it might be a smart move. I'm thinking after 6 mos of use I would have no problem getting approved for B of A and another Cap one card.

That brings me to another question:

I have a 2K limit on Cap One QS. Suppose I were to charge 4K per month on the card (by paying more than once a week) and showing 1% util by post time. Would they look 6 months later and say, "Let's give this dude a high CLI or Venture Card" ?

[Anonymous]

If I were you, I'd get another Capital One card. You already have a relationship with them and are far more likely to approve you than someone else.

Just for getting the second card you will get a bump, after it reports. 

For the 3rd card, it is up to you if you want to take a chance and apply for someplace else. You might waste an inquiry in vain.

Or, if you really want to be sure you will not waste the inquiry, you can apply for a secured card. I'd recommend one that graduates to an unsecured card after some time, like the one from Bank of America.

Or, you can get a secured card from a Credit Union. They don't even do a hard pull from what I've read here in the forums, they do a soft pull.

You have quite a few options.

[Anonymous]

Well, I weighed all my options and it looks like my odds of approval for anything decent are going to need a few months of history and reporting. I'm borderline for DCU, so I want to wait on that, and when I pull the trigger, it would be for 3 of their products all at once -- auto loan, Visa, checking/savings. For Cap 1, I'd rather use the QS card when it shows up, run it up and pay it down a few times a month, then ask for a Venture in 6 mos. For now, I app'd for a store card -- Amazon. Got approved with a sub-toy limit of $400, but at least I'll use it and report a 0 balance while the Cap 1 card will report ~2%CL, or $40.

I know I'm about to take another TU hit on the Amazon inquiry which will drive it down close to 600. Headed to the Garden while things sort themselves out.