I got a denial letter for my Chase Sapphire Preferred application, and in the letter it says at the bottom "Scores calculated using this source can range from a low of 250 to a high of 900". My score was a 581 (Equifax) on the date of the app, Aug. 25th. This is closely in line with my current myfico equifax score of 594 today.
Question - why 250-900 ? I thought it was 300-850 for EQ08, which is what I thought the credit card lenders are using.... does anyone know which score they might have used? Even EQ04 I don't believe went as high as 900?
I don't want to sound rude asking this....
Why would you apply for a signature card with those scores?
@Burned2manybridgesB4 wrote:I don't want to sound rude asking this....
Why would you apply for a signature card with those scores?
Although I had a feeling someone was going to ask this, it's irrelevant to the question I'm asking. Anyway sure, I'll answer you. It's a bit of a long story, but basically my income, net worth, and lifestyle don't match my credit score. I was aggressively trying to become a millionaire in my mid 20s... in my aggressive fury towards this goal, I made some large mistakes which led me to crashing and burning pretty hard right during the financial crisis of 2008-2009. That's when I defaulted on 3 cards, 2009. Since then, I gradually built myself back up - slowly at first, then faster and more aggressively, but in a much wiser and mature way. I crossed 7 figures last year. I'm now at the point where I'm easily in the upper middle class range income-wise and net worth wise (this is why I tried to avoid talking about this in my OP - because I feel embarassed to appear to be 'bragging', when it comes to money topics)... I travel internationally often, stay in expensive hotels, etc. Because of the lifestyle I have, the cards best suited for me from homework I've done, are cards such as the AMEX Plat and the CSP, for starters. I figured that they'd likely deny me due to bad scores, but I've gotta start somewhere... I thought that due to my high income, they might give me a shot anyway. The bad stuff on my credit report is still there, even though most of it is paid off.
It's a shame because the credit score doesn't reflect in any way how much of a risk I am - it only reflects that I was a risk in 2009. Lots has changed for me since then.
So yeah, I'm stuck in a weird place with subprime credit, paying for $4,000 intercontinental biz-class plane tickets with a debit card, because I don't have credit. It's weird but I guess this is life's way of punishing me for my mistakes in the past. Again though, just my 2 cents - I don't think that the FICO score takes into consideration people like me. I have a flawless credit history since I started rebuilding and have a high income, yet my credit score is stuck in the dumps due to crap from 2009 that I've since paid off.
Anyway, any thoughts on that 250-900 score range that Chase quoted ?
@onepointatatime wrote:
@Burned2manybridgesB4 wrote:I don't want to sound rude asking this....
Why would you apply for a signature card with those scores?
Although I had a feeling someone was going to ask this, it's irrelevant to the question I'm asking. Anyway sure, I'll answer you. It's a bit of a long story, but basically my income, net worth, and lifestyle don't match my credit score. I was aggressively trying to become a millionaire in my mid 20s... in my aggressive fury towards this goal, I made some large mistakes which led me to crashing and burning pretty hard right during the financial crisis 2008-2009. That's when I defaulted on 3 cards, 2009. Since then, I gradually built myself back up - slowly at first, then faster and more aggressively, but in a much wiser and mature way. I crossed 7 figures last year. I'm now at the point where I'm easily in the upper middle class range income-wise and net worth wise (this is why I tried to avoid talking about this in my OP - because I feel embarassed to appear to be 'bragging', when it comes to money topics)... I travel internationally often, stay in expensive hotels, etc. Because of the lifestyle I have, the cards best suited for me from homework I've done, are cards such as the AMEX Plat and the CSP, for starters. I figured that they'd likely deny me due to bad scores, but I've gotta start somewhere... I thought that due to my high income, they might give me a shot anyway. The bad stuff on my credit report is still there, even though most of it is paid off.
It's a shame because the credit score doesn't reflect in any way how much of a risk I am - it only reflects that I was a risk in 2009. Lots has changed for me since then.
So yeah, I'm stuck in a weird place with subprime credit, paying for $4,000 interncontinental biz-class plane tickets with a debit card, because I don't have credit. It's weird but I guess this is life's way of punishing me for my mistakes in the past. Again though, just my 2 cents - I don't think that the FICO score takes into consideration people like me. I have a flawless credit history since I started rebuilding and have a high income, yet my credit score is stuck in the dumps due to crap from 2009 that I've since paid off.
Anyway, any thoughts on that 250-900 score range that Chase quoted ?
Internal scoring system, mixed with whatever version of fico they're using....some lenders just use straight ficos, some use in house hybrids.
The reason I asked about the app is because basically the credit system is geared towards "building up," and "proving capability of credit responsibility."
A high income/lifestyle does not indicate "ability to pay."
Have you tried the bank you directly interact with, as they have your money?
@Burned2manybridgesB4 wrote:Internal scoring system, mixed with whatever version of fico they're using....some lenders just use straight ficos, some use in house hybrids.
The reason I asked about the app is because basically the credit system is geared towards "building up," and "proving capability of credit responsibility."
A high income/lifestyle does not indicate "ability to pay."
Have you tried the bank you directly interact with, as they have your money?
I learn something new every day in this forum - actually, I learn like 20 new things every day in this forum :-) I didn't realize they sometimes hybridize the scores they tell you.
I have tried one of the banks I bank with - Chase, as a matter of fact!
To your point about the ability to pay - lifestyle doesn't indicate ability to pay, I agree. However I had assumed that high net worth + high income *would*. What I'm slowly and painfully realizing though is that it seems that a high net worth and high income are only useful if you *already* have a high or at least average credit score. It doesn't seem to be of any use to someone with a 600. Then again YMMV and maybe I'm going about it the wrong way? Who knows...
IMO, if you want to jump the gun, get a secured card temporarily, with your own deposit, and rack that sucker up to 5k load (or higher), then ride it out, until you get another card (non secured) close to what you need. Cancel the secured, and get your deposit back. I'm a firm believer that higher limits beget higher limits.
@Burned2manybridgesB4 wrote:IMO, if you want to jump the gun, get a secured card temporarily, with your own deposit, and rack that sucker up to 5k load (or higher), then ride it out, until you get another card (non secured) close to what you need. Cancel the secured, and get your deposit back. I'm a firm believer that higher limits beget higher limits.
Yep, I thought the same - I maxed out my Capital One secured, in fact... 3K is as high as it would go. I've had it reporting for 12 months now on my credit report. If I didn't have a few inquiries on my reports, my score might be 10 points or so higher but probably not much more than that. It just seems crazy that a paid charge off can weigh someone down so badly. My next step of course is to try to GW AMEX... though they seem to be harda**es about that kind of thing
@Burned2manybridgesB4 wrote:This may, or may not help you with Amex.
....and check out SDFCU. Not sure if their limits exceed the 3k cap you currently have, but they might.