topic Movin' on up! BCP approved 10k...SPG "wait 5 days and call us"?? in Credit Card Approvals

Movin' on up! BCP approved 10k...SPG "wait 5 days and call us"??

TheConductor — Mon, 12 Aug 2013 18:36:03 GMT

Haven't posted in a while. For me, taking a breather from the forum definitely helps with the discipline of gardening.

And boy, has the gardening paid off!

I was approved instantly for an Amex Blue Cash Preferred with $10k starting limit!!

Applied next for an SPG and got a pending status with a call-in number. When I called in, the analyst said the application would remain pending and could be re-reviewed in 5 days. She took pains to explain that this is primarily a security feature to guard against identity thieves quickly opening a large amount of credit in my name. That sounds pretty legit to me - you would think if they meant to deny me, they would have done so in the course of the call instead of making me wait 5 days.

My best guess is that my opening CL on the BCP was so high that whatever CL I was likely to get on the SPG was - in combination with BCP 10k - more than they are willing to risk in a single day with someone who has my profile. I know that I change both residence and employment frequently enough that if you squint at my report I might look like an easier target for fraud. Fair enough.

I've been rock-solid on payments and churning between 3k and 8k a month through my Zync since getting it last year, and my income/assets are solid, so I am feeling confident that a week or so from now I'll be adding an SPG of ~7k-10k limit to my wallet as well. I don't mind waiting it out. In fact, I'll probably wait until I have received and activated the BCP, just to add confidence to their decision since I'll be receiving it at the same address I received my Zync at.

Meanwhile, I'm incredibly chuffed to finally be putting a top-tier rewards card with a limit genuinely appropriate to my means into my wallet. Hopefully this will give me leverage to bully Bank of America into finally upping my paltry limit on their rewards card after I spend a few months tending the new Amex(es).

My thanks to Mint and Manilla for helping me to maintain the discipline of timely bill payment. It helps a lot!

And especially, my thanks to this forum for providing a community that has supported and guided my rebuilding efforts. Even when I wasn't hanging around here, it helped to know there was a whole army of others here exemplifying the discipline, prudence, and patience I have been working hard to make my habits. Thank you!

Re: Movin' on up! BCP approved 10k...SPG "wait 5 days and call us"??

Luscher — Mon, 12 Aug 2013 18:37:52 GMT

congrats

Re: Movin' on up! BCP approved 10k...SPG "wait 5 days and call us"??

09Lexie — Mon, 12 Aug 2013 18:40:08 GMT

Congratulations on your approval (s). The 5 day waiting period is true for Amex though some have been lucky to get 2 in at once.

Now, time to remove the BCP from your Dream Wallet in your siggy.

Re: Movin' on up! BCP approved 10k...SPG "wait 5 days and call us"??

emptypockets — Mon, 12 Aug 2013 18:51:45 GMT

Great! Always nice to see when tending to the Garden and good management of credit pays off and you can get a card you want!

Re: Movin' on up! BCP approved 10k...SPG "wait 5 days and call us"??

UFGuy2006 — Mon, 12 Aug 2013 19:03:05 GMT

Congrats on the BCP. First time I've heard about the 5 day rule... maybe its because they are both revolvers?

Re: Movin' on up! BCP approved 10k...SPG "wait 5 days and call us"??

09Lexie — Mon, 12 Aug 2013 19:07:28 GMT

@UFGuy2006

The computer flagged it as duplicate app and so its gets kicked out of the queue and will be processed after 5 days.

Re: Movin' on up! BCP approved 10k...SPG "wait 5 days and call us"??

Anonymous — Mon, 12 Aug 2013 19:47:49 GMT

The 5 day wait is completely normal. Good luck!

Re: Movin' on up! BCP approved 10k...SPG "wait 5 days and call us"??

TheConductor — Mon, 12 Aug 2013 20:39:22 GMT

Nice to hear that the 5-day wait is normal practice for them. Thanks for the congrats, everyone!

And yes, I updated my siggy now.

Re: Movin' on up! BCP approved 10k...SPG "wait 5 days and call us"??

TheConductor — Wed, 21 Aug 2013 20:51:32 GMT

Yep, SPG approved as well. Didn't even have to call them, just got the notification by e-mail.

Called to find out my CL but there was a prerecorded "We're having technical problems so the wait is super-long" message so I opted to wait and call again.

In any event, nice to be gradually turning my dream wallet into my actual wallet. And my scores aren't even that great yet.

It's funny...I saw the other thread "Is Amex overrated?" Well, in some instances I think it's underrated. My scores are below what one would normally advise having to apply for a premium rewards card, but I have two of them. And I think it's largely because Amex looks beyond the FICO score.

They value a customer who is financially diversified (hence their questions about investment assets being more detailed than those on many other card apps). They value income, but primarily insofar as it is reflected in spend throughput. And they value history, above all your history with them. Were it not for those values, I'd be far worse off credit-wise. Barclays recently denied me a CLI, and BoA has had me stuck at a piddly $500 for ages. Different values, different rules.

Amex likes the kind of customer I am. Maybe it's true that they are "elitist" or whatever, but if so I'm privileged to be the kind of elite they are looking for. I am by no means "rich", but I've clawed my way to a six-figure job without finishing college, and I've wisely saved or invested a good chunk of what I earned along the way. For someone like me with a couple errant baddies slowly receding into the past on their report, they're a great creditor to do business with.

Re: Movin' on up! BCP approved 10k...SPG "wait 5 days and call us"??

09Lexie — Wed, 21 Aug 2013 21:08:13 GMT

Well, I knew you would be approved. So happy for you! And I agree with your comments about Amex. They do look past scores and that's how we see approvals with 620 scores.

It may not be for everyone and that's ok. Again, congratulations.

Re: Movin' on up! BCP approved 10k...SPG "wait 5 days and call us"??

TheConductor — Fri, 23 Aug 2013 15:33:10 GMT

So I went for phase 2 of my spree. I had thought of applying for the CapitalOne Venture along with the Amex cards, but I noted that one of the things C1 says in their pop-up for "Excellent Credit" on the Venture's page is "I have had a loan or credit card for 3 years or more with a credit limit above $5,000"

So I figured my chances were actually better if I waited for the $10k backdated Amexes to report first, even if it meant apping with two extra inquiries.

And sure enough, waited for the Amex cards to ping on my report, and got instant approval on the Venture for $5k. In addition, I apped for the Schwab high-yield checking (which denied me for credit score reasons a couple of years ago) and nailed that too. So now I'm set for my upcoming foreign trip with a no-foreign-transaction-fee credit card and a checking account that will refund any foreign ATM fees.

At this point I'm pretty pleased with my wallet. Ultimately I'd like to replace the Venture with a Barclay Arrival, but Barclay has been stingy about CLIs with me on the Apple Card so I decided that for now my chances were better with CapOne. After some quality time in the garden, I'll think about apping the next round: Arrival, Amex Platinum, and Andrews FCU (to get chip and PIN). For now, time to treat all these new accounts well and rack up my minimum spend for the SPG bonus.

Re: Movin' on up! BCP approved 10k...SPG "wait 5 days and call us"??

migliogiorni — Fri, 23 Aug 2013 15:42:55 GMT

congrats.

Re: Movin' on up! BCP approved 10k...SPG "wait 5 days and call us"??

Irisa — Fri, 23 Aug 2013 15:49:59 GMT

Congrats on the approvals!

Re: Movin' on up! BCP approved 10k...SPG "wait 5 days and call us"??

TheConductor — Mon, 26 Aug 2013 16:30:14 GMT

Well, as it turns out I pulled my latest reports from CreditSecure and saw absolutely no inquiries on them for the two Amex cards. I'd been mentally dinging myself for those because I'd trained myself to feel guilty for every app. I'd totally forgotten Amex would just soft pull me for those apps as an existing customer. So all I've been dinged for this whole spree is the customary Capital One triple-pull and Schwab's pull on Equifax.

So I greedily decided to slip one more app in before locking the garden door for a while. I confess: I am joyriding a bit on the delight of getting approvals for cards I used to covet.

The 40,000 UR points from CSP were looking very attractive, so even though a year from now I'll need to do some triage to ensure I'm not doubling up on annual fees for the same benefits, I went ahead and apped. $9200 credit limit, instant approval. Great interest rate compared to most of the ones I've got, too! And for now, it fills a niche because it makes the UR points I have earned (and continue to earn) on the Freedom genuinely useful.

Approval came despite my having to honestly answer "yes" to "Is your credit history clear from bankruptcies and/or seriously delinquent accounts?" because I still have about 10 months to go before the last chargeoff/serious delinquency remaining falls off.

OK, garden door is now firmly locked for a while. Up next, 61-day CLIs on the Amex!

Re: Movin' on up! BCP approved 10k...SPG "wait 5 days and call us"??

09Lexie — Mon, 26 Aug 2013 18:52:00 GMT

Very nice! Chase has been handing out some nice approvals lately!