topic Re: Got Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards Pre-approval and still denied? in Credit Card Applications

Got Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards Pre-approval and still denied?

Crowhelm — Tue, 28 Sep 2021 00:57:49 GMT

Was reading about all the people who love this card and I went to BOA's website and used their pre-approval link. Was pre-approved for all their cards and applied. They pulled Experian at 774 and flat out denied it? Wow just wow. I mean what ? They couldn't see what they didn't like in the soft pull? Why even bother with a pre-approval? Pre-approval should mean you got it we just need to see what interest rate and credit limit we will give you. These guys must be like Discover, freaked out that I am shopping around for solid cashback cards to reward me for my great credit in the last ten years (even though just 6 for credit cards). Guess the letter will tell me for sure. Is any recon possible with them? Because I really would like to know sooner if this really will stand.

Re: Got Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards Pre-approval and still denied?

Remedios — Tue, 28 Sep 2021 01:31:41 GMT

Maybe it's because Bank Of America doesn't have pre-approval page?

Right on the top, it clearly spells your name followed by "we recommend"

That's as much of pre-approval as watching credit card commercial on tv.

Also, Discover and BoA arent freaked out, they simply won't approve you because you've been doing a lot of credit seeking.

For someone who's had two cards, adding three additional cards in a few months is a lot.

But, yeah, BoA doesn't have a prequal.

You can test it by changing your answer to the "what are you mostly interested in" question. Whatever you answer, that card will be highlighted at the start.

That's a well known fact.

Oh, and nowhere on their page do they mention "prequal" or "pre-approval", only "customized card offers" based on your responses.

Re: Got Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards Pre-approval and still denied?

Crowhelm — Tue, 28 Sep 2021 01:51:24 GMT

They are asking for your SS#, of course, it is a soft pull. So they name it differently but whenever an SS# is requested it is a soft pull

And the Custom Cash I did after the BOA app, so really all they saw was two new credit cards. All are being paid in full, no balances, So no worries as Citibank seems to agree.

Re: Got Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards Pre-approval and still denied?

FinStar — Tue, 28 Sep 2021 02:34:26 GMT

Take the advice from the folks that know how it works. Asking for a SS# does not translate into a pre-approval for BoA. Plenty of DPs and threads on this. The right profile can get approved for any of their cards in the absence of the recommendations page which would be no different than applying blindly and using a SS#. Again, it is not a pre-approval nor pre-qualification. Folks have tried it with their pets. The SS# only pulls top level data, not your entire credit history. When the HP is done, that's when you'll know.

Re: Got Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards Pre-approval and still denied?

coldfusion — Tue, 28 Sep 2021 02:43:28 GMT

@Crowhelm wrote:
They are asking for your SS#, of course, it is a soft pull. So they name it differently but whenever an SS# is requested it is a soft pull

And the Custom Cash I did after the BOA app, so really all they saw was two new credit cards. All are being paid in full, no balances, So no worries as Citibank seems to agree.

That doesn't make it a preapproval, and it absolutely wasn't a preapproval.

The only type of actual preapproval that Bank of America makes are unsolicited offers extended to targeted existing clients and are made through the Activities section of their online portal. They can either be for a specific card or sometimes (as in my case) they allow you to choose the one you want from multiple options offered.

Re: Got Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards Pre-approval and still denied?

Crowhelm — Tue, 28 Sep 2021 02:44:42 GMT

@FinStar wrote:
Take the advice from the folks that know how it works. Asking for a SS# does not translate into a pre-approval for BoA. Plenty of DPs and threads on this. The right profile can get approved for any of their cards in the absence of the recommendations page which would be no different than applying blindly and using a SS#. Again, it is not a pre-approval nor pre-qualification. Folks have tried it with their pets. The SS# only pulls top level data, not your entire credit history. When the HP is done, that's when you'll know.

Well, that makes it worse if that is really true. Your SS# is very important and should never be asked for unless you are doing at least a soft pull. Makes me dislike BOA even more now. So probably a blessing in disguise than that they denied it. After all, I wouldn't have tried for the Citi Custom Cash if they would have approved it. All good, just didn't realize a major bank would be so careless with SS#s. After all, every time you enter it online there is a chance it can get stolen.

Re: Got Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards Pre-approval and still denied?

Remedios — Tue, 28 Sep 2021 02:46:05 GMT

@Crowhelm wrote:
They are asking for your SS#, of course, it is a soft pull. So they name it differently but whenever an SS# is requested it is a soft pull

And the Custom Cash I did after the BOA app, so really all they saw was two new credit cards. All are being paid in full, no balances, So no worries as Citibank seems to agree.

Let me know if you have any other questions

Re: Got Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards Pre-approval and still denied?

stw715 — Tue, 28 Sep 2021 02:48:43 GMT

Were you "pre-approved" with set interest rate or "We recommend" with range of interest rate? Very very rarely a set interest rate would pop-up from its check for offers link, I think I only saw it once been posted here in last three years.

Re: Got Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards Pre-approval and still denied?

stw715 — Tue, 28 Sep 2021 02:51:15 GMT

@Remedios wrote:
@Crowhelm wrote:
They are asking for your SS#, of course, it is a soft pull. So they name it differently but whenever an SS# is requested it is a soft pull

And the Custom Cash I did after the BOA app, so really all they saw was two new credit cards. All are being paid in full, no balances, So no worries as Citibank seems to agree.

Let me know if you have any other questions

That remind me the old Discover pre-approvals, where you can put in your pet's name and SSN of 1234 and it still show you are pre-approved.

Re: Got Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards Pre-approval and still denied?

Crowhelm — Tue, 28 Sep 2021 02:51:42 GMT

Yeah, I get it and I stand corrected. But as I said already to Finstar I had no idea a major bank could be this careless with people's SS# so it never even occurred to me this was anything less than a soft pull. I mean what is even the purpose of it? Like, to get people like me to falsely believe they can apply for the card?

Re: Got Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards Pre-approval and still denied?

FinStar — Tue, 28 Sep 2021 03:02:49 GMT

@Crowhelm wrote:
@FinStar wrote:
Take the advice from the folks that know how it works. Asking for a SS# does not translate into a pre-approval for BoA. Plenty of DPs and threads on this. The right profile can get approved for any of their cards in the absence of the recommendations page which would be no different than applying blindly and using a SS#. Again, it is not a pre-approval nor pre-qualification. Folks have tried it with their pets. The SS# only pulls top level data, not your entire credit history. When the HP is done, that's when you'll know.
Well, that makes it worse if that is really true. Your SS# is very important and should never be asked for unless you are doing at least a soft pull. Makes me dislike BOA even more now. So probably a blessing in disguise than that they denied it. After all, I wouldn't have tried for the Citi Custom Cash if they would have approved it. All good, just didn't realize a major bank would be so careless with SS#s. After all, every time you enter it online there is a chance it can get stolen.

I mean, aside from the sour grapes outcome, perhaps you should have inquired with the community (which has an extensive plethora of documented experiences with BoA and their recommendations portal) about their process before taking the plunge. So, this isn't about BoA being careless, it's about knowing what each insitution does with the information. But, what's done is done. Plenty of financial institutions' portals can ask for a SS# and it doesn't necessarily make them pre-qualification or pre-approved offers -- unless it explicitly states so. Often times is to provide preliminary ID information. Even so, a pre-qualification or pre-approved offer is never 100% guaranteed, as per the regulatory disclaimer provided in many of those who offer such pre-screening options.

Every lender has their own UW criteria, and just because Citi approved you doesn't mean BoA will (or viceversa) -- all things considered. You were approved for Citi and life goes on.

Re: Got Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards Pre-approval and still denied?

FinStar — Tue, 28 Sep 2021 02:56:43 GMT

@stw715 wrote:
Were you "pre-approved" with set interest rate or "We recommend" with range of interest rate? Very very rarely a set interest rate would pop-up from its check for offers link, I think I only saw it once been posted here in last three years.

BoA has pre-selected invitations (mailers, email, branch, etc)., not pre-approved offers -- just to clarify things. As a banking customer, one can be offered a pre-selected invitation, which in a variety of cases tends to yield positive results on both the personal and business side of things. BoA hasn't done pre-approved offers (direct mail or otherwise) in years.

Re: Got Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards Pre-approval and still denied?

Crowhelm — Tue, 28 Sep 2021 03:03:31 GMT

@FinStar wrote:
@Crowhelm wrote:
@FinStar wrote:
Take the advice from the folks that know how it works. Asking for a SS# does not translate into a pre-approval for BoA. Plenty of DPs and threads on this. The right profile can get approved for any of their cards in the absence of the recommendations page which would be no different than applying blindly and using a SS#. Again, it is not a pre-approval nor pre-qualification. Folks have tried it with their pets. The SS# only pulls top level data, not your entire credit history. When the HP is done, that's when you'll know.
Well, that makes it worse if that is really true. Your SS# is very important and should never be asked for unless you are doing at least a soft pull. Makes me dislike BOA even more now. So probably a blessing in disguise than that they denied it. After all, I wouldn't have tried for the Citi Custom Cash if they would have approved it. All good, just didn't realize a major bank would be so careless with SS#s. After all, every time you enter it online there is a chance it can get stolen.
I mean, aside from the sour grapes outcome, perhaps you should have inquired with the community (which has an extensive plethora of documented experiences with BoA and their recommendations portal) about their process before taking the plunge. So, this isn't about BoA being careless, it's about knowing what each insitution does with the information. But, what's done is done. Plenty of financial institutions' portals can ask for a SS# and it doesn't necessarily make them pre-qualification or pre-approved offers -- unless it explicitly states so. Often times is to provide preliminary ID information. Even so, a pre-qualification or pre-approved offer is never 100% guaranteed, as per the regulatory disclaimer provided in many of those who offer such pre-screening options.

Every lender has their own UW criteria, and just because Citi approved you doesn't mean BoA will (or viceversa) -- all things considered. You were approved for Citi and life goes on.

Oh yeah, I am happy with the Custom Cash card, and like I said probably a blessing in disguise. Still think it is irresponsible to ask for an SS# for nothing really.

Re: Got Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards Pre-approval and still denied?

FinStar — Tue, 28 Sep 2021 03:00:13 GMT

@Crowhelm wrote:
Yeah, I get it and I stand corrected. But as I said already to Finstar I had no idea a major bank could be this careless with people's SS# so it never even occurred to me this was anything less than a soft pull. I mean what is even the purpose of it? Like, to get people like me to falsely believe they can apply for the card?

Short of any conspiracy theory, this isn't a careless effort as there was no malice committed by BoA. Your information was encrypted when you input the data. Careless would be finding your information in the dark web after finding out BoA had a data breach. By that same mindset, my pets' names would also be floating on the dark web because those same inputs would've been intercepted when trying the BoA portal.

Re: Got Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards Pre-approval and still denied?

Crowhelm — Tue, 28 Sep 2021 03:05:08 GMT

@FinStar wrote:
@Crowhelm wrote:
Yeah, I get it and I stand corrected. But as I said already to Finstar I had no idea a major bank could be this careless with people's SS# so it never even occurred to me this was anything less than a soft pull. I mean what is even the purpose of it? Like, to get people like me to falsely believe they can apply for the card?
Short of any conspiracy theory, this isn't a careless effort as there was no malice committed by BoA. Your information was encrypted when you input the data. Careless would be finding your information in the dark web after finding out BoA had a data breach. By that same mindset, my pets' names would also be floating on the dark web because those same inputs would've been intercepted when trying the BoA portal.

I seriously don't understand what you are trying to say here. The question remains why even ask for it? But as I said, BOA can kiss my you know what.

Re: Got Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards Pre-approval and still denied?

ChessChik47 — Tue, 28 Sep 2021 15:17:21 GMT

@Crowhelm wrote:
Yeah, I get it and I stand corrected. But as I said already to Finstar I had no idea a major bank could be this careless with people's SS# so it never even occurred to me this was anything less than a soft pull. I mean what is even the purpose of it? Like, to get people like me to falsely believe they can apply for the card?

One lesson to learn here is that whenever you provide your SS# as it relates to a credit card "offer", expect a hard pull. If it ends up being a soft pull, then great.

Congrats on your Citi card.

Re: Got Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards Pre-approval and still denied?

Crowhelm — Tue, 28 Sep 2021 15:41:05 GMT

@ChessChik47 wrote:
@Crowhelm wrote:
Yeah, I get it and I stand corrected. But as I said already to Finstar I had no idea a major bank could be this careless with people's SS# so it never even occurred to me this was anything less than a soft pull. I mean what is even the purpose of it? Like, to get people like me to falsely believe they can apply for the card?
One lesson to learn here is that whenever you provide your SS# as it relates to a credit card "offer", expect a hard pull. If it ends up being a soft pull, then great.

Congrats on your Citi card.

Yup, agreed. I had a laps of judgement when I applied for anything from BOA afterall that is the same bank that tried to rip off my in-laws and even threating to move their millions in investments did not move these arrogant pricks to fix it. So my in-laws did just that. However I hate who they moved to as well. US Bank, lol. Oh well.

Re: Got Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards Pre-approval and still denied?

FinStar — Tue, 28 Sep 2021 17:06:22 GMT

As the topic has already ran its course, and everything that could be said has been discussed, whether it was a lapse in judgement or sour grapes over the outcome, the thread has been locked and closed to new messages.