topic Re: Affinity Cash Rewards in Credit Card Applications

Affinity Cash Rewards

Tinkiegrrl — Sun, 02 Jan 2022 13:08:22 GMT

Pulled the trigger on this after being a member for a couple weeks and having a couple paychecks go into checking. When I completed the app, it said pending. I got an email with disclosures on the card. On the application status portal it says Approved and Complete. Does this mean I got approved? No email with credit limit. APR or request for info yet.

Re: Affinity Cash Rewards

coldfusion — Sun, 02 Jan 2022 13:44:35 GMT

You aren't the first person that was confused by this. It's only an informational message that the automated system considered your application filled out completely and valid (i.e. all fields were filled in and confirmed to be in a valid range, for example you didn't state a negative income, etc) and has forwarded it to be processed. The message only relates to the submission of the application and is not intended to provide any hint or indication as to the possible outcome of the application.

They really should recode that messaging, I agree it can be confusing.

Re: Affinity Cash Rewards

Tinkiegrrl — Sun, 02 Jan 2022 13:51:37 GMT

@coldfusion wrote:
You aren't the first person that was confused by this. It's only an informational message that the automated system considered your application filled out completely and valid (i.e. all fields were filled in and confirmed to be in a valid range, for example you didn't state a negative income, etc) and has forwarded it to be processed. The message only relates to the submission of the application and is not intended to provide any hint or indication as to the possible outcome of the application.

They really should recode that messaging, I agree it can be confusing.

Ah. I see.. Well, here's to hoping. At least it wasn't an outright decline.

Re: Affinity Cash Rewards

Who_wuda_thought — Sun, 02 Jan 2022 20:26:29 GMT

I've followed your journey, from months ago on r/. You've done an amazing job of staying super selective, instead of going hog-wild like some do 😁. I believe lenders take this into account with new'ish thin credit files.

I think you've got this...but here's 🤞!!

Re: Affinity Cash Rewards

Anonymous — Mon, 03 Jan 2022 00:31:40 GMT

Keep us updated please I'm about to go for this card as well.

Re: Affinity Cash Rewards

Consigliere — Sat, 08 Jan 2022 04:32:49 GMT

Same thing just happened to me!!! I was kind of excited and confused at the same time. I guess we have to wait and hope UW take his morning coffee before process our apps... Lol

Re: Affinity Cash Rewards

LawStudentCivilis — Sun, 09 Jan 2022 12:51:10 GMT

@TinkiegrrlAny update? Hope to see you in approvals.

Re: Affinity Cash Rewards

Tinkiegrrl — Sun, 09 Jan 2022 15:29:30 GMT

@LawStudentCivilis wrote:
@TinkiegrrlAny update? Hope to see you in approvals.

I still haven't gotten the letter but I called and a rep told me it was looking like it was going to be declined. I jumped the gun on this. Too new to building credit. No negatives on my file but still. I'm going to try calling again on Monday and see if I can use that same hard pull to turn it into SOMETHING at least. Maybe a small personal loan to get an installment loan on my file for credit mix. Or maybe a LOC for overdrafting my checking account with them, just in case I ever need too.

Re: Affinity Cash Rewards

Ilinferno — Sun, 09 Jan 2022 16:30:35 GMT

@Tinkiegrrl
Bummer, that sounds like a good plan though. Just keep building your relationship with them I'm sure you'll get it eventually! I just opened an account with them too for that future app down the line.

Re: Affinity Cash Rewards

Crowhelm — Sun, 09 Jan 2022 17:45:52 GMT

@Tinkiegrrl wrote:
@LawStudentCivilis wrote:
@TinkiegrrlAny update? Hope to see you in approvals.
I still haven't gotten the letter but I called and a rep told me it was looking like it was going to be declined. I jumped the gun on this. Too new to building credit. No negatives on my file but still. I'm going to try calling again on Monday and see if I can use that same hard pull to turn it into SOMETHING at least. Maybe a small personal loan to get an installment loan on my file for credit mix. Or maybe a LOC for overdrafting my checking account with them, just in case I ever need too.

Oh, that is too bad. Yeah, I think making contact before applying helps a lot with credit unions if you have any doubts about approval. Just because they usually are just in one state or two. With 5 new accounts in the last 6 months ( 3 each individually plus 2 as AU on the other one's cards) showing on our credit report my wife and I were successful in getting the Affinity and AOD card. But both times I made contact and had nice chats with some very friendly and helpful people. I basically asked given the facts if it was a good idea to apply or better wait. Both times I was told scores sound great and new accounts matter but are not the deciding factor. At AOD the guy told me they manually underwrite so they have the last say. I am 100% convinced that my reaching out got us approved instead of just applying as an unknown, Of course, our scores were a bit higher than yours and I guess there is a cut-off somewhere but credit unions are there for their members and recon is much easier with them. I successfully reversed a declined auto loan (our first loan after BK13 and foreclosure due to the 2008 housing crash and my year and a half unemployment due to being tied to the housing industry) by telling them they are supposed to be different from banks, that they are supposed to give people (members) a chance to recover and heal. It worked. It was the start of our recovery and I got my dream car in the process (yeah, the reason I was highly motivated). Still have it too, mint condition almost 25 years old now :-). I love credit unions overall, they are way more approachable. If you do get declined, call them and try to recon, it could work. Or at least find out what needs to be better to be successful next time. Good luck

Re: Affinity Cash Rewards

Tinkiegrrl — Sun, 09 Jan 2022 17:56:49 GMT

@Crowhelm wrote:
@Tinkiegrrl wrote:
@LawStudentCivilis wrote:
@TinkiegrrlAny update? Hope to see you in approvals.
I still haven't gotten the letter but I called and a rep told me it was looking like it was going to be declined. I jumped the gun on this. Too new to building credit. No negatives on my file but still. I'm going to try calling again on Monday and see if I can use that same hard pull to turn it into SOMETHING at least. Maybe a small personal loan to get an installment loan on my file for credit mix. Or maybe a LOC for overdrafting my checking account with them, just in case I ever need too.
Oh, that is too bad. Yeah, I think making contact before applying helps a lot with credit unions if you have any doubts about approval. Just because they usually are just in one state or two. With 5 new accounts in the last 6 months ( 3 each individually plus 2 as AU on the other one's cards) showing on our credit report my wife and I were successful in getting the Affinity and AOD card. But both times I made contact and had nice chats with some very friendly and helpful people. I basically asked given the facts if it was a good idea to apply or better wait. Both times I was told scores sound great and new accounts matter but are not the deciding factor. At AOD the guy told me they manually underwrite so they have the last say. I am 100% convinced that my reaching out got us approved instead of just applying as an unknown, Of course, our scores were a bit higher than yours and I guess there is a cut-off somewhere but credit unions are there for their members and recon is much easier with them. I successfully reversed a declined auto loan (our first loan after BK13 and foreclosure due to the 2008 housing crash and my year and a half unemployment due to being tied to the housing industry) by telling them they are supposed to be different from banks, that they are supposed to give people (members) a chance to recover and heal. It worked. It was the start of our recovery and I got my dream car in the process (yeah, the reason I was highly motivated). Still have it too, mint condition almost 25 years old now :-). I love credit unions overall, they are way more approachable. If you do get declined, call them and try to recon, it could work. Or at least find out what needs to be better to be successful next time. Good luck

I'll definitely call them back. Really, I should have waited for pre approvals, but I was told that if I wanted a mortgage in a year, which I might, that I needed to get the cards I want now and then let them age for the year. It's the reason I dared try now, with only 10 months of credit history to my name. I was also told it's best to have 5 accounts when I go mortgage shopping and I'm 1 account short. So, either recon works in some fashion or I need to try my luck with the 4 accounts I have in a year. Or maybe the really solution is I hold off for a COUPLE more years on the mortgage. My fault really for being too paranoid about credit to try building before now. I'm 43 yrs old already. Never touched credit in my life until March 2021.

Re: Affinity Cash Rewards

Lou-natic — Sun, 09 Jan 2022 18:00:51 GMT

You have the scores but may need to garden for a while to be approved because of new accounts and such, good luck though!

Re: Affinity Cash Rewards

Tinkiegrrl — Sun, 09 Jan 2022 18:25:00 GMT

@Lou-natic wrote:
You have the scores but may need to garden for a while to be approved because of new accounts and such, good luck though!

I just called them again. They told me it COULD still be approved. It's in manual underwriting. It's in the decline pile but they're still reviewing it and they're behind on reviews with Covid and all the holiday apps. I was told to hang tight and wait, see what happens. If it is declined, good news is that another hard pull won't be necessary to apply for something else. I can apply for a credit card that is a tier below the Cash Rewards, or open a small personal loan for credit mix, or open a LOC for my checking with them.... So, either way I haven't necessarily wasted a hard pull.

Re: Affinity Cash Rewards

Crowhelm — Sun, 09 Jan 2022 19:25:43 GMT

@Tinkiegrrl wrote:
@Crowhelm wrote:
@Tinkiegrrl wrote:
@LawStudentCivilis wrote:
@TinkiegrrlAny update? Hope to see you in approvals.
I still haven't gotten the letter but I called and a rep told me it was looking like it was going to be declined. I jumped the gun on this. Too new to building credit. No negatives on my file but still. I'm going to try calling again on Monday and see if I can use that same hard pull to turn it into SOMETHING at least. Maybe a small personal loan to get an installment loan on my file for credit mix. Or maybe a LOC for overdrafting my checking account with them, just in case I ever need too.
Oh, that is too bad. Yeah, I think making contact before applying helps a lot with credit unions if you have any doubts about approval. Just because they usually are just in one state or two. With 5 new accounts in the last 6 months ( 3 each individually plus 2 as AU on the other one's cards) showing on our credit report my wife and I were successful in getting the Affinity and AOD card. But both times I made contact and had nice chats with some very friendly and helpful people. I basically asked given the facts if it was a good idea to apply or better wait. Both times I was told scores sound great and new accounts matter but are not the deciding factor. At AOD the guy told me they manually underwrite so they have the last say. I am 100% convinced that my reaching out got us approved instead of just applying as an unknown, Of course, our scores were a bit higher than yours and I guess there is a cut-off somewhere but credit unions are there for their members and recon is much easier with them. I successfully reversed a declined auto loan (our first loan after BK13 and foreclosure due to the 2008 housing crash and my year and a half unemployment due to being tied to the housing industry) by telling them they are supposed to be different from banks, that they are supposed to give people (members) a chance to recover and heal. It worked. It was the start of our recovery and I got my dream car in the process (yeah, the reason I was highly motivated). Still have it too, mint condition almost 25 years old now :-). I love credit unions overall, they are way more approachable. If you do get declined, call them and try to recon, it could work. Or at least find out what needs to be better to be successful next time. Good luck
I'll definitely call them back. Really, I should have waited for pre approvals, but I was told that if I wanted a mortgage in a year, which I might, that I needed to get the cards I want now and then let them age for the year. It's the reason I dared try now, with only 10 months of credit history to my name. I was also told it's best to have 5 accounts when I go mortgage shopping and I'm 1 account short. So, either recon works in some fashion or I need to try my luck with the 4 accounts I have in a year. Or maybe the really solution is I hold off for a COUPLE more years on the mortgage. My fault really for being too paranoid about credit to try building before now. I'm 43 yrs old already. Never touched credit in my life until March 2021.

Well, I can tell you we had zero credit cards and two loans (one car loan and one paid-off secured loan to get us rolling again) on our credit profile after our disaster in 2008. Because we were really spooked and distrusting of banks after what was done to us we went with a credit union, BECU, with 660 to 675 scores we got our mortgage in late 2017. We then sold in mid-2020 and moved to Montana, bought a huge house and huge garage (important to me😊 ) and at that time we had one credit card, one auto loan, and the mortgage. Got a super rate with a small bank in Montana at 2.5%. So you see it does not require lots of accounts. Our scores were 770+ at that time. So don't sweat the 5 accounts thing.

Re: Affinity Cash Rewards

Tinkiegrrl — Sun, 09 Jan 2022 19:28:34 GMT

@Crowhelm wrote:
@Tinkiegrrl wrote:
@Crowhelm wrote:
@Tinkiegrrl wrote:
@LawStudentCivilis wrote:
@TinkiegrrlAny update? Hope to see you in approvals.
I still haven't gotten the letter but I called and a rep told me it was looking like it was going to be declined. I jumped the gun on this. Too new to building credit. No negatives on my file but still. I'm going to try calling again on Monday and see if I can use that same hard pull to turn it into SOMETHING at least. Maybe a small personal loan to get an installment loan on my file for credit mix. Or maybe a LOC for overdrafting my checking account with them, just in case I ever need too.
Oh, that is too bad. Yeah, I think making contact before applying helps a lot with credit unions if you have any doubts about approval. Just because they usually are just in one state or two. With 5 new accounts in the last 6 months ( 3 each individually plus 2 as AU on the other one's cards) showing on our credit report my wife and I were successful in getting the Affinity and AOD card. But both times I made contact and had nice chats with some very friendly and helpful people. I basically asked given the facts if it was a good idea to apply or better wait. Both times I was told scores sound great and new accounts matter but are not the deciding factor. At AOD the guy told me they manually underwrite so they have the last say. I am 100% convinced that my reaching out got us approved instead of just applying as an unknown, Of course, our scores were a bit higher than yours and I guess there is a cut-off somewhere but credit unions are there for their members and recon is much easier with them. I successfully reversed a declined auto loan (our first loan after BK13 and foreclosure due to the 2008 housing crash and my year and a half unemployment due to being tied to the housing industry) by telling them they are supposed to be different from banks, that they are supposed to give people (members) a chance to recover and heal. It worked. It was the start of our recovery and I got my dream car in the process (yeah, the reason I was highly motivated). Still have it too, mint condition almost 25 years old now :-). I love credit unions overall, they are way more approachable. If you do get declined, call them and try to recon, it could work. Or at least find out what needs to be better to be successful next time. Good luck
I'll definitely call them back. Really, I should have waited for pre approvals, but I was told that if I wanted a mortgage in a year, which I might, that I needed to get the cards I want now and then let them age for the year. It's the reason I dared try now, with only 10 months of credit history to my name. I was also told it's best to have 5 accounts when I go mortgage shopping and I'm 1 account short. So, either recon works in some fashion or I need to try my luck with the 4 accounts I have in a year. Or maybe the really solution is I hold off for a COUPLE more years on the mortgage. My fault really for being too paranoid about credit to try building before now. I'm 43 yrs old already. Never touched credit in my life until March 2021.
Well, I can tell you we had zero credit cards and two loans (one car loan and one paid-off secured loan to get us rolling again) on our credit profile after our disaster in 2008. Because we were really spooked and distrusting of banks after what was done to us we went with a credit union, BECU, with 660 to 675 scores we got our mortgage in late 2017. We then sold and moved to Montana, bought a huge house and huge garage (important to me😊 ) and at that time we had one credit card, one auto loan, and the mortgage. Got a super rate with a small bank in Montana at 2.5%. So you see it does not require lots of accounts. Our scores were 770+ at that time. So don't sweat the 5 accounts thing.

I hear you on disgust with the banks. I started building credit so late because my ex husband was financially abusive. Part of what he did wasn run up subprime cards with ridiculous fees. He also stole my debit card and withheld his money from paying bills like rent. Anyway, I left him in my mid 20's and then it took a while to get on my feet. Then, 2008 happened. Again, I had to get on my feet, only this time, between the fiasco with subprime cards and the 2008 mortgage fiasco I was so sick of banks in general. I just didn't bother with credit. Now I need a score because its too hard to find landlords that will rent to someone without one. Also because my father may be in a position to help with a down payment should I want to buy.

Re: Affinity Cash Rewards

LawStudentCivilis — Sun, 09 Jan 2022 22:53:19 GMT

@Tinkiegrrl wrote:
@LawStudentCivilis wrote:
@TinkiegrrlAny update? Hope to see you in approvals.
I still haven't gotten the letter but I called and a rep told me it was looking like it was going to be declined. I jumped the gun on this. Too new to building credit. No negatives on my file but still. I'm going to try calling again on Monday and see if I can use that same hard pull to turn it into SOMETHING at least. Maybe a small personal loan to get an installment loan on my file for credit mix. Or maybe a LOC for overdrafting my checking account with them, just in case I ever need too.

Thanks for the update! I want to say about 2 months after joining I started receiving emails for pre-approvals. They do SP your reports regularly, if your score is climbing who knows you may have solid pre-approvals between 3 to 6 months. I understand a mortgage is more important for you right now, but I do think you will be able to open an account with Affinity in the foreseeable future. It is likely only a matter of time at this point.