topic Re: NFCU Internal Score? in Credit Card Applications

NFCU Internal Score?

loviedovie — Tue, 12 Dec 2023 22:38:58 GMT

I just opened an NFCU account with $50 and applied for one of their cards but was rejected. That seemed crazy to me since I have flawless credit, but I'm seeing lots of references in the forums to an "Internal Score" with NFCU so maybe that's it.

Can anyone tell me what that is based on?

Trying to understand why I'd be rejected, and what I could do to get approved on a recon.

My stats:

- Roughly $75k worth of credit card limits (mostly Chase Saphire Preferred and Citi Thank You Preferred)

- Hovering around %15 utilization (hence applying for a balance transfer card)

- 0 delinquencies

- 4 inquiries (we bough a house in March, and I traded in my leased car for a new one in October)

- Not sure if income matters but mine is high enough that my DTI shouldn't be a factor

Re: NFCU Internal Score?

loviedovie — Tue, 12 Dec 2023 22:45:40 GMT

I should add - my FICO is 754 today.

Re: NFCU Internal Score?

GZG — Tue, 12 Dec 2023 22:53:37 GMT

internal score is basically TU Fico 9 + length of membership + balance of accounts + number/quality of accounts + direct deposit yes/no

it won't surprise me if your letter states:

~250 internal score

reasons:

current utilization/debt to income, considering the home and the car and the cc's

too short length since most recent TU inquiry

too little length of membership

no direct deposit

too low balance in navy fed accounts

give it 3-4 months, make sure your employer's direct deposit gets deposited into your checking, and that's about the earliest I would give it another chance if you specifically wanted to try Navy again for the Plat card

you could also try PenFed's gold card, they have a pre-qualify tool that isn't reliable, but 15 months 0% interest w/3% fee, they pull EQ, and not TU/Exp if you have less inquires on EQ

you can always try to recon through SM and plead your case, I don't think we see a lot of recons for NFCU, but it's worth a shot, you've already used the HP and they wouldn't even give you $500 so something is going on there

Re: NFCU Internal Score?

loviedovie — Tue, 12 Dec 2023 23:07:04 GMT

@GZG wrote:
internal score is basically TU Fico 9 + length of membership + balance of accounts + number/quality of accounts + direct deposit yes/no

THANK YOU @GZG this is so helpful!!! Quick questions about some of these:

1. TU FICO 9.... where can I find my TU Fico 9 specifically? (Do I have to pay for TU credit monitoring?)

2. LENGTH OF MEMBERSHIP.... how long is "long enough" for them?

3. BALANCE OF ACCOUNTS.... I'm 9 months into a 30yr mortgage and 2 months into a 36 month car lease, so % paid off is low on both. Will they hold that against me?

Just wondering how to repair these because I'm good on the other points.

[My DTI is <50%. My utilization for credit cards is ~15% and getting lower every day. I'm definitley good on the number/type/quality of accounts. I can switch my DD to NFCU pretty easily to check that box.]

Thank you!

Re: NFCU Internal Score?

GZG — Tue, 12 Dec 2023 23:30:02 GMT

@loviedovie wrote:
@GZG wrote:
internal score is basically TU Fico 9 + length of membership + balance of navy federal accounts + number/quality of accounts of navy federal accounts + direct deposit yes/no

THANK YOU @GZG this is so helpful!!! Quick questions about some of these:

1. TU FICO 9.... where can I find my TU Fico 9 specifically? (Do I have to pay for TU credit monitoring?) myFICO offers TU FICO 9 with their paid service, I can't think of any other sources off the top of my head though.

I think WF offers Experian FICO 9 for free if you have any products with them

2. LENGTH OF MEMBERSHIP.... how long is "long enough" for them? the longer the better really, which isn't very helpful to say. The minimum I would wait to apply again is 3 months and making sure that you open a checking account and the new website design shows if NFCU has you down for direct deposit or not

3. BALANCE OF ACCOUNTS.... I'm 9 months into a 30yr mortgage and 2 months into a 36 month car lease, so % paid off is low on both. Will they hold that against me? that's seperate, the absolute value of your debt, under the DTI concerns, which most likely triggered the denial, if I had to make a guess

'balance of accounts' means that you have money in your Navy accounts, not the balance remaining on your loans.

maintaining at least $1500 in a checking, which lets you upgrade to the flagship checking product fee free, probably helps

it's not the biggest reason, and it's not required, but if you want to make every improvement you possibly can, I would do that

Just wondering how to repair these because I'm good on the other points.
[My DTI is <50%. My utilization for credit cards is ~15% and getting lower every day. I'm definitley good on the number/type/quality of accounts. I can switch my DD to NFCU pretty easily to check that box.]

Thank you!

if your chexsystems report was dirty, they could have looked at that as well

Re: NFCU Internal Score?

TalkingCredit91 — Thu, 14 Dec 2023 15:34:06 GMT

I actually just minutes ago had the same thing happen to me.

Membership was approved over the phone, applied immeidately for a Cash Rewards card. Not sure about TU FICO 9, but FICO 8 is 768 currently, flawless file, DTI a non-issue.

Best guess is lots of TU inquiries since I recently shopped around for a personal loan and have that as a new account. Still puzzling though, given their reputation for being "easy" on approvals and my score and income.

Guess I'll start cultivating a deposit relationship with them and try again next year?

Re: NFCU Internal Score?

Anonymalous — Fri, 15 Dec 2023 21:16:14 GMT

@loviedovie, it might not be you. Credit unions are posting huge losses on credit cards, and Navy Fed is doing exceptionally poorly. There are also some recent allegations of discriminatory lending practices.

But in any case, wait a week or two. Since you were denied credit, they'll send you a rejection letter, and that rejection letter will show your internal score. If you're around 300, you should be golden. If you're down around 250, that's probably why.

Re: NFCU Internal Score?

MrSweets23 — Tue, 19 Dec 2023 19:58:38 GMT

Only other thing I would add to the tips shared from Gatorade that will help boost your internal score and relationship with Navy Federal is doing a shared savings pledge loan with them, you have to call them to set it up hope this helps!

Re: NFCU Internal Score?

BuckyB — Wed, 20 Dec 2023 20:40:39 GMT

You have to walk before you can run with NFCU. Opening an account on Monday, throwing fifty bucks in on Tuesday and expecting a credit card approval on Wednesday ain't how you do it with Navy Fed.

Re: NFCU Internal Score?

Horseshoez — Wed, 20 Dec 2023 21:09:13 GMT

@BuckyB wrote:
You have to walk before you can run with NFCU. Opening an account on Monday, throwing fifty bucks in on Tuesday and expecting a credit card approval on Wednesday ain't how you do it with Navy Fed.

LOL, kind of what I figured, but never tested the waters. In my case, I recently opened an account not because I want one of their credit cards (I already have more than I need), but because I'll be looking for a mortgage within the next few months and NFCU has some of the best rates going. Right now I have a whopping $100 sitting in a savings account with NFCU, but because the interest they pay for savings is practically zero, I have my down payment over at CapOne; do you think it would be beneficial for me to move a few thousand over into the NFCU account?

Re: NFCU Internal Score?

Anonymalous — Wed, 20 Dec 2023 21:47:08 GMT

@BuckyB wrote:
You have to walk before you can run with NFCU. Opening an account on Monday, throwing fifty bucks in on Tuesday and expecting a credit card approval on Wednesday ain't how you do it with Navy Fed.

I was a member for less than a month when Navy gave me a card with a SL of more than $8000. I had 6 months of credit history at the time. I did move over a few thousand, and my scores were propped up by an old AU card, but I didn't have direct deposit, or anything beyond basic savings/checking.

Navy's pretty friendly. Building a relationship is certainly important to them, but lots of people have succeeded without. Though it wouldn't surprise me if they've started to become more restrictive, either.

Re: NFCU Internal Score?

RealEstateGuy89 — Sun, 31 Dec 2023 17:51:54 GMT

I joined in 05/2021 and opened up a checking/savings account with $100. No DD and my internal score was 277. I had nothing else with them. The day after opening my accounts, I applied for a Cash Rewards card and was approved for $700. Then in the fall of 2021 I applied for a Flagship card and was approved for $17,300. My credit limits are much higher now after I've gotten CLI's on both cards.

I think a lot of times with new customers, the issue that got them denied is their DTI. Keep working to get it lowered, get DD and anything else that's easy to improve the relationship and then try try again. I bet you'll be golden.

Re: NFCU Internal Score?

NoMoreE46 — Thu, 08 Feb 2024 02:07:46 GMT

Are the factors of the NFCU internal scoring model published anywhere?

@GZG wrote:
internal score is basically TU Fico 9 + length of membership + balance of accounts + number/quality of accounts + direct deposit yes/no

it won't surprise me if your letter states:

~250 internal score

reasons:
current utilization/debt to income, considering the home and the car and the cc's
too short length since most recent TU inquiry
too little length of membership
no direct deposit
too low balance in navy fed accounts

give it 3-4 months, make sure your employer's direct deposit gets deposited into your checking, and that's about the earliest I would give it another chance if you specifically wanted to try Navy again for the Plat card

you could also try PenFed's gold card, they have a pre-qualify tool that isn't reliable, but 15 months 0% interest w/3% fee, they pull EQ, and not TU/Exp if you have less inquires on EQ

you can always try to recon through SM and plead your case, I don't think we see a lot of recons for NFCU, but it's worth a shot, you've already used the HP and they wouldn't even give you $500 so something is going on there

Re: NFCU Internal Score?

800wannabe420 — Thu, 08 Feb 2024 03:28:59 GMT

@NoMoreE46

I sent an SM to NFCU asking what my current internal score is and this is the reply I received:

Thank you for using Navy Federal's eMessaging Service, Petty Officer #######. Each financial institution has its own lending criteria. As part of this process, lenders may choose from different credit models that are available from the credit bureaus. Each lender will pick the model that they feel best suits their financial need. Therefore, the score that we obtain may differ from that of other financial institutions, or those obtained directly from the bureaus. A custom (internal) score from TransUnion is requested when a new credit card application is submitted. As with any credit score, this updates monthly. We show no recent credit card or loan applications for your account access (last 30 days). Therefore, we are unable to give you an updated internal score

Navy Federal offers the option to view your FICO Score provided by Equifax through your Navy Federal Online account. You can also monitor, manage and help control your credit score with our free My Credit Score Dashboard. The credit score and report you will receive through Mission: Credit Confidence Dashboard is a TransUnion credit report with a TransUnion Vantage 3 Score. If we can be of any further assistance, please let us know.