topic Re: Barclays Ring Question in Credit Cards

Barclays Ring Question

braznyc — Sun, 20 Sep 2015 05:50:34 GMT

Hi All,

I received an email from Barclays saying I pre-qualified for this card. I believe I signed up for some kind of alert on their pre-qualifications. Either way I know it's just a pre-qual and I haven't applied, because back in June I was denied their NFL rewards card due to no revolving accounts. My report consisted of my student loans (I pay on them but they're still in def and 2 PR on TU and EQ, my Exp report has old paid CC, 1 old collection to fall off next month,and 2 PR). I have 2 cc from Cap One from June and 5 store cards -- all new. My TU is 711 and has 4 inquiries. I don't want to apply because despite my TU score I don't think they'll approve me because my revolving history is still new. What do you think? I can wait but I was excited to get the email. Anything to help me garden. I also have a Lien, which has been vacated but won't fall off until November. Oddly my original denial from Barclays didn't mention the lien or satisfied judgement. Oh and EQ is 698 and Exp is 653 (my lowest).

Re: Barclays Ring Question

B335is — Sun, 20 Sep 2015 06:17:31 GMT

Well if you're really gardening, pass it up. Ring is a good card if you have a balance you're trying to pay off. The Barclays pre qualifier was down for many months so I don't know how reliable it is since it came back online.

Re: Barclays Ring Question

braznyc — Sun, 20 Sep 2015 07:00:32 GMT

Oh, see I wasn't sure what the Ring card was. I have no balances that need to be transferred. There was another cared Arrival I think or something like that, but I don't want to apply and be denied because of revolving accounts being too new. Oddly I checked their pre-qual site maybe 2 weeks or so ago and it said nothing, now this email, haha. I don't mind gardening. I want to be able to pick and choose out of want not need. I would like 1 more regular credit card to garden with but I'm so afraid of anymore inquiries. I have 4 with TU and Exp an 2 with EQ.

Re: Barclays Ring Question

Anonymous — Sun, 20 Sep 2015 07:20:23 GMT

Wait. Even with an approval the limit probably won't be great.

Re: Barclays Ring Question

braznyc — Sun, 20 Sep 2015 07:28:02 GMT

Thank you. I feel in my heart of hearts I should wait. I think I'll just wait until January to app for anything else.

Re: Barclays Ring Question

Anonymous — Sun, 20 Sep 2015 17:02:04 GMT

Morning Braz! It's great that you received the prequal offer but you don't want to take any chances like being declined or getting a low SL. I agree with the other posters. I think you should wait. While your waiting your accounts will age and the lien will fall off your credit reports. Both of these events should increase your FICO scores.

Again, it's great to get approved, but it's better to get approved with a nice SL and APR. IMHO both of these should be your focus while rebuilding your credit. If you get approved with a low SL and/or high APR, you will spend the next 6 months to a year trying to increase your CL and decrease your APR.

Patience is an important factor in bulding an excellent credit profile. You want all of your hard work and sacrifice to provide a plethora of prime cards to choose from along with fabulous SLs and the lowest APRs your profile supports.

You are doing a good job and I'm glad your focus is on gardening. Stay focused. Stay positive and you will achieve your goals. See you around the forum.

Re: Barclays Ring Question

gdale6 — Sun, 20 Sep 2015 12:50:20 GMT

@braznyc wrote:
Hi All,

I received an email from Barclays saying I pre-qualified for this card. I believe I signed up for some kind of alert on their pre-qualifications. Either way I know it's just a pre-qual and I haven't applied, because back in June I was denied their NFL rewards card due to no revolving accounts. My report consisted of my student loans (I pay on them but they're still in def and 2 PR on TU and EQ, my Exp report has old paid CC, 1 old collection to fall off next month,and 2 PR). I have 2 cc from Cap One from June and 5 store cards -- all new. My TU is 711 and has 4 inquiries. I don't want to apply because despite my TU score I don't think they'll approve me because my revolving history is still new. What do you think? I can wait but I was excited to get the email. Anything to help me garden. I also have a Lien, which has been vacated but won't fall off until November. Oddly my original denial from Barclays didn't mention the lien or satisfied judgement. Oh and EQ is 698 and Exp is 653 (my lowest).

I would be working on getting the early exclusion from the CRAs on these 2 items. You can look up what it is in the Rebuilding Your Credit forum.

Re: Barclays Ring Question

SouthJamaica — Sun, 20 Sep 2015 12:54:02 GMT

@braznyc wrote:
Hi All,

I received an email from Barclays saying I pre-qualified for this card. I believe I signed up for some kind of alert on their pre-qualifications. Either way I know it's just a pre-qual and I haven't applied, because back in June I was denied their NFL rewards card due to no revolving accounts. My report consisted of my student loans (I pay on them but they're still in def and 2 PR on TU and EQ, my Exp report has old paid CC, 1 old collection to fall off next month,and 2 PR). I have 2 cc from Cap One from June and 5 store cards -- all new. My TU is 711 and has 4 inquiries. I don't want to apply because despite my TU score I don't think they'll approve me because my revolving history is still new. What do you think? I can wait but I was excited to get the email. Anything to help me garden. I also have a Lien, which has been vacated but won't fall off until November. Oddly my original denial from Barclays didn't mention the lien or satisfied judgement. Oh and EQ is 698 and Exp is 653 (my lowest).

1. The Ring card is my favorite card, so it's great that they sent you a prequalification letter.

2. Barclays seems to always pull TU, so as long as your TU score hasn't dropped since they researched the score you should be ok on the score front.

3. Another factor which Barclays weighs heavily against you, but which does not necessarily show up in the score, is recent inquiries and recently opened accounts. So in your case since you just opened a bunch of new cards, they might give you a hard time.

4. If I were you I would never open another store card. If your credit score is good enough to prequalify for a high quality card like the Ring, you shouldn't sidetrack yourself with junk.

Re: Barclays Ring Question

noobody — Sun, 20 Sep 2015 12:54:06 GMT

Ring is a great card if you need carry balance, but reward is next to zero.
Credit requirement is on the high side as the card is basically hand out cash or cash equivalent very cheap.
If you get lucky and CL would be useless $500.

Re: Barclays Ring Question

braznyc — Mon, 21 Sep 2015 01:44:57 GMT

@beautifulblaquepearl wrote:
Morning Braz! It's great that you received the prequal offer but you don't want to take any chances like being declined or getting a low SL. I agree with the other posters. I think you should wait. While your waiting your accounts will age and the lien will fall off your credit reports. Both of these events should increase your FICO scores.

Again, it's great to get approved, but it's better to get approved with a nice SL and APR. IMHO both of these should be your focus while rebuilding your credit. If you get approved with a low SL and/or high APR, you will spend the next 6 months to a year trying to increase your CL and decrease your APR.

Patience is an important factor in bulding an excellent credit profile. You want all of your hard work and sacrifice to provide a plethora of prime cards to choose from along with fabulous SLs and the lowest APRs your profile supports.

You are doing a good job and I'm glad your focus is on gardening. Stay focused. Stay positive and you will achieve your goals. See you around the forum.

Thank you for such a kind message and I couldn't agree more. This is why I love this community. Always spot on and nice!

Re: Barclays Ring Question

braznyc — Mon, 21 Sep 2015 01:46:41 GMT

@gdale6 wrote:
@braznyc wrote:
Hi All,

I received an email from Barclays saying I pre-qualified for this card. I believe I signed up for some kind of alert on their pre-qualifications. Either way I know it's just a pre-qual and I haven't applied, because back in June I was denied their NFL rewards card due to no revolving accounts. My report consisted of my student loans (I pay on them but they're still in def and 2 PR on TU and EQ, my Exp report has old paid CC, 1 old collection to fall off next month,and 2 PR). I have 2 cc from Cap One from June and 5 store cards -- all new. My TU is 711 and has 4 inquiries. I don't want to apply because despite my TU score I don't think they'll approve me because my revolving history is still new. What do you think? I can wait but I was excited to get the email. Anything to help me garden. I also have a Lien, which has been vacated but won't fall off until November. Oddly my original denial from Barclays didn't mention the lien or satisfied judgement. Oh and EQ is 698 and Exp is 653 (my lowest).
I would be working on getting the early exclusion from the CRAs on these 2 items. You can look up what it is in the Rebuilding Your Credit forum.

Hi Gdale,

I was thinking about doing this but I read somewhere that Experian doesn't really do early exclusion. I read today that some people had some luck, so I will try tomorrow. I have CCT and right now Experian has it where I'm locked out of disputing. I haven't gotten around to calling them but tomorrow I will. Thank you.

Re: Barclays Ring Question

braznyc — Mon, 21 Sep 2015 01:50:02 GMT

@SouthJamaica wrote:
@braznyc wrote:
Hi All,

I received an email from Barclays saying I pre-qualified for this card. I believe I signed up for some kind of alert on their pre-qualifications. Either way I know it's just a pre-qual and I haven't applied, because back in June I was denied their NFL rewards card due to no revolving accounts. My report consisted of my student loans (I pay on them but they're still in def and 2 PR on TU and EQ, my Exp report has old paid CC, 1 old collection to fall off next month,and 2 PR). I have 2 cc from Cap One from June and 5 store cards -- all new. My TU is 711 and has 4 inquiries. I don't want to apply because despite my TU score I don't think they'll approve me because my revolving history is still new. What do you think? I can wait but I was excited to get the email. Anything to help me garden. I also have a Lien, which has been vacated but won't fall off until November. Oddly my original denial from Barclays didn't mention the lien or satisfied judgement. Oh and EQ is 698 and Exp is 653 (my lowest).
1. The Ring card is my favorite card, so it's great that they sent you a prequalification letter.

2. Barclays seems to always pull TU, so as long as your TU score hasn't dropped since they researched the score you should be ok on the score front.

3. Another factor which Barclays weighs heavily against you, but which does not necessarily show up in the score, is recent inquiries and recently opened accounts. So in your case since you just opened a bunch of new cards, they might give you a hard time.

4. If I were you I would never open another store card. If your credit score is good enough to prequalify for a high quality card like the Ring, you shouldn't sidetrack yourself with junk.

Thanks for that break down. The store cards were for utlization really, although I tend to PIF each month. I'm still learning how this uti stuff works. I also only have store cards of places I actually shop, but I don't plan on anymore. I live in NYC and I shop at Barneys all the time. Half my family loves J Crew so I figured why not for those birthday and holiday gifts. But I get it and don't plan on adding anymore. I really want a third major cc but I can wait. I just loathe having all my ducks with Capital One, grateful, but itchy, haha.

Re: Barclays Ring Question

braznyc — Mon, 21 Sep 2015 01:54:36 GMT

@noobody wrote:
Ring is a great card if you need carry balance, but reward is next to zero.
Credit requirement is on the high side as the card is basically hand out cash or cash equivalent very cheap.
If you get lucky and CL would be useless $500.
Thanks. I definitely don't want another low SL card. I can definitely wait. I'm use to using cash so if I have to let these cards I have sit and grow I will as long as I can get better later on. I was excited when my TU score hit the 700's now I can't wait for the other two to catch up. I'm hoping once that old collection account and tax lien fall off that there will be some nice bumps. Experian is my biggest issue, the other two files are clean save for those 2 PR, which again the tax lien falls off in November from all of them, and it was paid just never fought to have it vacated or even corrected to say paid. The state tax judgement is satisfied but none of the CRA will remove it and the state of NY are snails with the whole vacate thing. Whenever they get around to it I will fight to have it stated as such on my reports.

Re: Barclays Ring Question

Anonymous — Mon, 21 Sep 2015 01:56:00 GMT

@beautifulblaquepearl wrote:
Morning Braz! It's great that you received the prequal offer but you don't want to take any chances like being declined or getting a low SL. I agree with the other posters. I think you should wait. While your waiting your accounts will age and the lien will fall off your credit reports. Both of these events should increase your FICO scores.

Again, it's great to get approved, but it's better to get approved with a nice SL and APR. IMHO both of these should be your focus while rebuilding your credit. If you get approved with a low SL and/or high APR, you will spend the next 6 months to a year trying to increase your CL and decrease your APR.

Patience is an important factor in bulding an excellent credit profile. You want all of your hard work and sacrifice to provide a plethora of prime cards to choose from along with fabulous SLs and the lowest APRs your profile supports.

You are doing a good job and I'm glad your focus is on gardening. Stay focused. Stay positive and you will achieve your goals. See you around the forum.

Absolutely!

Re: Barclays Ring Question

TheConductor — Mon, 21 Sep 2015 19:42:13 GMT

One thing I do want to mention is that the Barclay Ring is a great strategic card to have.

Most "good for balance transfers" cards are good because they offer 0% interest for a limited promotional period. It does you no good to sign up for these in advance in most cases, except if you have low utilization and plan to almost immediately make a big purchase on a rewards card then immediately BT it for 0 interest financing.

For most of us, though, the need for a balance transfer card comes unexpectedly when utilization is high, and consequently it becomes difficult to get a usable limit on the BT destination card.

The Ring, on the other hand, is 8% all the time, with no balance transfer fees. You can apply for it at a time when your utilization is low and scores are high, get a nice big usable limit, and then have it available for a future time when you may need it. Sure, 8% is not as good as 0%, but it's still like an instant APR reduction compared to the vast majority of credit cards.

Say at some time in the future you have $20,000 of revolving debt you are trying desperately to reduce. You open a card with a BT offer at 0% but they only offer you a $5k limit. Maybe you manage to get that up to $8k after some reconning or merging limits, but that still leaves the other $12k ticking away at 13%, 15%, 17%, or worse. Maybe you ask the lender(s) for some APR relief and they knock those rates down a point or two. You're still paying more in monthly interest than you'd pay on the Ring, so a BT to the Ring means you can save yourself a lot of dollars in interest.

If you apply for it strategically at a time when you are likely to get a high limit, the Ring can function like an on-demand debt consolidation loan. Lower APR available to you any time you need it.

And "strategically at a time when you are likely to get a high limit" is precisely why I would advise you, Braznyc, to stick to your gardening plan for now. Wait for the moment when that app will be a guaranteed home run, so that you will get the maximum benefit out of what the Ring is really best for.

Re: Barclays Ring Question

bk510 — Thu, 24 Sep 2015 05:57:45 GMT

@B335is wrote:
Well if you're really gardening, pass it up. Ring is a good card if you have a balance you're trying to pay off. The Barclays pre qualifier was down for many months so I don't know how reliable it is since it came back online.

Where is the Barclay pre-Q?

Can not find it on their site.

Re: Barclays Ring Question

UncleB — Thu, 24 Sep 2015 08:04:56 GMT

@bk510 wrote:
@B335is wrote:
Well if you're really gardening, pass it up. Ring is a good card if you have a balance you're trying to pay off. The Barclays pre qualifier was down for many months so I don't know how reliable it is since it came back online.
Where is the Barclay pre-Q?
Can not find it on their site.

Here's the link, but I'm not sure how accurate/reliable the offers are...

https://www.barclaycardus.com/apply/ProactivePrescreenLanding.action

Re: Barclays Ring Question

Anonymous — Thu, 24 Sep 2015 10:32:02 GMT

You are most welcome Braz and thank you for your kind words. Cheers to building an excellent profile!!:smileyhappy:

@braznyc wrote:
@beautifulblaquepearl wrote:
Morning Braz! It's great that you received the prequal offer but you don't want to take any chances like being declined or getting a low SL. I agree with the other posters. I think you should wait. While your waiting your accounts will age and the lien will fall off your credit reports. Both of these events should increase your FICO scores.

Again, it's great to get approved, but it's better to get approved with a nice SL and APR. IMHO both of these should be your focus while rebuilding your credit. If you get approved with a low SL and/or high APR, you will spend the next 6 months to a year trying to increase your CL and decrease your APR.

Patience is an important factor in bulding an excellent credit profile. You want all of your hard work and sacrifice to provide a plethora of prime cards to choose from along with fabulous SLs and the lowest APRs your profile supports.

You are doing a good job and I'm glad your focus is on gardening. Stay focused. Stay positive and you will achieve your goals. See you around the forum.

Thank you for such a kind message and I couldn't agree more. This is why I love this community. Always spot on and nice!

Re: Barclays Ring Question

Anonymous — Thu, 24 Sep 2015 10:52:22 GMT

Well said! It's the reason I applied for the Ring. I love that there are no BT fees, so I can combine all of my small balances onto it and then submit one BT to a no interest credit card and then PIF. Every now and then I allow a balance to report to show some love. The Ring was an excellent investment for me!

@TheConductor wrote:
One thing I do want to mention is that the Barclay Ring is a great strategic card to have.

Most "good for balance transfers" cards are good because they offer 0% interest for a limited promotional period. It does you no good to sign up for these in advance in most cases, except if you have low utilization and plan to almost immediately make a big purchase on a rewards card then immediately BT it for 0 interest financing.

For most of us, though, the need for a balance transfer card comes unexpectedly when utilization is high, and consequently it becomes difficult to get a usable limit on the BT destination card.

The Ring, on the other hand, is 8% all the time, with no balance transfer fees. You can apply for it at a time when your utilization is low and scores are high, get a nice big usable limit, and then have it available for a future time when you may need it. Sure, 8% is not as good as 0%, but it's still like an instant APR reduction compared to the vast majority of credit cards.

Say at some time in the future you have $20,000 of revolving debt you are trying desperately to reduce. You open a card with a BT offer at 0% but they only offer you a $5k limit. Maybe you manage to get that up to $8k after some reconning or merging limits, but that still leaves the other $12k ticking away at 13%, 15%, 17%, or worse. Maybe you ask the lender(s) for some APR relief and they knock those rates down a point or two. You're still paying more in monthly interest than you'd pay on the Ring, so a BT to the Ring means you can save yourself a lot of dollars in interest.

If you apply for it strategically at a time when you are likely to get a high limit, the Ring can function like an on-demand debt consolidation loan. Lower APR available to you any time you need it.

And "strategically at a time when you are likely to get a high limit" is precisely why I would advise you, Braznyc, to stick to your gardening plan for now. Wait for the moment when that app will be a guaranteed home run, so that you will get the maximum benefit out of what the Ring is really best for.

Re: Barclays Ring Question

braznyc — Fri, 25 Sep 2015 03:56:10 GMT

No problem. This forum really is the best. I've taken everyone's advice. And will get on top of it all this weekend. Thank you!