topic Re: USAA ...DECLINED??? in Credit Cards

USAA ...DECLINED???

kay82 — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 19:17:54 GMT

Well I got the urge to apply for a USAA MC and you guessed it a big fat DECLINED.. I did it via phone app with a rep, and specifically asked her what were the minimum scores needed she told me 560 + so I got extremely happy having just pulled My Fico EQ and it was 630 then I get declined what the H ***.....Im upset about the misleading qualifying scores and more so that I wasted an inquiry..this ever happened to anyone else??

Re: USAA ...DECLINED???

haulingthescoreup — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 19:20:47 GMT

Sorry to hear that! What else is going on with your reports that results in the 630 score?

Almost every lender uses a combination of score and report history to decide whether to extend credit.

Re: USAA ...DECLINED???

kay82 — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 19:26:50 GMT

Oh Im so glad you replied.. you seem to be the USAA guru lol !!! Well I have no open collections on EQ but 3 paid collections and 3 CO's, but am in the rebuilding/cleaning up stage and just had a nice increase due to a new CC reporting

Im not sure what happened

Re: USAA ...DECLINED???

haulingthescoreup — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 19:49:23 GMT

I'm really pretty ignorant of what it takes to get in with them, because my angle is my 28-or-something-year history. But if they were going to tell you a minimum score, they should have added something like, But that also depends on what else is going on with your reports.

Do you have any banking or insurance or investment business with them? They reward longevity, but they also reward those who do lots of business with them.

Re: USAA ...DECLINED???

jmbfl — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 20:37:55 GMT

CO's reporting is probably the culprit sorry to say. Resolved or unresolved CO's are baddies.

Re: USAA ...DECLINED???

kay82 — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 20:51:46 GMT

Well I have 3 insurance policies in good standing with them and have maintained them in good standing for 10 years thats why Im so confused after researching the threads in regards to this before applying I noticed a few people reference the account history with them so I figured Id have a pretty good leg to stand on having done business with them for so long, however I did ask the CSR if it made a difference as to whether or not I did banking with them and she said NO but to check my offers and see if there were any preapps I told her I doubted it because I opted out about a year ago....IDK Im really confused about this Im going to give them a call tomorrow

Re: USAA ...DECLINED???

kay82 — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 20:54:30 GMT

Yes Im sure the CO's are probably whats hurting the most one of them is a voluntary repo so Im sure thats the worst Im going to GW the other 2 and I have one CC and about 85% util. so Im guessing once I pay that down to less than 10 it might give me an increase ...(fingers crossed)

Re: USAA ...DECLINED???

Anonymous — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 01:11:44 GMT

There's something that *might* pan out. I had heard awhile ago that USAA has a card for people with blemished credit.

This link (below) for USAA credit card benefits reveals that besides their Amex card and their standard Platinum card, they also may still have a "Gold" card.
https://www.usaa.com/inet/ent_utils/McStaticPages?key=credit_card_benefits_guide

Maybe this "Gold" card is their rebuilding card ?

Message Edited by MojaveMoon on 11-30-2008 05:11 PM

Re: USAA ...DECLINED???

Anonymous — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 14:18:13 GMT

USAA is such CRAP. THey did the same thing to us a few months ago. Scores were low- to mid-600's and I spent 15 minutes on the phone w/ the rep discussing before I applied. Explained in detail our reports (there were three collections, but all were paid & I explained I had proof that could be faxed over) plus two CO's, pd off for over 2 yrs... was also told that she saw approvals from the 580's "all the time" and we would be "fine" with scores like ours. So, she transferred me, I app'd... we were DECLINED.

I was very upset, b/c we would have been FINE without the card and I had only called to set up auto insurance & this rep really pushed us apping for the CC.. got a call back from someone in their executive office who basically tried to lecture me and said "I don't know WHY you even applied, we don't even consider customers below the 620's..." well great, oh beacon of truth and light, but that's not what YOUR CSR told me!!! Then she tried to lecture me on how you really shouldn't even have a credit card because it's bad for your scores (no I am not making this up) at which point I just decided we were not going to have this conversation & quietly hung up.

I am keeping USAA for the auto insurance, but I have a very bad taste in my mouth re their CC products.. very uninformed not only of their own policies, but even the way FICO scores work.

(((P.S. the rep from the executive's offer DID tell me I could call back and ask for the inquiry to be recoded to soft, just drop her name & it would be done... so I did call back and after being on hold on & off for 20 minutes, was finally told that there is no way, no chance, no how, of anyone recoding anything and they didn't know why she would have told me that... seems to be a LOT of "I don't know why" that goes on at USAA!)))

Re: USAA ...DECLINED???

kay82 — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 17:29:51 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
USAA is such CRAP. THey did the same thing to us a few months ago. Scores were low- to mid-600's and I spent 15 minutes on the phone w/ the rep discussing before I applied. Explained in detail our reports (there were three collections, but all were paid & I explained I had proof that could be faxed over) plus two CO's, pd off for over 2 yrs... was also told that she saw approvals from the 580's "all the time" and we would be "fine" with scores like ours. So, she transferred me, I app'd... we were DECLINED.

I was very upset, b/c we would have been FINE without the card and I had only called to set up auto insurance & this rep really pushed us apping for the CC.. got a call back from someone in their executive office who basically tried to lecture me and said "I don't know WHY you even applied, we don't even consider customers below the 620's..." well great, oh beacon of truth and light, but that's not what YOUR CSR told me!!! Then she tried to lecture me on how you really shouldn't even have a credit card because it's bad for your scores (no I am not making this up) at which point I just decided we were not going to have this conversation & quietly hung up.

I am keeping USAA for the auto insurance, but I have a very bad taste in my mouth re their CC products.. very uninformed not only of their own policies, but even the way FICO scores work.

(((P.S. the rep from the executive's offer DID tell me I could call back and ask for the inquiry to be recoded to soft, just drop her name & it would be done... so I did call back and after being on hold on & off for 20 minutes, was finally told that there is no way, no chance, no how, of anyone recoding anything and they didn't know why she would have told me that... seems to be a LOT of "I don't know why" that goes on at USAA!)))

I would say UNBELIEVABLE but because I just went through the EXACT SAME situation you did I believe every word... I just called and spoke with a supervisor regarding the situation and the best I got was the IM SORRY thats not how USAA does business spill and get this that I should visit myfico.com and check out their Q & A section so that I could learn a thing or two about how to continue repairing my credit ( ha ha) I politely explained to her that I would do that and that I will continue posting on the forums about the crappy service I recieved and will give grave detail about why potential customers should reconsider even dealing with USAA period, at which point she became speechless. (ha ha) Either way the situation is very frustrating she also told me that the inquiry would not affect my score whatsoever (yeah right )... bottom line I say go with a different CU for banking needs NFCU or Penfed..all that account history with usaa that supposedly factors in when doing business with them, means nothing so dont buy that line anymore because I have 10 years of perfect history with them and to them that meant absolutely nothing !!!

Message Edited by kay82 on 12-01-2008 09:29 AM

Re: USAA ...DECLINED???

Anonymous — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 21:31:40 GMT

@kay82 wrote:
Well I got the urge to apply for a USAA MC and you guessed it a big fat DECLINED.. I did it via phone app with a rep, and specifically asked her what were the minimum scores needed she told me 560 + so I got extremely happy having just pulled My Fico EQ and it was 630 then I get declined what the H ***.....Im upset about the misleading qualifying scores and more so that I wasted an inquiry..this ever happened to anyone else??

I guess it is all in which CSR you speak with. When I first opened my account in January, the CSR told me not to even try to apply for credit products until my scores hit 720, to be sure I would be approved. Someone telling you a 560 is insane. (maybe if that person has been a member forever and has quite a bit on deposit...)

I had to recon my MC with a clean EQ report and 680 FICO.

Once my EQ hit 738, I did get an instant approval (10k) for the Amex.

DH has a 651 EQ and all of his baddies will fall off in 5 months and he still can't get a card from them.

Re: USAA ...DECLINED???

jaxstraw — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 00:12:54 GMT

From posts that I've read here and on other sites USAA is not an easy card to get. The threshold has always been about 700's for approval.

720 is the score usally mentioned as the minimum before applying.

If you read other posts they also mention how the CSR are farmed out now to outside agancies. They do not work for the lender directly.

Hopefully I'm not offending anyone but all this has been posted here and can be researched before applying. This site is great for that. Do not go on the word of a CSR alone, check here and at other 'credit pull' sites before applying, the info shared can save a lot of denied apps.

Re: USAA ...DECLINED???

cabarkeep — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 06:53:39 GMT

good point jax ... if you do a little research USAA Fed savings bank is pretty highly rated and their financials have always been up there at the top .....

I do not want to offend anyone but you could not really expect USAA to be loaning money or giving credit cards to people with challenged credit when they do not have to or do not model their company to take on that risk.

It is like expecting a 0% for 72 month auto loan with a 500 fico score ...it just won't happen ...I would expect that USAA is almost as tight as Penfed for a credit card...(not quite as I have a 25k Usaa card but Declined with Penfed lol for Household income of all things lol another rant ...) but no doubt both companies are very good at what they do ... they just at this time do not appear to be catering any products to challenged credit click away and save those inquiries where it might do some good to re-establish your credit.

This board is fantastic for that type of information ..too bad the CSR told you only half of their requirements .. you might ask for a supv and explain the situation maybe they will delete the inquiry? Its worth a shot!

Re: USAA ...DECLINED???

kay82 — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 16:13:32 GMT

I did do some research there are tons and tons of threads about USAA on the site apparently I didnt research far enough beccause I never got to the part about needing a 700 credit score and I read a whole bunch of these threads I even checked WGMC and saw quite a few approvals for people on my side of the country nevertheless, I dont expect a MAJOR bank like that to loan credit to someone with damaged credit ( as you say ) however If you would have read the previous post I did speak to a supervisor regarding the incompetence and misleading information given by the CSR. I EXPECT their employees not to give out misleading information..they're supposed to be this great banking institution etc. yet the employees tell the customers they only need a 560 Big Contradiction..... This HUGE bank cant afford to get their employees some REMEDIAL training so as not to misguide, mislead or waste peoples time...hmmm I think I ll go with NFCU!!!

Re: USAA ...DECLINED???

cabarkeep — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 18:11:02 GMT

Kay, i did not mean to offend .. I was just making a point ... and before you go off clicking on NFCU you better call and ask them the same questions ...I would think that they are pretty strict also .... I do not know what your credit looks like and am not judging you ... I would just be careful on who you apply with so that you are not wasting inq's thats all.

good luck

Re: USAA ...DECLINED???

kay82 — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 00:27:48 GMT

No no offense taken whatsoever you're absolutely right and I appreciate the advice, I actually got a call back from the supervisor today saying that they valued me as a customer and will do a recon on my app,.. but I passed, after that experience I dont want any part of them other then the accounts I already hold.....but yes Im doing lots of research on NFCU it may take me a few months but this time I will read ALL of the posts lol but they are definitely on my goal list for 09, so is there a better database than WGMC to check because they're info was a little outdated?