topic Re: Chase Sapphire Preferred Approval Odds in Credit Cards

Chase Sapphire Preferred Approval Odds

Anonymous — Mon, 22 Apr 2019 03:46:56 GMT

Hello I'm a long time lurker and first time poster. I figured I'd make this post as I have some questions and was hoping for some insight. I have an international trip coming up this year and it seems ideal to apply for the CSP. With this upcoming trip and some other expenses I would have no trouble getting the SUB. Additionally, after this year I will be traveling 1-2 times a year (either domestic or international). Now, my file is thin I only have two cards. The oldest card is a Bank of America Cash Rewrds (1 yrs, 11 mos) the limit is $1,900. The second card is the Amex Everyday (4 mos) the limit is $6,000. I always pay my cards in full and have never missed a payment. I also make sure to keep a small amount on my cards under 20% utilization when my statement cuts so their is something to report to the credit bureaus. My Income is 40K. My curent Fico scores are as follows; Transunion: 745 and Experian: 741.

Now I'm wondering with the information I provided above do I have a good chance of being approved? Should I let my Amex age longer before applying? Would the CSP be worth the annual fee if I am only planning on traveling 1-2 times a year? As in the future I hope to get the conveted Chase trifecta.

Re: Chase Sapphire Preferred Approval Odds

simplynoir — Mon, 22 Apr 2019 04:03:06 GMT

Those stats look fine for the CSP. Have you checked the prequal page to see what offers pop up? As for it being worthwhile getting even only traveling 1-2 times a year it still can be worth it depending on your travel spend and any other dining/travel expenses even when not on the road.

Re: Chase Sapphire Preferred Approval Odds

Anonymous — Mon, 22 Apr 2019 04:36:56 GMT

Thanks for the reply. I have not checked the prequal page could you please provide me with a link to it? As for the spending I would have to say a majority of it would go to dining as I eat out probably 3-4 times a month.

Re: Chase Sapphire Preferred Approval Odds

simplynoir — Mon, 22 Apr 2019 04:47:20 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Thanks for the reply. I have not checked the prequal page could you please provide me with a link to it? As for the spending I would have to say a majority of it would go to dining as I eat out probably 3-4 times a month.

https://www.chase.com/prequalified

And for your travel spend any ideas on a ballpark for expenses that will be incurred during your trips?

Re: Chase Sapphire Preferred Approval Odds

radfam — Mon, 22 Apr 2019 16:47:41 GMT

I would also suggest checking Chase Credit Journey for possible offers. Before I got my CSP (and before I had any relationship with Chase), I could never ever get prequals on their prequalification page. I did see an offer on Chase Credit Journey that turned into an approval. YMMV but its worth checking.

Re: Chase Sapphire Preferred Approval Odds

Anonymous — Mon, 22 Apr 2019 17:07:22 GMT

As long as you're not 5/24+ I don't see any issue getting approved here.

Re: Chase Sapphire Preferred Approval Odds

pinkandgrey — Mon, 22 Apr 2019 17:39:41 GMT

I think you could get it. Chase will probably love your lack of CCs lol

Re: Chase Sapphire Preferred Approval Odds

Remedios — Mon, 22 Apr 2019 20:34:40 GMT

Chase does not "love" thin or young files, it's actually quite the opposite. 5/24 is in place for a different reason.

With that said, I think OP has a chance, but I would wait till that Amex is at least 6 months old to show they can handle larger CL for longer period of time because of how thin their file is, short credit history and low(ish) CL on older card. This is all based on assumption there is no existing banking relationship with Chase.

Still, I think they have a decent chance

Re: Chase Sapphire Preferred Approval Odds

Anonymous — Tue, 23 Apr 2019 02:27:07 GMT

@Remedios wrote:
This is all based on assumption there is no existing banking relationship with Chase.

Just curious what you mean by the above statement and how in your opinion an existing banking relationship with Chase could impact a CC lending decision.

Re: Chase Sapphire Preferred Approval Odds

Remedios — Tue, 23 Apr 2019 03:02:58 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@Remedios wrote:
This is all based on assumption there is no existing banking relationship with Chase.

Just curious what you mean by the above statement and how in your opinion an existing banking relationship with Chase could impact a CC lending decision.

I can tell you that in my case, income and chase being primary banking institution were the reason for the approvals I've received for them.

They were very uncharacteristic for chase in terms of SL with young files, time between the apps, and with being well over 5/24.

Approvals were for $8k and $16.7K, three weeks apart, oldest open card at the time was slightly over a year old.

My income, paid off car loan in less than six months, and over 15 years of history with them did wonders for their internal risk score.

As a primary banking institution, they have much clearer financial picture than a lender who only has our word to go by. At times, I feel like they know more about my finances than I do.

So, if you have a perfect storm, the relationship helps.

If you're bouncing checks, overdrafts and barely maintaining any money in the account, relationship will work against you.

Is that not your experience with your primary bank/CU?

Re: Chase Sapphire Preferred Approval Odds

Anonymous — Tue, 23 Apr 2019 03:56:30 GMT

I agree with your take on it and do feel that a prior/existing banking relationship can impact (either positively or negatively) a CC lending decision. I do know however that there are many people on this forum that strongly disagree with your (and my) perspective on it. I've actually started a thread or two in the last few years asking if people feel a prior relationship can impact a lending decision and it's surprising how many people are extremely adament that they don't.

This came up recently maybe a month ago in another thread regarding another lender (not Chase) and someone made very strong arguments that the lender in no way took into consideration checking/savings accounts from that institution one bit when considering a credit card app. My argument was that's pretty stupid then. I'm a big fan of more data = better and the more data a lender has and can use in making a lending decision the better that decision can/will be.

Example:

Cornelius has checking/savings accounts with Bank A. For the past decade he's had a 5-figure balance in his savings account and has a payroll direct deposit into his checking account weekly for $1400 and he pays all of his bills from that checking account.

Rupert has checking/savings accounts with Bank A as well. For the past decade he's had a 2-3 figure balance in his savings account and his checking account from over drafts is frequently negative.

Both Cornelius and Rupert apply for their first CC through Bank A. For the sake of this discussion let's say that their credit reports/scores are identical as well as their reported income levels. I think it would be incredibly silly for Bank A not to consider the handling of their respective checking/savings accounts for the past decade at all in the lending decision.

Re: Chase Sapphire Preferred Approval Odds

FinStar — Tue, 23 Apr 2019 04:28:27 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
This came up recently maybe a month ago in another thread regarding another lender (not Chase) and someone made very strong arguments that the lender in no way took into consideration checking/savings accounts from that institution one bit when considering a credit card app. My argument was that's pretty stupid then. I'm a big fan of more data = better and the more data a lender has and can use in making a lending decision the better that decision can/will be.

If you are referring to Capital One from last month's thread, yes. It really wasn't a strong argument, it was a fact. That being said, financial institutions of varying sizes, products and lines of business will weigh things differently.

So, BoA, Chase, WF, HSBC, Huntington, USB, for instance, may consider the depository or investment side of the business for any cross-selling or revenue opportunities if an applicant qualifies via a pre-screened/pre-approved offer being available or whether any potential products that *may* be originated based on judgemental considerations. Other institutions do not typically consider that side of the business as much. So, simply opening a checking/savings account with a nominal balance doesn't always translate into an approval. Lots of factors at play especially with the type of banking relationship and internal/behavioral scoring. It just depends on the FI and how their business model is structured.

Re: Chase Sapphire Preferred Approval Odds

simplynoir — Tue, 23 Apr 2019 04:34:00 GMT

@FinStar wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
This came up recently maybe a month ago in another thread regarding another lender (not Chase) and someone made very strong arguments that the lender in no way took into consideration checking/savings accounts from that institution one bit when considering a credit card app. My argument was that's pretty stupid then. I'm a big fan of more data = better and the more data a lender has and can use in making a lending decision the better that decision can/will be.

If you are referring to Capital One from last month's thread, yes. It really wasn't a strong argument, it was a fact. That being said, financial institutions of varying sizes, products and lines of business will weigh things differently.

So, BoA, Chase, WF, HSBC, Huntington, USB, for instance, may consider the depository or investment side of the business for any cross-selling or revenue opportunities if an applicant qualifies via a pre-screened/pre-approved offer being available or whether any potential products that *may* be originated based on judgemental considerations. Other institutions do not typically consider that side of the business as much. So, simply opening a checking/savings account with a nominal balance doesn't always translate into an approval. Lots of factors at play especially with they type of banking relationship and internal/behavioral scoring. It just depends on the FI and how their business model is structured.

This is key here IMO. It's one thing to open a checking/savings account and leave a couple of hundred dollars thinking that will open the floodgates. It's another to actually use them as your primary institution where they can see your deposits and transactions to determine how valuable a customer you really are. BofA, for instance, in some of their denial letters for CLIs/credit card applications mention the lack of deposits with the bank/ME/ML as a reason so for some banks it does matter. I think people just get confused as to which banks it counts for and just apply to all FIs which creates the confusion I think.

Re: Chase Sapphire Preferred Approval Odds

Anonymous — Tue, 23 Apr 2019 12:48:48 GMT

@FinStar wrote:
So, simply opening a checking/savings account with a nominal balance doesn't always translate into an approval.

If you read my examples above, the illustration was with 2 individuals that had checking/savings accounts for 10 years and simply handled those accounts dramatically different. At no point was it suggested that a checking/savings account was opened [recently] with a nominal balance in some attempt to aid a CC lending decision.

And yes, I remember you stating that it was a "fact" that Capital One ignores such information. I again maintain that in such an example as the illustrations that I gave above that it's very silly to not at least in part consider the differences between Cornelius and Rupert. But, like you said, to each financial institution their own.

Re: Chase Sapphire Preferred Approval Odds

Anonymous — Tue, 23 Apr 2019 20:16:12 GMT

Thanks to everyone for the replies.

@radfam thanks I look into the Chase Credit Journey. As the prequel link does not show any offers.

@Remedios I’m not sure if it matters but Chase use to be my primary bank during Highschool and College. However, I closed my 10 year account with them a few years ago. Do you think that prior relationship with them would play a role in the decision for the CSP?

Re: Chase Sapphire Preferred Approval Odds

Remedios — Tue, 23 Apr 2019 20:48:57 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Thanks to everyone for the replies.

@radfam thanks I look into the Chase Credit Journey. As the prequel link does not show any offers.

@Remedios I’m not sure if it matters but Chase use to be my primary bank during Highschool and College. However, I closed my 10 year account with them a few years ago. Do you think that prior relationship with them would play a role in the decision for the CSP?

Probably not at this point, but if you really want this card, you've done your research, it fits your needs, I'd apply.

A lot of people who apply never had a pre-qual. It's not the end of the world if you dont have one, neither is a denial. There are 60,000 reasons to try. I think that's a fair trade for HP.