topic Citi Denied, Told to reapply and denied again in Credit Cards

Citi Denied, Told to reapply and denied again

Anonymous — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 19:34:17 GMT

Hey everyone first time posting. I recently found the forum and its been a lot of helpful info. I recently applied for the citi forward card for college students and received a notice saying i have been denied due to a limited credit history. I went to the branch where i had applied and we called the credit department. The credit department found that i had denied for a personal card instead of a college card. The credit department told me that i should reapply for the correct card. I reapplied and then got a notification that my application was never received due a technical error. I applied for the mtvU card instead and just got off the phone with them. I spoke to a supervisor for 25 minutes and then he hung up on me. He told me that he can't help that i got the wrong info. I am currently trying to establish credit for the future. I am in no way in need of credit. I just want to have lower interests rates and a good history when i am older. Pleae advise me on what i should look into and what to do from this point. Thanks

Re: Citi Denied, Told to reapply and denied again

aftermath — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 19:40:41 GMT

Problem seems to lye with the branch and mis-communication with their credit card department. Quti doing it at the branch and apply online. That way you'll know exactly what you're applying for and will have an answer right away and they will have no excuse as to not having received your application.

Re: Citi Denied, Told to reapply and denied again

tntexans72 — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 19:51:13 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Hey everyone first time posting. I recently found the forum and its been a lot of helpful info. I recently applied for the citi forward card for college students and received a notice saying i have been denied due to a limited credit history. I went to the branch where i had applied and we called the credit department. The credit department found that i had denied for a personal card instead of a college card. The credit department told me that i should reapply for the correct card. I reapplied and then got a notification that my application was never received due a technical error. I applied for the mtvU card instead and just got off the phone with them. I spoke to a supervisor for 25 minutes and then he hung up on me. He told me that he can't help that i got the wrong info. I am currently trying to establish credit for the future. I am in no way in need of credit. I just want to have lower interests rates and a good history when i am older. Pleae advise me on what i should look into and what to do from this point. Thanks

First off, if you apply for new credit....you should obtain a copy of your credit report first. You want to see what the banks are looking at when you app. If you have a limited credit history as CITI have stated, I would try for a gas card first (shell, exxon, etc...) or app for a Capital 1. Last resort, go for HSBC card. You will definitely get approve with HSBC. Once you established credit, than you can app for prime CC.Good luck !!

Re: Citi Denied, Told to reapply and denied again

vish1 — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 20:05:07 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Hey everyone first time posting. I recently found the forum and its been a lot of helpful info. I recently applied for the citi forward card for college students and received a notice saying i have been denied due to a limited credit history. I went to the branch where i had applied and we called the credit department. The credit department found that i had denied for a personal card instead of a college card. The credit department told me that i should reapply for the correct card. I reapplied and then got a notification that my application was never received due a technical error. I applied for the mtvU card instead and just got off the phone with them. I spoke to a supervisor for 25 minutes and then he hung up on me. He told me that he can't help that i got the wrong info. I am currently trying to establish credit for the future. I am in no way in need of credit. I just want to have lower interests rates and a good history when i am older. Pleae advise me on what i should look into and what to do from this point. Thanks

There is no point retrying with citi at this point. You should now be looking at either cap1 or a local CU.

Re: Citi Denied, Told to reapply and denied again

Anonymous — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 20:10:10 GMT

What recommendations do you have? I am purely looking to establish a good credit history. The card would be PIF.

Re: Citi Denied, Told to reapply and denied again

vish1 — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 20:11:17 GMT

Are you good with a secured card?

Re: Citi Denied, Told to reapply and denied again

Anonymous — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 20:15:12 GMT

I would like a unsecured card. I want the rewards or cash back of a credit card. Does a secured card report to a CRA as a secured card?

Re: Citi Denied, Told to reapply and denied again

tntexans72 — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 20:18:27 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I would like a unsecured card. I want the rewards or cash back of a credit card. Does a secured card report to a CRA as a secured card?

When you have no credit, you can't want, want, want. At this point, you can't be picky...app for Capital 1, there'll probably be an AF (annua fees) but at least that get your foot in the door. Trust me when I tell you this, but we all been there. PIF and you will get a better card 1yr down the road. In the meantime, don't have too many hard inquiries trying to app too much, than your score will drop.

Re: Citi Denied, Told to reapply and denied again

vish1 — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 20:22:19 GMT

You may not be able to get a rewards (cash/miles etc) at this point. For a unsecured card, you have 3 key options to try.

Talk to a local CU and see if they will consider you.
Apply for a card with cap1
Try orchard

I will suggest trying for local CU and if they can't give you a un-secured card, many CUs have secured cards with no AF.

Cap 1 should be your next option. They may give you a unsecured card and if not will most probably counter offer a secured card.

I would recommend not doing orchard/fp etc

Some banks (BofA) report them as secured to CRAs some don't. By any chance it has no impact on your credit score.

Re: Citi Denied, Told to reapply and denied again

Anonymous — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 20:30:07 GMT

Wellsfargo has a decent secured card program, and it's also eligible for their "Wellsfargo cash back" program. I opened mine back in feb. and they added that cashback deal a couple weeks ago.

Also.. I'm not so sure I would do a cap1 secured card again. I say this because apparently cap1 secured cards don't ever go unsecured. personally I say get the WF and BoA secured cards first, at least you'll get your deposit back in 12 to 18mos.

Re: Citi Denied, Told to reapply and denied again

Anonymous — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 20:39:01 GMT

Should i wait till after summer before applying for a secured card?

Re: Citi Denied, Told to reapply and denied again

vish1 — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 20:47:45 GMT

Wont matter, an empty file will remain empty. You rather start building your credit as soon as you can.

Re: Citi Denied, Told to reapply and denied again

cashnocredit — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 21:15:23 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Should i wait till after summer before applying for a secured card?

No. It sounds like you have some spare cash. Open a secured card immediately with as high a deposit as you can manage. Then in a few months open another small secured card. This builds credit the fastest and adds to the history. When secured cards unsecure the fact they were ever secured goes away. If you can afford the deposit, secured cards are far and away the easiest path to high CLs on a short history. Much better than Orchard unsecured starting cards. When you are starting out having an account listed as "secured" is not a scarlet letter. It's an indication you had the cash to back the card up with at the beginning of your credit life, It's the only thing on a CR that shows you probably have savings and a positive net worth.

I like and have both Citi and WF cards that were initially secured. I do like the Citi card but the AF is $29 and CD interest is only 1%. WF's AF is cheaper but they don't pay interest. When they unsecure, they refund your money quickly.

Re: Citi Denied, Told to reapply and denied again

vish1 — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 21:58:11 GMT

@cashnocredit wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
Should i wait till after summer before applying for a secured card?
No. It sounds like you have some spare cash. Open a secured card immediately with as high a deposit as you can manage. Then in a few months open another small secured card. This builds credit the fastest and adds to the history. When secured cards unsecure the fact they were ever secured goes away. If you can afford the deposit, secured cards are far and away the easiest path to high CLs on a short history. Much better than Orchard unsecured starting cards. When you are starting out having an account listed as "secured" is not a scarlet letter. It's an indication you had the cash to back the card up with at the beginning of your credit life, It's the only thing on a CR that shows you probably have savings and a positive net worth.

I like and have both Citi and WF cards that were initially secured. I do like the Citi card but the AF is $29 and CD interest is only 1%. WF's AF is cheaper but they don't pay interest. When they unsecure, they refund your money quickly.

I would also say that 1 secured card and a store card (after 2-3 months) is another good strategy. Once you have a secured card for about 2-3 months, you will happily get a GEMB backed card, which grows to about 1500 pretty quick, so around the first anniversary mark of your secured card, you should be good for something like chase freedom. This way you will have to pay only 1 AF and that too only once.

Re: Citi Denied, Told to reapply and denied again

Anonymous — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 00:35:07 GMT

I have a similar situation. I have student loans and two inquiries on my credit report. The student loan account has only been open for 8 months. What are my best routes to build a great score and avoid a large number of inquiries? I was told i should do a secured card as well as a secured loan...any thoughts?

Re: Citi Denied, Told to reapply and denied again

vish1 — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 00:38:30 GMT

You don't need a loan, a secured card is good enough. About 3 months after you got your secured card, you can add a store card like GEMB and ask them for a CLI every 3-4 months. That is all you will need to be good to get a no AF prime unsecured card in 1 year.

Re: Citi Denied, Told to reapply and denied again

Anonymous — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 07:41:54 GMT

Get a secured card or a store card to start. Then use them, and PIF each month. Maybe get 2 cards like this for about 6 months. Then maybe even get a 3rd after the 6 month mark. Take a look at your FICO's after the 6 month mark...then again after 1 year. Then at that point it would probably be time to shoot for a prime card.

Re: Citi Denied, Told to reapply and denied again

Anonymous — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 08:12:26 GMT

I just wanted to add my own experience. I turned 18 in Oct, and applied for the Citi Forward card for College student with a BLANK credit report and was approved for $1000. I think you should have no problem when reapplying online, just make sure that you apply for their College Forward and not the regular Forward card. Also I prefer the Forward over the mtvU card because it has a better rewards program and it looks MUCH cooler.