topic Re: General Questions and Why Was I Denied? in Credit Cards

General Questions and Why Was I Denied?

ILFarmer — Sun, 23 Mar 2014 20:25:00 GMT

Hello all,

I have a few questions regarding building credit and what not and also to get some ideas on why I was just denied a card I applied for.

I am 23 years old, I have had a Discover Card for 3.5 or so years now, it currently has a credit limit of $2800, and I am typically around $1000-1500 a month it is always paid in full, I have never nor will I ever carry a balance on a card. I would like to raise my limit again as last month I approached $2600. but don't want a "hard pull" of my credit report. My FICO score according to my discover bill is 745.

I borrow A LOT of money due to being a farmer. I have a operating note, equiptment loans, and a few other debts but they are always paid on time and I am in excellent standing with my bank. I have never had any financial issues or trouble what so ever.

Earlier today I applied for a Capital One Quicksilver and got denied instantly. Does anyone have any idea why? I would like to use the card for online purchases only as 1.5% Cash Back sounds appealing. I don't want to apply again because I don't want a "hard pull" of my credit report to hurt my credit score.

Any advice/input on how to improve my score would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

Re: General Questions and Why Was I Denied?

grinlikechelsea — Sun, 23 Mar 2014 20:26:41 GMT

Hello and welcome to the forum!

Judging from your profile, I am not completely sure why you were denied, so I think it will be beneficial to wait for the letter. How high was your reported balance at the time of your application?

Re: General Questions and Why Was I Denied?

Anonymous — Sun, 23 Mar 2014 20:27:49 GMT

I don't know why you were denied, but here are a couple of guesses.

1. If you let the Discover balance report, and then pay it by the due date, other lenders may think you have high utilization.

2. If you have a bunch of other loans, what do they look like on your report?

3. What is your current DTI?

Re: General Questions and Why Was I Denied?

tcbofade — Sun, 23 Mar 2014 20:28:03 GMT

Cap One denied you with a 745?

That seems rather odd.

I'm sure that they'll send you a letter that explains the how and why...and I'd be very interested in what they tell you.

Sorry that happened.

Re: General Questions and Why Was I Denied?

grinlikechelsea — Sun, 23 Mar 2014 20:31:08 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I don't know why you were denied, but here are a couple of guesses.

1. If you let the Discover balance report, and then pay it by the due date, other lenders may think you have high utilization.

2. If you have a bunch of other loans, what do they look like on your report?

3. What is your current DTI?

These are pretty good points. If you have paid down high balances by the time your denial letter came, you might want to contact Capital One's Executive Office to see if they can overturn the denial. If they decide to do it, it may require another HP, so I would definitely ask beforehand.

Re: General Questions and Why Was I Denied?

ILFarmer — Sun, 23 Mar 2014 20:38:47 GMT

My current balance on the discover is only $339.xx and I applied only a couple of hours ago. I am wondeing if it is because I haven't had a CC but for less than 4 years.

As to what the other loans look like on my report, I really don't know. The last time I pulled my own credit report none of them even showed up which was a bit dissapointing as I have always made my payments on time and what not. Up until last year I hadn't borrowed a lot of money, just for one vehicle and I paid it off within a month and it did not show up. Is my bank not reporting these loans? Should they?

Re: General Questions and Why Was I Denied?

Anonymous — Sun, 23 Mar 2014 20:42:44 GMT

You said that last month's balance was 2600/2800, which is 93%.

The balance is typically reported shortly after the statement date, and if 93% shows up on your report, then other lenders will see you as maxed out on the credit card, which is a major negative.

Re the DTI angle, it seems important to know what is on your report, and what your DTI is. DTI is not factored into scoring, but is a major aspect of being approved for a credit card or other loan.

Re: General Questions and Why Was I Denied?

ILFarmer — Sun, 23 Mar 2014 20:51:16 GMT

Also, I assume you guys are suggesting I pay down my balance throughout the month if it is getting larger than say 25% of CL? Not to sound lazy, and I can certianly do this if it will help improve my credit score, but that sounds like a PITA. I am old school in the fact that I get my bill in the mail and write a check to pay it. I don't really want to have to pay online. This is one reason why I would like a higher CL on the Discover. I started out with 1000, then requested an increase and they upped me to like 1400, then 2000, and now 2800. I am surprised those requests didn't seem to lower my credit score. This is another reason why I would like a second card. Even a $500-$1000 limit on it would be fine for online purchases.

According to TransUnion my credit score is a 725, and like I said my discover profile says my FICO score is 745. The TU report only shows 2 credit accounts one of which is the Discover, then the other is my bank. My RLOC nor other debts are obviously not being reported.

Re: General Questions and Why Was I Denied?

cottoncrown — Sun, 23 Mar 2014 20:52:53 GMT

You probably applied for the signature version and the minimum CL is 5k. You should raise your limit with discover. You could probably double it with a har pull. It's worth it, you won't be using so much available credit each month and your score will go up drastically. That will also open doors for cards with higher limits. You could probably even get a 10k limit with one hard pull. You just wasted 3 with cap one, it's not a big deal like everyone makes it out to be unless you are applying for a mortgage in te next year.

Re: General Questions and Why Was I Denied?

lg8302ch — Sun, 23 Mar 2014 20:54:52 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
You said that last month's balance was 2600/2800, which is 93%.

The balance is typically reported shortly after the statement date, and if 93% shows up on your report, then other lenders will see you as maxed out on the credit card, which is a major negative.

Re the DTI angle, it seems important to know what is on your report, and what your DTI is. DTI is not factored into scoring, but is a major aspect of being approved for a credit card or other loan.

This would also be my guess. High DTI and high util. Your Equifax score could also be much lower with a maxed out card. Did you apply for QS Visa or QS One MC?

Re: General Questions and Why Was I Denied?

Creditaddict — Sun, 23 Mar 2014 20:56:06 GMT

might want to consider something like a chase ink or amex gold charge to handle higher spending for business that you will pay in full.

or something like Fidelity Visa or Amex will be as good or better then the capital one Quicksilver and with a bank that you can call and talk directly with someone that has the power to talk to you and look at your credit report instantly on the phone and make decisions on giving you credit, more credit, etc. which might make more sense for you to have that time to say "hey I PIF always and im trying to spend x dollars for this type stuff each month on my farm stuff and I have xx cash to then pay it and just want the rewards and relationship" Bank of america is great about that stuff I think.

If you want to try to recon the Quicksilver app google "Capital One CEO Email" and shoot of an email to that address that you were declined and don't understand and all and include your phone number, someone will call you (probably tomorrow) and talk to you and can have it manual reviewed.

Re: General Questions and Why Was I Denied?

Anonymous — Sun, 23 Mar 2014 20:56:48 GMT

@ILFarmer wrote:
Also, I assume you guys are suggesting I pay down my balance throughout the month if it is getting larger than say 25% of CL? Not to sound lazy, and I can certianly do this if it will help improve my credit score, but that sounds like a PITA. I am old school in the fact that I get my bill in the mail and write a check to pay it. I don't really want to have to pay online. This is one reason why I would like a higher CL on the Discover. I started out with 1000, then requested an increase and they upped me to like 1400, then 2000, and now 2800. I am surprised those requests didn't seem to lower my credit score. This is another reason why I would like a second card. Even a $500-$1000 limit on it would be fine for online purchases.

According to TransUnion my credit score is a 725, and like I said my discover profile says my FICO score is 745. The TU report only shows 2 credit accounts one of which is the Discover, then the other is my bank. My RLOC nor other debts are obviously not being reported.

It may be helpful to think about how other lenders see you.

If they pull your report, and your card seems to be maxed out, then you may be seen as a major risk. They may be reluctant to grant you credit if you seem to be overextended with what you have.

If other of your debts are not being reported, that may be a benefit, in that you can perhaps put some of your purchases there, for example the LOC.

Another angle here would be to use business CCs, that don't report to personal credit. For example, my Chase Ink and Citibusiness MC balances don't show up on my personal report.

Re: General Questions and Why Was I Denied?

ILFarmer — Sun, 23 Mar 2014 21:00:31 GMT

I applied for the QS Visa, not the QS one. Yes I would have a very high DTI ratio I am sure, it costs a lot ot raise a crop. However, this does not even appear to be on my report.

Re: General Questions and Why Was I Denied?

Anonymous — Sun, 23 Mar 2014 21:01:58 GMT

DTI is not part of your report, but is integral to the lending process, and can disqualify you.

Re: General Questions and Why Was I Denied?

ILFarmer — Sun, 23 Mar 2014 21:07:45 GMT

99% of my card useage is for personal expenses and not business expenses. Like I said, I am old fashioned and I write checks for business.

I appreciate the information so far. I will try to get my CL raised as I do come close to my limit occasionally. I will just wait to get the letter from Capital One and see why I was denied. Like I said, I am 23 years old and I don't have a lot of credit card expereince. My credit score has never even been a factor in me borrowing money. Up until setting up my RLOC a few months ago I always had to get a co-signer (my father) but I now have enough collateral and posotive history through my local bank I don't see it being required anymore. I do not want to hurt my credit in anyway possible though.

Re: General Questions and Why Was I Denied?

ILFarmer — Sun, 23 Mar 2014 21:13:23 GMT

TransUnion says my DTI is 0%.

"You are currently using (0%) of your monthly income to repay debt. The amount of debt that you carry is considered very low when comparing it to your income. Lenders typically view debt to income ratios less than 20% as Very Good" - TU "My Debt Analysis"

This however is not true, I have plenty of debt.

Re: General Questions and Why Was I Denied?

Anonymous — Sun, 23 Mar 2014 21:18:29 GMT

DTI is typically calculated by adding up your monthly housing payment and minimum monthly loan payments, and dividing by your monthly income.

If some loans are not listed on your report, or if your housing payment is not available, then I don't see any way to calculate a meaningful DTI.

Re: General Questions and Why Was I Denied?

Creditaddict — Sun, 23 Mar 2014 21:19:00 GMT

@ILFarmer wrote:
99% of my card useage is for personal expenses and not business expenses. Like I said, I am old fashioned and I write checks for business.

I appreciate the information so far. I will try to get my CL raised as I do come close to my limit occasionally. I will just wait to get the letter from Capital One and see why I was denied. Like I said, I am 23 years old and I don't have a lot of credit card expereince. My credit score has never even been a factor in me borrowing money. Up until setting up my RLOC a few months ago I always had to get a co-signer (my father) but I now have enough collateral and posotive history through my local bank I don't see it being required anymore. I do not want to hurt my credit in anyway possible though.

id send the email off now... you don't need the letter... you just need them to review it outside the computer system that denied you.

Re: General Questions and Why Was I Denied?

ILFarmer — Sun, 23 Mar 2014 22:07:09 GMT

Well I sent an e-mail off, and I also called discover and got my Credit Line increased to $4300. I didn't even have to speak to anyone, I just had to enter my monthly housing payment and my anual income and a machine told me that my credit line could be increased by $1500 to $4300. So that will help.

I plan to only spend $800-$1000 a month on the discover, but as you all can imagine things come up and it gets used more often at times.

Re: General Questions and Why Was I Denied?

lg8302ch — Mon, 24 Mar 2014 01:47:50 GMT

Congrats on the CLI and good luck with Cap1. Before your next app just pay down your balance to less than 10%, let it report and only then apply. You do not need to do this each month just before you apply. It will show optimal util and increase chances of approval and boosts your Fico score.