I currently have 5 credit cards and a personal loan i just paid off but it hasn't reported as paid off just yet. My FICO8 Experian is 702 and I have 2 inquiries. My Chapter 7 was discharged 4 years ago and I recently closed a venture card that I was not using. What I didn't realize is it was one of two cards I never use and now because all but 1 card have balances (all under 30% utilization, total utilization is 15%) I have been denied by my local bank for a low rate card..."too many accounts with balances". They are going to see if they can approve anyway but i doubt it and they didn't seem very positive about the outcome. It seems my local banks and credit unions do not want to approve me for their products due to my discharged BK7. Most of the banks around here are very conservative but I have had great success with larger banks.
I am interested in a low rate card as my current lowest rate card is target redcard at 22%. PNC and Capital one apparently do not lower APRs so instead of hoping for them to later on I just want to get a lower rate card (18% or under would work) in case I ever have to carry a balance for a few months. I pre qualify for Wells Fargo Active Cash but do not know what the rate would be. Capital one also pre qualified me for all of their cards with SUB's but they always give me the highest rate (25%) and I personally just do not want more than one card with them and need a replacement for the QS card but will work on that later.For now I need a vanilla lower rate card because anything is better than 22-25% that all of mine have now and I can't get any of them lowered.
Here are the options I am thinking of but would appreciate additional options based on my circumstances if any of you know any. Thank you in advance. NO option banks for me IIB are: Barclay, Chase, Discover, USAA, BOA, AMEX
_______________________________________
US BANK: I thought about getting their secured card waiting for it to unsecure and see if they would lower my interest rate over time or maybe they would give me a decent rate from the start but they go up to 23.99% and if i got that rate it wouldn't help me at all at least for a while until I could get them to lower it.
Wells Fargo: I pre qualifed for the Active cash but thought about just applying for the Reflex card, but the ongoing APR after the intro seems high and could be as high as 24.99% which is what i have now. Does wells fargo lower aprs over time?
PNC: I was a BBVA customer converted to PNC late last year. I have the ability to apply for their cards but I have read they are also conservative and I do not know how they feel about CH7 BK. Also their rates top on the high side which is probably what i would qualify for and they dont seem to lower rates.
Citibank: I thought about getting their secured card waiting for it to graduate and then asking them to lower APR. I have read they lower APRs for continued customers.
FAB&T (CARD ASSETS): Pretty sure I am denied due to "too many accounts with balances" I was hoping since I have a decent rebuild they might consider me since their highest rate is 22% but no one has reported getting a rate even close to that. I didn't even get the 7-10 day message I just got a thank you for application message when I applied. Will find out later this week but guessing it's a denial.
Local options I haven't tried because I am afraid of being denied but dont know more about: I would guess most of these want high 750+ scores and no BK reported but that is just my guess.
Bancorp South Platinum: Very little data points found but they seem conservative
First Communtiy Bank (AR AND MO): 8.99% Rewards Visa: No data points or info found
ServisFirst Bank 13.25% APR: No data points or info found
TCM Bank (through local bank) Platinum: 9.99-19.99: I could find very little data but did see they tend to be conservative.
TIB: (through local bank) Low rate platinum: Prime + 6.99. I couldn't find any data points on The independant bankers bank cards at all except they require financials for limits over 10K.
Well the too many accounts with balances is whats causing the ding. Get to AZEO and then apply. You talk about lower APR's but your carrying balances now on almost all your cards. Kinda off-setting your goal. With a BK on reports seeing lower APR's will be a while. Too bad you cant get in with Disco. I had their first card at 20 something %. Got the second with 13.4% after 2 yrs of usage. Then combined the two. So get out of the reporting balances and then apply. Better chance. Less debt better odds. Good Luck!
Thanks for the great advice I appreciate your time.
I went ahead and paid off most of my balances and applied for memebership with Penfed and got setup with them. I will wait a few months for everything to report paid and then maybe try to apply for a card with them as even their highest rate would be much better than what I have now. So far they seem great.
@user979797 wrote:I went ahead and paid off most of my balances and applied for memebership with Penfed and got setup with them. I will wait a few months for everything to report paid and then maybe try to apply for a card with them as even their highest rate would be much better than what I have now. So far they seem great.
PenFed is awesome, can't say enough good things about them. I think you will be very happy that you got in with them.
@user979797 wrote:I went ahead and paid off most of my balances and applied for memebership with Penfed and got setup with them. I will wait a few months for everything to report paid and then maybe try to apply for a card with them as even their highest rate would be much better than what I have now. So far they seem great.
Way to go!!!!!!!!!!!!
Just got the Power Cash Rewards card with them after the sentence above. Joined. $50 in savings. Approved $2500. Yes I'm AZEO.
I decided not to wait and to just go ahead and cold apply for the gold card. Approved 6K limit 17.99%APR Finally have a limit under 20% and as my BK gets older I am sure they will lower my rate for me. Will post my approval in approvals as well.