Need Help Preparing for Chase Ink CC

[ibebarrett]

Hey guys I would love some advice. I've been fixing my credit and my next card I want to get is a business card, so I want to figure out the best steps to take to build up to it. Below is some history, I've divided the history into 2 sections, business history and personal credit history. Sorry in advance for the novel, just want to supply all necessary DPs.

Business.

<Mod snip - UB> "We've got the stuff you want and the things you need!"....

The primary focus is production/sales of tie-dye and screenprinted products and my girlfriend makes jewelry, we vend at art shows and festivals and wholesale to shops. In addition to this I also  buy/resell crystals/gems/minerals. My bread and butter was contracting with festivals to handle their merchandising. Instead of the event coordinators having to take the merchandise gamble, I would bring my printing press and a bunch of pre-dyed shirts to festivals, and therefore completely eliminate the risk of over or under production. I also resell camping supplies at festivals to people who forgot their own(batteries/tents/flashlights/batteries/etc), I buy wholesale from amazon in the winter which allows me to sell them at festivals for barely above amazons summer prices, but the convenience of right in front of you and available immediately.

I started my business around 2012, it was doing really well until I had to move across the country due to a family emergency, and because of this I had to move into a place where I no longer have workspace. Due to this I have been unable to produce anymore product and have sadly sold through most of what I have left. Because of this I temporarily shifted my business toward just focusing on reselling crystals/minerals to keep my business alive. Due to this shift my business only made around 17k last year, and so far this year I've profited maybe 3-4k due to lack of product. In the next couple months I will finally be moving into home with a workshop and can begin to ramp up production again. Over the last year I've managed to network with several groups and develop relationships, so I already have prospective events lined up for next year as long as I get production moving again this summer. I need a business card for a couple reasons, I do still have raw product/supplies to work with but I would love to have some business credit to help beef that up so I can really hit the ground running, plus I'm not particularly interested in opening a chase business checking account yet(I just don't want to pay those monthly fees yet) but still need a way to seperate business expenses. Currently my business is valued around 20k...5k in equipment(including depreciation), 1-2k invested in raw materials/supplies, 3-4k in finished product(retail value), and ~8k invested in gems/minerals, ~2k invested in camping supplies. I have an EIN but closed my local/state licenses last year due to significant drop in business.

Personal Credit history.

I've been rebuilding and am finally getting to a good place.

~10k student loans over 5 accounts(due to change of address and my carelessness they reached 90+ days late but resolved in 02/18, resulted in 28 total late payments)

AAoA: 3y7mo

AoOA: 7y8mo

accounts opened in last 2 years: Carecredit(01/19), Costco Citi(04/19), Chase FU(04/19)

I may have to finance a doggo surgery this week for around ~3.5k, but by the time I apply for the Ink I can easily report AZEO and have my aggregate util down to around 10%(2k/20k)

I've never had any lates on revolving accounts, student loans are it.

I have personal checking/savings with Chase for close to 4 months now

I plan to work up to a CSP after I get Ink, I'm currently 3/24 

I've been working 2 jobs to compensate for lack of business income, making around ~50k/yr after taxes/benefits/401k/stocks/etc, and have a rent obligation of ~1.5k/month until my girlfriend graduates next spring and can work more

1 settled collections(even though I technically paid the CA the actual amount owed to sprint)

3-4 inquiries depending on bureau

5 total revolving accounts

What advice/direction/concerns can yall enlighten me with?

Thanks so much for all the advice and time, this community is the best!

*****Update*****

I kind of rambled, here are main questions/concerns

1. This is in regards to my 3 new accounts, and the student loans reporting late(won't hit the 2 year mark until 03/2020). Optimally I'd love to have INK unlimitied by July/August because my business spending is going to ramp up by then, but does that seem too early to even worry about applying? How long should I let my report age first?

2. Will they even consider DP's related to business(revenue/equity/business model/etc), or is it just personal credit?

3. Will student loan utilization(~97%) value drastically affect decision? If so, are there any significant breaking point percentages?

4. I know they like to see other accounts(checking/savings) since this is a business card, would personal accounts matter? I want to avoid paying account fees if neccesary, but if it will help, how long should I plan to have a business checking open before applying?

[Anonymous]

Your questions are rather broad. Do you have something specific you are asking?

I've read your post but then at the end ya kind leave it up to the reader to figure out what help you are requesting. 

[ibebarrett]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

Your questions are rather broad. Do you have something specific you are asking?

I've read your post but then at the end ya kind leave it up to the reader to figure out what help you are requesting. 

---

I see now how broad that was, I just started rambling, these are my main concerns:

1. This is in regards to my 3 new accounts, and the student loans reporting late(won't hit the 2 year mark until 03/2020). Optimally I'd love to have INK unlimitied by July/August because my business spending is going to ramp up by then, but does that seem too early to even worry about applying? How long should I let my report age first?

2. Will they even consider DP's related to business(revenue/equity/business model/etc), or is it just personal credit?

3. Will student loan utilization(~97%) value drastically affect decision? If so, are there any significant breaking point percentages?

4. I know they like to see other accounts(checking/savings) since this is a business card, would personal accounts matter? I want to avoid paying account fees if neccesary, but if it will help, how long should I plan to have a business checking open before applying?

I think that covers it, thanks for bringing that to my attention!

[Anonymous]

I can only answer 2,3,&4 for you:

For 2) When I applied for my Chase Ink Unlimited, they did not care about anything other than the legal formation of the business. It was a HP on my personal credit score. I didn't get a very high limit ($5k) - but I believe that had a lot more to do with the fact that I have way too much available credit on my other Chase cards.

For 3) I also have a student loan at 70%, I don't think yours will stop you from getting the card. It's more about overall credit utilization and debt to income than any one particular loan. 

For 4) I had no issue apply for a Chase Ink despite having not banking with Chase. Read over there Business account fees - you may be surprised how much banks/credit unions differ on fees for business accounts.

---

For 1 --- I would just apply as soon as you are ready. But I don't have any answer on whether you should wait or not..

[ibebarrett]

Thanks! I am aware of the fees, but I'd love to bank personal/business in one place again, and I'm trying to develop a relationship with chase. I planned on opening a business total checking down the line when I can avoid fees, but I'd eat $12 for a few months if it led to a better application. Thanks for the DPs, hopefully you'll be seeing an approved thread in the near future!

---

@Anonymous wrote:

I can only answer 2,3,&4 for you:

For 2) When I applied for my Chase Ink Unlimited, they did not care about anything other than the legal formation of the business. It was a HP on my personal credit score. I didn't get a very high limit ($5k) - but I believe that had a lot more to do with the fact that I have way too much available credit on my other Chase cards.

For 3) I also have a student loan at 70%, I don't think yours will stop you from getting the card. It's more about overall credit utilization and debt to income than any one particular loan. 

For 4) I had no issue apply for a Chase Ink despite having not banking with Chase. Read over there Business account fees - you may be surprised how much banks/credit unions differ on fees for business accounts.

---

For 1 --- I would just apply as soon as you are ready. But I don't have any answer on whether you should wait or not..

---

[Rgudino1717]

What are your credit scores?

When I applied for the ink cash it was my first card with chase. No prior relationship(just recently opened a business checking account with them and received a preapproval for the ink preferred in the mail) and had some late payments(similar to your situation) on a mortgage and the last one was april of 2017. Applied in September 2018 and was approved. 

1. Just reached the 2 year mark from the late payments and 1 year and 5 months was good enought for me to get the ink cash. 

2. Not sure if they take into account revenue or stuff like that during the initial application, but with amex they did take into account my revenue (tax returns) when i applied for a CLI immediately after being approved for a card with a low limit and gave me what i requested. 2mil revenue and gave me 7x my starting limit. I should have asked for more :/

3. Overall utilization is probably more important

4. Received a preapproval in the mail right after opening a business account. Have heard of people getting preapprovals as they opened their business account. If you have a thousand to put away I'd suggest opening a business account and leaving 1k in to avoid fees. Might get a preapproval immediately in branch or in the mail. 

[ibebarrett]

---

@Rgudino1717 wrote:

What are your credit scores?

When I applied for the ink cash it was my first card with chase. No prior relationship(just recently opened a business checking account with them and received a preapproval for the ink preferred in the mail) and had some late payments(similar to your situation) on a mortgage and the last one was april of 2017. Applied in September 2018 and was approved. 

1. Just reached the 2 year mark from the late payments and 1 year and 5 months was good enought for me to get the ink cash. 

2. Not sure if they take into account revenue or stuff like that during the initial application, but with amex they did take into account my revenue (tax returns) when i applied for a CLI immediately after being approved for a card with a low limit and gave me what i requested. 2mil revenue and gave me 7x my starting limit. I should have asked for more :/

3. Overall utilization is probably more important

4. Received a preapproval in the mail right after opening a business account. Have heard of people getting preapprovals as they opened their business account. If you have a thousand to put away I'd suggest opening a business account and leaving 1k in to avoid fees. Might get a preapproval immediately in branch or in the mail. 

---

Thanks for the DPs! Sounds like I just need to finish paying off all this car maintenance and just earmark 1k for holding in the account as soon as I can, side note, do you know if URs can be transferred from business Ink to personal CSP?

[Anonymous]

---

@ibebarrett wrote:

do you know if URs can be transferred from business Ink to personal CSP?

---

Yes they can

[ibebarrett]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

---

@ibebarrett wrote:

do you know if URs can be transferred from business Ink to personal CSP?

---

Yes they can

---

awesome! thanks for all the help yall!