Amazon Prime Rewards Signature Visa - denied!

[Anonymous]

It was actually a bit of a shock. My credit scores are just a smidge below excellent (TU: 742, Ex: 710, Eq: 724). My utilization is at 5%, oldest account is 6 years old and in the past two years my report lists 1 new account and zero inquiries. (I'm imagining that should be 1 and 1, since you can't have a new account without an inquiry.)

On time payments have always been 100%. With a rare exception here and there, all the cards are paid in full every month.

The only thing I can think of is that all my credit is based on being an authorized user on my husband's accounts; I am not actually the primary account holder on any of our accounts. This is because we both started from nothing - no credit scores at all - seven years ago and I decided to concentrate on building his credit with a view toward a mortgage since he is the breadwinner in the household (I'm on disability because I'm on dialysis).

Actually, when they asked my occupation I was honest and chose 'disabled' from the drop down menu, though I did include my husband's income since they indicated I could include it. So come to think of it, I wonder if that choice is an automatic denial.

Does anyone have any thoughts? I really thought with those numbers it would be a lock but apparently I was wrong.

[K-in-Boston]

They'll send you a denial letter stating the reasons.  I doubt the denial reason would be occupation (I'm sure that would be disciminatory anyway).  Most likely it would be the absence of individual (not AU status) accounts.  Chase isn't known to be a lender that likes to be first with anything!  

There are three major CBs (TU, EQ, EX) that will each have different reports.  Unless you apply for an account with a lender that would have done a hard pull on all 3 (like Capital One), it is extremely common for an inquiry to only appear on 1 (and sometimes 2) CBs.  A new account in the past 2 years could and would include anything you are an authorized user on, and it's very rare for a lender to pull a hard inquiry on an authorized user since the AU has no obligation to pay.

[Anonymous]

Darn, wish I'd known that about Chase. I haven't lurked on these forums in a while so I missed that.

Which lender would you recommend if I'm trying for my own credit, based on the numbers I have? I've looked at the myFICO Credit Card Center to see which ones I might qualify for but I don't want to make the same mistake.

Thank you very much for the quick and considered reply.

[AverageJoesCredit]

Sorry for the denial. Try for the Synchrony Amazon store card. Its a good card that has great credit line potential with sp increases unlike Chase. 5% back on Amazon and 0% financing available over $150 i believe. Best of luck

[bizarrocreditworld]

First, welcome to MyFico! You'll get a lot of great advice on how to manage your credit.

With regards to your own credit, I would try the Capital One pre-qualification site, since they're most likely to give you your first card in your own name. I wouldn't then be surprised to see you start to get mailers from Discover offering their card. If the APR after the 0% period is a single number or a small range (e.g. 14.9-16.9%), it's a solid offer.

Chase, from my understanding, likes to see you have a card for a year before approving you for one of their own, but they will consider you sooner if you have a banking relationship with them. PenFed is a good credit union that tends to give high SLs to people, so I'd look into them as well. (NB: I have cards with all four of the entities I have named, so YMMV).

The good news for you is that it won't be a matter of if you can get a good card, it's a matter of when you will get it because your scores are good and will get better with time.