Out of curiosity, I went back to BBVA's Preapproval page as I have periodically done.
https://online.bbvausa.com/apply/credit-card-prequal
They have physical branches in my area and I've considered getting a card from them. Their site gives soft pull preapprovals. In the past 12 months, I usually was given an approval like below, which even showed a starting limit. (This screenshot was from June 2020.) At the time, I wasn't ready to apply for this card however as I had other targets in mind.
In the past three months, I've added three new credit cards (Bank of America Premium Rewards, Wells Fargo Cash Wise, and AMEX Gold.) I really had no intent to apply for a new card but was just curious about some prequals. I wasn't completely surprised to have been denied this time around. With my recent applications, I apparently crossed the line with them for inquiries and new accounts, so I thought the data points might be helpful to someone.
They pulled Experian (Fico 09) and my EX inquiries were (reporting) 8/24 months and (scoreable) were 5/12 months. That seems a low threshold to me for inquiries but it's consistent with the coronavirus changes we've seen with lenders. I've added three EX inquiries recently so apparently 2/12 is okay but 5/12 is not. So 3/12 or 4/12 might be questionable.
They also mention new accounts. My new accounts were 7/12 months in June, but I had a few age off in addition to adding new ones. I was only 1/6 in June, so not a lot of recent new accounts. So my new accounts in September are 8/12 but I also added 4 in the past six months. I think the new accounts in six months was the controlling factor in my application.
I've never had a lender give me a decline letter on a soft-pull preapproval website. Usually, the response was just "unable to approve at this time." (The letter appeared instantly on the denial screen instead of being mailed to me, but it was a full letter with even my mailing address included.) I was a little concerned at first that perhaps they did a hard pull, but the letter confirms it was just a soft pull. Goldman Sachs also gave a binding soft pull preapproval on the Apple card, so I wish more lenders would offer these types of soft-pull preapprovals and also give you the "reasons" letter.
For anyone interested in soft pull preapprovals, there is a thread on My Fico with a list of other links:
Excellent post. Thank you for sharing the data points. It is very helpful.
Thank you for sharing the datapoints for BBVA. This is a a card I am considering getting in 2021, I will take a score hit when we get our mortgage at the end of this year so will have to keep an eye on that and probably won't want to add this one until 3-6 months after we close. They used to send me marketing in the mail for this card pretty regularly, but so never bothered to apply. I may try the pre-qualification tool for grins and to see my current EX9 but I am not going to apply for any new credit right now.
"I've never had a lender give me a decline letter on a soft-pull preapproval website. Usually, the response was just "unable to approve at this time."
You been seeking credit lately? 
@M_Smart007 wrote:"I've never had a lender give me a decline letter on a soft-pull preapproval website. Usually, the response was just "unable to approve at this time."
You been seeking credit lately?
Ummmm ... I plead the Fifth, your honor!
lol 😜
I mean, I am a My-Fico'er now! 😉
@randomguy1 wrote:Aim, ironically I tried preapprovals today. Since I am in the middle of a mortgage, I tried a few different lenders for the best rate. They denied me for inquiries as well. I am 1/12 in new accounts (0/12 in November).
That is kind of a bummer to hear, I was thinking maybe I could slip the card in after we close but before the mortgage hits my report, if they are inquiry senstive sounds like I will have to wait a year after we close and then get it.
Well i'm not much of a fan of BBVA... i have an account in Spain and well.. it might be one of the better ones but i prefer banks in the US than Spanish. Also i have a BBVA account in Venezuela and that one works pretty well compared to other Venezuelan banks.
