Capital One Quicksilver Application -Pending Income Verification and Tax Document Request

[Anonymous]

I researched for a credit card with an extended 0% interest offer that would be beneficial to me the next 6-9 months. Capital One Quicksilver was no fee and I was 'pre-approved' with 15 months at 0% so I applied. I have a few credit cards in great standing (no Capital One) and my last card I opened was the Apple Card in Fall 2020. My credit scores are all above 750.

Anyway, I didn't get instantly approved for Capital One. I'm currently staying at home while my spouse works, but I put household income as that is allowed. When I went back and did more exact math after I wasn't approved, I actually understated the income about 5%. Capital One wants our 1040 tax form, pay stubs and bank statements. I'm not comfortable giving the 1040 or bank statements. It's unfortunate as Capital One pulled an inquiry across all 3 reports (lesson learned) - I don't like to have more than 1 inquiry a year. 

I've never been denied on an application in more than 15 years and I've never been asked for income verification. Like I said, I don't mind pay stubs but a 1040 and bank statements for a run of the mill card isn't something I want to do. If they don't accept only pay stubs for verification is it basically treated as a denial? Do I have to tell them to cancel my application? It's frustrating about the 3-bureau pull on a pre-approval that is likely not going to work out.

[FinStar]

Hi @Anonymous and welcome to the forums.

If the requested information is not provided, then the application will be denied.  You can call them to cancel the application but the inquiries will still remain.  Unfortunately, whether pre-approved or not, Capital One is known for pulling all 3 reports.  This has been their policy for a very long time.  So, if you're not comfortable providing the tax forms, that's entirely up to you.  

That said,  there's no obligation on your part to submit the documents, but by the same token, they're not obligated to open an account unless certain conditions are met. Capital One isn't exclusive to these tax forms requests, though -- AmEx, Discover, BoA, Citi, plenty of CUs, etc., are also known to request this information from time to time.

[Horseshoez]

I find this whole tax form/POI request thing bizarre, if anything, I should think I would have been tasked with providing proofs of my income when I applied last year following my Chapter 13 discharge and not somone like @Anonymous, however, I was instantly approved and got my card ten days later.  My wife, who has a Chapter 7 on her record, just applied for a Quicksilver card two weeks ago and was also instantly approved with no proofs asked for.

I genuinely do not understand the logic behind asking someone with a stellar credit history for proof while someone like me is ushered through the system without a hitch.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the welcome! The forums are very helpful.

I appreciate your input. I didn't realize tax forms were ever asked for credit card applications so another thing learned. I will call to see what they require but if the tax forms aren't negotiable I'll just live with the denial. 

[FinStar]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Thanks for the welcome! The forums are very helpful.

I appreciate your input. I didn't realize tax forms were ever asked for credit card applications so another thing learned. I will call to see what they require but if the tax forms aren't negotiable I'll just live with the denial. 

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If they're willing to accept paystubs and/or bank statements in lieu of the tax forms, then you might have some leverage and hopefully that will suffice.  

Let us know how it turns out.

[FinStar]

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@Horseshoez wrote:

I find this whole tax form/POI request thing bizarre, if anything, I should think I would have been tasked with providing proofs of my income when I applied last year following my Chapter 13 discharge and not somone like @Anonymous, however, I was instantly approved and got my card ten days later.  My wife, who has a Chapter 7 on her record, just applied for a Quicksilver card two weeks ago and was also instantly approved with no proofs asked for.

I genuinely do not understand the logic behind asking someone with a stellar credit history for proof while someone like me is ushered through the system without a hitch.

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You'll be surprised what lenders know behind the scenes and the amount of information they have access to (outside of just CRA data).  It's not really about logic, it's a very complex algorithm engine powered by AI that knows what to look for.

[Anonymous]

@Horseshoez Had you applied for another credit card recently when you applied for Capital One? My Apple Card was about 4 months ago so maybe it was too soon for them. I've done some searching on the forums and it seems that sometimes cards are more strict if you've applied for another card recently. But it's hard to say what is recent. 3 months? 6 months? 

[Horseshoez]

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@Anonymous wrote:

@Horseshoez Had you applied for another credit card recently when you applied for Capital One? My Apple Card was about 4 months ago so maybe it was too soon for them. I've done some searching on the forums and it seems that sometimes cards are more strict if you've applied for another card recently. But it's hard to say what is recent. 3 months? 6 months? 

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Yes, I applied for a Discover IT card (Denied!) about 3 months before I got the pre-approval E-Mail.

[Horseshoez]

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@FinStar wrote:

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@Horseshoez wrote:

I find this whole tax form/POI request thing bizarre, if anything, I should think I would have been tasked with providing proofs of my income when I applied last year following my Chapter 13 discharge and not somone like @Anonymous, however, I was instantly approved and got my card ten days later.  My wife, who has a Chapter 7 on her record, just applied for a Quicksilver card two weeks ago and was also instantly approved with no proofs asked for.

I genuinely do not understand the logic behind asking someone with a stellar credit history for proof while someone like me is ushered through the system without a hitch.

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You'll be surprised what lenders know behind the scenes and the amount of information they have access to (outside of just CRA data).  It's not really about logic, it's a very complex algorithm engine powered by AI that knows what to look for.

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Well..., maybe...

I work for a large financial institution (not in banking or credit) and am the chief architect for one of their AI departments; connecting the dots between not asking me for POI and yet asking @Anonymous is a bit of a reach.

[4sallypat]

Wow, with all that info requested from Cap 1 you may as well apply for the New Tech FCU Mastercard that gives out $35,000+ SL...

I received that pre-approved offer in the mail for a $35K Mastercard but declined due to their request for 4506-T IRS transcript authorization, bank statements the last year and POI (pay stubs + W2)...

You can do a lot better without Cap 1 - I have not enjoyed their product because I have never been able to get a CLI over the 10 years I have had their card....  Still the same lowly SL.....