Cash Rewards CLI and/or CSP application?

[Anonymous]

I'm quite new to credit and looking for some advice on what should my next move be.

I currently have the BoA CR for 4 months now (oldest CC), w/o any issue since. I do not have a credit score for now (but someday very soon hopefully).

I am now working and I recently applied for the CSP but got rejected sadly, might have been a long shot.

Ultimatly I want to get the CSR, but I guess I would have to get the CSP first.
Here are my options I listed, but let me know if you have a better move in mind :
- applying for a CR CLI, which could help my credit score in the long term and with my CSP approval odds. But I currently do not have the CLI button on my BoA account (surprinsingly since it has been more thant 3 months!), so I guess trying over the phone is not worth ?
- simply waiting to get my credit score to reapply to the CSP, but I am afraid that as I only have one card with not a huge CL itmight be difficult to get the CSP which has a 5K minimum CL.
- applying for another CC (which one ?)

[xaximus]

Welcome to the Forums!

I think it may be a bit early to go for the CSP at this time. Generally, you want to have a credit score, atleast a year of AAoA and at least 3 cards with decent limits. Those are the general guidelines. Since you only have 1 card and its been open for only 4 months, I would suggest building your profile up a bit first. If you dont have the CLI link available on your BoA CR card, I would wait on that. Continue using that but also add at least 1-2 cards. Look into prequals with Discover and AmEx. If you are pre-qualified, I would get those cards, use them and let them grow. I would give it atleast 6 months (a year would be better), to grow your profile and then look into applying for the CSP.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for your answer !

Seems I don't prequalify for Amex, is it still worth trying to apply or should I rather wait to get a credit score (should be a decent one since I do not have any late payment and kept my utilization ratio pretty low).

[CreditInspired]

Hi and welcome to MyFICO

Yes, you have jumped out of the gate at neck break speed without considering we all have to crawl before we can walk. So think of it this way, building credit is a marathon, not a race. So IMHO, don’t apply for anything at least until you have generated a FICO score. And only then, you should check the prequal sites for AmX and Discover. Personally, I would wait until your BOA is 12 months. The last thing you want starting out is a bunch of inqs and/or declines.

GL2U

[Anonymous]

Hello everyone,

Got a bunch of (not so unrelated) questions, hope you can help me with that !

Since the last topic I made, I was able to dispute successfully one of my inquiries, which was removed from my CRs like 3 weeks ago. Since then I am however not able to access my credit score on any of my apps. I did some research about that but could not find much on the subject. Is there anything I should do on my hand or is just a matter of time before it reappears ?

I just have hitted the 6 month mark with my BoA Cash Rewards and want to ask for a CLI. I don't know much about how BoA deals with those but do you have any recommandations before asking for the CLI ? (Asking for the highest possible like with Amex, transferring some cash on my checking account before asking for the CLI). I have always paid in full and stayed under 3% util, and my SL is really low (800$) so I guess I have a good shot on being granted this CLI.

I am also starting to look around Chase cards, with the CSR as an objective. I know I will have to wait a little but I am still looking for the strategy to get it asap :
Here's a little more info :

Current CCs : 
BoA CR (800$), 6 months old
Amex BCP (2000$), 2 months old
No Late Payments, always have paid in full, Utilization Rate under 10%
HP : 3 (TU), 1 (Eq)
Credit Scores not available right now (   ) , but all should likely be in the 650-700 range.
I have been banking with Chase for over a year now, I have heard it might help a little bit.

Do you have any suggestions ? (For example trying to get the Freedom, or just try to grow the existing CL that I have right now, ...)

Thanks in advance for your help

[Anonymous]

1st - don't dispute INQ's unless they're actually invalid because you will cause further issues down the line if they flag your profiles for fraud

2nd - it takes at least 6 reporting cycles to generate a score...so, banks report once a month usually within a week or two after your statement cuts... it might be a bit premature for a score to start showing up

3rd - ALWAYS ask for 100K w/ BOA and let the computer counter back with their max.... My CLI's with them have been anywhere from 10K-20K per attempt  You DON'T need an account with BOA to get a CLI.. I don't have one with them and have a 65K CL with them on a single card... they don't pay enough interest to keep cash with them for any reason.

Chase.... I highly doubt you'll get a CSP ($5K min CL / 1 year history) or CSR ($10K Min CL / same history) 

-- realistically you need to aim for CF / CFU instead of wasting a couple of HP's on Chase 

-- GO TO A BRANCH instead of applying online and ask them what you're qualified for and don't deviate from what they show you on the PC screen while in branch.  Apply in branch as it bypasses some of the restrictions you'll run into online and the banker can call UW and fight for an approval on your behalf

Expand your goals a bit and get yourself to 3 cards and then take a vacation from applying for a year to let things grow and age.  

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

1st - don't dispute INQ's unless they're actually invalid because you will cause further issues down the line if they flag your profiles for fraud

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It was indeed an invalid one (basically BoA did two HP over two days for the same application). I will try to avoid to dispute those in the future!

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@Anonymous wrote:

2nd - it takes at least 6 reporting cycles to generate a score...so, banks report once a month usually within a week or two after your statement cuts... it might be a bit premature for a score to start showing up

I actually already had a score before (with vantagescore, which I believe reauires less cycles before computing a score), that's why I was puzzled by the score being now unaccessible (likely due to the INQ dispute I guess).

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@Anonymous wrote:

3rd - ALWAYS ask for 100K w/ BOA and let the computer counter back with their max.... My CLI's with them have been anywhere from 10K-20K per attempt  You DON'T need an account with BOA to get a CLI.. I don't have one with them and have a 65K CL with them on a single card... they don't pay enough interest to keep cash with them for any reason.

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Thanks for the tips!

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@Anonymous wrote:

Chase.... I highly doubt you'll get a CSP ($5K min CL / 1 year history) or CSR ($10K Min CL / same history) 

-- realistically you need to aim for CF / CFU instead of wasting a couple of HP's on Chase 

-- GO TO A BRANCH instead of applying online and ask them what you're qualified for and don't deviate from what they show you on the PC screen while in branch.  Apply in branch as it bypasses some of the restrictions you'll run into online and the banker can call UW and fight for an approval on your behalf

Expand your goals a bit and get yourself to 3 cards and then take a vacation from applying for a year to let things grow and age.  

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I see... Do you think getting the CF/CFU could help with the CSR ? I don't really need them (as they are kind of redundant with the BoA Cash Rewards), so my only incent to apply for those would be in that helps later on with the CSR. But anyway I will wait and check for preapprovals at a branch

(Getting a 10K CL with Amex should be pretty easy I guess with the two x3 CLI.)

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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ng the CF/CFU could help with the CSR ? I don't really need them (as they are kind of redundant with the BoA Cash Rewards), so my only incent to apply for those would be in that helps later on with the CSR. But anyway I will wait and check for preapprovals at a branch

(Getting a 10K CL with Amex should be pretty easy I guess with the two x3 CLI.)

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Getting CF/CFU may or may not help in getting the CSR but, It's a foot into the lending side of Chase and builds your internal score with them.  Opening the door to any CC product with them unlocks the ability to get pre-approvals within the portal with the green check mark you can find more info on around here.  

Chase will HP and most likely double pull you for each CLI.... while it's not necessarily a bad thing it's something to contend with when it comes to other lenders issuing an approval down the road.  If you spend a lot w/ Chase there's a chance you'll get auto CLI's on the card you pick but, they're never guaranteed either.  

For Chase my route has been to get a card over CLI... I asked for a CLI awhile back and got a 5K bump and a HP but, 3 weeks later I decided to apply for a new card and got approved for 25.9K and nothing else changed in my approval... so, the incentive seems to favor new apps vs existing cards when it comes to handing out a higher CL.

So, I would take the CF/CFU route now, build some history with them, and say a year down the road apply for the CSR in branch if they're showing a pre-approval for you. If you want to keep both cards you can, if you want to shuffle some CL's around you can, and it doesn't cost you a HP to move things around after you have more than 1 CC.

It's a long game with Chase if you want to play your HP points the right way.