Chances for Citi approval after AT&T Universal Card default?

[LADave]

About 12 years ago I defaulted on an AT&T Universal Card, which was issued by Citibank. Since then I have not applied for any Citi cards, under the assumption that I'm on a blacklist. I've occasionally checked Citi's prequalification page and have come up empty.

My scores are good (F8s are currently 700-710), which may not be what they're looking for with or without a blacklist.

The cards I'm most interested in from Citi are Custom Cash and Best Buy Visa.

I'm curious about applying in the future and am wondreing if I would get a hard pull if I was on the blacklist. Since the AT&T card was a co-branded card, I'm also wondering if the blacklist only applies to co-branded cards like Best Buy, or if it would apply to Citi non-co-branded cards like Custom Cash.

Any insight about this would be appreciated.

[FinStar]

There will be a HP regardless. If you're on any internal BL, they'll provide that reason (i.e. past negative relationship) if the application is denied. Just because the card is/was a partnership card doesn't mean the BL doesn't apply. It applies to any past accounts, whether it's Citi legacy cards, any cards issued by DSNB (Macy's, Bloomingdale's) or Citi Retail (Sears, Home Depot, Best Buy, etc.).

Since it's been ~12 years, it's possible you may not be on any BL, but no one here would be able to say for sure. The only way to know is when/if you apply. Citi Retail CCs tend to be more lenient with such past transgressions.

That being said, if you've opened several accounts in the past 6-12 months, I would hold off on Custom Cash. But, if YOLO is your approach, then what's another HP?

[SouthJamaica]

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@LADave wrote:

About 12 years ago I defaulted on an AT&T Universal Card, which was issued by Citibank. Since then I have not applied for any Citi cards, under the assumption that I'm on a blacklist. I've occasionally checked Citi's prequalification page and have come up empty.

My scores are good (F8s are currently 700-710), which may not be what they're looking for with or without a blacklist.

The cards I'm most interested in from Citi are Custom Cash and Best Buy Visa.

I'm curious about applying in the future and am wondreing if I would get a hard pull if I was on the blacklist. Since the AT&T card was a co-branded card, I'm also wondering if the blacklist only applies to co-branded cards like Best Buy, or if it would apply to Citi non-co-branded cards like Custom Cash.

Any insight about this would be appreciated.

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I think Citi has a pretty long memory, and is vengeful to boot, but you'll never find out until you apply.

[PapaTunde]

Id be interested in any results you get should you decide to apply

I burnt Citi 14 years ago on 2 Bestbuy cards ( approx $600 on each ) About 5 years ago, I apped for a

Citi DC card and was denied but the denial reason didnt mention bad history. Ive never got any preapproval since then.

I think I may try them again in na couple when some accounts age a bit more

Side note:  I  had a 7 year old RadioShack card closed with $0 bal and never a missed payment

[LADave]

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@PapaTunde wrote:

Id be interested in any results you get should you decide to apply

I burnt Citi 14 years ago on 2 Bestbuy cards ( approx $600 on each ) About 5 years ago, I apped for a

Citi DC card and was denied but the denial reason didnt mention bad history. Ive never got any preapproval since then.

I think I may try them again in na couple when some accounts age a bit more

Side note:  I  had a 7 year old RadioShack card closed with $0 bal and never a missed payment

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If I remember correctly, Radio Shack's card was issued by Citi? I had one in the early '90s and probably used it less than 5 times before I forgot I had it.

It's good to know that you don't appear to be on a blacklist for the Double Cash card. But I thought that most of the retail cards like Best Buy cards were from a different Citi division that has a different blacklist?

I'll definitely post to MyFICO if and when I apply for a Citi card. It probably won't be for a while.

[pip3man]

Burned Citi (IIB) for over $8k on a BestBuy store card in 2020. 3 months ago, I got approved for the same card again with a $2k limit. So yes I think you should be fine with the cobranded cards, their core/legacy card is where the challenge would be. Which I think given how long ago it was, you're good at this point.

[LADave]

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@pip3man wrote:

Burned Citi (IIB) for over $8k on a BestBuy store card in 2020. 3 months ago, I got approved for the same card again with a $2k limit. So yes I think you should be fine with the cobranded cards, their core/legacy card is where the challenge would be. Which I think given how long ago it was, you're good at this point.

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Thank you! I believe that their American Airlines cards are considered co-branded and not core/legacy?

[FinStar]

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@LADave wrote:

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@pip3man wrote:

Burned Citi (IIB) for over $8k on a BestBuy store card in 2020. 3 months ago, I got approved for the same card again with a $2k limit. So yes I think you should be fine with the cobranded cards, their core/legacy card is where the challenge would be. Which I think given how long ago it was, you're good at this point.

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Thank you! I believe that their American Airlines cards are considered co-branded and not core/legacy?

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Any Citi card listed on the Citi website (AT&T, AAdvantage, Expedia, Costco, etc.) are considered part of their core or 'legacy' CCs. While Citi may have a partnership with any of those entities, UW is done at the 'legacy' level. UW criteria obviously will vary by some specific products.

On the other hand, Citi Retail issues CCs such as Sears, Best Buy, Home Depot, Wayfair, Shell, etc.