Credit Card Limit Increases for a widow with a high FICO score HELP NEEDED

[Anonymous]

Hello,

My husband passed away and I am trying to get credit cards in my name. I opened an account at Navy FCU and applied for a card. My scores are 798, 787 and 793. I have little debt on my credit reports. I was DENIED. The reasons I was told was due to current membership status, a score of 91 that I never heard of for the pandemic and legnth of time for new accounts. But the accounts are in excellent status and my scores are great. What's the problem? I have children with 40k credit limits and their scores are lower than mine.

Any suggestions? I'd appreciate any help you can give me. Thank you.

[GatorGuy]

Sorry to hear about the loss of your husband.

It sounds like NFCU would like to have you keep your membership longer before applying for new accounts. It also sounds like you have opened other new accounts recently?

If you need accounts now and don't want to wait for NFCU then you could find the thread that gives you prequalifications based on soft inquiries. Many will also show you the credit limit first.

Also remember, credit limits are more dependent on your income than your credit score many times. So although your children's scores are lower, if they have higher income, they will often have higher limits. 

Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Thank you for responding! My income is around $120k. I do have 2 new small items (secured little loans) on my credit report. They are in good standing. My daughter was the person who suggested I join NFCU and apply for a card. In 2018, she joind and applied when joining for a card. She was approved. I understand times change, but I am surprised. I hope I do not have to keep securing lines of credit with my positive scores. This is so frustrating.

[SouthJamaica]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Hello,

My husband passed away and I am trying to get credit cards in my name. I opened an account at Navy FCU and applied for a card. My scores are 798, 787 and 793. I have little debt on my credit reports. I was DENIED. The reasons I was told was due to current membership status, a score of 91 that I never heard of for the pandemic and legnth of time for new accounts. But the accounts are in excellent status and my scores are great. What's the problem? I have children with 40k credit limits and their scores are lower than mine.

Any suggestions? I'd appreciate any help you can give me. Thank you.

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I wouldn't agonize over it. I would just apply elsewhere if you really feel the need for a new card.

If you're saying that you have a good number of new accounts, that's a good reason to take a breather on applications.

[pizzadude]

Do you have any revolving credit open in your name?  If not then that may be a factor in why you were declined despite having good credit scores.

You can consider opening a secured account with NFCU, the nRewards card, this would be an easy way to start building credit card history.

[Anonymous]

Have you ever had any credit cards in your name (not with you as an Authorized User, but in your name)? If not, and this is the first time you're trying to get a credit card, you may need to start with a "starter" credit card. Capital One and Discover are generally reputed to be good for "starter" credit cards; my very first credit card at 18 was a Discover card. Once you have a year or so of on-time payment history with the "starter" card, you can then start getting better rewards cards.

If you've previously had your own credit cards, how long have you gone without a credit card in your name? In my case, after years of having my own cards, I had a one-year stint where I relied solely on several Authorized User cards. I didn't have any trouble getting approved for several individual CCs after that year, but again, that was almost certainly because I had many years of history from my closed individual CCs that were still on my credit report. CCs that were closed in good standing fall off 10 years after closure, at which time they stop helping you - so if the last time you had your own CC was over a decade ago, you're effectively "starting fresh" now and should consider Cap One/Discover as mentioned above.

[JNA1]

I would suggest going to Discover's website and doing their pre-approval. If you are pre-approved, their pre-approvals are pretty solid. The Discover It card is an excellent card, especially for the first year, with the cash back match. 
I would recommend them over Cap 1, Credit One, or other starter/rebuilder cards. The Discover It is a good card that is in most people's collection, and is usually pretty easy to get. 

[Anonymous]

Upon looking at my credit report, I think the age of the accounts is the problem, just like another member responded.

Here is my credit file breakdown:
*Many old accounts that are closed. 

*Inquiries- Experian 3 from February, 2021. TU and EQ 0 

*February, 2021- New loan of $8,000 from my Credit Union, plus new MasterCard from them of $5,000. 
*Same time co-signed a loan of $12,000 for my daughter to get the member rate. The loan was secured by my daughter. 

*June, 2021- NavyFCU opened a mutual fund with a decent deposit. But was denied a credit card from them. 

*July, 2021- Credit Union denied a credit limit increase on the MasterCard approved in February. 

Open accounts= 6

Scores: EX= 766 EQ= 778 TU= 778

Experian website says this: 

Very Good Credit History Length

Your oldest accounts are valuable. Keep them open even if you rarely use them.

Average Age 5.3 years

Oldest Account 18.2 years

Please let me know your thoughts on how to proceed moving forward. I see all your cards. How did you space out the applications? 

I appreciate everyone's help!

[Anonymous]

Hmmm. I think she is a factor here, but not sure. I gave my credit file breakdown on the next post of mine. If you can't find it, please let me know. Thanks again!

[Anonymous]

How do you see the limits on these cards? Hovering is not working.