Credit Card Preapproval Letters

[Anonymous]

I have been actively and relatively successfully rebuilding my credit for about seven months now. I've gone from mid 500s for FICO 8 scores to high 600s. My very realistic goal is to be all over 700 by the end of the year. I am firmly in the garden right now because of some apps sprees that were a part of my rebuild process. So this question really is just out of curiosity. When will I start getting the better quality preapproval letters in the mail, if at all? All I seem to ever get our subprime payday style lenders and subprime credit card approvals such as credit one and mile stone. I hear tell of people getting approvals and invitations from major, credible banks. How long does it take to jump in to one of those buckets?

[dragontears]

It could be months. 

The way most of those mail preapprovals work is:

a lender obtains a list from TU/EX/EQ that fits a general credit criteria 

Some lenders will do an additional SP to refine their list, some won't 

The lender (or their authorized third-party) has preapprovals custom printed and mailed (which takes time).

It is the reason why people can get preapproval letters for cards that they were recently getting 

It is the reason why people can be denied when they have a mail preapproval if their profile has changed since the original SP.

To get back to your question, when I opted back in after I got my first mortgage it took 3 months before I started receiving mail preapprovals. YMMV 

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@Anonymous wrote:

I have been actively and relatively successfully rebuilding my credit for about seven months now. I've gone from mid 500s for FICO 8 scores to high 600s. My very realistic goal is to be all over 700 by the end of the year. I am firmly in the garden right now because of some apps sprees that were a part of my rebuild process. So this question really is just out of curiosity. When will I start getting the better quality preapproval letters in the mail, if at all? All I seem to ever get our subprime payday style lenders and subprime credit card approvals such as credit one and mile stone. I hear tell of people getting approvals and invitations from major, credible banks. How long does it take to jump in to one of those buckets?

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[seattletravels]

Credit One mailers never go away. 

[mrcraft]

I'm in the latter stages of my rebuild with scores anticipated to increase when some derogs fall off my credit report next year.  With scores in my sig line, I received only one pre-approval mailer from a credible bank, BBVA (ClearPoints Visa).  However, when I check for pre-qualifications on creditors' websites, I get some pre-approvals there.  For example, I checked American Express' website for pre-approved cards and saw that I was pre-approved for Cash Magnet.  I applied and got that card.  I figure I won't see mainline pre-approval mailers until next year or the year after.

[Anonymous]

If you visit a few sites and try their prequal, after reaching your credit score goal, you might find that the same companies will start to send you mailers. This happened with me with Discover during my rebuild. I didn't app until after a few months passed. Other than that I get a few emails here and there.

[Remedios]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I have been actively and relatively successfully rebuilding my credit for about seven months now. I've gone from mid 500s for FICO 8 scores to high 600s. My very realistic goal is to be all over 700 by the end of the year. I am firmly in the garden right now because of some apps sprees that were a part of my rebuild process. So this question really is just out of curiosity. When will I start getting the better quality preapproval letters in the mail, if at all? All I seem to ever get our subprime payday style lenders and subprime credit card approvals such as credit one and mile stone. I hear tell of people getting approvals and invitations from major, credible banks. How long does it take to jump in to one of those buckets?

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You will get those eventually,  but I wanted to address something else, which is "realistic goal of 700".

700 is not magic number, and it wont help push you towards the cards you want any faster. 

Plenty of people with lower scores get approvals for most cards, and plenty of those with 800 ending up with denials

During rebuild, first 100 points or so happen relatively quickly,  a few accounts, loan, paid COs and collection accounts, then screeching halt happens because once negatives are paid, *time* is secret sauce.

So, in your case, it will really depend on the nature of negatives and how far you're removed from them. 

Letters mailed based on basic criteria from a lender are typically junk mail, and not a true preapprovals. 

I've had an "episode" of credit seeking in November, and while my scores are great, I probably wouldn't get approved for those store loyalty thingies you hang on your keychain, but I keep getting letters for cards from lenders who have absolute disdain for recent credit seeking because I met the basic criteria 

Those letters are the reason shredder works hard 

[Shooting-For-800]

Just remember that letters are not guarantees.

I just got declined for BBVA after at least a dozen letters.

Credit unions relationships can be quite adventagous especially for sub 700 scores.

GL!

[Meanmchine]

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@seattletravels wrote:

Credit One mailers never go away. 

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LOL

[SouthernCredit]

I wouldn't worry too much about the letters. Only one of my prime cards came from a preapproval letter, and it started out as a basic card that was product changed later. All of my other preapprovals came online. I occasionally get letters for the Amex Platinum (backed up with an online preapproval) and the Black Card Master Card, but most of the rest is junk (at least to me). 

I wouldn't focus on the letters. I'd focus on picking which cards you're interested in that meet your spend, focus on getting online preapproval/prequalificatoin for those, and forget about the rest. Those letters only impress the mailman. 🙂

[Anonymous]

My first pre-approval credit card offer after rebuilding my credit (from 0) was Citibank DC. And they kept sending me those big blue and green  color envelopes weekly that I gave it lol. My score was 680-high 690s at the time. Besides Citi, none of the cards I have gave me a pre-offer/invitation through mail or their site. I had to apply, take the HP and wonder if I was approved and what amount it would be. Besides the Amex Charge cards, I really don't get too many credit card offers and if I do, they are from so so/bad credit card companies. Paypal will email me too here and there saying I'm pre-approved, but I don't get too much. What I do get from the major banks/credit card companies is loan/auto offers via mail.