Honestly, unless you really get a lot of value from the card member perks, I'd say close it and move on.
Is it still a Comenity card? If so, the CLI may be an HP now.
Is it your oldest CL?
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@Stealthboxer wrote:Back in 2018 I started the process of rebuilding my credit
I applied for an Express store card and was approved with a 500 limit. A few days after that I applied and was approved for a Bosco's Dept store card ($500) and also a Victorias Secret account and also approved for $300
So I did some shopping on all of them and left a small balance on each to show repayment history. After about 9 months of this I go to use my Express card in store and was declined. I get home and call them and they tell me that due to information contained in my credit report they have reduced the limit to $100 and closed out my Victoria's Secret and Boscos store card -they had no balances.
What they have in common is Comentiy Bank. So I kept the Express card and shopped for a pair of underwear here and there. In the meantime I received approvals for BestBuy Visa $2000, Credit One $750 and $3000/ Capital One Visa $500, Reflex Mastercard $1000, and approvals just continued getting better all the time. To this day, my Express card is still at $100 and I have been declined twice for increased despite raising my score from low 500's to 656 todayIt's baffling that this cheap Dept store will not allow me more than $100. Any suggestions?
Just throwing this out as a possible reason. If you started rebuilding 5 years ago (in 2018) and your cards still consist of basically starter cards for bad credit (Reflex, Credit One and Cap1) with basic SL's AND your FICO is still only 656 at this point (which still really isn't a very good score really). Then there has to be other negative stuff still going on in your credit profile and that is probably what they are looking at.
@Stealthboxer wrote:Yes, I did use the rebuild credit cards in the beginning. I really started rebuild in 2019-that's when I started to rebuild. After about a year with those cards-then I went and applied and was approved for
Citibank Preferred
BestBuy Visa
Discover
and several store cards like IKEA. Chevron, Macys, Nordstrom's, Amazon,;
I also have a 1250 line of credit with PayPal
I believe the issue is unpaid medical collections I have.
A 656 score in my opinion is not that bad considering I stared at barely over 500!
Then it may also be your DTI but without your income and UTL DP's no way to say for sure. Could also be looking at too many acounts opened recently as well. Didn't say your score was bad. Simply said that as per credit tresholds a 656 is considered "Fair" at best and lots of creditors want to see a tad higher score is all. The collections are hurting your scores for sure but the good news is that if any of them are under $500, this year (2023) the 3 Major Bureaus will remove and no longer report them. In any event store cards outside of credit building or ones you use on a very regular basis aren't all that and you might want to consider as mentioned upthread just closing it. Especially since you said yourself you don't use it much.
Try for the Apple Card (if you have an iPhone), they soft pull and approve your credit score range according to DPs I've seen. It's a soft pull and won't hurt your credit if they don't approve you. Plus, they raise credit limits with regular use. Just my 2cents. Also, it will be a hard pull if they approve you and you accept.
@privacyadvocate69 wrote:I dunno what an "Express Store" is, but I would cancel that card and stop shopping there.
So if you don't know what it is, why would you suggest OP cancels the card AND stops shopping there?
Express has really nice clothes. I've been on a Macy's focus though and just recently got my Macy's card from 800$ to 25,000$ as of the other night. Express has really nice looking Polos and Dress shirts just gotta be careful because some of the materials colors fade after a few washes.
