Re: How to gain credit history? - myFICO® Forums

Anonymous · ‎02-06-2015

Hello this is my first post to the form, and I am eager to learn about credit cards. Im currently 22 years old and have one credit card.It is the discover it card and I have a 500 dollar limit. I am paying my bills on time as well. I travel a lot and I was interested in the chase sapphire preferred...and it may sound supid, but I applied last night and got declined even after talking on the recon line. I have a history of about 4 inquiries and my income has increased to about 30,000. I dont plan on applying anytime soon, but Im keeping my eye on the CSP... what do I need to do to get approved?

Also, what are other credit cards I can apply for withi the next couple of months to build my credit even more?

Thank you~

Anonymous · ‎02-06-2015

@Anonymous wrote:
Hello this is my first post to the form, and I am eager to learn about credit cards. Im currently 22 years old and have one credit card.It is the discover it card and I have a 500 dollar limit. I am paying my bills on time as well. I travel a lot and I was interested in the chase sapphire preferred...and it may sound supid, but I applied last night and got declined even after talking on the recon line. I have a history of about 4 inquiries and my income has increased to about 30,000. I dont plan on applying anytime soon, but Im keeping my eye on the CSP... what do I need to do to get approved?

Also, what are other credit cards I can apply for withi the next couple of months to build my credit even more?

Thank you~

A 1+yr of history for CSP.....And preferably 1+yrs of higher limit history.

Callandra · ‎02-06-2015

How long have you had Discover IT? 6 months -12 months perfect payment history will get you in with Barclays (you can check out their cards, they have some gems) and you're probably okay for any basic Cap1 card (Journey, Plat, Secured, QS1). CSP might be a tough one to get approval with until you have some higher limit cards (and good history with them) as the minimum starting limit for CSP is 5k.

Quicksilver $10,000 | Better Balance Rewards $2000 | Sallie Mae $3500 | Freedom $3500

Last HP: 9/27/2015

Oslo · ‎02-06-2015

I would think you'd need a history with higher limit cards to get a CSP. I'd recommend trying for a Freedom or Slate first. They should approve you for a higher limit than what you have now. Build a good history with one those before trying for a CSP since the starting min limit is so high.

Have you tried the Chase pre approval link for any offers?

Anonymous · ‎02-06-2015

Thank you! That is great information to know.

Anonymous · ‎02-06-2015

I've had the IT card for over 6 months. I also requested them to raise my CL but they didn't approve with just a soft pull and I didn't want to risk doing a hard pull and getting declined...I'll definately check Barclays, thanks! Also, do you think applying for department store cards is a bad idea ?

Anonymous · ‎02-06-2015

Yes, I have tried to use the preapproval links, but nothing comes up for all credit card companies except for discover asking me to apply to another card but I don't want to. Do you think that chase would accept me for freedom or slate?

Oslo · ‎02-07-2015

What do your scores look like? To my understanding the average scores approved for Freedom or Slate are in the upper 600s range. When I was approved for Slate I know mine were around the 680s but I cannot recall which bureau they pulled. Does anyone know who Chase pulls?

NRB525 · ‎02-07-2015

@Anonymous wrote:
Yes, I have tried to use the preapproval links, but nothing comes up for all credit card companies except for discover asking me to apply to another card but I don't want to. Do you think that chase would accept me for freedom or slate?

What are your scores?

From all the questions, it sounds like you need to get an app out of your system

I would suggest applying for the Freedom card.

You will either get a no AF card with decent rotating rewards that will feed UR points to your future CSP, and, more importantly get you a profile of payments for Chase to observe leading up to that future app...

Or you will get a denial and know that you need to continue to build your file.

High Bal Jan 2009 $116k on $146k limits 80% Util.
Oct 2014 $46k on $127k 36% util EQ 722 TU 727 EX 727
April 2018 $18k on $344k 5% util EQ 806 TU 810 EX 812
Jan 2019 $7.6k on $360k EQ 832 TU 839 EX 831
March 2021 $33k on $312k EQ 796 TU 798 EX 801
May 2021 Paid all Installments and Mortgages, one new Mortgage EQ 761 TY 774 EX 777
April 2022 EQ=811 TU=807 EX=805 - TU VS 3.0 765

Anonymous · ‎02-10-2015

Well, as I said, I got denied for the CSP, got a letter from them with my experian score at 659. I haven't done a credit check yet only because I don't have a lot of history to begin with.. Do you think they will accept me for the freedom card?

@NRB525 wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
Yes, I have tried to use the preapproval links, but nothing comes up for all credit card companies except for discover asking me to apply to another card but I don't want to. Do you think that chase would accept me for freedom or slate?
What are your scores?
From all the questions, it sounds like you need to get an app out of your system

I would suggest applying for the Freedom card.

You will either get a no AF card with decent rotating rewards that will feed UR points to your future CSP, and, more importantly get you a profile of payments for Chase to observe leading up to that future app...

Or you will get a denial and know that you need to continue to build your file.