Is this normal? (Discover Application)

Anonymous · ‎12-29-2017

I had thought I read that you didn't have to be a student to apply for the "Discover It student", so I went to go apply despite not really needing to. I was just looking to establish credit history as I only have one card right now and a closed Bank of America account.

I am about to be a student at various instiutions though so I thought I might be able to get by by putting one of those on there. Anyways, I get through all of the regular stuff, and then discover asks to reenter the school information on a 2nd page. AND THEN a 3rd page comes asking for proof ( a picture id, class schedule, approval letter, etc. ). I didn't have it, and at that point I'm willing to cancel the app.

I just close the screen and I'm hoping that me not doing anything will just mean it goes away. I then get a bunch of calls and emails from Discover asking me to finish the app. I was going to ignore it but then I saw on one of their emails that after 10 days they will automatically decline it.

So, not knowing whether that means they already pulled the inquiry i decided to do something about it. I talk to a discover person on live chat and tell him that I don't really want to apply for a card right now; specifically, the student card and that my credit is getting better and I should be able to apply for the regular discover it soon. He says that yes, that's what he's going to do. Since I am not a student he willl just switch the application to the regular discover it.

Again, I'm not really wanting to do this as I knew my score was on edge. Credit score is 640

He insinuated that once you finish the app or hit the agree button(s) or something to that nature that discover already pulls your report. So, he said that discover had already pulled it and that they were just waiting on information to finalize the application.

So, I concede and just say "do it" go ahead and do the regular application. He comes back telling me that I had been declined and that I would receive a letter in the mail in 7 to 10 days stating why.

Was that true? Could I have declined it outright? If I didn't answer would it be an automatic decline and they would have hard pulled? Or would me not finalizing information mean that the app would have just disappeared?

I'm willing to take the hit, it is my fault for starting the application, but I just felt kinda pressured into doing this when I didn't think my credit was good enough currently. Would rather HAVE NOT taken the credit hit, but if it was all because I started the app then that's fine.

Anonymous · ‎12-29-2017

My guess is that if you didn't give the rep the go ahead your credit would've never been pulled. I don't think they ever pulled your credit in the first place some you never finished the app.

Anonymous · ‎12-29-2017

this was my original inclination.

however, the process was pretty thorough. i mean, it was a definite set of steps;

finished 1 part of the application and i thought everything was finished and then it said "they had received my application"

and then part 2 asked to reconfirm the school. i did that

and part 3 asked for proof of enrollment. that's where i stopped

the gap between "we have received your application" and the next 2 parts confused me. and I was curious whether that meant they pulled the info. as i said before my original thought was that they didn't and hadn't but the rep said that once they received my app they had already pulled the report.

oh well, probably wont be applying for a year now. thank you for the response

darrin073 · ‎12-29-2017

Stop lying on your apps

Anonymous · ‎12-29-2017

Uhh where in this process was i lying?

Again, i had read of other people having a student discover it without being a student.

I actually could have lied and put old school emails on there or my old school id, etc. But i decided not to..i just didnt "finalize" the application

Anonymous · ‎12-29-2017

I'm no lawyer (except sometimes on Facebook ) but I would say you should be careful when misstating things on credit card applications. While the likelihood of actually getting into trouble is slim, if the card issuing bank wants to press the issue they would be well within their legal rights to report the matter to the FBI for possible prosecution for wire fraud. These vague and random codes are often how they get career criminals when they are unable to pursue more serious charges.

The United States Code defines wire fraud as:

18 U.S.C. § 1343 provides: Whoever, having devised or intending to devise any scheme or artifice to defraud, or for obtaining money or property by means of false or fraudulent pretenses, representations, or promises, transmits or causes to be transmitted by means of wire, radio, or television communication in interstate or foreign commerce, any writings, signs, signals, pictures, or sounds for the purpose of executing such scheme or artifice, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both. If the violation affects a financial institution, such person shall be fined not more than $1,000,000 or imprisoned not more than 30 years, or both.[3]

Anonymous · ‎12-29-2017

Good lord you guys are going too grandiose.

A) i didnt lie
B) im going to school anyways

So i figured even if i wasnt now i was going shortly. I could just have easily reapplied to another school here within that time frame. I still have school emails from a year ago that would have worked as well

But again, i had just decided id rather wait a bit and apply for the regular discover it

Anonymous · ‎12-29-2017

@Anonymous wrote:
Good lord you guys are going too grandiose.

A) i didnt lie
B) im going to school anyways

So i figured even if i wasnt now i was going shortly. I could just have easily reapplied to another school here within that time frame. I still have school emails from a year ago that would have worked as well

But again, i had just decided id rather wait a bit and apply for the regular discover it

I think everyone is just trying to warn you to be cautious when apping for new cards. Here is the language in the Discover IT Student application:

APPLICATION INFORMATION: Federal law requires that we obtain certain information about you such as your date of birth and street address in order to verify your identity. To be eligible for the Discover Student Credit Card you must be a college student. To determine whether you qualify for an account, we consider information bearing on your creditworthiness, including the information you provide in this application, which includes whether you are enrolled in 2 or 4 year college or university, and your credit report.

I don't think anyone is being "grandiose", just making sure that someone who admittedly doesn't have much experience with credit knows how serious credit is.

Just trying to be helpful... have a Happy New Year!

Anonymous · ‎12-29-2017

Yea i appreciate it man. Wouldn't lie like that though.

Hopefully doesn't hit my credit too hard.

So, I was approved for a capital one quicksilver about 2 months ago and was approved. Knew this was a risk (also why student version) - applying for discover shortly after. But seeing as those are 2 hard inquiries in quick secession would it be wise to try for a secured discover it or should i just leave that out and try to build credit with my capital one card? Again, i was more worried about establishing credit history than needing credit

darrin073 · ‎12-29-2017

I hope they never approve u. False information . Is illegal