NFCU Credit Card App Question

[Anonymous]

Brand new poster here ... I recently joined NFCU under my late father's service history as a retired Lt. Col (WWII/Korea) in AF. They have been really great so far with the checking/savings account set-up. A representative did call me last week and said she was going to be assigned to me for 30 days after account opening (12/24/18). She went the thru the online banking site with me and spent about an hour on the phone with me. Nearing the end of the convo she asked if I would like to apply for CC/CLOC but I politely declined because I've read on here that they HP TU for CC and EQ for CLOC. I've been working on just some minor "housekeeping" to get a couple collections removed and have been fairly successful so far. I'm down to one open collection showing on TU and two on EQ. Also, my util was up around 56% last month because I had to use the one CC I have (Citi) with a $1K limit. Had to put $560 on it for emergency car repair for my son, but I've paid it of to 0 and just waiting for CRA's to update to show 0% util rate. My FICO 8 is currently at 634 put once the 0% util kicks it should go up to around 670 or so. My TU shows 614 at present but the score sims say it should bump to around 650.

Long question short ... should I go ahead and ask for the card(s) and max CLOC after reports update? Christy (NFCU rep) has scheduled to call me this Friday for that ... also, does it help to have a "dedicated account rep" (what she says she is) for approval? I just don't know what is best at this point ... I am disabled on fixed $18K/yr income but my DTI ratio is figured at <1%.

Thanks to the folks on here for any pointers!!!

[Anonymous]

Welcome to myFICO!

We have similar profiles and NFCU has extended me a lot of credit. They are far more DTI sensitive than they are score sensitive.

I have very similar income, also disabled, and I have a $7500 cashRewards at 11.65% (lowest APR) which started at $3000 in September. Asked last month for a CLI to $7500 and received it after waiting 91 days and 3 statements. Then I asked for a $500 CLOC and was instantly approved. A few days later I asked for a Platinum and after review received $7200 at 7.99% (lowest APR again) so $18K income can go far with them but you will likely have to wait until 91/3 or 6 months (stories like mine are much more common at 6 months than 91/3 with blemishes on the report) as they don’t usually extend large SLs for first cards, at least not when they have thin or borderline profiles. In your case, the experience with a $1K limit may potentially keep your limit down, it depends on what UW sees, but with that low of DTI, you may skew things in your favor. 

My DTI was about 9% when I first got my cashRewards approval for reference. I probably would have gotten more but it was my fourth new card this year.

I would say when your reports update you have a good chance depending on what they think of the collections and how recent they are. New cards are usually TU, CLIs are usually EQ but there have been cases of EQ being used for new cards and TU for CLIs. The only thing that hasn’t been reported to my knowledge is them pulling EX. CLOCs are generally reported as EQ and you will take a hard pull for both products as they are different departments.

Since you have two collections on EQ, you might think about holding off on the CLOC so they can get to know you unless they’re medical collections. 

[AverageJoesCredit]

Welcome to myFico Navy helps more people with low scores/ dirty profiles than most so more than likely, but not gaurenteed, you will find some success in credit cards with them. Im still smazed st the people who end up getting personal attention from a specific person when they join.not everyone experiences this so well done. Good luck when you decide to apply Cant go wrong with Navy

[Anonymous]

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@AverageJoesCredit wrote:
Welcome to myFico Navy helps more people with low scores/ dirty profiles than most so more than likely, but not gaurenteed, you will find some success in credit cards with them. Im still smazed st the people who end up getting personal attention from a specific person when they join.not everyone experiences this so well done. Good luck when you decide to apply Cant go wrong with Navy

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Honestly my person just kind of annoyed the heck out of me. She was really pushing me to get a checking account and refer everyone in my family and I was getting annoyed with her but I guess if you need personal attention and you don’t mind being treated like you can’t navigate finances on your own then it’s nice...

But yes to the rest of your point. NFCU is an amazing institution for people like myself. Low income and past mistakes lingering didn’t hold me back with them. 

[Remedios]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@AverageJoesCredit wrote:
Welcome to myFico Navy helps more people with low scores/ dirty profiles than most so more than likely, but not gaurenteed, you will find some success in credit cards with them. Im still smazed st the people who end up getting personal attention from a specific person when they join.not everyone experiences this so well done. Good luck when you decide to apply Cant go wrong with Navy

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Honestly my person just kind of annoyed the heck out of me. She was really pushing me to get a checking account and refer everyone in my family and I was getting annoyed with her but I guess if you need personal attention and you don’t mind being treated like you can’t navigate finances on your own then it’s nice...

But yes to the rest of your point. NFCU is an amazing institution for people like myself. Low income and past mistakes lingering didn’t hold me back with them. 

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Or maybe she was helping you navigate through their products.  If that annoys you....

[Anonymous]

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@Remedios wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@AverageJoesCredit wrote:
Welcome to myFico Navy helps more people with low scores/ dirty profiles than most so more than likely, but not gaurenteed, you will find some success in credit cards with them. Im still smazed st the people who end up getting personal attention from a specific person when they join.not everyone experiences this so well done. Good luck when you decide to apply Cant go wrong with Navy

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Honestly my person just kind of annoyed the heck out of me. She was really pushing me to get a checking account and refer everyone in my family and I was getting annoyed with her but I guess if you need personal attention and you don’t mind being treated like you can’t navigate finances on your own then it’s nice...

But yes to the rest of your point. NFCU is an amazing institution for people like myself. Low income and past mistakes lingering didn’t hold me back with them. 

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Or maybe she was helping you navigate through their products.  If that annoys you....

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No it was the way she did it. I told her that I had already looked at all of their products before I decided to get a membership and that I want to ease into things and she brought up that I should get a free checking account 6 times (I counted) anyway. I was nice to her but I was pretty annoyed because I had already told her when she first called me to begin with that it wasn’t a great time as I had an appointment to get ready for but it is what it is, it didn’t sour me on NFCU, it just wasn’t beneficial. 

[Anonymous]

Don't forget the secured card route! It honestly isn't a bad starter item at all, espeically with your credit profile. Throw $500 on it and always PIF. Mine graduated at the 5th statement. Once it graduates they will normally bump you to a 2k CL and then is a great chance to apply for a new CC with hopes of a nice SL. YMMV of course on all these, but just my 2 cents if you are scared of getting approval. I would deff. wait for the badies to get off your EQ to increase your CLOC approval chances. GL with Navy. I think you will love them

[Anonymous]

I would like to thank everyone for their insights and help!! ... I went ahead and pushed the button on the CLOC yesterday for the max ($15000) but received an email this A.M. that it was denied. Was feeling a little discouraged and decided since I only had 3 previous inquiries on my TU report in past 2 years to give one of the unsecureds a shot, so I picked the Platinum and applied and VIOLA was approved for a $7900 SL. Truth is stranger than fiction!! ... NFCU's approval processes flumox me. I'm feeling a whole lot better after the approval came back so I recon'd the CLOC for just $1000 and got an immediate approval on it. Of course I had to reapply with an agent via phone and asked if they would use the same HP from night before. She said "it is a possibility, but no given." --- "No given" were the key words ... popped another HP on TU. Holy cow!! ... It isn't like my TU score changed dramatically in 8 hours!! ... must have thought I bought the Trump Tower overnight!! ... now I'm a little "gun shy" on NF's hard pull "happiness" and was afraid to go to the bathroom in event they HP'd me again!! ... but, I still only have 5 HP's now showing on TU over past two years, so that isn't too bad. Plus, I talked to a rep at Cap One today to get two of their pulls removed so that will get it back down to three. Once the CFNA pull drops there will only be NF's pulls on there so when I go for the CL on the Platinum in 6 mos they better not give me any grief on "excessive inquires" because they will be all theirs!!! ... so, at days' end i went rom $1K of available credit to almost $10K that figures $5000 per pull, do not a bad day's work!!

Thank y'all again for your insights!!! Y'all are tremendous resource points!!! 

(BTW) ... I joined myFICO day before yesterday and my FICO 5 score that the loan dept. uses for the CLOC was 685. My FICO Bankcard score on TU they use for the CC's was 590 ... declined initially with a 68, yet approved for CC @ $7900 SL on a 590 ... head scrathcer there!!

[Anonymous]

Congrats on the approvals!

And yeah, they have stopped countering people who go for the max on the CLOC but honestly, with low income it’s better to go for a second card at 91/3 or 6 months than a huge CLOC and if you would have gotten a large CLOC since the CLOC has very high interest that starts accumulating immediately, you may have tied up your exposure with them (I don’t believe they can reallocate any part of a CLOC to a CC).