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NFCU Denial and Interesting Reasons

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Brian_Earl_Spilner
Credit Mentor

NFCU Denial and Interesting Reasons

Quick backstory. I'm rebuilding. In April of 2018, I had a 512 TU Fico8. Applied and was approved for a $500 Cash rewards with a 515 EQ (yes, the pulls we're backwards for me, EQ for card, TU for CLOC). I was extremely aggressive in adding to my portfolio of credit last year as I started with only 3 cards. I ended up adding 6 cards and 3 loans. I haven't been able to get any growth with NFCU despite my fico8 and 9 both growing over 100 points in 9 months. I recently got an offer for the More Rewards and pulled the trigger because it was almost a year. Was instantly denied and received my letter today with the reasons.

 

- Number of inquiries (14. I was aggressive, and bought a car. I could explain down to 8)

- Average credit limit of open credit cards reported last 12 months (not sure what this is, maybe my limits aren't growing fast enough for my rebuild?)

- ratio open revolving balances to credit limits reported last 12 months (utilization went up for about 3 1/2 months for Christmas)

- months since a bank card balance exceeded it's credit limit (I accidentally forgot to pay a card down before interest hit, took me over limit for less than $5 for 1 day

 

It appears that my history with them didn't mean anything, as almost none of that applied to any Navy products. In addition, it shows that they are 100% trending data, something that has always been speculated with other lenders. Navy has just admitted in my denial letter. Pretty disappointing as overall, my profile has improved significantly in less than a year. I was already gardening, but I'm glad I took the chance because I feel like I got some real answers from a lender for once. I will be calling for a more thorough explanation when I have time. Things I'll be asking about would be the 2nd reason and timelines, such as time from exceeding a credit limit.

 

Let me know if you have questions. 

 

Edit to add some data points:

- $70k income

- own $650k home outright

- DTI is around 17%

- UTI is about 48%

- scores are all mid-600

    
19 REPLIES 19
simplynoir
Community Leader
Mega Contributor

Re: NFCU Denial and Interesting Reasons

Reason #2 seems oddly worded but best I can guess is that the credit limits other banks are giving you that were opened in the last 12 months are being taken into consideration which I think is kind of weird. I say this because usually NFCU's MO is to take what you've done already with them first and foremost before taking outside factors into the equation.

Message 2 of 20
thornback
Senior Contributor

Re: NFCU Denial and Interesting Reasons

Wow... I'm sorry for your denial but that is honestly the best denial letter i've ever seen...  and I guess it could make getting denied a bit easier to deal with when the lender actually provides solid reasoning.   

 

That last one: months since a bank card balance exceeded it's credit limit -  is very, very interesting and, I agree, confirms their use of trending data.

 

And this one is intersting too -- Average credit limit of open credit cards reported last 12 months  -- I doubt it means that your limits aren't high enough to show you have experience with higher limits since we see many rebuilders with starter limits getting massive SLs with Navy;  so that leaves your interpretation - that your limits aren't growing fast enough with current lenders -- which I guress signfies what? that your current lenders aren't ready to reward you yet so no soup for you? Wierd.

 

And yes, it does seem as though it's not all about building a history with Navy afterall..      I would love to hear about any more info you get out of them if / when you call.     Thanks for sharing this and again -- sorry about the denial.

Personal Aphorism:"Forget What You Feel, Remember What You Deserve"
Starting FICO 8s | 09/2017: EX 641 ✦ EQ 634 ✦ TU 647
Current FICO 8s | 04/2022: EX 796 ✦ EQ 793 ✦ TU 790
Current FICO 9s | 04/2022: EX 790 ✦ EQ 788 ✦ TU 782
2022 Goal Score | 800s

My AAoA:
4.6 years not incl. AU / 4.9 years incl. AU
My AoOA: 9.2 years not incl. AU / 11.2 years incl. AU
Inquiries: EX 0/12 ✦ EQ 0/12 ✦ TU 0/12
Report Status: Clean
Garden Status:  


Without patience, we will learn less in life. We will see less. We will feel less. We will hear less. Ironically, rush and more usually mean less.
Message 3 of 20
Brian_Earl_Spilner
Credit Mentor

Re: NFCU Denial and Interesting Reasons


@simplynoir wrote:

Reason #2 seems oddly worded but best I can guess is that the credit limits other banks are giving you that were opened in the last 12 months are being taken into consideration which I think is kind of weird. I say this because usually NFCU's MO is to take what you've done already with them first and foremost before taking outside factors into the equation.


Hence why I found the reasons interesting. I was very careful with my navy accounts to give me a better shot at the larger second card and/or cloc. This tells me that the relationship may not be as important as what people think.

    
Message 4 of 20
Brian_Earl_Spilner
Credit Mentor

Re: NFCU Denial and Interesting Reasons

@thornback thanks. Once I got past the whole denial part, it was oddly satisfying. I feel like I can build a plan of attack and can set a realistic timeline for change. Much less frustrating than the random reasons from Cap1 and Disco.

    
Message 5 of 20
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: NFCU Denial and Interesting Reasons

So what % of of usage ate you letting report?
Message 6 of 20
simplynoir
Community Leader
Mega Contributor

Re: NFCU Denial and Interesting Reasons


@Brian_Earl_Spilner wrote:

@simplynoir wrote:

Reason #2 seems oddly worded but best I can guess is that the credit limits other banks are giving you that were opened in the last 12 months are being taken into consideration which I think is kind of weird. I say this because usually NFCU's MO is to take what you've done already with them first and foremost before taking outside factors into the equation.


Hence why I found the reasons interesting. I was very careful with my navy accounts to give me a better shot at the larger second card and/or cloc. This tells me that the relationship may not be as important as what people think.


I still think the relationship aspect is important or at least more important than other banks give it credence to like Chase for instance. I will be really interested to hear what lending/app department has to officially say regarding that denial reason. The way it's worded it can go several different ways.

Message 7 of 20
Brian_Earl_Spilner
Credit Mentor

Re: NFCU Denial and Interesting Reasons


@Anonymous wrote:
So what % of of usage ate you letting report?

I typically wouldn't let any of my accounts report more than 25% at any time. Until recently, almost all of my cards reported at 0. But, since I am not actively seeking credit, I haven't been using AZEO or micromanaging them. I can be at AZEO in less than 30 days if I wanted, but currently am carrying balances as I need the cash elsewhere at the moment.

    
Message 8 of 20
Brian_Earl_Spilner
Credit Mentor

Re: NFCU Denial and Interesting Reasons


@simplynoir wrote:

@Brian_Earl_Spilner wrote:

@simplynoir wrote:

Reason #2 seems oddly worded but best I can guess is that the credit limits other banks are giving you that were opened in the last 12 months are being taken into consideration which I think is kind of weird. I say this because usually NFCU's MO is to take what you've done already with them first and foremost before taking outside factors into the equation.


Hence why I found the reasons interesting. I was very careful with my navy accounts to give me a better shot at the larger second card and/or cloc. This tells me that the relationship may not be as important as what people think.


I still think the relationship aspect is important or at least more important than other banks give it credence to like Chase for instance. I will be really interested to hear what lending/app department has to officially say regarding that denial reason. The way it's worded it can go several different ways.


No doubt. I wholly believe relationship plays a part in Navy's decisions. I just think the amount may not be as large as other people think. We would need a lot of data from recent approvals. Specifically trended data over a 12 month period leading to the monster approvals.

 

Chase on the other hand, doesn't care about a relationship.

    
Message 9 of 20
simplynoir
Community Leader
Mega Contributor

Re: NFCU Denial and Interesting Reasons


@Brian_Earl_Spilner wrote:

@simplynoir wrote:

@Brian_Earl_Spilner wrote:

@simplynoir wrote:

Reason #2 seems oddly worded but best I can guess is that the credit limits other banks are giving you that were opened in the last 12 months are being taken into consideration which I think is kind of weird. I say this because usually NFCU's MO is to take what you've done already with them first and foremost before taking outside factors into the equation.


Hence why I found the reasons interesting. I was very careful with my navy accounts to give me a better shot at the larger second card and/or cloc. This tells me that the relationship may not be as important as what people think.


I still think the relationship aspect is important or at least more important than other banks give it credence to like Chase for instance. I will be really interested to hear what lending/app department has to officially say regarding that denial reason. The way it's worded it can go several different ways.


No doubt. I wholly believe relationship plays a part in Navy's decisions. I just think the amount may not be as large as other people think. We would need a lot of data from recent approvals. Specifically trended data over a 12 month period leading to the monster approvals.

 

Chase on the other hand, doesn't care about a relationship.


It may just be a shift in their policy. I remember when Penfed was raining limits from the sky like CapOne was a couple of years ago before it suddenly stopped. A poster was nice enough to type up their experiences talking to the lending department to find out PF's lending decisions/criteria had dramatically changed so this may be the case here. A lot of lenders are recently tightening up so wouldn't be surprised if it was just NFCU keeping ahead of the ecnomic trends we're seeing right now.

Message 10 of 20
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