PNC Cash Rewards Denied

[Anonymous]

Decided to apply for a PNC Cash Rewards card for gas spend. Never had a banking or previous relationship with PNC before.

Application came back with denied. Called into the recon line, and they told me that it was due to insufficient unsecured credit history and they offered me a secured card. I was very surprised because it seems like this card shouldn't be difficult to get with the stats below.

Open cards: 6 (3x Chase, 2x Amex, 1x Discover)

Total credit: $50K

Oldest card: 2013

AAoA: 6 yr

Last card opened: 4+ years ago

VantageScore 3.0: 800+ for TU / EQ / EX

HPs in the last 2 years: 0

Income: 200K+

Util: <5%

Curious for your thoughts, or what you would do next. Recon didn't seem to want to budge, but I didn't really try to push and figured I could always wait for the letter and call back in.

[Anonymous]

They look at your income, mortgage or rent amount, your other expenses. They also look at what happens if you use most of your other credit lines, is your income sufficient to pay it back.

Anyway you can try again in 6 months. But cards like Capital One are easier to get but they do several HP's. You can try their pre approval tool too.

Thanks

Mark

[KatSoDak]

The denial does indeed seem odd considering the DPs you have.

What would I do? With no HPs in 2 years I would apply with another bank. 

What was it about this card that made you choose it for your first application after so long in the garden?

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Decided to apply for a PNC Cash Rewards card for gas spend. Never had a banking or previous relationship with PNC before.

Application came back with denied. Called into the recon line, and they told me that it was due to insufficient unsecured credit history and they offered me a secured card. I was very surprised because it seems like this card shouldn't be difficult to get with the stats below.

Open cards: 6 (3x Chase, 2x Amex, 1x Discover)

Total credit: $50K

Oldest card: 2013

AAoA: 6 yr

Last card opened: 4+ years ago

VantageScore 3.0: 800+ for TU / EQ / EX

HPs in the last 2 years: 0

Income: 200K+

Util: <5%

Curious for your thoughts, or what you would do next. Recon didn't seem to want to budge, but I didn't really try to push and figured I could always wait for the letter and call back in.

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Don't feel bad I applied with them early this year and they denied me.  No banking relationship with them except I do have 2 cards from BBVA who they recently purchased.  Didn't make a difference though.  lol

[Anonymous]

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@KatSoDak wrote:

The denial does indeed seem odd considering the DPs you have.

What would I do? With no HPs in 2 years I would apply with another bank. 

What was it about this card that made you choose it for your first application after so long in the garden?

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The best part was when they pushed me for the secured card on the call - gave me a little laugh.

The main reason for me was recent changes have pushed gas expense to >$400 / month. The stations I frequent (Costco and a smaller station) are Visa only, and my current Chase bundle (CSR / CF / CFU) aren't great for gas beyond the one quarter a year. I've had the Costco Citi, Citi Custom Cash, PenFed Platinum Rewards, and PNC Cash Rewards on the radar and ultimately went with PNC as Costco has no SUB, PenFed is a pain to redeem, and Citi is a MC.

Maybe I'll wait for the letter and call one more time, already wasted the HP

[KatSoDak]

PenFed may be a pain to redeem but 4% on gas is huge. 

[Taurus22]

Have there been a lot of recent approvals for PNC lately?  My thought is possibly with them being in the middle of the merge with BBVA, that had something to do with it?  Maybe they're just giving random excuses until they get that ironed out? Seems like your profile is strong enough for any lender.

[CreditCuriosity]

Strange denial indeed.  PNC has become more conserative since the pandemic hit overall and made their UW more strict.  I suspect it will loosen up in the coming months.  Great overall card and have it for Gas/Food.  Sorry about the denial

[FinStar]

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@CreditCuriosity wrote:

Strange denial indeed.  PNC has become more conserative since the pandemic hit overall and made their UW more strict.  I suspect it will loosen up in the coming months.  Great overall card and have it for Gas/Food.  Sorry about the denial

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This ^^^

It's possible they may loosen up in the next several months after the full merger.  That said, PNC is still lending just not to the extent of pre-pandemic levels while they swallow BBVA.

@Anonymous- you can try calling again, but unfortunately, the decision will still stand.  They rarely, if anything, overturn any system-driven decisions. At least they provided the option for a secured CC product, but this isn't always in the deck for a variety of customers who prefer a no-strings attached/unsecured line.

[Crowhelm]

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@FinStar wrote:

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@CreditCuriosity wrote:

Strange denial indeed.  PNC has become more conserative since the pandemic hit overall and made their UW more strict.  I suspect it will loosen up in the coming months.  Great overall card and have it for Gas/Food.  Sorry about the denial

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This ^^^

It's possible they may loosen up in the next several months after the full merger.  That said, PNC is still lending just not to the extent of pre-pandemic levels while they swallow BBVA.

@Anonymous- you can try calling again, but unfortunately, the decision will still stand.  They rarely, if anything, overturn any system-driven decisions. At least they provided the option for a secured CC product, but this isn't always in the deck for a variety of customers who prefer a no-strings attached/unsecured line.

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Well, I would view that more as an insult with his credit scores and overall stats. I mean it depends on how they presented it. Like if they say all we can offer at this time is the secured card but you probably don't want that, sure fine. But to suggest he is such a risk only a secured credit card can be offered is offensive in his case. And I know, it is a business decision but respect is due here.