PenFed CC Recon Chances?

[Anonymous]

Has anyone ever been able to talk to a loan officer at PenFed in order to get a recon on a CC application?

Little background: My wife and I had to file BK 7 last December which was discharged this April.  We have re-established our credit since the discharge with me getting a secured Discover IT in May, upping that line in July (we use this for our monthly auto charge services) and this gets paid in full every month.  My wife has a secured NFCU card that we use for gas purchases every month; it too gets paid in full each month.  We had to buy a new mattress and I did one of those 6 month interest free finance promos.  That was paid in full by month 3 which was a few weeks ago.  We have purchased two new to us vehicles since the discharge and have been perfect with those payments.  Our DTI is great.  FICO scores all range in the 630-640 area.

I applied for the PenFed Promise card and was declined.  I sent in a recon and am awaiting an answer.  I honestly don't care what the starting limit is I just want to get in with them.  I had tried back in June for this card and was denied even on recon.  The reasons for denial this time mentioned high utilization and of course the BK.  In my letter I mentioned what we use the Discover card for and that it gets paid in full, and about the matteress finance as it still showed that we owed close to the limit on it but has since been paid off.  I believe it still showed on the CR the balance.  I even sent in screen captures of the current balance and payment on it to show that it was paid off.  I also explained the BK to them.

Do I even have a chance or is this just a pipe dream?  If I can't get the Promise does PenFed have lower requirements for approval on any otf their other cards?

[atst2000]

TBH I was in your shoes about a year ago, same scores and still had BK on my credit.  I reconned them like crazy and everytime it was a "NO".

It wasn't until my BK fell off my reports and I got in the low 700's that they opened up to me and now I have 2 CC with them for a total CL of $33,000.  Hang in there...have you tried NFCU?  They are somewhat BK friendly and they give great limits.

[Anonymous]

I tried NFCU as well but was told that they want 1 year post discharge before considering.

I'm hoping my Discover will graduate in the next few months.

[AverageJoesCredit]

I would continue working with what you have and build your history, especially Navy. Everyone's experience with PF and Navy are different but i honestly think Navy is more generous and history with them actually means something. Ymmv and imho.

[hawkins]

Well I don’t know all the UW criteria that PenFed has I am pretty sure you have 2 things preventing you from getting a card with them. 1. They require at least a 650 score and 2. Probably the biggest is you BK is still way too fresh. I would say just keep paying the card(s) you have and in time say a year you should have the time and scores to get in with PenFed. But you never know.

[FinStar]

OP, as echoed by others, time is likely your best ally here.

While PenFed can approve individuals with BK profiles, each situation varies. NFCU is definitely more flexible as far as UW goes as mentioned by @AverageJoesCredit.

All of PenFed's CCs have basically similar UW criteria, especially more so recently. So, there likely isn't much wiggle room at this point given the stats you've provided.

[Anonymous]

texasfamman,

I would just focus on Navy. Wait some time until the bankruptcy matters less and Navy will be a lot more generous. PenFed IMHO is very stingy these days in comparison. I was approved for a power cash rewards card over one year ago with a $500 SL. I was told with time, as long as my profile didn’t change for the worst, that they would increase it in 6 months (heard others on here repeat this story as well). Well, one year and four months later, still at $500. I’m going to close the card because why even sock drawer it?! It does nothing for utilization. Meanwhile, I have almost $50,000 in exposure with NFCU. Good luck though!

[Anonymous]

I'm done with PenFed.  I had been waiting since I submitted the recon request over the weekend, submitted proof that I had paid off a retail credit card that was shooting my utilization up, explained what I'm using the Discover card for and my wife's secure NFCU card and that both always get paid in full each month and that I can't help how they report on the credit report at any given timeframe since the util shows anywhere between 0% and 80% depending on the time of the month it reports.  I even offered to send in my statements showing the payment pattern with both cards.  I finally got an email this morning asking me to call in and speak with a Member Services rep.  I call in and the lady I spoke with took a look and said they got my supporting documentation but that even she thought the recon process was taking too long and that I should have heard by now.  After a hold of about 10 minutes she comes back and says that it's still declined and it's solely because of the BK being too recent but that a co-signer would most likely get me approved, but then she said she would transfer me to the LO so that she can explain it better.  The LO just says the same thing and still points to my overall utilization totally ignoring that I have offered to submit statements from my Discover card showing why it shows the util like it does.  She said the BK would probably prevent me from getting their secured card. 

I guess I'll just have to wait for NFCU then and also hope that my Discover IT will graduate soon.  Does NFCU go off of the BK file date or discharge date?  I'm coming up on a year since filing.

[Anonymous]

On the NFCU front, when I go to apply for a CC again with them down the road which one would be considered their easier card or starter card to get qualified for?