Penfed-First Ever Decline !

[Anonymous]

Just wanted to vent a little and let some of you know about Penfed's policies.  I recently applied for and was instantly approved for their Promise Visa at 9.99%.  Not too shabby.  Aftger reading from some of you on here I learned that if you apply for another card from them within 90 days it would be the same HP so I figured if I could get another card from them at a reasonably low interest they might just become my single go-to bank.  I would transfer my few balances to the Promise (at 4.9%) and use their Platinum Rewards Visa Signature Card for all my other daily expenses to keep things simple.  So.... I apped for the Platinum rewards today, got their "pending review" notice and didn't think much of until until just now when I went back to check the status and read "TURNED DOWN PRESENTLY HAVE MAXED OPEN END CREDIT"..........?????????  My Promise card is only $6000 CL and I haven't even used it yet, and my overall utilization across all cards is under 8%.  AND to rub salt into the wound, the Equifax credit score they gave me is 777 !!??  And they say I"m MAXED ??????  I am totally befuddled by this and HOPE they didn't waste a HP on this !  Just wanted to give others a heads up about Penfed.  Anybody else encounter this with them ??  Should I recon or tell them to go to h*** !??

[Anonymous]

Whoa. Cray. No, I wish I was in with them. Strange cats.

[Anonymous]

Wow! Interesting.

[Anonymous]

Perhaps they mean all of your credit cards compared to your income? Maybe they think you have too much available credit, not just with them, but all cards combined?

[CreditCuriosity]

As Justme stated guessing it is total available credit across all CL's

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Perhaps they mean all of your credit cards compared to your income? Maybe they think you have too much available credit, not just with them, but all cards combined?

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I thought of that as well, but they didn't even mention "too much available credit"... they simply wrote "MAXED OPEN END CREDIT" which, to me, is saying I've maxed out my available credit....??  As I stated above, I haven't even used their Promise card yet and all my other cards combined are under 8% total utilization and my total available credit is hovering at $70000.    Just makes no sense to me at all.??

[CreditCuriosity]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

Perhaps they mean all of your credit cards compared to your income? Maybe they think you have too much available credit, not just with them, but all cards combined?

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I thought of that as well, but they didn't even mention "too much available credit"... they simply wrote "MAXED OPEN END CREDIT" which, to me, is saying I've maxed out my available credit....??  As I stated above, I haven't even used their Promise card yet and all my other cards combined are under 8% total utilization and my total available credit is hovering at $70000.    Just makes no sense to me at all.??

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 As stated it isn't the amount you have used or not used with them or other creditors it is your total available credit available to you..  This comes into play also with your income, DTI, etc...  Betting your income is playing a role, although I could be completly wrong, just a guess.. Penfed is famous for pyramiding debt reason for denial

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

Perhaps they mean all of your credit cards compared to your income? Maybe they think you have too much available credit, not just with them, but all cards combined?

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I thought of that as well, but they didn't even mention "too much available credit"... they simply wrote "MAXED OPEN END CREDIT" which, to me, is saying I've maxed out my available credit....??  As I stated above, I haven't even used their Promise card yet and all my other cards combined are under 8% total utilization and my total available credit is hovering at $70000.    Just makes no sense to me at all.??

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It is a weird way to word it, but I think that's just how Penfed is. Aren't they the only one's who use "pyramiding debt" as one of their reasons for denial? So I think they could have worded their denial reason better, but I still think it has to do with total available credit. Each lender has their own terminology for things, and Penfed just seems to be a bit different from the rest.

[kdm31091]

You can always be declined for too much available credit. It's not just about actual debt, but potential debt as well. If one has for example a 30k income and 150k in credit limits, they're risky, at least by most defintions as they could potentially amass way more debt than they could repay. This is why "CLI, CLI, CLI!" is not always good, and also why you need to be selective with apps.