pre-qual vs. referral (plus Experian question)

[Anonymous]

I am planning on applying for Chase Freedom and CSP in the next few weeks (once Experian updates already - man it's taking forever) and on Chase's Pre-Qual site I am pre-qualified for Freedom, CSP, and Slate  but my mom wants me to use her referalls. Is there any differnce between applying through the pre-qual site or through a referral? 

Also has anybody noticed update times for Experian? Both EQ and TU have updated my balances on my Discover card, but EX is taking its sweet time, and I still have to wait for my Macy's card to report at the end of the month and don't want to have to wait weeks for that to show up on my report. Should I just dispute the balances? Or will that make it take longer? 

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I am planning on applying for Chase Freedom and CSP in the next few weeks (once Experian updates already - man it's taking forever) and on Chase's Pre-Qual site I am pre-qualified for Freedom, CSP, and Slate  but my mom wants me to use her referalls. Is there any differnce between applying through the pre-qual site or through a referral? 

Also has anybody noticed update times for Experian? Both EQ and TU have updated my balances on my Discover card, but EX is taking its sweet time, and I still have to wait for my Macy's card to report at the end of the month and don't want to have to wait weeks for that to show up on my report. Should I just dispute the balances? Or will that make it take longer? 

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The difference might be the APR that you receive.  Check your prequalified rates and if they are really low then applying they her referrals might result in higher ones.

You can't (shouldn't) file a dispute because you're impatient about balances reporting.  If you think it will make a difference in your chances of approval, just wait it out.  It really isn't a big deal.  Filing a dispute isn't going to help

[Anonymous]

APR listed on CSP is 15.99 and Freedom is 18.99 (but I'm honestly not planning on having any long-term balances, but lower=better for sure). If I were to app through her referral and got a higher rate would there be any way to call and say that I was offered a lower rate on the pre-qual site and have it lowered? 

I only wondered about dispute becaue that's what the rep at Macy's told me I had to do if I wanted my balaces updated. She said it could take up to 3 months (!!!) to update balances, that really doesn't sound right to me but she said I could dispute it and then they would have to report the balance. It all sounded really weird to me. I don't know why EX is taking so long to update my discover balance though, the statement closed a week ago and EQ was updated right away and TU was just updated overnight. 

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

APR listed on CSP is 15.99 and Freedom is 18.99 (but I'm honestly not planning on having any long-term balances, but lower=better for sure). If I were to app through her referral and got a higher rate would there be any way to call and say that I was offered a lower rate on the pre-qual site and have it lowered? 

I only wondered about dispute becaue that's what the rep at Macy's told me I had to do if I wanted my balaces updated. She said it could take up to 3 months (!!!) to update balances, that really doesn't sound right to me but she said I could dispute it and then they would have to report the balance. It all sounded really weird to me. I don't know why EX is taking so long to update my discover balance though, the statement closed a week ago and EQ was updated right away and TU was just updated overnight. 

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If the rates change you can try calling but I'm not sure if it would help tha much.  There also is the possibility that nothing will change or you even get a lower rate by applying thru her referral.  If you don't plan on carrying any balances then it probably won't make any difference.

As for what a Macy's rep says...we'll take that with a grain of salt. As for Discover, I'd just wait it out.  I'm sure it will update soon enough.  How much of a change are you talking about?

[Anonymous]

I thought it was just me. My EXP report doesn't seem to update as quickly as TU and EQ.  If the referrals offer the same sign up bonuses and rewards to apply, then use them. Will your Mom receive a bonus if you use her referrals

I think this is a time for you to be patient. If you are prequalified now, then you should be prequalified once your accounts update. Don't make any additional changes to your credit profile and you should be okay.

Best of luck!!! 

[Anonymous]

Big changes on the balances, Discover from $6700 (100%) to $3300 and Macy's from $1500 to $75. 

I don't think there would be a differnce in the sign-up bonus because the pre-qual site is showing the regularly advertised bonuses. (I believe Freedom is already 0% APR for first 15 months?) and yeah she gets like 10k points for the referrals. I'm trying to be patient but also trying to plan an international trip that can't happen without the cards. At least I'm closer than I was before, when I first started cleaning up my credit I had no offers at all on Chase's site, now I have 3 including the one I really want, so there's some positive movement. 

[sreneesa]

Unfortunately, Experian always takes forever to report and update scores. 

At least that has always been my experience.

[Jerry45]

I had pretty high FICO scores when I was approved for the Freedom. They showed 18.99 at the pre qual, and that is what I did receive. I wanted a foot in the Chase door, but form what I hear, they never lower the APR.

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@Anonymous wrote:

APR listed on CSP is 15.99 and Freedom is 18.99 (but I'm honestly not planning on having any long-term balances, but lower=better for sure). If I were to app through her referral and got a higher rate would there be any way to call and say that I was offered a lower rate on the pre-qual site and have it lowered? 

I only wondered about dispute becaue that's what the rep at Macy's told me I had to do if I wanted my balaces updated. She said it could take up to 3 months (!!!) to update balances, that really doesn't sound right to me but she said I could dispute it and then they would have to report the balance. It all sounded really weird to me. I don't know why EX is taking so long to update my discover balance though, the statement closed a week ago and EQ was updated right away and TU was just updated overnight. 

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[Wovenyarn]

My EX takes forever for some of my balances to update.  My BoA still says 8/1/15 and I swear the balance reflects something from July 2015.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I only wondered about dispute becaue that's what the rep at Macy's told me I had to do if I wanted my balaces updated. She said it could take up to 3 months (!!!) to update balances, that really doesn't sound right to me but she said I could dispute it and then they would have to report the balance. It all sounded really weird to me. I don't know why EX is taking so long to update my discover balance though, the statement closed a week ago and EQ was updated right away and TU was just updated overnight. 

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Macy's and Bloomingdale's are taking a very long time to update following their internal system updates and changes and others have experienced this as well. My last report from both Macy's and Bloomingdale's was in July and I was told not to expect an updated report from them both to the credit bureaus until the end of October.