Hi, here are my data points for the Amex Blue Cash Everyday card, which I was approved for on April 15th. I wasn't approved though on the first try, as I had applied 2 months prior on February 2nd, so I'll also share those data points too.
When I initially applied in February, I checked the prequalifer tool but no cards showed up. I had read that sometimes you might still get approved for a card that doesn't show up on that list, so I went to the Blue Cash Everyday pre-approval page to directly apply, but I was instantly denied. In the denial letter, it states it was due to my Experian Fico score, which was 655 at the time. When I checked my credit reports, there was a soft inquiry for both Experian and TransUnion.
Here are the Feb 2nd key factors contributing to my 655 Experian score:
- There is a serious delinquency and derogatory public record or collection agency record on your report
- The length of time your accounts have been established
- The ratio of revolving account balances to their credit limits is too high
- The ratio of loan balances to the loan amounts is too high
Regarding the above, I have two charge offs in 2020 which were paid in settlement less than full in 2021 and one collection paid in full in 2022. I had opened 3 cards in Nov 2022, and all 3 cards had a balance with two of the new cards over 30% utilization. My oldest card was opened in 2016 (had a balance less than 30% and one 30 day late) and I'm an authorized user on a card since 2002 (no balance). For loans, I have a car loan started in Mar 2021. Also, my inquiries at the time were Experian 3, Equifax 2, TransUnion 1.
In my denial letter, it said, "We realize this may not be the outcome you hoped for. It's been our experience that applicants who were not approved for a new account at one time may qualify in the future. We invite you to apply again at a time when your circumstances have changed". So...that's what I intended to do, to apply again in the future, though I just didn't expect to apply again as soon as I did.
In April, my Experian score improved to 665. I think mainly it was because I brought my utilization down on all my cards, so that now they were all under 30%. So I decided to check the prequalifying page again to see if anything changed. This time I was prequalified for a couple of the cards, the Hilton Honors and the Delta cards. I had read that the co-branded cards have a little more flexibility in the underwriting so it made sense if any card would appear, it might be one of those, but I just didn't think I'd really use those cards, so I didn't apply and instead went to go look at the other cards.
Then that's when it appeared... a 'Special Offer for You' for the Blue Cash Everyday card! Wow... where did that come from? The offer was the same as far as having a 0% intro APR for 15 months (it'll be 29.74% thereafter), but instead of $200 cash back after spending $2000 in 6 months, I would earn $250.
Still though, I was really nervous to apply, especially with my 665 score and having been turned down just two months prior. Then again... I also have read posts of people getting approved for the Blue Cash Everyday card with my same exact score, and also... flashback to the fact sometimes you can get approved for a card that hadn't been shown on the prequalifier list. While on the flip side of that... I also wasn't entirely sure if the offer was personalized for me or not, since I've also read posts about people going incognito and also seeing special offers. What a conundrum... but, with all that considered, and the fact it said the offer might not be there later if I leave the page, I decided to just go for it and.. yippee! I was approved, and the limit I was approved for was $5000. They pulled both Experian and TransUnion, though just referenced the Experian score in the approval letter.
Here are the Apr 15th key factors contributing to my 665 Experian score:
- Serious delinquency, and public record or collection filed
- Length of time accounts have been established
- Number of accounts with delinquency
I'm pretty sure they pulled my Fico 8 score for both applications as the range was 300-850 and the score matched my Experian Fico 8 score both times. Is that typical though to have different wording to describe the same things? Plus there's no mention of my car loan balance being too high anymore, though it really hadn't changed all that much in the two months time (unless maybe it reaching 2 years old in March was a milestone?). Am I on a different scorecard perhaps? If anyone knows, I'm all ears... and once again, hope this helps, and good luck to you as well with your future applications 
Congrats on the BCE approval! 0-$5k in just two months! It really shows we should continue trying for what we want!
Nice approval, congratulations!
Congrats on the approval
Congrats on your Amex approval !
NFCU Visa 43k | NFCU Platinum 37k | Cap1 QS 13K | Cap1 QS 11.5K | Barclay MC 15k | Delta Gold Amex 35K | Discover IT 20K | CFNA FS 3600 | CareCredit 20k| PayPal Credit 7k |
Thank you for the DPs. This is a great success story and definitely warrants a big CONGRATULATIONS! WOO-HOO
Starting Score: 570
