My approval data to help the community

[Anonymous]

Here are some data points for everyone from my credit history. Hope this helps people with their applications. I have never had any derogatory items on my report, no lates, etc. Feel free to ask questions. I’ve been reading threads here for a long time and I get frustrated when users ask questions or seek advice but don’t post a full profile of their credit in the first place. So I figure what better way to start off my account here then by making my first post exactly the kind of detail I’d like when someone asks for advice.

I try to maximize my cashback and don’t have an interest in travel cards/programs. I prefer straight cashback.

January 2013: Applied for Chase Freedom. Pulled TU. Instant approval with $4,000 SL with 12.99% APR (lowest offered) after 12 months 0%. First credit card applied for ever, and first on my report. Report contained Citizen’s Bank line of credit (overdraft protection) $2,500 limit with $0 balance with opened date February 2011. Citizens Bank account was Shared Responsibility account. Only other item on report is a Discover Card where I am an AUTHORIZED USER. Discover open date May 2004, balance at application $2,000 of $7,200 limit. Forget reported income. I was 18 when I applied.

July 2013: Applied for AMEX BCE. Pulled EX. Instant approval $1,000 SL with 21.99% APR after 12 months 0%.

Applied for Capital One Quicksilver after AMEX BCE approval (same day). Instant denial. I don’t have records of reported score and denial reasons, but it looks like I had 85% utilization on Freedom at the time. Pulled TU, EX, EQ.

November 2013: Requested AMEX BCE CLI to $3,000. Instantly approved. I think I had just paid off high balance (88% of limit) on AMEX before requesting. Had 75% utilization on Freedom.

August 2014: Called Chase to request upgrade to Visa Signature Freedom. This was a process over a few weeks since first reps kept saying they would mail the Signature card but I kept receiving standard cards. Eventually talked to a supervisor/credit analyst and they stated I needed to get a CLI with HP to get Signature. Requested $10,000 limit, approved for $7,000. Received Visa Signature card.

December 2014: AMEX emailed me that I’m eligible to have BCE limit increased to $4,200. I accepted.

May 2015: AMEX auto CLI to $5,800. New limit was generated when I had a balance that would cause my utilization for card to be exactly 30% after the new limit.

July 2015: Applied for Discover IT card with referral link. Applied for 12 months 0% APR and $50 signup bonus and double cashback first year. They asked about student status and I entered my school info. Instant approval for $1,000 SL with 10.99% APR (lowest offered) after 0% APR period. Pulled TU. CK FAKO 755. Calling to recon SL was unsuccessful multiple times. They have my account flagged as student, even though I didn’t apply for student card. So my referral links are all for the student card. CS tells me there is no difference, but I think they have different underwriting and lower SL and CLI increases for the student flagged accounts. They won’t remove the student flag until I graduate.

At time of app: AMEX 14% util, Freedom 32% util, Discover AU 8% util, Student loan 1 opened October 2013 $5,800 balance, Student loan 2 opened September 2014 $1,700 balance, Student loan 3 opened September 2014 $3,200 balance. Citizens Bank $0 balance.

January 2016:

Auto Discover CLI to $1,500. I put $11,000 through it during six months account has been open (nearly $2,000 per month). Had to pay multiple times per month during that time due to usage.

Requested AMEX BCE lower APR via chat. Given new APR of 21.00% (had been raised to 22.24% due to fed hike).

March 2016:

Income reported for the following: $50,000, CK FAKO TU 749, Discover TU FICO 746.

TU CR info at time of apps: AMEX 5% util, Freedom 2% util, Discover 1% util, Discover AU 12% util, Student loan 1 $4,300 opened September 2014, Student loan 2 $2,300 opened September 2014, Student loan 3 $5,900 opened October 2013, Student loan 4 $1,000 opened September 2015, Student loan 5 $2,700 opened September 2015

Applied for Chase AARP Visa Signature $200 bonus after $500 spend. Instant approval $7,500 SL. Called to request card expedited and request granted. Pulled TU.

Same day, applied for Fidelity Visa Signature. Instant approval $12,000 SL. Have had a Fidelity account (IRA) 1 month. $5,500 in it. This application asks for TONS of info. Time at current address, assets, etc. Received card after 7 days. Pulled TU.

Requested AMEX CLI to $15,000. Instant approval. Reported score from AMEX was 777. Based off SP prior to applying for AARP and Fidelity. Overall utilization 8%.

Other info:

I’ve used the Freedom CL extensively. I had a reported balance of $7,400 one time (credit report high balance). No issues since it’s a Signature card I could spend above limit. Paid to at least below limit by payment due date. I’ve also done a balance transfer to Chase Freedom at one point when they sent checks with an offer.

At some point I applied for the Bank Americard CashRewards. I can’t find it on my report histories. This was around the time I got the AMEX BCE card I think. Instant denial. Called to recon and analyst stated only issue was short history and that he recommends just building more history and getting a BOA checking account to build history with them. I didn’t get any accounts with them and have not re-applied.

Discover denied repeated CLI requests. Reason “length of time account open” prior to auto CLI. Requested CLI a couple weeks ago. Denied due to “lack of experience at current limit”. Discover has been EXTREMELY frustrating in regards to credit limit. I get enjoyment now out of having these new cards with high limits and basically making Discover look like a toy. I hope they realize how dumb of a limit they have provided me soon. But their CS has been great and I’ve earned 8.5% cashback on my account before the doubling so far.

So now I have the following cards after only 3 years of personal credit building:

AMEX BCE $15,000 limit

Fidelity Visa Signature (ELAN) $12,000 limit

Chase AARP Visa Signature $7,500 limit

Chase Freedom Visa Signature $7,000 limit

Discover IT $1,500 limit

[NRB525]

Excellent post. Thanks for sharing.

Are you still getting a 10% points bonus on Freedom swipes?

If you run a lot of swipes through the Freedom card, are you keeping those UR points or cashing them out?

Have you considered or apped US Bank, to try to get into the Cash+ card?

Interesting set of auto CLI on the AMEX card.

As a counter data-point, in 2014, among a flurry of offers I got from Discover, one was a Spend $1,000 get $100 back offer. It came as a paper mailer, but it may be something to call them up to see if such an offer is available on your account. I called them a few months ago about getting an APR reduction and they countered with 0% APR on purchases for 12 months, so I combined that with a BT offer for 12 months at 0% also.

[Anonymous]

Are you referring to the 10% bonus on Freedom when you deposit cashback into a Chase bank account? I never received that 10% bonus. It was mentioned as an option in the terms I received after approval, but it also mentioned that would be going away if I remember correctly. I also don't have a Chase bank account since I live in PA and they don't serve my market area.

I had around $800 in UR points until maybe 9 months ago I just requested a bank transfer of $600 since I needed to float some payments around at the time. Now I have a ~$250 UR balance. I don't have any plans to bank them for UR partner transfer since I don't plan on getting CSP because I don't travel and the reward categories that it has I receive better or marginally less on my existing no AF cards. The only discounted GC they have is Kohl's and I spend maybe $100 per year there so I'll probably just cash them out again eventually.

Discover I'm banking right now and will redeem for GC at discounted pricing. Have ~$1,300 in CB there so far thanks to Apple Pay promo.

Also have been banking my BCE points too since I got the card.

I researched Cash+ and decided not to go for it a while back for multiple reasons. One, US Bank doesn't serve my market and they like a banking relationship. Two, they can decide to issue a lesser card without my consent when I app for the Cash+. I don't app for cards that do this. Three, they have repeatedly nerfed the rewards so I don't feel the card is a good long term value since I believe it will only get worse.

Good info on the Discover promos. I plan to give them a call when my 0% is up and see if I have any promotions then. Doesn't make sense for me to call now IMO since I currently have a promo APR and they clearly aren't fully comfortable with me yet based on my current limit and CLI history.

[NRB525]

True enough, US Bank can start one out with a lesser card and not directly the Cash+, that is somewhat in their nature of building a relationship. If that occurs, the card can be grown into a $5k limit then PC to Cash+ easy enough. Once that relationship starts to blossom, it's a beautiful thing.

However given your scores and existing card profile, I'd bet your chances are good to get the Cash+ directly. The 5% categories in such areas as cellphone (and Landline in my experience) Bookstores (Amazon), Fast Food, Department Stores, Sporting Goods, Electronics stores, Furniture stores, they can be a nice option to have when you know a purchase is coming up in the next quarter in one of those categories. Also you pick one 2% category, groceries, or dining, or gasoline.

Each of my current 3 US Bank cards got about a 40% CLI 9 to 10 months after opening, regardless of usage level.

But, many people are happy enough skipping past US Bank

[OmarGB9]

Welcome and thanks for the many interesting data points!

[Anonymous]

Great post, thanks for sharing your information.

[Anonymous]

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@NRB525 wrote:

True enough, US Bank can start one out with a lesser card and not directly the Cash+, that is somewhat in their nature of building a relationship. If that occurs, the card can be grown into a $5k limit then PC to Cash+ easy enough. Once that relationship starts to blossom, it's a beautiful thing.

However given your scores and existing card profile, I'd bet your chances are good to get the Cash+ directly. The 5% categories in such areas as cellphone (and Landline in my experience) Bookstores (Amazon), Fast Food, Department Stores, Sporting Goods, Electronics stores, Furniture stores, they can be a nice option to have when you know a purchase is coming up in the next quarter in one of those categories. Also you pick one 2% category, groceries, or dining, or gasoline.

Each of my current 3 US Bank cards got about a 40% CLI 9 to 10 months after opening, regardless of usage level.

But, many people are happy enough skipping past US Bank

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Thanks for the Cash+ info. Do you know if Elan pulls the 2 smaller CRA that US Bank does? Just wondering if they do since they are owned by US Bank and the Fidelity I was approved for is Elan.

I might apply for the Cash+ towards the end of the year or 2017. I'll have to do more research and see where my profile is at that time as well as their rewards structure. The only thing that interests me would be the 5%, since I have the Fidelity 2% now.

Was it always possible to PC to the Cash+ if approved for the lesser card? When I researched a few years ago, I don't recall that being the case.

[CountryLivin]

Thanks for posting!

[Anonymous]

thanks for sharing your data points! looks like you have been on a good track.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for your posting. Whit discover cli you shall request online every two months statement cut. For myself from 1k-1.5k-2.8k-4.2k-9k-14k.