I hoped I would be accepted for another card (it's 91/3 since my first approval of a cashRewards for 1K), but this! THIS!!! This I NEVER expected! Getting a $500 limit would be okay. $1K-$3K I thought was probably realistic. And I was totally okay with that. My needs are modest. BUT THIS!!!!!
$17K!!!!
THIS I NEVER EXPECTED!!!
DATA POINTS:
- TU FICO 8: 658 TU FICO 9: 661 (all other scores in same range)
- Income $24K (slight increase from 3 months ago)
- Util: 68% (mostly from a low-interest monthly payment plan on some closed credit cards. My util on open credit lines is 9%)
- Debt to income ratio: 19%
- Inquiries: 5 TU, 3 EQ, 5 EX in last 2 years. 1 inquiry TU in last six months (from my first Navy card).
- Oldest account age: Over 20 years
- Average age of all accounts: 5-6 years
- I just opened a Shell gas rewards card (store card) a few days ago, before that was the Navy cashRewards card in June. All six open tradelines were acquired within the last year (all the old ones were closed due to credit meltdown).
- Baddies: 90-day-late & one account settled for less than full amount (but not charged off). No judgments, no charge-offs, nothing else. Just the 90-day late and settled account from a year ago.
My spending habits on Navy: I was always depositing smallish amounts (cash, PayPal, direct deposit) into my checking. I can't say a ton of money was coming through (I use Unify CU checking as my "primary" checking) but there was frequent activity. I was constantly checking my account online. I was constantly sending in payments to my cashRewards card. Like every few days if possible. I hate seeing the balance go up and with a 1K limit, I wanted some breathing room if needed. (I made my sign-up bonus minimum spend of $2.5K and probably went up to $3K before the third month was up! I gave that card LOTS of love!)
My takeaway from this approval: Use your Navy accounts, pay a lot of attention to them, love them. I did the best I could with my meager income and spend and I guess they noticed!
I am gobsmacked by the high limit. I DO NOT NEED THIS MUCH but I'm not going to tell them to take it back! A 10K limit would have been a dream come true! Wow! Navy is something else!
Thank you so much everyone for your encouragement! @Saeren thanks for your words of advice and encouragement! BOY WERE YOU RIGHT! You said I "didn't have anything to worry about" when it came to being approved for this card! LOL, I guess so!
EDIT: There may be some of you who think you can't qualify for Navy Fed because you weren't in the military. I qualified through my father, but I could have also qualified through my grandfather (who died before I was born). Navy didn't ask me for any proof of my father's military status when I applied to be a member. In theory they could have, but they didn't and probably will never need to. However, there are records you can get online to provide proof.
Many of us have some direct relative (parent, grandparent) who served in the military (Vietnam, Korea, and WW2 also count!). Some of the military records are easy to get and open to the public if they're old enough.
Congrats on your shiny new card and awesome SL. Navy ROCKS!
Congratulations on your approval! Thanks for the data points. Navy never ceases to amaze us.
Congratulations!!!
@Anonymous wrote:... BUT THIS!!!!!
$17K!!!!
THIS I NEVER EXPECTED!!!
Talk about a
H A P P Y D A N C E
occasion! 
C O N G R A T U L A T I O N S !
Congrats. Share your internal NFCU score when you get it if you could. It will come on an announcement mailer.
