PenFed Power Cash Approval $15,000! (Old denial re... - myFICO® Forums

MisterWives · ‎01-25-2021

Opened up my membership and savings account with PenFed on Feb 2019, so approaching 2 years now.

I tried for the PenFed Power Cash a couple months later in 2019 after opening the account from which I got denied and it states the reasons in the letter(impressive penfed is willing to keep denial letters in your account mailbox for so long that I can still access it now) being:

Percent of Revolving Accounts Opened Recently
Percent of Accounts Opened Recently
Age of Bankcard Accounts
Bankcard High Credit

During that time I opened a lot of new accounts so the first 3 reasons were not a surprise. Overall, I do think the Bankcard High Credit is what got me as utilization was pretty high back then with some credit cards reaching their max and an overall utilization of 20%-30%. FICO was 703 back then.

I decided to apply late at night as I felt that my odds were a lot better considering most of my cards had aged by a few years, utilization went significantly down to 0%, and the savings account/membership is now over 2 years old. There was of course hesitation since there doesn't seem to be specific rules from the many threads on PenFed I looked through they're all over the place honestly on reasons for denials and approvals.

Approved for $15,000 SL making this my highest CL by a few hundred ahead of my Discover IT! They pulled Equifax, Fico Score 749.

I believe HP's are reused for 30 days or 90 days for other applications, so I decided then to apply for PenFed Platinum which went to pending review, so probably shouldn't have done that.

Discover IT Chrome $8,550 | Opened 9/2017 | 2% Restaurant & Gas / 1% Everything

Best Buy Store Card $10,000 | Opened 11/2018

Amazon Store Card $10,000 | Opened 12/2018 | 5% Amazon Purchases (Requires Prime)

PNC Cash Reward Visa $10,500 | Opened 12/2018 | 4% Gas / 3% Restaurant / 2% Grocery / 1% Everything

Chase Freedom $5,200 | Opened 1/2019 | 5% Category Rotation

Amex Blue Cash Everyday $5,000 | Opened 4/2019 | 3% Grocery / 2% Gas / 1% Everything

Banana Republic $10,000 | Opened 6/2019 | Banana Republic 5x pts per $1 / Everything 1x pt per $1

Costco Anywhere Visa $10,000 | Opened 7/2019 | 4% Gas / 3% Restaurant / 2% Costco & Grocery / 1% Everything

Citi Rewards+ $2,000 | Opened 8/2019 | 2x pts Grocery & Gas | 1x pts Everything

BB&T Rewards $4,500 | Opened 8/2019 | 3% Gas / 2% Utilities & Grocery / 1% Everything

PNC Points Visa $1,800 | Opened 8/2019 (PC in 2020) | 4pts per $1

Home Depot Store Card $5,001 | Opened 10/2019

Discover IT $14,500 | Opened 11/2019 | 5% Category Rotation

Synchrony Mastercard $7,500 | Opened 12/2019 | 2% Everything

Capital One Quicksilver $1,000 | Opened 12/2019 (PC in 2020) | 1.5% Everything

Wells Fargo Platinum Visa $6,500 | Opened 4/2020 | No Rewards

Ulta Mastercard $4,900 | Opened 6/2020 | Ulta 1x pt per $1 / Everything 1x pt per $3

Amex Hilton Honors $6,000 | Opened 6/2020 | 7x pts Hilton / 5x pts Restaurants & Gas & Grocery / 3pts Everything

PSECU $10,000 | Opened 6/2020 | 1.5% Everything (2% with Checking and Deposits)

First National Bank of Omaha Platinum Visa $15,000 | Opened 10/2020 | No Rewards

Apple Card $5,000 | Opened 1/2021 | 3% Apple / 2% Apple Pay / 1% Everything

Venmo Credit Card $7,000 | Opened 1/2021 | 3% Category / 2% Category

PenFed Power Cash Rewards Visa $17,500 | Opened 1/2021 | 1.5% Everything(2% with Checking)

Citi Custom Cash $5,000 | Opened 5/2022 | 5% Category

Wants: PenFed Pathfinder Rewards(4x pts travel), PenFed Platinum Rewards Visa Signature (5pts Gas, 3pts Restaurants and Grocery), U.S. Bank Cash+ (5% Categories), Chase Freedom Flex (5% Rotating Categories, 5% Travel, 3% Restaurants)

Anonymous · ‎01-25-2021

@MisterWives wrote:
Opened up my membership and savings account with PenFed on Feb 2019, so approaching 2 years now. I tried for the PenFed Power Cash a couple months later in 2019 after opening the account from which I got denied and it states the reasons in the letter(impressive penfed is willing to keep denial letters in your account mailbox for so long that I can still access it now) being:

Percent of Revolving Accounts Opened Recently
Percent of Accounts Opened Recently
Age of Bankcard Accounts
Bankcard High Credit

During that time I opened a lot of new accounts so the first 3 reasons were not a surprise. Overall, I do think the Bankcard High Credit is what got me as utilization was pretty high back then with some credit cards reaching their max and an overall utilization of 20%-30%.

I decided to apply late at night as I felt that my odds were a lot better considering most of my cards had aged by a few years, utilization went significantly down to 0%, and the savings account/membership is now over 2 years old. There was of course hesitation since there doesn't seem to be specific rules from the many threads on PenFed I looked through they're all over the place honestly on reasons for denials and approvals.

Approved for $15,000 SL making this my highest CL by a few hundred ahead of my Discover IT.

I believe HP's are reused for 30 days or 90 days for other applications, so I decided then to apply for PenFed Platinum which went to pending review, so probably shouldn't have done that.

Congratulations on your approval! Great SL for PenFed too!

Rebuild2019 · ‎01-25-2021

Congratulations on your approval and good SL.

gingerflower · ‎01-25-2021

Congratulations on your awesome Penfed Cc SL! Good luck on your second Cc app!

Anonymous · ‎01-25-2021

Congrats on your approval!

gdale6 · ‎01-25-2021

Nice that you got in the credit door and with a pretty good SL to boot, enjoy it

AllZero · ‎01-25-2021

Congratulations on your approval! Good luck on the Platinum.

Anonymous · ‎01-25-2021

Good job....Its all about the stregically planning....Happy for you...

cashorcharge · ‎01-25-2021

That's terrific! Congratulations on your approval!! 🎉🥂

CreditAggie · ‎01-25-2021

Congratulations on your PenFed PCR approval!

Current Cards (in order of approval):

Current FICO 8 | 9 (January 2025):

Credit Age:

Inquiries (6/12/24):

Banks & CUs:

PenFed Power Cash Approval $15,000! (Old denial reasons included)

PenFed Power Cash Approval $15,000! (Old denial reasons included)

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Re: PenFed Power Cash Approval $15,000! (Old denial reasons included)

Re: PenFed Power Cash Approval $15,000! (Old denial reasons included)

Re: PenFed Power Cash Approval $15,000! (Old denial reasons included)

Re: PenFed Power Cash Approval $15,000! (Old denial reasons included)

Re: PenFed Power Cash Approval $15,000! (Old denial reasons included)

Re: PenFed Power Cash Approval $15,000! (Old denial reasons included)

Re: PenFed Power Cash Approval $15,000! (Old denial reasons included)

Re: PenFed Power Cash Approval $15,000! (Old denial reasons included)

PenFed Power Cash Approval $15,000! (Old denial reasons included)

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PenFed Power Cash Approval $15,000! (Old denial reasons included)

Re: PenFed Power Cash Approval $15,000! (Old denial reasons included)

Re: PenFed Power Cash Approval $15,000! (Old denial reasons included)

Re: PenFed Power Cash Approval $15,000! (Old denial reasons included)

Re: PenFed Power Cash Approval $15,000! (Old denial reasons included)

Re: PenFed Power Cash Approval $15,000! (Old denial reasons included)

Re: PenFed Power Cash Approval $15,000! (Old denial reasons included)

Re: PenFed Power Cash Approval $15,000! (Old denial reasons included)

Re: PenFed Power Cash Approval $15,000! (Old denial reasons included)

Re: PenFed Power Cash Approval $15,000! (Old denial reasons included)

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