US Bank Smartly - Rebuilding Post Chapter 13 Discharge

[TARHEELGIRL82]

I just completed a 60 month, 100% chapter 13 bankruptcy. It was discharged on 4/28/25. I'm trying to rebuild since I burned a lot of major card companies such as BoA, Cap1, Discover, USAA, NFCU, Nasa FCU, Comenity, Synchrony, Chase, Citi, and Coastal FCU. (I'm sure I'm missing some) I was pre approved for the US Smartly card on 5/2/25. I applied and was immediately given the 7-10 business day response. I called and was informed that I needed to submit my photo ID and SS card along with my tax records or past two month of bank statements. I faxed this information that night and followed up a few days later. I was informed that they did not have it in their system. I was worried since it's so much sensitive information. Got a letter in the mail saying it was denied due to not being able to authenticate me. Long story short I called again and faxed it to a different fax on 5/9/2025. Called yesterday to check and was informed that it was approved for $500. My question is should I call back and ask for a cli or just hang with it and hope for an increase later down the road? I have been approved for Midas $2k, Cap1 West Elms $3k, Ally $1k, Mission Lane $1.6K (approved day of discharge). I was also approved for Petal for $1.5k but have not activated it since it has an annual fee and I was approved for the West Elm after (thought Cap1 wouldn't let me in).  

[ptatohed]

   Fax   

Congrats.  If it were me, I'd be happy with the $500 (for now), use it responsibly, and wait patiently for an increase.  

[TARHEELGIRL82]

I rolled my eyes when they said fax or snail mail the info. 

Thanks for the advice. I'm happy I was approved and will make sure to take care of it moving forward. 

[cashorcharge]

Nicely done!! Congratulations on your Approval!!👏🏼🍾🥂

[LADave]

@ptatohedis right about the $500 limit. (He's also right about how crazy it is they'd want a fax in the year 2025, but that's kind of besides the point I'm trying to make, even though I'm spending most of this comment talking about it.) U.S. Bank will often give these baby approvals to customers with thinner files and reward with CLIs later.

[ptatohed]

Faxes had their place.  I remember when a company wronged me, I faxed 100 pages of solid black paper at 2am.  They probably ran out of ink by page 25.  

[Throttle]

Congrats on the approval.

I applied for a CLI w/in 30 days and took a second TU Hard pull but was denied the CLI. Their letter to me after denial stated that the account needed 6 months of activity for them to consider CLI.

[ocheosa]

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@TARHEELGIRL82 wrote:

I have been approved for Midas $2k, Cap1 West Elms $3k, Ally $1k, Mission Lane $1.6K (approved day of discharge). I was also approved for Petal for $1.5k but have not activated it since it has an annual fee and I was approved for the West Elm after (thought Cap1 wouldn't let me in).  

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@TARHEELGIRL82 Congratulations on your success! Word of caution, be careful with the petal account. A new account doesn't need activation to be charged fees and/or trailing interest on those fees. Also, the card can still be used by the right criminals.

I had a Biz AmEx that hadn't even been delivered, much less activated, used 'in-store' at Saks for over 3k! Luckily I already had an online account and noticed it almost immediately, otherwise who knows what further damage could've been imposed on that card. AmEx was super fast to handle the matter once they researched and realized it wasn't me (I had used the temp virtual card for online orders).  Prior to this experience, I had no idea a card could be used in-store that had never been activated, so be careful.

[TARHEELGIRL82]

Oh you're a mess.🤣 I love it. I was thinking they had a portal on their website to upload this type of information, but it served its purpose. 

[TARHEELGIRL82]

I'm cool with it. I'm happy I was approved and will use it and pay it in full. I'm in a much better mind frame and financial state to handle it with care.