Barclay monitoring...mystery solved or made more complex?

[Anonymous]

I am considering applying for the Carnival Card since they offer 15 months 0% APR but I don't know if I should...here's the 411 

I already have prime cards from Amex, Chase, Discover, and Citi. I applied for the prime cards from 2002-2005 and had about $35,000 in Credit by 2005. At one point I was managing 15 cards now I am down to 10 cards post the financial meltdown. Citi really screwed me by closing 3 of my cards during the financial meltdown (Sears MC $6,200 limit, Universal ATT $6,500 limit, Conoco MC $850 limit) I was really pissed by it but I didn't bother to find out why then when I never defaulted on any of their credit cards or any of my credit cards. I learned a lot in the past 2 weeks from here and figured out what happened. I had some collections and a paid judgement on my report plus I was an AU on some of my Mom's credit cards and she ran into financial hardship in 07-09 causing those negative lates to appear on my report even though those cards were not mine. 

I have cleaned up my credit in the last 2 weeks. My EX Report is completely clean, My EQ Report still has 1 CO and the judgement which is pending removal from dispute or will send letter of intent to sue. My TU is only reporting the judgement and is pending removal as well. My TU is the only one reporting my mortgage that I have had since 2003 and been paying on time for the past 8 years. 

Based on what I have read here I wonder if I should apply for the Carnival Card from Barclays during my app spree in the next 30-45 days

[CreditCrusader]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

---

@CreditCrusader wrote:

---

@mxp114 wrote:

---

@CreditCrusader wrote:

WOW...just got my welcome email from Barclay...check out this last line:

Thank you for choosing the Barclaycard Financing Visa Card. Remember to start using your card as soon as you receive it.

Interesting...for a company that is supposedly very nervous about new customers, they sure are encouraging me - a new cardholder - to charge on their card!

I'm no longer buying the hype over their nervousness regarding new approvals. More than ever, I am believing that this whole closing accounts/CLD issue is really about whether your credit behavior makes you a risk in their eyes. Modest changes in your credit profile (the stray app, perhaps a wee bit higher util one month i.e. Christmas shopping season, etc.) would not appear to raise the red flag or they wouldn't be encouraging you to use your card before you even receive it. I am not subscribing to the mode of thought that you are on some sort of application sabbatical because Barclay will shut you down afterward.

Everything I have read and heard on the subject leads me to believe that it is really a combination of factors that contribute to Barclay's decision. If you think about it, this is really no different than any other prime or near-prime card lender. Do we all think that Discover won't raise an eyebrow if all of the sudden they are in the middle of an app spree or sudden flurry of increased carried balances? I have read on these forums that these lenders often even call customers to get explanations for credit behavior - and they do so even if there is just a single piece of concerning behavior.

IMO stew, I wouldn't lose a lot of sleep on whether your Barclay card is safe. So long as you garden wisely and keep your head through the holiday shopping season (no easy task!), you'll be fine

---

That's just standard wording, do you expect the welcome email to declare "We are a paranoid lender, so use your card but don't use it too much or we may shut you down" lol?

As with all credit decisions, it really comes down to your personal report however Barclays does seem like a more sensitive lender with respect to new accounts and INQ post-approval. Every lender looks for patterns of potential risk however perhaps Barclays has a more conservative policy? For example, two new TL's reported post-approval  = closed acct. They all must have internal triggers but Barclays could be one of the more aggressive ones with new accounts reported after they approved.

I just decided not to bother, they don't offer me anything I can't get elsewhere and there was also the factor that one of my other four new cards could be impacted. So at the end of the day, I decided that my other cards provided more value and that of the five, I'd rather close Barclays.

---

Trust me on this..if I had your 767 FICO, I wouldn't be bothering with Barclay either

Frankly, this is as close as I have sniffed to a prime lender in a very long time. I'm just happy to be knocking at the door at this point!

---

I'm with him! If I had a 767, Barclays would be an afterthought to Amex & Chase & Discover. Unfortunately, I'm not qualified enough for them, and I think that my path to get to Discover or Amex includes a trip to Barclays for some time. I've decided I'm not going to worry about the Barclays getting closed because all of my new tradelines were reported to the CRAs before Barclays pulled the recon inquiry. I'm not planning on doing anything ridiculous in my spending so there'd be no reason whatsoever to close the account. I'm going to be pushing my util down instead of up so theres really little for me to worry about. Additionally, I have 15+ inqs on my CR for the year so theres no other lenders that I would even want to do business with that would consider me, so there will be no app sprees for at least 9 months.

FYI, I think I'm a bit behind on the e-mail chains...I JUST now got this email:

Congratulations! You have been approved for the Barclaycard Financing Visa® Card brought to you by Barclaycard US.

So, I'll assume that the welcome e-mail is on its way over the next few days.

---

Aren't you at 675 FICO? You're not as far away as you think