BoA confusion!?!

[CenturyChild]

I'm just curious if anyone can explain this. This may be a little long winded but heres the situation.

So, Ive tried 2 times this year for a BoA cash Rewards card and got instant denial both times.  Just can't seem to get in with them at all.

But I did manage to get in with Barclay and Chase so Im fine for now.

For the past few months, I've been helping a family member out with getting her credit repaired .

Lots of negs removed, and a few unpaid liens still remain though older and paid, we are just working on getting them reporting as released.

At any count, she had tried for Chase last month and got shot down.

I told her she needed to start small. (She has NO no revolving lines at all other than a few I added her on as AU to help her get started)

So we went with Cap One and she got approved for $300 on Credit Steps to $500.  I told her this was a good start and not to worry right now. First card and unsecured.

So a week later, she then tried Walmart and got instant approval for the Discover @ $1600. 

Then got a letter the next day from BoA for the 1,2,3 Rewards card with a "Secured Number" exclusive offer.  The wording was wierd as it didnt say "pre-approved" or 'Subject to credit approval" It simply laid out the terms and said to use the number to get your card today.

I told her that it would be a waste of time. Tougher Requirements she wasn't really ready for yet.

She applied anyway using the number.

APPROVED. $1800.

So has anyone seen anything like this?  I couldn't get the WM Discover and had to start with the store card, and BoA keeps shooting me down.

I'm really confused here how this all works.

Equally confunsing is BoA always pulls EX for me.  They softed her TU a while back, and HPd her TU for the approval. This I thought was odd as well.

[FinStar]

When you compare information between profiles, it's like apples to oranges.  Two different profiles, scores are different, not to mention history, tradelines and income amongst a few variables.

So, what are some factors that are holding back the approvals for BOA?  What have they listed as reasons?

[CenturyChild]

Length of Time accounts have been established

Too many Inquiries in past 12 months

Was same reasons both times for me.

This last time I had 4 INQ in last 12 months.

She had like 5 in last 2 months though at approval, so Im not sure thats a huge factor.

Must be time more than anything.

She also has no revolving accounts at all, other than some AU I recently added her to.

But on EX and EQ she had 5 personal loans and a Auto loan going back 5 years or so (all paid/closed in good standing) and showing a AAoA of 3.5 years if I recall correctly.

Her TU has nothing but those AU revovling accounts.

After looking into it further, I found the did pull her EX as well as TU. It seems that history even though it lacked revolving accounts made the difference.

My history is only 1.5 yrs with a AAoA being around 8months.

[FinStar]

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@CenturyChild wrote:

Length of Time accounts have been established

Too many Inquiries in past 12 months

Was same reasons both times for me.

This last time I had 4 INQ in last 12 months.

She had like 5 in last 2 months though at approval, so Im not sure thats a huge factor.

Must be time more than anything.

She also has no revolving accounts at all, other than some AU I recently added her to.

But on EX and EQ she had 5 personal loans and a Auto loan going back 5 years or so (all paid/closed in good standing) and showing a AAoA of 3.5 years if I recall correctly.

Her TU has nothing but those AU revovling accounts.

After looking into it further, I found the did pull her EX as well as TU. It seems that history even though it lacked revolving accounts made the difference.

My history is only 1.5 yrs with a AAoA being around 8months.

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Now, in your case, did you ever consider contacting their U/W or analysts to appeal the decision just to see if your chances would have been favorable for approval?  Not sure if you had explored that as a possibility.  From what I've read and heard, seem like there are some good success stories, of course it's a YEMV situation but never hurts to try.

[youngandcreditwrthy]

Credit is crazy. It depends on the day on the week. Maybe it's raining, or the sky is blue. Maybe they're checking Telecheck lol.. Maybe they have a quota. Maybe they met the quota. Not a single person has the exact same CR as another person. Lol

[dodgerslv]

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@youngandcreditwrthy wrote:
Credit is crazy. It depends on the day on the week. Maybe it's raining, or the sky is blue. Maybe they're checking Telecheck lol.. Maybe they have a quota. Maybe they met the quota. Not a single person has the exact same CR as another person. Lol

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lol...i totally concur young.

but to OP i gotta agree with Fin, try calling the backdoor number and talk to an analyst if you havent done already.

[B335is]

Agree with Finstar, did you ever contact BoA U/W? They've always been helpful in reconsidering me.

[CenturyChild]

I did call for recon.

At the time the guy was very nice.

He told me I looked to be in pretty good shape yet was just short of meeting thier requiments.  He said my oldest major card was 1.3 years old (at the time) and they would  like to see at least 2 major cards with one being at least 2 years old.  I have the 2 major cards but niether 2 years old.

So he told me give it a bit more time.

Which is why I thought she'd be wasting her time apping with no Major cards at all in her name, other than my AUs all which are less than 2 years.

This is all confusing.  

The only thing I can figure is that perhaps there is just something else about me that spooks BoA and they didn't tell me what it truly really was?

My last app with BoA was 2 months ago, so Im not sure if I could even call again to talk to a different rep.

But probably best I let it go for now. Since Ive had 2 Chase cards and a Barclay card since that app/recon attempt, they will likely say too many new accounts now. And I can understand that.

Thanks for the advice everyone. 

This just confuses me so much how different lenders see different people and I was wanting to understand it better. 

One person may be seen as good at one bank, bad at another. A second person sees the opposite reaction from the same banks.

[FinStar]

Well at least you tried OP.  No worries.  I would give it some time to let things age and the dust settle for a bit since you do have other great CCs.  Just something to think about on the horizon I suppose.  However,  I woudn't give up with BOA - just try them again in the future.  It's a great lender and I have several of their prducts.  Their C/S is awesome IMO!