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Chase Recon with Insufficient Credit History?

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sergi0wned
Contributor

Chase Recon with Insufficient Credit History?

So I jumped the gun and applied for - and was denied for - a Chase Freedom card today.

 

I am a 19 year old college student, so naturally my credit history is limited. I have student loans in deferrment (since Sept 2012) and a 1st Financial Bank USA Visa that I have had since January 2013. I always pay it in full every month, have never carried a balance, and my credit report is flawless. I was also approved for the Discover IT Student and Citi Forward Student at the end of June (but they are not yet reporting), each with $1,500 limits. I guess I got too cocky and decided to push my luck with the Freedom, and it put me back in my place.

 

Anyways, I got the 7-10 day message when I applied.

 

Called recon (866-270-2127) and was told that I was denied because I didn't have enough credit history. She said that everything else looked great, but that I just didn't have the history that Chase looks for. I asked if there was anything I could do, and she said that there unfortunately wasn't, but if I kept it up I'd qualify in no time.

 

I then called the credit analyst recon (888-245-0625) and was also denied. The guy was very nice, but also told me I didn't have the history. Asked if I could do anything, he said nothing but let the accounts age. I asked for a lower limit, and he said that with such a short history they couldn't approve me for even the lowest limit. He was nice, and pointed me to myFICO for more information, which I found amusing.

 

I understand that my history is short, but it sucks that I burned a HP. Should I just suck it up and learn my lesson to research more before I apply, or is there any other recon techniques I can try? Have any users here had success in a similar situation? I'm heading to the garden now, but before I give up on this, I wanna make sure there's nothing more I can do here.

20 years old | 4 Cards in my wallet | TU (3/28/14) 743
January 2013 - 1st Financial Bank USA Platinum VISA ($500 --> $1,500)
June 2013- Discover IT Student ($1,500 --> $1,800 --> $2,100), Citi Forward Student ($1,500 --> $2,900)
December 2013 - Macy's American Express ($1,000 --> $3,000)
February 2014 - American Express Blue Cash Everyday ($3,000), Chase Freedom ($2,000)
April 2014 - Sallie Mae MasterCard ($3,800)
Message 1 of 11
10 REPLIES 10
Revelate
Moderator Emeritus

Re: Chase Recon with Insufficient Credit History?

Out of curiosity how did you attempt to plead your case?

 

If it were me, I'd be playing up how much I want the card for XYZ, and the Chase relationship as a whole... in your case specifically, that you know you don't have much established history, but you are looking to build a relationship with Chase as one of the best institutions available... blah blah blah Smiley Happy.  Some salesmanship never hurts on a recon call.

 

End of the day there's probably not a lot you can do in this case, without six months reported it's problematic, and Chase anecdotally seems to prefer a year though I know there's been exceptions to both.  With Chase recon if you haven't tried something similar to the above, I'd push my marker one more time, but you may have hit a unilateral wall.

 

It'd help if your depository account was there, but too late to try that gambit unfortunately; might be worth considering (albeit the annoyance of switching, they are a good bank in my experience) for a Januaryish app.

 

 




        
Message 2 of 11
BearsAndTurtlesRtheBest
Senior Contributor

Re: Chase Recon with Insufficient Credit History?

Yup they like to see 1 year of credit history, and like Revelate said having a realtionship with the bank helps alot when applying for their credit card. Id say take the reps advice and allow for them new accts to age. You did 2/3 which is excellent. Congrats and keep it up.

Discover IT $2,600- First Premier MasterCard $1,000- Dillards Store Card $300- Fingerhut Advantage $200
Chapter 7 BK Dischagred on 07/11/16. Gardening Since 01/17/2019
Message 3 of 11
sergi0wned
Contributor

Re: Chase Recon with Insufficient Credit History?


@Revelate wrote:

Out of curiosity how did you attempt to plead your case?

 

If it were me, I'd be playing up how much I want the card for XYZ, and the Chase relationship as a whole... in your case specifically, that you know you don't have much established history, but you are looking to build a relationship with Chase as one of the best institutions available... blah blah blah Smiley Happy.  Some salesmanship never hurts on a recon call.

 

End of the day there's probably not a lot you can do in this case, without six months reported it's problematic, and Chase anecdotally seems to prefer a year though I know there's been exceptions to both.  With Chase recon if you haven't tried something similar to the above, I'd push my marker one more time, but you may have hit a unilateral wall.

 

It'd help if your depository account was there, but too late to try that gambit unfortunately; might be worth considering (albeit the annoyance of switching, they are a good bank in my experience) for a Januaryish app.

 

 


They were pretty matter of fact when it came to the denial, so I didn't really have a chance to do the whole spiel. I did send the Executive Office an email with exactly that though. I think I'll try calling the executive office when I get the letter in the mail, and if that doesn't work I'll just accept that it's a unilateral wall. Thanks for the feedback! 

 

And thanks, BearsAndTurtles!

20 years old | 4 Cards in my wallet | TU (3/28/14) 743
January 2013 - 1st Financial Bank USA Platinum VISA ($500 --> $1,500)
June 2013- Discover IT Student ($1,500 --> $1,800 --> $2,100), Citi Forward Student ($1,500 --> $2,900)
December 2013 - Macy's American Express ($1,000 --> $3,000)
February 2014 - American Express Blue Cash Everyday ($3,000), Chase Freedom ($2,000)
April 2014 - Sallie Mae MasterCard ($3,800)
Message 4 of 11
red259
Super Contributor

Re: Chase Recon with Insufficient Credit History?

I ran into a problem getting a CSP with chase due to insufficient credit history. When I called the recon the woman was pretty adamant that there was nothing I could do to get approved. I'm going to go back after six months with the freedom. Less than six months seems like a deal breaker for them and the sense I got was that it wasnt something they could be flexible on.

;
Starting Score: EQ: 714, TU 684
Current Score: EQ: 725 7/30/13, TU 684 6/2013, Exp 828 5/2018, Last App 8/5/17
Goal Score: 800 (Achieved!) In garden until Sepetember 2019
Message 5 of 11
broseph23
Regular Contributor

Re: Chase Recon with Insufficient Credit History?

Chase definitely likes a year of history for their cards.
Age: 25 | FICO: TU 802, EQ 782, EX 801 | FAKO: TU 778, EX 769 | Garden: 6/2015 | Total History: 7yr 6mo | AAoA: 4yr 2mo | Util: 4%
........24000...............10000.....................6000................7000................500..................5000................18000...............10000
Message 6 of 11
HiLine
Blogger

Re: Chase Recon with Insufficient Credit History?

Chase likely won't budge unless you have some significant banking relationship with them. I learned this the hard way by burning 3 inquiries. 

Message 7 of 11
indiolatino61
Valued Contributor

Re: Chase Recon with Insufficient Credit History?


@sergi0wned wrote:

So I jumped the gun and applied for - and was denied for - a Chase Freedom card today.

 

I am a 19 year old college student, so naturally my credit history is limited. I have student loans in deferrment (since Sept 2012) and a 1st Financial Bank USA Visa that I have had since January 2013. I always pay it in full every month, have never carried a balance, and my credit report is flawless. I was also approved for the Discover IT Student and Citi Forward Student at the end of June (but they are not yet reporting), each with $1,500 limits. I guess I got too cocky and decided to push my luck with the Freedom, and it put me back in my place.

 

Anyways, I got the 7-10 day message when I applied.

 

Called recon (866-270-2127) and was told that I was denied because I didn't have enough credit history. She said that everything else looked great, but that I just didn't have the history that Chase looks for. I asked if there was anything I could do, and she said that there unfortunately wasn't, but if I kept it up I'd qualify in no time.

 

I then called the credit analyst recon (888-245-0625) and was also denied. The guy was very nice, but also told me I didn't have the history. Asked if I could do anything, he said nothing but let the accounts age. I asked for a lower limit, and he said that with such a short history they couldn't approve me for even the lowest limit. He was nice, and pointed me to myFICO for more information, which I found amusing.

 

I understand that my history is short, but it sucks that I burned a HP. Should I just suck it up and learn my lesson to research more before I apply, or is there any other recon techniques I can try? Have any users here had success in a similar situation? I'm heading to the garden now, but before I give up on this, I wanna make sure there's nothing more I can do here.


Do what the analyst said and let your accounts age.

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Message 8 of 11
sergi0wned
Contributor

Re: Chase Recon with Insufficient Credit History?

Well, I woke up this morning to an email from the executive office. I received a direct number and called, and she said that they would reconsider my application. They were very polite. She said that although the EO is the highest office, they may not be able to reverse the decision but that they'd be in contact by Friday. This is my last hurrah. I'm not holding my breath, but I figured it was worth a shot.

 

Approval or not, I think Chase has won a future customer. Everyone I have talked to has been very courteous, polite and helpful. 

20 years old | 4 Cards in my wallet | TU (3/28/14) 743
January 2013 - 1st Financial Bank USA Platinum VISA ($500 --> $1,500)
June 2013- Discover IT Student ($1,500 --> $1,800 --> $2,100), Citi Forward Student ($1,500 --> $2,900)
December 2013 - Macy's American Express ($1,000 --> $3,000)
February 2014 - American Express Blue Cash Everyday ($3,000), Chase Freedom ($2,000)
April 2014 - Sallie Mae MasterCard ($3,800)
Message 9 of 11
09Lexie
Moderator Emerita

Re: Chase Recon with Insufficient Credit History?

Message 10 of 11
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