Citi Forward card

jefftca925 · ‎12-20-2009

Happy Holidays everyone! Just wanted some info on the Citi Forward card. The bonus points available for apping for the card are great and a lot of people are very happy with the card itself. What is the criteria to get approved for it and what issues Citi might be sensitive to. I did a lot of research on the benefits of this card and found that people have received the 5x points when shopping on Amazon (considered a book retailer). I shop on there a lot as I've found some great deals on the site. Can anyone verify if this is true? The gift cards on the redemption center would work great for me as I shop a lot at the retailers mentioned and they give you a 1% value on them.

I know they pull EX and my fico is around 770-780. I have 5 inq in the last year (mortgage app 2x, Macys 2x (one I need to ask to be removed), and one for my rental app). My utilization is about 2% of available.

Thanks for the help

CCs: Chase Freedom VS 12.9k, CSP VISA Sg 13k, BofA Amex 24.5k, Discover 12.5k, US Bank Cash+ Visa Sg 17k, Macy's Amex 8k/1.5k, Gap Visa 10k, Best Buy 11.1k, Citi TY MC 10.8k, Citi AA Amex 6k, Nordstrom VS 10k, Costco Amex 12k, BofA CR VS 5k, Amex BCP 13.5k, Amex ED 5k, Sears MC 9k, HD 7k, Target 600, Amazon 7k, US Bank MC 15k, US Airways MC 8k, NFL Visa 4k, Patelco Visa 10k, Penfed PR VS 44.6k, Chase Hyatt VS 8k, Citi Simplicity 13.3k, PayPal MC 7.5k, BBVA Visa 4k, WF VS 14k, FNBO Amex 14.1k, OCCU VISA 15k, TR Visa Sg 16.3k, C1 QS Visa 11k, FRN MC 15k, HSN 4k, Saks WEMC 10k/4k, Chase Ink 18k, Arrival WEMC 10k, Ebates VS 8k, Orbitz VS 12k, NASA V 30k, USBk FP VS 21.5k, DC 30k, VirgAm 15k, Sams MC 15k, Amex Bz Gold, Amex SC 10k, BofW Bz MC 18k

Anonymous · ‎12-20-2009

I also want the card but dont qualify. The only thing I know for sure it CITI is sensitive to inquiries. Dont know what their limit is but thats one thing I was told before applying to make sure I had few inquiries.

keith021 · ‎12-20-2009

+1

Citi is very sensitive to inquiries. When I applied for a Platinum Select card, I was initially denied due to: "Too Many Inquiries." They pulled Equifax for me and I had zero inquires on my Equifax file. I called back to recon and was asked to fax/send in an updated copy of my credit report. I called back two days later and I was approved! Good luck.

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Anonymous · ‎12-20-2009

Well not really Excessive Inquiries. As for me, I have 18 inquiries at the time of applications and still approved for AAdvantage and recently Citi CashReturns..I guess it's depend on your credit record and credit score..

creditwherecreditisdue · ‎12-20-2009

@Anonymous wrote:
Well not really Excessive Inquiries. As for me, I have 18 inquiries at the time of applications and still approved for AAdvantage and recently Citi CashReturns..I guess it's depend on your credit record and credit score..

The question is how many INQ's did you have on the CBR they pulled for your app? As PP stated Citi is very sensitive to the number of INQ's you have on the report they pull and frequently issue denials for too many INQ's.

Anonymous · ‎12-20-2009

@Anonymous wrote:
Well not really Excessive Inquiries. As for me, I have 18 inquiries at the time of applications and still approved for AAdvantage and recently Citi CashReturns..I guess it's depend on your credit record and credit score..

Were any of these 18 inquirires auto or mortgage loan inquiries? Also how many were in the last year? They show on your credit report for two but are usually on counted for one. These two could be a factor if a lot are over a year old or alot are mortgage/auto loan inquiries since they are scored as one.

creditwherecreditisdue · ‎12-20-2009

@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
Well not really Excessive Inquiries. As for me, I have 18 inquiries at the time of applications and still approved for AAdvantage and recently Citi CashReturns..I guess it's depend on your credit record and credit score..
Were any of these 18 inquirires auto or mortgage loan inquiries? Also how many were in the last year? They show on your credit report for two but are usually on counted for one. These two could be a factor if a lot are over a year old or alot are mortgage/auto loan inquiries since they are scored as one.

This is not entirely correct. The FICO scoring algorithm aggregates certain INQ's for scoring purposes. However, all of the INQ's report individually and are usually counted as individual INQ's by any issuer who is counting INQ's. Denials for too many INQ's need to be recon'ed to force an MR.

Anonymous · ‎12-20-2009

CWCID thank you for the correction I didnt think of it like that. I guess if they see 18 they see 18 not 4 with 14 mortgage inquiries. You learn something new everyday around here which is why I like it.

Anonymous · ‎12-20-2009

I mainly have inquiries on new credit card applications and 3-4 of them are for credit line increases from my current creditors. I have 18 inquiries total as of this month and within the last 2 years on my Equifax CR. Some of those will start to fall off sometime in 2010 and 2011.

From my experience with Citibank my credit application went smoothly most of the time. I'm surprised that I get approve with that many inquiries but I guess Citibank is pretty lenient on my credit record. I don't have that many credit card debts and I keep my CC revolving debt very LOW, low balance, low usage and I think that's why they approved me. They know I manage my credit well..

creditwherecreditisdue · ‎12-20-2009

Yes, but did Citi pull EQ? They generally pull EX.