Creditkarma CC pre-approvals: How reliable??

[JNA1]

A couple of years ago when I decided to get my first card CK gave me EXCELLENT approval odds on a Cap 1 Quicksilver. I did Cap 1’s pre qual and they also said I was pre-qualified. Being inexperienced, I thought this was as sure of a thing as there was. I applied and was denied, with a triple hard pull, no less. I learned the hard way not rely on CK or CCC’s pre-qual tools.
I will say after the denial and then triple pull resulting from applying with Cap 1, there’s one card that will not be in my wallet! 😂

[disney2]

Not reliable at all-or about as accurate as their scoring.  And you would think they would try to not send you excess junk on cards you already have.  Three of the cards I have show on there and another one that it shows is a bottom-feeder card.  I only use those sites if I have to see my report and can't any other way.

[Remedios]

In CK defense, their reports are free. A business has to make money somehow, but they should stop at recommending cards vs. misleading terms such as "pre-approval" etc 

It's really no different than recommendations from any other CMS. 

[Credit_Flavours]

As an update, HSBC does now have a pre-qual site and as is being shown on CK, I actually pre-qual for the 2 cards above. Guess that's where CK got it from. The soft pull is from EQ for the pre-qual and you can only use the tool once in 24hours. Hope this helps.

Get on their website, go to credit cards and a link to the pre-qual tool is right there, for those interested.

Not really interested in an app for now so that's as far as my research goes. Hope someone will pre-qual/apply off their new tool and report back.

Cheers!!!

[K-in-Boston]

@Credit_Flavours  nice catch!  The direct link is:

https://www.us.hsbc.com/credit-cards/

For a DP, I am not prequalified on CK but did get this from entering my information.  As I mentioned earlier in the thread, I do get snail mail offers from HSBC all the time.

Edit:  Of course now I see that there is a thread.  There's always a thread. 

[Anonymous]

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@K-in-Boston wrote:

@Credit_Flavours  nice catch!  The direct link is:

https://www.us.hsbc.com/credit-cards/

For a DP, I am not prequalified on CK but did get this from entering my information.  As I mentioned earlier in the thread, I do get snail mail offers from HSBC all the time.

Edit:  Of course now I see that there is a thread.  There's always a thread. 

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No prequal for me which is fine because I don't want to deal with their shenanigans but I always get curious when there is a prequal link. 🤷‍♂️ 

[Remedios]

What shenanigans would those be?

[FinStar]

I think it might be the verification instances that some individuals may experience?

FWIW, I didn't have any issues when I applied years ago. But, that was a period when EQ was working for me before they ghosted me 👻 with the splitties.

[Anonymous]

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@Remedios wrote:
What shenanigans would those be?

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Their verification procedures. You saw my saga with BECU. I have read even worse about HSBC. 

BECU is known for being generous which would have made all of it worth it but I just didn't have the option of going to a fax machine and I am not going to hand my roommate my SS card and risk it getting lost. 

HSBC isn't even known to be generous so not worth the hassle for $2-$3K. 

[Remedios]

BECU is a great CU and definitely worth jumping a few hoops, or at least that's my experience  with them 

As far as  HSBC not being very generous, they can be for the right profile/customer

Your Amex cards are in that range (as well as quite a few others), does not mean they are not generous for the right customer. 

I would not place a value of a lender solely on credit card limits. Some of them expect a more involved and invested clientele.