I thought I'd share my story of how I was able to get approved for credit cards again after defaulting on a lot of them.
I particularly wanted to get back into Chase's credit card ecosystem but had to overcome their internal blacklist which I've read can be very difficult.
I got into trouble with credit cards back in 2018 and 2019. I ended up defaulting on a Bank of America card, a Barclays card, 2 Chase cards, a Citi card, and a Discover card.
In the process, my score dropped from the mid to high 700s to the mid 500s.
By 2021 I had settled all of those cards for 30-50% of the outstanding balance and hadn't missed any payments, which helped to boost my score up into the 650 range.
After a few failed attempts to open a new credit card, Wells Fargo was the first issuer to approve me with a $2,500 limit on a hotels.com card. That was in 2021.
After a couple of denials, Amex finally approved me for a card about 6 months after Wells Fargo. By the end of 2022 I had several Amex cards but was still struggling to get a decent limit despite my growing income. My biggest limit at this point in time was $6,000 on a Hilton Aspire card despite a low 6 figure income.
2022 was the first time I tried applying for a card from an issuer that I defaulted with and I got approved for the Citi Simplicity card.
There were times during these years when my utilization percentages got pretty high but I never missed a payment. When my utilization percentages got high some issuers lowered my limits.
Next, I got approved for a Capital One business card and after a few failed attempts I finally got approved for the Capital One Venture X. This was my first time getting approved for a $10,000 limit, which is the minimum limit for that card.
In 2023 I got approved with another issuer that I previously defaulted with, Barclays.
Over the next couple of years, Amex was my primary ecosystem and I ended up getting a lot of their cards, but it was Chase that I really wanted. I was getting immediate denials every time I applied for a Chase card.
My main goal was to get back into the Chase ecosystem so in 2021 I started doing my business banking with Chase. Then in 2024 I opened a brokerage account with Chase as well. I was hoping that these things would build some goodwill to eventually allow me to get approved for Chase cards again.
By 2025 my income had grown a lot and I got approved for a new Citi card with a $33,000 limit.
Fast forward to September 2025 and I apply for a Bank of America card, another company I defaulted with. To my surprise, I got approved after having to call and give them some additional information. BOA is known to have difficult approvals without a banking relationship. Considering that as well as my previous default, I was surprised to get approved.
Around the same time, I decide to apply for a Chase Ink Business card and to my shock I didn't get an immediate denial. They had to send my application for further review and 5 days later they approve me with a $38,000 limit without me having to call or provide additional information. It probably helped that I do my business banking with them so they can see how much money is coming in.
After this shocking news, I figured I'd try my luck with a Chase personal card and I applied for the top-end card, the Sapphire Reserve. Clicked "apply". Immediate denial.
I called the reconsideration line and got an underwriter on the phone. As soon as he saw I was denied for a prior default, his tone of voice sounded like there was nothing he could do.
I said "Yes, I defaulted on some cards a while back, it must have been over 7 years ago because they're no longer on my credit report. My situation today is a lot different than it was then. My income is way higher, my credit score is a lot higher, I've been doing my business banking with Chase for 4 or 5 years, and I also have a brokerage relationship with Chase. I really want to get back into Chase's good graces, can you give me some advice? Is there anything I can do to get back into Chase's credit card ecosystem again? I also recently got approved for a Chase business card but really want a personal card too. What if I became a Chase Private Client, would that help?"
I actually wasn't even asking for reconsideration on the sapphire reserve application, I was genuinely asking him if there's anything I can do to get approved for Chase personal cards again.
After that, his tone of voice totally changed, and he almost sounded a little bit excited saying "let me see what I can do, hopefully I can get you an answer today."
He asked me some questions where I repeated what I already put on the application. After that, he couldnt give me an answer because the system requested fraud verification.
About an hour after completing the fraud verification I got approved for the Sapphire Reserve with a $12,000 limit, so I'm officially back in the Chase card ecosystem.
I don't know what allowed me to overcome that internal blacklist that Chase had me on. Maybe it was the business banking relationship, maybe it was the brokerage account, maybe it was me suggesting that I could become a Chase Private Client, maybe it was my growing income of $300k+, maybe it was the high 700s credit score, or maybe it was a combination of all of these things. I'm not sure.
Anyway, I hope that gives you an idea of what you can expect if you've defaulted on some cards like I did. It takes time and requires some patience but it is possible.
