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Interesting CLI Denial Letter from GEMB

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JustMe77
Frequent Contributor

Interesting CLI Denial Letter from GEMB

I asked for a CLI a day after my 4th statement was posted on my GEMB account (Banana Republic Visa), right around the end of February 2012.

 

My denial letter came in the mail the other day. In it, they cited a FICO score from TU from December 2011 (which is a lot lower than what my score is now). Thought that was interesting.  No HP.

 

I was expecting them to at least do a SP. Oh well. Would you call for a recon.?

Current Cards: Banana Republic Visa ($5,300), Chase Freedom ($2,000), Discover It ($11,500), Amex Costco True Earnings ($5,000), Chase Slate ($2,500)
Message 1 of 6
5 REPLIES 5
pizzadude
Credit Mentor

Re: Interesting CLI Denial Letter from GEMB


@JustMe77 wrote:

I asked for a CLI a day after my 4th statement was posted on my GEMB account (Banana Republic Visa), right around the end of February 2012.

 

My denial letter came in the mail the other day. In it, they cited a FICO score from TU from December 2011 (which is a lot lower than what my score is now). Thought that was interesting.  No HP.

 

I was expecting them to at least do a SP. Oh well. Would you call for a recon.?


Sometimes your existing creditors will just use their most recent SP when deciding on CLIs.   GECRB is known to do this.   They will probably do another SP of your CR soon, so you can always try again in the near future.

 

If you call in and talk with a CSR there is always a possiblity that they might do a HP.

March2010 FICO® ~ 695 TU, 653 EQ, 697 EX
Message 2 of 6
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Interesting CLI Denial Letter from GEMB

I can't help with the fact that they didn't pull your report and used an old score, but I can offer some input about the card in general...

 

I work for BR, and $3000 is a pretty high starting limit, even for the Visa. My store is located in a wealthier area (not necessarily indicative of higher credit scores, but I'd imagine there's some correlation) and I rarely see limits higher than $1000-1200, for either the store card or the Visa version (I also don't make it a point to look at everyone's limit, but sometimes I see it just from handing the temporary pass to the customer). That said, I have no way of knowing what kind of increases customers get, just their initial limit, and it does seem that the limits have gone up since we started asking for annual income on the application.

 

GE does soft pull pretty frequently though (not sure exactly how often, as I last checked my TU in 8/11, but there was an inquiry from them in 7/11) and if they like what they see they're not shy about throwing an increase your way. I think they're more likely to do it if you regularly use the card and use your available credit (but pay a lot off, since they obviously want you to spend responsibly) since they would make more money by giving you more to spend. They don't really have anything to gain by giving an increase to someone who doesn't use the credit they already have.

 

But, again, I work for BR, not GE, so I can't say anything for certain. Just from what I've seen, your limit is already pretty high for this card and I don't see why they would raise it unless you're actually using it.

 

Also, if you don't mind my asking, what was your score when you applied? Just curious since you got such a high limit and you said it was much lower than it is currently.

 

And just to explain, I know this is a really random first post, but I've been lurking here for awhile and this is the first time I actually felt somewhat knowledgeable enough to post lol.

Message 3 of 6
bichonmom
Senior Contributor

Re: Interesting CLI Denial Letter from GEMB


@JustMe77 wrote:

I asked for a CLI a day after my 4th statement was posted on my GEMB account (Banana Republic Visa), right around the end of February 2012.

 

My denial letter came in the mail the other day. In it, they cited a FICO score from TU from December 2011 (which is a lot lower than what my score is now). Thought that was interesting.  No HP.

 

I was expecting them to at least do a SP. Oh well. Would you call for a recon.?


I don't think GE really does recons. I tried with both my ON and WM cards and got nowhere. It seems like it's all decided by computers and the humans can't (or won't) override it.

 

I'd try again maybe a month after your last try. I tried several times with WM and then finally got an auto-cli last month. It can't hurt to try again, since they don't do a HP.

 

EQ FICO 750 | TU FICO 761 (Walmart) | EX FAKO 767 | Goal: 800+

Edits, funky spacing and spelling due to my iPad not getting along with the forum editor!

Message 4 of 6
clocktick
Valued Contributor

Re: Interesting CLI Denial Letter from GEMB

Is your FICO the only reason they cited for denying a CLI?

11/30/08 TU 648 EX 672 EQ 656 SEPT 2014 TU 787 EX 789 EQ ???
Amex BCP $24.1K/Clear $8.5- Sallie Mae $27.5 -Cap One QS $7.5 - Chase Freedom $7.5/United $5k/CSP $20k/Ink- Citi DP $9.5/Dividend $13k/HHHx2 $15k/16.4/Reserve $4.5k Best Buy $1940 HD $1701- Discover IT $15k - Elan $8k GEMB Lowes $20k - Macy's $2k - Kohl's $800




Starting Score: 648
Current Score: 736
Goal Score: 765


Take the FICO Fitness Challenge

Message 5 of 6
JustMe77
Frequent Contributor

Re: Interesting CLI Denial Letter from GEMB


@Anonymous wrote:

I can't help with the fact that they didn't pull your report and used an old score, but I can offer some input about the card in general...

 

I work for BR, and $3000 is a pretty high starting limit, even for the Visa. My store is located in a wealthier area (not necessarily indicative of higher credit scores, but I'd imagine there's some correlation) and I rarely see limits higher than $1000-1200, for either the store card or the Visa version (I also don't make it a point to look at everyone's limit, but sometimes I see it just from handing the temporary pass to the customer). That said, I have no way of knowing what kind of increases customers get, just their initial limit, and it does seem that the limits have gone up since we started asking for annual income on the application.

 

GE does soft pull pretty frequently though (not sure exactly how often, as I last checked my TU in 8/11, but there was an inquiry from them in 7/11) and if they like what they see they're not shy about throwing an increase your way. I think they're more likely to do it if you regularly use the card and use your available credit (but pay a lot off, since they obviously want you to spend responsibly) since they would make more money by giving you more to spend. They don't really have anything to gain by giving an increase to someone who doesn't use the credit they already have.

 

But, again, I work for BR, not GE, so I can't say anything for certain. Just from what I've seen, your limit is already pretty high for this card and I don't see why they would raise it unless you're actually using it.

 

Also, if you don't mind my asking, what was your score when you applied? Just curious since you got such a high limit and you said it was much lower than it is currently.

 

And just to explain, I know this is a really random first post, but I've been lurking here for awhile and this is the first time I actually felt somewhat knowledgeable enough to post lol.


I have no idea. I opened the Banana Republic store (non-Visa) card in March 2011, and they gave me a $300 limit. At the time, my score was probably low-600s. I used the card a ton. They gave me an automatic increase to $1000 after a few months, and then a few months after that (October 2011) invited me to open the BR Visa, which started at a $3000 limit. If I had to guess, I'd say my score when the BR Visa was opened was probably mid-to-high 600s. I've seen people with BR Visas that have credit limits of $4000 or more.

 

Current Cards: Banana Republic Visa ($5,300), Chase Freedom ($2,000), Discover It ($11,500), Amex Costco True Earnings ($5,000), Chase Slate ($2,500)
Message 6 of 6
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