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My first declined CC application in ~2 years :-)

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mikka1
Frequent Contributor

My first declined CC application in ~2 years :-)

(for those who don't like to read the whole message - Yes, it was Barclays Arrival I got declined for :-) )

 

****

 

Hi folks,

 

Haven't written anything here for quite a while and haven't been following latest trends either. I recently realized that after my signup-bonus-oriented app sprees my current CC portfolio is now way too much concentrated towards Chase (with 4 cards) and Amex (2 cards now, closed PRG several days ago before AF hits), so I decided to dilute it a bit.

 

I applied for 2 cards: Cap1 Venture with recent 50k sign-up bonus and Barclays Arrival. My Dec TU score is 752. Aaaannnd... I frankly expected to be immediately approved for Arrival and be declined for Cap1, but to my biggest surprise I got exactly the opposite - approved for Venture with 5k and got outright declined by Barclays. My first decline for last 2 years, LOL...

 

I will clearly call their backdoor number on Monday, but so far my findings are the following:

 

1) Barclays among other things might not like when you already have their card and want another one. I still have NFL card from last year's $400 promo and if I find out from their credit analyst that it was among the reasons I got denied for Arrival, I'll just kill that card the same minute to open a chance to apply for Arrival later on. Similar thing happened to my DW last year - she tried to apply for second Barclays card, got denied after app and got denied again on recon.


So, the bottom line - I would probably never apply for Barclays again *having* other Barclays card at the same time. Might be not worth the effort.

 

2) Cap1 criteria of Excellent / Good / Bad credit should be used as some indication for general public only, but not as "minimum requirements" or so. I was unsure because they state "Having a CL of 5k or more for more than 3 years" as one of the attributes of "Excellent" credit. My oldest 5k line is less than 1,5 years old (with my very oldest account being only 2,5 years old), but I still got approved. Probably even deserves 3 HPs, LOL

 

 

----

 

I will be calling Barclays on Monday and regardless of result I'm most likely done with apps for the next 3-6 months. Now will be the time to clean my portfolio (GE started this cleanup already by closing one of my store cards for inactivity, so I just need to continue this).

Good luck everyone!

In my wallet now: Amex PRG NPSL, Amex BCE $15k $17k (thanks to recent CLI), Chase Freedom 11k, CSP $6k, Chase United ME $5k, Citi Dividend $5.6k, Discover It $4.5k and a handful of other cards...
TU Dec 2013 - 752Sep 2013 - 764 - new all time maximum

Obsolete data aboveCurrent TU - probably around ~810, only using a few Chase & BofA cards now, not applying for much until we buy a house
Message 1 of 12
11 REPLIES 11
FinStar
Moderator Emeritus

Re: My first declined CC application in ~2 years :-)

Sorry to hear about Barclays.  Definitely contact them on Monday for the reasons and/or whether there is a viable option to reconsider based on the reasons they provide.  As far as the number of Barclay's CCs, you can have quite a few with them.  I had 4 (well 5 if the BOH is included) and just recently closed 2 of them and allocated the CLs to the other 2 cards.  Let us know the outcome.

 

Needless to say, congrats on the Venture approval!

Message 2 of 12
mikka1
Frequent Contributor

Re: My first declined CC application in ~2 years :-)

Thanks,

 

Well, I can only see 2 possible reasons just looking at my state of affairs:

 

1) Existing Barclays relationship that was too clearly bonus oriented (applied for card Feb 2013, met bonus requirements Apr 2013, collected $400 bonus, never used that card again)

2) Carrying ~40% balance on my newest Chase Freedom (enjoying 0% APR, but can in principle lower it down fairly quickly)

 

If this denial is a product of #1 and if their analytics can indicate them who were those "bonus lovers", than I'm most likely out of luck (and I really don't blame them, LOL).

If it's #2, I guess I can fight there.

We'll see on Monday :-) (I shouldn't have applied for this card on a weekend anyway for that reason...)

 

ADDED: But good to know that they actually allow people to have multiple cards. I thought that they might have some internal limit.

In my wallet now: Amex PRG NPSL, Amex BCE $15k $17k (thanks to recent CLI), Chase Freedom 11k, CSP $6k, Chase United ME $5k, Citi Dividend $5.6k, Discover It $4.5k and a handful of other cards...
TU Dec 2013 - 752Sep 2013 - 764 - new all time maximum

Obsolete data aboveCurrent TU - probably around ~810, only using a few Chase & BofA cards now, not applying for much until we buy a house
Message 3 of 12
FinStar
Moderator Emeritus

Re: My first declined CC application in ~2 years :-)


@mikka1 wrote:

Thanks,

 

Well, I can only see 2 possible reasons just looking at my state of affairs:

 

1) Existing Barclays relationship that was too clearly bonus oriented (applied for card Feb 2013, met bonus requirements Apr 2013, collected $400 bonus, never used that card again)

2) Carrying ~40% balance on my newest Chase Freedom (enjoying 0% APR, but can in principle lower it down fairly quickly)

 

If this denial is a product of #1 and if their analytics can indicate them who were those "bonus lovers", than I'm most likely out of luck (and I really don't blame them, LOL).

If it's #2, I guess I can fight there.

We'll see on Monday :-) (I shouldn't have applied for this card on a weekend anyway for that reason...)

 

ADDED: But good to know that they actually allow people to have multiple cards. I thought that they might have some internal limit.


Well, you pose some very good points.  Now, if you were the reward "collector" and went on your own merry way and not used it afterward, that shouldn't really be too much of a factor (unless this is done frequently).  Sometimes the initial allure can fade over time if the product no longer serves that niche but you can easily cite that or let them know why the Arrival would be a better fit (plus throw them a bone once in a while on the other one).

As far as utilization on Chase, I'm certain you could provide a good explanation.  When it comes to Barclays, best to do the apps during the week, preferrably during the early part of the day in the event you need to get ahold of someone later in the day.

 

Now, they can limit how much they can extend as well (even with multiple products), but it will vary by individual, income, internal profile, CR factors and whatnot.

Message 4 of 12
lg8302ch
Senior Contributor

Re: My first declined CC application in ~2 years :-)

Congrats on the Venture and sorry to hear about the Arrival--- good luck on Monday. Hopefully you can recon successfully as the card is really nice and not only for the sign up bonus  Smiley Happy

Message 5 of 12
mikka1
Frequent Contributor

Re: My first declined CC application in ~2 years :-)

UPD: Declined again on recon, declined even to upgrade my existing Barclays card to Arrival without bonuses (which is kind of surprising given that I have no single derog in my history)

 

Reasons stated:

Too many accounts opened recently (they consider "recently" to be basically from a year ago until now) - I have 6 or so

Too many accounts overall - I have around 20

Not established solid history with existing card - well, I explained above in earlier messages, LOL :-)

 

So, in fight with reason #2 I asked to close my existing Barclays card right away, so at least for now I have one account less.

Will probably revisit Barclays arrival later down the road.

 


Bottom line: Apparently, BKLS is stricter than Chase, Amex and Cap1 altogether :-) (or simply has a different set of criteria)

In my wallet now: Amex PRG NPSL, Amex BCE $15k $17k (thanks to recent CLI), Chase Freedom 11k, CSP $6k, Chase United ME $5k, Citi Dividend $5.6k, Discover It $4.5k and a handful of other cards...
TU Dec 2013 - 752Sep 2013 - 764 - new all time maximum

Obsolete data aboveCurrent TU - probably around ~810, only using a few Chase & BofA cards now, not applying for much until we buy a house
Message 6 of 12
Iorek
Contributor

Re: My first declined CC application in ~2 years :-)


@mikka1 wrote:

UPD: Declined again on recon, declined even to upgrade my existing Barclays card to Arrival without bonuses (which is kind of surprising given that I have no single derog in my history)

 

Reasons stated:

Too many accounts opened recently (they consider "recently" to be basically from a year ago until now) - I have 6 or so

Too many accounts overall - I have around 20

Not established solid history with existing card - well, I explained above in earlier messages, LOL :-)

 

So, in fight with reason #2 I asked to close my existing Barclays card right away, so at least for now I have one account less.

Will probably revisit Barclays arrival later down the road.

 


Bottom line: Apparently, BKLS is stricter than Chase, Amex and Cap1 altogether :-) (or simply has a different set of criteria)


Yes. They are a jealous lover lender. They want to be the only one in your heart wallet.

Amex BCE ($15k), TE ($5k), BoA BBR ($600), Cash Rewards ($600), Barclays Sallie Mae ($6k), CapOne Quicksilver ($4k), Chase Freedom ($5.8k), CSP ($11k), Marriott (9k), IHG (12k), DCU ($6k), Discover IT ($6.5k)
TU - 4 INQ, EX - 7 INQ, EQ - 3 INQ
Gardening since 06/25/14.
Message 7 of 12
scenery_guy
Established Contributor

Re: My first declined CC application in ~2 years :-)

I too was recently declined for a Barclays card. I have the personal US Air card and applied for the business version (legit business with history) and was outright declined with reasons similar to yours. I was considering trying to find time during business hours to make the recon call but based on your outcome I think I am going to walk away. The small bonus is not worth the effort at this point. They lose out in swipe fees on my business spending but AMEX and Chase get to keep my business spend. So much for topping off my US Air miles before the merger. 

Barclays seems like a fickle card issuing bank that doesn't quite get how aggressive the card market can be in the US. Those of us with great credit scores, long and clean history, and carry a zero balance on all our cards should be the perfect customer to any bank. Instead they treat us like the plague at times. I feel I am being a good consumer shopping offers from all banks. 

 

Barclays might just be bitter they are losing a co branded card and are forced with converting US Air customers to the Arrival. Reality is they are just losing customers in the long run. 

Message 8 of 12
FinStar
Moderator Emeritus

Re: My first declined CC application in ~2 years :-)


@mikka1 wrote:

UPD: Declined again on recon, declined even to upgrade my existing Barclays card to Arrival without bonuses (which is kind of surprising given that I have no single derog in my history)

 

Reasons stated:

Too many accounts opened recently (they consider "recently" to be basically from a year ago until now) - I have 6 or so

Too many accounts overall - I have around 20

Not established solid history with existing card - well, I explained above in earlier messages, LOL :-)

 

So, in fight with reason #2 I asked to close my existing Barclays card right away, so at least for now I have one account less.

Will probably revisit Barclays arrival later down the road.

 


Bottom line: Apparently, BKLS is stricter than Chase, Amex and Cap1 altogether :-) (or simply has a different set of criteria)


Sorry to hear OP.  At least you gave it a try.  Yes, Barclays is a lot more finicky than Chase and AMEX to some extent.  You can always try them in the future if anything.

Message 9 of 12
09Lexie
Moderator Emerita

Re: My first declined CC application in ~2 years :-)

Count me in with a Barclays decline. They didn't like that I had too many accounts in which I am not showing usage/pyt history.  Too add insult to injury, today I got the 'NO' letter again -as if the one I received last week wasn't enough.  Smiley Frustrated

 

 

Message 10 of 12
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