What is your spouse credit status? Would a bank fund some of the business start up costs? What credit accounts does spouse have available?
What is your available cash situation? An option would be to join a CU like State Department FCU, and deposit $5,000 to open a secured credit card. That would give you a $5,000 credit limit which it sounds like your reimbursement should enable you to cycle.
I'd also suggest calling AMEX to talk with them, explain your updated job situation, and see about opening a Green card. That would give you a separate, non-interest charged card with decent rewards on travel.
And just to be clear, your employer does not have, already available, a corporate card program to get AMEX to issue a card, and the expense reimbursement is logged to the employer who pays the card after you complete an expense report? You have talked to HR and they've clearly stated they do not have a corporate AMEX program?
Maybe I missed it, which bank were the two 30 day lates with? Can you let us know the backstory to how the 30 day lates unfolded, as those are rather recent.
@smcl1919 wrote:Hello - Thank you in advance for taking the time to read my post and provide input! I've gained a lot from reading the community boards thus far. I have a handful of goals related to credit and debt. However, the first goal is getting a credit card for work expenses. Based on my situation, can you kindly recommend where I might be approved for a credit card? I have no hard inquiries on my credit reports, so I want to be careful in my application. I realize it would be ideal to wait a bit, but the sooner I can get something the better.
Credit/Charge Card Balance Limit Debt-to-Credit Ratio APR Opened Amex Gold 21,699.23 24,500-35,000 ($35k used to be "limit" on the no-limit card, but moved down during covid)
63%-88%
(Eq reports as 63%, no others report)
18.24% 2016 CITI Gold 47,889.97 49,500 96.74% 13.99% 2003 Overall $69,981
74k-84,500
82.8%-94.6% *I'm not sure if the overall balance and utilization are correct since I'm not sure if Amex is factored in. On my Chase Credit Journey, it shows 97% utilization so assuming it doesn't factor in the Amex. Also, I always pay on time and have no negative marks on these accounts.
Type Balance Rate Payment Notes Personal Loan 389.23 3.75% 338.25 Last payment is beginning of Dec. The overall loan was $25k Various Student Loans $125k various, 5-7.5% TBD I have not started payments. Those begin 2/1/2022
Credit Report - Two 30 day late payments (Dec 2019, June 2021). I had one installment loan through Citi that was successfully paid off in June 2021 (not listed above). There are two 30 day late payments listed on CR. I disputed these, resulting in unsuccessful outcomes. I tried the saturation goodwill method beginning of November. My credit score increased this month so not sure if that is a result of the goodwill or something else.
Credit Scores (these changed after Thanksgiving - not sure if a result of goodwill letters):
Fico 8 Ex (from AMEX): Increased 8 points to 704
FICO Bankcard 8 (from Citi): 686 (last update 10/26 so expecting an increase)
Vantage Score 3 (from Chase): Increased 19 points to 663
From Experian website: Increased 27 points to 731
Lending Tree: Increased 94 points to 756
Income: $140k base + bonus (started job Q2 and was told bonus would be around $160k per year. I'm thinking it will be less than half in 2022 and very small this year).
Additional: Oldest account on CR is 28+ years. I bank with Chase. I have checking acct with Citi since 2016. I opened up NFCU checking this year. I can put ~$2.5k per month toward debt. I am not using my credit cards, just working to pay down the balance. My job requires I put all expenses on my personal card and I will be reimbursed about a week later. I have been using my debit card for this so far. However, I may be incurring larger charges of $4-6k per month. I want to open up a new credit card so I can use it for work expenses. However, with my high debt to credit util, I realize I may not be approved or for a large enough limit.
- I requested a CLI on my Citi CC a couple of months ago but was denied
- I did a prequel on a personal loan through Avant, and APR was ~30% (not taking)
- AMEX - says I qualify for a platinum upgrade but did not give prequal offers for another cc
On a personal note, the cc with high balance was a result of my spouse starting a new business and exiting 12+ years in the military. I stick to a budget and have cut most everything out, this includes a rice and bean diet for the two of us. With my new job, I'm now able to really focus on paying off debt. So the balances have been slowly declining over the past few months.
Thank you again for reading a long post. Do you have recommendations for me in regards to which credit cards I would have good chances of having at least $5k CL?
Perhaps you would want to apply for the Amex Blue Cash Everyday card; it's not the hardest card to get, and at least if you get denied it is more likely than not that there would be no hard pull.
@smcl1919 wrote:Hello - Thank you in advance for taking the time to read my post and provide input! I've gained a lot from reading the community boards thus far. I have a handful of goals related to credit and debt. However, the first goal is getting a credit card for work expenses.
You seem to be doing a good job, but I would question the wisdom of having as a first goal that of getting another card.
With a $140k income and the "rice and beans" strategy in place, you have done the hardest part of getting your finances in order. You can be on your way to building wealth if you set as your first goal that of NOT getting another card.
You are about to pay off your personal loan and start paying down student debt. With your $140k annual income and hopefully additional opportunities to make some extra money you should be able to pay off that Amex in six months. That card can then become your card for work expenses, and then you can start working on your Citi balance.
Wow, as others noted above but this is a complex scenario to sort through, @smcl1919. Let me take it in order.
First of all, a sincere welcome to My Fico Forums! 
It's a great group of folks and we're all here to help each other out.
Second, keep your chin up and know that this too shall pass. I know from personal experience. It sounds like you've got a great grasp on the core issues and you're doing a fine job working your way through them. Keep it up!
Third, your specific story resonates with me on multiple levels. I also spent about twelve years active duty. I also had a financial crisis in the transition to a great civilian career. In my case, that process to recovery took well over a decade, but I think you'll be on track to do it sooner. And the debt I was carrying hit a high point almost exactly with what you are facing, although I did not have personal student loans. However, one reason it took me so long to recover was having two children starting college and taking on student loan debt to help them out.
Fourth, let's get down to the issues. I agree that, in general, adding new credit cards is probably a dicey situation. Your high balances and utilization, high total debt counting student loans, and recent late payments will all work against you. While your scores by themselves in the +/- 700 range might normally allow some good approvals, they may not be strong enough to overcome the other negative factors above in giving you the results you want. If possible, I would probably save yourself the inquiries until more of the debt is repaid.
The APR on that personal loan at ~30% is horrible, and I don't blame you for not taking it. But I would continue to shop around as a personal loan may be your best tool to mitigate the interest you'll pay on the credit cards at 14-18%. Plus, it focuses your debt into one monthly payment.
You mentioned your credit card is Citi and Gold. Are you a Citigold client with investments or is that just a basic credit card? I'm not familiar with that one, as it must be an older card. I ask this because I was wondering if you have any investments you could draw upon.
Edit-to-Add: I think I found it based on your reply above, the Citi AAdvantage Gold card? It's not on Citi's website for a direct application.
Do you own your home or rent? One tool that I used in my debt management was refinancing to tap into some home equity. I did that about the middle of my crisis and it helped to keep me afloat a little longer.
The idea from @NRB525 about adding a personal AMEX Green card for personal expenses seems to be a great option for you, if they will approve it. But I wouldn't rule out the possibility of an AMEX business card approval. With your current AMEX GOLD card and good payment history, I could see them allowing a business card. And AMEX has one of the largest suites of business cards, so you'd have a wide choice to pick one that best suits your spend. The other nice thing about adding either a personal or business AMEX is that you MAY be approved with only a soft pull credit inquiry since you're an existing client.
One way that I managed my debt was to roll it around between different 0% financing offers. However, I already had several cards to choose from and then added a couple of others. In your case, I still think consolidating it all on a personal loan might be the best option. However, your FICO scores are high enough and income is strong, so you may be able to get approved for a new credit card with a 0% BT offer that could defer a chunk of that debt for a year or more. Sometimes a lender will work with you on a starting limit based on transferring balances if you call for reconsideration. And as you pay it down, you could add one or two other BT cards in another year or so as needed.
While I'd be careful applying for new credit, picking the right lender if you choose to do so may be very important in your situation. If AMEX turns you down for a new personal or business card, there are several other lenders who will give solid preapprovals besides SOFI. See THIS LINK for a recently-updated list. For my own personal experience, Goldman Sachs-Apple Mastercard is a solid preapproval with a soft pull until you accept. Their limits sometimes start low but grow quite well. If you're putting $4K to $6K monthly on the card and paying it in full, it will probably grow very nicely. They will approve an increase every 90 days, which is much shorter than most lenders. You'll need to apply through an iPhone mobile wallet application, however. Since you are military and opened a membership with NFCU, I would also suggest one of their cards for your business expenses as a possibility. Again, they grow well and they may be more tolerant of financial struggles. Another excellent military-affiliated Credit Union is PenFed Credit Union. They have some great cards and deposit products and may be willing to work with your situation. Capital One is another lender who will be more lenient with less-than-perfect credit and might give you a card. Again, if you're using it heavily for a daily driver for business expenses and paying in full, the Capital One card would also probably grow well. Just keep in mind that Capital One is normally a triple-hard-pull of the CRBs.
With your high debt, I would stay away from most other credit unions besides the ones above. Credit unions are often more concerned about debt loading than banks. I imagine there is a corollary relationship between their size/assets versus their concern for high debt.
@smcl1919 wrote:
@sammydavidjr - thanks so much. The reason for the new card is only for work expenses. So I don't have to worry about holding money back on the debit card that could otherwise be used toward crushing debt. If I don't have enough available cash, I don't want to have to put work expenses on my cc and incur interest b/c of the high balance (for example, we have an upcoming event that will cost $4-6k. I'm holding back $1.5k in cash that I could use toward chipping away at the cc, but will use that and still have to use the cc to pay for this event).
I like the Amex idea, I was actually thinking similarly about using my Amex for work expenses once paid off. My "hesitation" was that it's my understanding that charge cards affect credit reports differently than the Citi CC? I was thinking to get citi cc Util to ~88.9% or lower (about $4k in payments) and then attack Amex. I will have $5-10k in additional income in the next 30-45 days. If you were me, would you use the new income to do what I described (4k for Citi than Amex), go all to Amex, or consider a secured card with some of it? Also, my job allows me to make money on new business I bring in, but I'm stressed out by the personal financial situation that it's hard to focus, thus wanting the cc for work expenses only (PIF every month).
I see your point.
Putting money aside for a secure card has the same negative effects of the velocity of your debt resolution, so I would not consider it.
The way I look at it, your Amex debt needs to be handled first. Whether you approach it mathematically (highest interest debt gets paid first to minimize total interest paid) or following Ramsey's snowball method (lowest balance first to create momentum), your Amex debt needs to go first.
Practically speaking, here are the steps I would take to solve your problem, assuming you are absolutely intent on paying down debt and PIF if you do get a new card.
1) Apply for an "alternative" card with no annual fee and no hard pull.
- Pehaps the X1 card. It has no annual fee. Generally high APR but that won't matter if you PIF, which you can do monthly. There is no hard pull for the application. You would need an invite to skip the waiting list though. I don't think there are data points to see whether you could get approved or not, but they do claim to weigh income into the approval rationale more than traditional lenders, so maybe it's worth a shot.
- The Tomo charge card might also be an interesting product. It won't even let you carry a balance because it's a charge card. They don't do a hard pull (not sure if a soft check is performed or not) and -- like X1 -- require you to link a bank account to verify your income. The downside is that I think they require weekly payments, so they might not afford you the kind of float you need.
2) Whether or not you find a card, I suspect that part of your debt freedom journey would benefit from refinancing something. I have no personal experience with debt refinancing, but I assume a credit union might help. There are many credit unions that help former military, so I assume that is an option: high income is the most important part in paying down debt, and you have that, so I wouldn't be surprised if a credit union were willing to lend a reasonable amount to reduce the interest (particularly on that Amex debt). Or maybe SoFi, which might like your profile.