Think I should call up?

[Anonymous]

I joined Pedfed earlier today and was declined for their Visa Platinum Cash Rewards card. I asked for 10k, which may of been too high.

My current EQ score is 697, 3 inq's, no baddies, oldest account is over 4 years with an average of 2. My newest account is a BofA CC that was opened 10 months ago.

Their reasons for the decline are:

AMOUNT OWED ON ACCOUNTS
LENGTH OF TIME ACCTS ESTABLISHED
PROPORTION OF BAL-TO-LIMIT TOO HIGH

I pulled my report after to make sure they pulled EQ, which they did, and found it odd that myFico tells me my bal-to-limit is good.

Currently I have 5 active accounts and only one carries a balance. My total debt to credit ratio is just over 40%. (The one account with a balance is a revolving loan that I got over 12 months ago - the util is HIGH still (90%).

The details are...

BofA AMEX card: .......... 5000 CL, 0 balance
BofA revolving loan: ..... 10000 CL, 9100 balance
Paypal buyer credit: ..... 1100 CL, 0 balance
HSBC CC: ................. 900 CL, 0 balance
WAMU CC: ................. 4530 CL, 0 balance

Should I bother calling them up and asking for a manual review? I assume the report they pulled is still active for atleast another 60 days..

Should I also try re-applying online for a lower limit OR different card?

Any help would be appreciated... thanks!

[Creditaddict]

I would call and talk to someone, doesn't look like you have to much debt at all.

[Anonymous]

I called up and they had me fax in a reconsideration letter. I told them I wanted the card to transfer a balance and they seemed a lot more willing to help me. Hopefully they give me a shot.... paying a 2.9% fixed APR is a lot better than my 15.49% variable on the BofA loan.

It was disturbing when the girl told me my EQ score was only 640. I understand there's a variance to the FICO score for credit cards but wow. My WAMU TU score just updated today and that's 701. *shrugs*

My actual FICO scores are: 709TU, 697EQ and 686EX.

[marty56]

Unless I did the math wrong, your total util is 42% and your BofA loan is at 91% which they probably see as maxed out.

As a side note my payment history is marked as "good" but I have a major (120 day late not quite 3 yaers old) derog on my CR.  Someone who did a MR on my report might not like that.  It didnt stop me from getting a Visa card last November but we will see about an auto loan.

Message Edited by marty56 on 05-21-2008 04:06 PM

[Anonymous]

Yea I understand those tips provided by myFico aren't too accurate but from what I read it's good to have your total util under 35% (9% ideal). I'm not too far off.

[Anonymous]

Hello all,

I have PenFed on my list of cards to apply for between 11/08 and 4/09. So I am gathering as much info as I can.  Souper wrote:

____________________________________________________________________________________

It was disturbing when the girl told me my EQ score was only 640. I understand there's a variance to the FICO score for credit cards but wow. My WAMU TU score just updated today and that's 701. *shrugs*
_____________________________________________________________________________________

Does PenFed use a different scoring model than Fico or Pfico? I ask because of the big difference it your score and the one they quoted you. If you do call them, can you please inquiry. Does anyone already know? Thanks guys.

[haulingthescoreup]

Since that BofA loan is a revolving line of credit, it's acting like a maxed-out credit card. Even if your overall util is "only" 42%, that 91% is going to look pretty ugly.

PenFed is very suspicious of people who get new credit, making their util look lower, but they never significantly pay down their total debt. They call this "pyramiding debt."

Where did you pull your 697 EQ score? (myFICO, TrueCredit, FreeCreditReport.com, etc.)

[Anonymous]

myFico reports 697 and that was this morning when I pulled it.... truecredit is 700+ (like it matters)

When I spoke to Penfed they told me they use their own scoring module.... I assume it's similar to the TU score you get from your Wamu/providian account.

Message Edited by souper on 05-21-2008 06:58 PM

[Cprman]

Penfed really wants to see low util, which is ironic since they are advertising with a great BT offer of 2.9%. Ive seen lots of peeps with good scores getting rejected for high util. High util and high inqs scares them away.

[haulingthescoreup]

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@Anonymous wrote:
myFico reports 697 and that was this morning when I pulled it.... truecredit is 700+ (like it matters)

When I spoke to Penfed they told me they use their own scoring module.... I assume it's similar to the TU score you get from your Wamu/providian account.

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Interesting! I wonder if they're another lender that uses a credit-card enhanced score, like you said, or if it's purely an internally crunched number. Thanks, and sorry to hear about the rude shock that you got.