"insifficent credit history"

gem1977 · ‎01-30-2014

I have a question. I recently applied for a card, and the letter came back denied due to: “insufficient credit history”. What does that mean, and how the heck to you get credit to have a history, if you can’t even get a card?!!

unc0mm0n1 · ‎01-30-2014

The two easiest ways are to open a secured card or become an authorized user on someone's card. You could also try to get a card with lower approval requirements such as a store card. There are also other ways people gain credit history, school loans for instance.

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FastForward · ‎01-30-2014

@unc0mm0n1 wrote:
The two easiest ways are to open a secured card or become an authorized user on someone's card. You could also try to get a card with lower approval requirements such as a store card. There are also other ways people gain credit history, school loans for instance.

+1 From what I've seen, most (prime) lenders want to see at least 6+ months of (positive) revolving credit history prior to issuing a new CL. As the previous poster mentioned, obtaining a secured card from lenders who offer "building" or "rebuilding" products is something to look into as well as establishing 1-2 strong authorized user TL's (preferably TL's with long history, higher limits & low utilization).

Perhaps look into establishing a relationship with your local credit union, i.e. open a savings and/or checking account and then discuss credit card options with them. Many times credit unions have more lenient underwriting guidelines and are more open to granting credit to those of us who were or are still in building/rebuilding mode.

Best of luck to you.

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aubie1kenobie2 · ‎01-30-2014

I had the same issue last year. Was added as an AU and also opened a secured CC with my bank. Cap One denied me a secured CC since I had no credit history. Anyway, I was added as an AU to a card with a high util (>50%), which may have hurt me at the start so make sure that if you do this the account you get added to has a good payment history and low util. Anyway, after a few months I started getting "preapproved" offers in the mail and I got approved for my first "prime" card thereafter. It's really frustrating to start but if you're responsible with your credit, it'll get easier to be approved later on.

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IamB2 · ‎01-30-2014

@gem1977 wrote:
I have a question. I recently applied for a card, and the letter came back denied due to: “insufficient credit history”. What does that mean, and how the heck to you get credit to have a history, if you can’t even get a card?!!

As many have mentioned already, if you don't have any credit history, it is hard to get a new card - especially a prime card. So to start, you may want to go to your local bank - the one you have a banking relationship already - or a credit union and see if you can get a secured credit card. Preferably, one that would graduate after some time.

Once you have built at least 6-12 months of on-time payment, provided that you don't have any derogs, you should be able to apply for a better prime card.

Hope that helps...

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FixMyCredit1992 · ‎01-30-2014

I never understood crapital one, they would not approve me for a secured card until AFTER I had credit history. What's the point of it then? Most people with credit histories don't need a secured card.

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bigblue7722 · ‎01-30-2014

@FixMyCredit1992 wrote:
I never understood crapital one, they would not approve me for a secured card until AFTER I had credit history. What's the point of it then? Most people with credit histories don't need a secured card.

Idk. I have heard of some people getting denied for capital one secured but not very many. Most people get denied from boa because its not a rebuilding card but a building card.However, The risk is so slow to them you literally pay 229 for a 200 credit line with the anuall fee.The secured card basiaclly has 4 tiers if you think about it. Denial, 200 dollar deposit, 99 dollar deposit and 49 dollar deposit. I have heard that some creditors are worried your deposit would be taken back by other creditors if you owe them money.

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CreditScholar · ‎01-30-2014

@FixMyCredit1992 wrote:
I never understood crapital one, they would not approve me for a secured card until AFTER I had credit history. What's the point of it then? Most people with credit histories don't need a secured card.

Not necessarily. Just because someone has a credit history doesn't mean that it's good. It could be filled with COs, BK, etc. Plenty of people are in this situation.

There's a difference between having credit history (good or bad), and having none at all.

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FixMyCredit1992 · ‎01-30-2014

I know. I said most people with a credit history don't need it, some do. However they advertise it as a building card, and not a rebuilding card.

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gem1977 · ‎01-31-2014

Thank you all. What card would you recommend to get for a secured card? I have heard good things about Chase, not so good things about Capitol One. I would like one that will truly be converted to a prime card after 6 months or so of small utilization and paying it off. That is my main concern about getting a secured card. The one applied for was the Amazon store card, but maybe they have tighter rules than some other store cards.