Apped for a pre-approved NFCU More Rewards VISA and got $20K SL.
Got a NFCU letter in the mail that bugged out my eyes when I saw the credit score was 305.
Then I noticed it was a NFCU score. Thought they were denying me credit based on the 305 score.
Next day got the card in the mail and it was $20K - whew!
Why does NFCU do that ?
Do other CU have their own internal scoring ?
There are many lenders, not just Credit Unions, that have their own internal "scoring systems" "black lists" etc... For Navy, they likely consider the following categories (in no particular order) to populate a member's score but no-one that I know of has ever been able to figure out what their formula is.
- Products: checking, savings, certificate of deposit, credit card, direct deposit, SSLs and other loans
- Usage of above products.
- Length of membership.
- Payment history, and payment tendencies such as PIF, carry a balance, pay minimums, pay above minimums 2x, 3x, etc...
- FICO scores.
- DTI.
Congratulations on a very nice SL, and approval!
Congrats. As others have said, institutional internal scoring is a common practice. I'd be curious to know your FICO data points to compare.
Congratulations on your approval. I don't have a clue as to their internal scoring, except for one thing: I now know that 305 is a good score 
@4sallypat wrote:Apped for a pre-approved NFCU More Rewards VISA and got $20K SL.
Got a NFCU letter in the mail that bugged out my eyes when I saw the credit score was 305.
Then I noticed it was a NFCU score. Thought they were denying me credit based on the 305 score.
Next day got the card in the mail and it was $20K - whew!
Why does NFCU do that ?
Do other CU have their own internal scoring ?
305 is a fairly good score anything higher than 350 is pretty much unicorn territory anyway
300-350 is basically navy telling you that you can have whatever you want
without seeing your reason codes, I wouldn't be able to say why your score is so high (or why it's not higher), but it's a combination of TU FICO 9 + Navy Relationship
are the top reason codes on that letter 'balance status' and 'no direct deposit' or are they more like reasons about why your credit report isn't perfect? 'too many new accounts' 'too many recent inquires' 'time since last account too short'
For reference, when I was approved for a cash rewards in Feb 2023, my score was 279, I got like $1800 lol
@Thomas_Thumb wrote:Call and ask them, they should tell you. Then let us know.
I would guess it is an internal score that may incorporate a Fico score as one of its elements. What are your Fico 8/9 scores?
You may get a letter with your card stating factors adversely affecting your score. If you do, please share the list of factors.
My FICO scores are in the mid 700s.
The NFCU letter said that my account is new and that I don't have direct deposit which is the reason for their score.
At least they trust me enough to get $20K SL.
@4sallypat wrote:
@Thomas_Thumb wrote:Call and ask them, they should tell you. Then let us know.
I would guess it is an internal score that may incorporate a Fico score as one of its elements. What are your Fico 8/9 scores?
You may get a letter with your card stating factors adversely affecting your score. If you do, please share the list of factors.
My FICO scores are in the mid 700s.
The NFCU letter said that my account is new and that I don't have direct deposit which is the reason for their score.
At least they trust me enough to get $20K SL.
Wow that is very interesting. Many readers have suggested that NFCU takes into account one's overall relationship, including deposit accounts, in making its credit decisions. I personally was a little skeptical because they were very welcoming to me even though I used NFCU almost exclusively for credit. But the message they gave you -- that the age of your account with them and the absence of direct deposit were factors in their credit decision -- is confirmation that the 'relationship' thing is really a thing.