Where do I go from here?

[LowFICO2020]

Hello everyone,

I'm back to update you after a couple of months of letting the credit bureas update my records.

Recapping the prior posts (you can view at start of thread), I previously had over 16k in cc debt and paid it all off in early July in one lump.

These numbers are current from MyFico (report updated today 9/16/25)

My updated scores are:  

Equifax 763

Transunion 763

Experian 756

My current reported utilization is 2% Experian and 1% on TU, 1% on Eqfx

Payment History- Exceptional on all 3 (0 missed payments)

My Length of Credit History- Exp "Good" (4yr 3mo), TU "Good"(4yr 4mo), Eqfx "Good"(4yr 4mo)

Amount to of new credit - Exp Fair (2 mo), TU Fair (2 mo), Eqfx Good (2 mo)

Credit mix - Exceptional on all 3 

Inquiries: Exp has 3 (all in August of this year) TU has 6 (4 in August of this year and 2 from April and May this year) and Eqfx has 3 (all from August this year)

My current cards are : Cap One Platinum (first card, $500 CL) Cap One Savor ($1400 CL),  Chase Prime Visa ($1400 CL) and US Bank Cash+ Visa Signature ($500 CL)

After paying everything off, I closed some of the low limit cards with high interest or annual fees (closed with zero balance) (closed three different Credit One cards, Quicksilver One (ann. fee), Aspire, Mission Lane, First Premier, Show, Merrick, Self, Avant and also my Amazon card (Synchrony) got closed on me after paying it off.

Since then I re-applied for an Amazon card- the Prime Visa and was accepted with a higher limit than I previously had with my Amazon store card.  I've also applied for pre-approvals from Capital One, CitiBank, American Express and WebBank and been DENIED approval on all of them.

So I'm wondering, why am I getting denied? 

My goal is to eventually get a higher limit catch-all card. Right now I'm using the Prime Visa as much as possible and paying off multiple times per month to cycle for CLI opportunities.

Any insight or advice would be helfpul. TIA

[Patient957]

Congrats on your higher scores.  But I feel like your score could be higher, given your stats.  Do you have a mortgage reporting or any open installment loan?

[LowFICO2020]

One installment loan from Affirm (Guitar Center) $2705 balance

I always thought these helped your score due to credit mix.

How much can this negatively affect?

[Thomas_Thumb]

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@LowFICO2020 wrote:

Hello everyone,

I'm back to update you after a couple of months of letting the credit bureas update my records.

Recapping the prior posts (you can view at start of thread), I previously had over 16k in cc debt and paid it all off in early July in one lump.

These numbers are current from MyFico (report updated today 9/16/25)

My updated scores are:  

Equifax 763

Transunion 763

Experian 756

Amount to of new credit - Exp Fair (2 mo), TU Fair (2 mo), Eqfx Good (2 mo)

Inquiries: Exp has 3 (all in August of this year) TU has 6 (4 in August of this year and 2 from April and May this year) and Eqfx has 3 (all from August this year)

My current cards are : Cap One Platinum (first card, $500 CL) Cap One Savor ($1400 CL),  Chase Prime Visa ($1400 CL) and US Bank Cash+ Visa Signature ($500 CL)

 I've also applied for pre-approvals from Capital One, CitiBank, American Express and WebBank and been DENIED approval on all of them.

So I'm wondering, why am I getting denied? 

Any insight or advice would be helfpul. TIA

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Your summary answers your question on denials: new credit ratings of Fair and new accounts in the last 3 months coupled with a significant number of recent HPs.

My advice is no new aplications until 2026. Also, stop with the pre-approval recon until next year. Then consider joining a couple credit unions and getting their version of Visa/MC.

Try for some SP CLIs in the meantime but wait until any new account is 90 days in age and wait 90 days between SP CLI requests on the same card.

Having the open installment loan is good. I'd just continue with progress payments as planned.