Your credit line itself doesn’t factor into your credit score calculation - just your credit utilization ratio. The thing that surprised me the most was how my credit line on my existing joint credit card affected my application. Your current credit line can affect your future credit applications I also wish I had spaced out the timing of my credit card application so that it didn’t come so soon after I took out my student loans since lenders view recently opened credit accounts as risky.
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The recommended credit utilization is under 30%, and because I had a low credit line with my previous card, my normal spending sometimes pushed me over the threshold.
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In hindsight, I could have paid more attention to my credit utilization ratio - the amount borrowed divided by total credit available. But I should’ve taken into account all the other factors that could affect my credit application. It’s true your credit score plays a major part in credit applications, and payment history accounts for the largest share of your credit score calculation.
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However, the decision letter listed several factors other than my credit score as grounds for denial, including too low of a credit line on my current joint card and too many recently opened accounts.įor a long time, I had assumed that paying your bills on time and in full was enough. It takes more than on-time payments to build creditĮven accounting for the variance, my credit score was still considered good to very good by most standards.
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Just because you’re in the recommended score range doesn’t mean you’re guaranteed to get a certain card.Ģ. The lesson I learned from this is that scores can vary depending on where you get them. Although it seems that my credit score was not the tipping point of the decision, the significant difference still surprised me. According to the letter, Chase used its own proprietary scoring system and data from Equifax. When I got the decision letter from Chase, however, the score they listed was almost 20 points lower than what my bank had reported. I thought I had a good credit score in the recommended range for the Chase Freedom Unlimited card.
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In lieu of paying a fee to check my credit score, I used my bank’s free credit score reporting service, which uses TransUnion’s FICO scores. The credit score used by lenders may be different than what you see Aside from discovering the power of a polite phone call to customer service, here are five lessons I learned from the experience. I provided some information about my current employer, salary, employment history, and my reasons for wanting the Chase Freedom Unlimited card.Īfter some additional steps to verify my identity, I received a welcome package for the Chase Freedom Unlimited Card in the mail.Īll in all, the whole process took around four weeks and a surprising amount of work. The Chase representative offered to submit a reconsideration request for me.
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After four years of responsible usage, I had a credit score in the mid-700s.Īfter combing through the NextAdvisor credit card reviews, I set my sights on the Chase Freedom Unlimited® for its generous cash back in categories I knew I’d use, no annual fee, and generous intro bonus. I had a credit card previously when my mom had the foresight to open a joint credit card when I started college - with her as a co-owner - to help me build credit. Some offers are no longer available.Ĭoming out of college into my first full-time job, one of my financial goals was to get a credit card of my own. Information is accurate as of the publish date. For more information, see How We Make Money. Some links on this page - clearly marked - may take you to a partner website and may result in us earning a referral commission. We want to help you make more informed decisions.