bobert24

Applied for a personal cobranded card, got "Decision Pending". Automated application line says 2 weeks, which appears to be a good thing.

I also have a prequalified mailer for the Ink Plus, and was hoping to apply for that one today too. Trying to decide if this is a good or bad plan.

Bad:
- The Ink App could show up later when someone is reviewing my first app, and make me less likely to be approved for the first card

Good:
- Chase has traditionally (at least for me/my state) combined HPs from apps on the same day, even a mix of business and personal
- I may not get approved for the first card anyway, in which case I'd have to indicate on the Ink app that I had been denied for credit by Chase

I'm way over 5/24, but neither of these cards should be affected by that. I see lots of people have applied for a second card while one was still pending, but results seem to be mixed. I haven't been able to find a pattern that indicates how it affects your chances. Anybody?

RobertHanson

First of all:

Do Not Call Chase Recon. That has turned out to be the kiss of death for person after person. Much better odds of being approved if you don't call, even if that takes several weeks. If they need to verify something, and you don't call, they will mail you a letter asking for that verification.

Secondly:

Do not call Chase Recon.

And I'd wait off on applying for the Freedom until the CSP app is finished. Lately Chase has been approving the second app first, and delaying the first one, and if you are only going to get one, you very much want the CSP instead of the Freedom.

jalabi99

You know, I get the feeling that you think I shouldn't call Chase recon...



I will just have to breathe into a paper bag and do some yoga or something to calm down and be patient and wait to hear one way or the other.

Yes, that was my plan. I didn't want to apply for the Freedom before the CSP. I was hoping for an auto-approval today so that I could throw in my Freedom app immediately after my CSP app, but I shall wait...breathe, breathe...

Thank you for knocking some sense into my head RobertHanson.

By the way, since the CSP would only be my second app ever (I already have a Visa Signature from my bank), would it be harmful if I apply for another non-Chase card today? I got a Citi Hilton HHonors Visa Signature card offer in the snail mail last week and my credit will be auto-frozen again in seven days. I unfroze my credit today specifically to do the CSP/Freedom, etc. apps.

stam27

Applied for CSP on Jan 20.
Got "Thank you for applying, we will notify..." message.
Did not call recon line as advised here.

Got refusal letter by mail on Jan 28th. According to this letter Chase made this decision by taking my credit score from Dec 5th! It was ~600 back in Nov-Dec, now it's ~800. Is this a normal practice to acquire score from 2 months ago and not checking the current one?!

Another thing - when I call automated line it's still saying - "We're reviewing your application" though I already got refusal letter 4 days ago.

Should I call recon?

NoonRadar

Some people have reported being approved for the CSP despite having more than 5 new accts in the last two years. Up to you if you want to chance a hard pull or not.

NoonRadar

Can someone else corroborate this and give some more details? Is it balance at the time of application, balance on the personal checking (as opposed to bus)?

If there is such a thing, has anyone tried to apply online and call the local branch about this after getting denial or pending?

jsk1973

Your credit score jumped ~200 points in two months?

It sounds like you're an existing Chase customer and they used a prior credit pull. That's usually a nice benefit — saves a hard pull for a denial — but you might be an exception to that.

What caused the sudden FICO jump? Are you using real FICO scores or scores you get from some credit-watcher site?

stam27

Yes I got Chase Freedom for few years and just wanted to enhance the rewards by opening either CSP or Ink Plus, but I didn't apply for any Chase cards for the last 2 years and I have no idea why they used the score from Dec 5th when it was so low. There were no any hard inquiries made.

Credit score jump - I just reduced total CC utilization from 90% to 5% and paid off 2 loans in full, all during 1 day in December. Waited for 4-5 weeks until all banks report to bureaus, now I'm close to 800 according to all credit score sources... But Chase decided to use old info...

jsk1973

Wow, I've never heard of such a huge FICO jump that was due only to utilization. Perhaps you have a thin and/or short credit file (?).

I know it doesn't seem like it, but Chase actually did you a favor by using its last soft pull of your credit. I'd apply again and then, if that one also is denied, call to ask for reconsideration. (If it's been more than a month since you paid down all of the debt, Chase should have a newer soft pull for you on file.)

By the way, do you have at least one credit card with a $5,000 or higher credit limit? If not, that could be a problem as well. The CSP has a $5,000 minimum credit limit, and there's some evidence that Chase doesn't like to be a person's highest CL.

NoonRadar

Can anyone report to having better approval chances for CSP or other credit cards after they increased cash deposits to their personal checking and/or saving accts wtih Chase, or upgraded them to Premier checking or a different tier (non-private banking) level?

I know it's hard to pinpoint such factors definitely, since Chase computers and lenders do consider many variables, but I was curious on data points and musings about this. Thx.

RobertHanson

If the denial was based on outdated data, and you've already been denied, I'd absolutely call Recon and "politely" tell them they screwed up, and should work with current data. The worst they can do is still not approve you, they can't "extra" deny you.

jsk1973

I misread "Jan. 20" as "Dec. 20."

It's odd that a Jan. 20 app was declined based on an early-Dec. soft pull.

Hard to tell if calling is better than laying low for a little while and reapplying. Chase recon people are still heavily biased toward denials, and paying down a huge amount of debt doesn't necessarily make one a shoo-in.

RobertHanson

"I get the feeling that you think I shouldn't call Chase recon..."

Really, where ever did you get that idea?

Normally, I'd say already having applied to Chase, you can now apply for non-Chase cards. But remember 2 things: if you go over 5 new accounts in the past 24 months, the Freedom card is no longer available. And soon that will apply for the Ink as well. Frankly, as easy as it is to get approved for the HH card, I'd wait off on that.

The other problem is that your credit history is, as they say, extremely "thin". With only one card right now, who wants to be the one to see how reliable you are with more credit? You need to slow down and take it easy for awhile. Hopefully your get the CSP. If you do, charge on it every month, pay off those charges before they post at the end of the billing cycle. Then do that again. Demonstrate that you are not trying to get a bunch of credit that you can charge up, and then declare bankruptcy. (I know you are not doing that, but some people do, and that's why banks are so paranoid).

After a 4 or so months of reliable charging and paying back, apply for just the Freedom card. Then continue to do the same thing with both cards. After 6 months of perfect payment history, you can think about applying for more cards. Yes, it's true, you will read about many of us here applying for tons of cards. Credit.com tells me I've gotten 28 new cards in the past 24 months. But my credit history is almost 20 years long. With all but the first year or two being utterly impeccable. You need to establish some serious credibility with the major banks if you want to run with the big dogs.

jalabi99

As it happens, I do have a student loan or two as well. But I see your point. I remember three years ago when I first got my bank's Visa Signature card, I tried to apply for another card and was denied because I didn't have enough kinds of credit (?).

Yes, that is the plan. The only true reason I need the CSP is for the access to Ultimate Rewards, and to get that juicy sign-up bonus since I can easily make the minimum spend and not go crazy.


Arf arf arf!

Thanks again.

ASUDan130

Question its been over 24 months since I applied for the Sapphire so I cancelled the card and re-applied so I can get the bonus. There was a balance on the card which they said I had to pay off completely to process the application which I did. I was always under the impression that balanced would just be transferred for the newly applied card. Will this affect them in approving me because I did have the balance? I didn't realize about leaving time between the cancellation and re-applying. However, can't I say when if they issue the card but don't give me the bonus thats its been the required 24 months.

From the wiki: Chase's policy does not indicate whether there is also a minimum waiting period between cancellation and reapplication, and there is not yet sufficient anecdotal evidence from FTers to draw firm conclusions. At a minimum, a prudent churner will wait at least a week or two after cancellation before reapplying so that all of Chase's systems fully reflect that closure. (See first bullet point above.)

Finally, note that if you reapply too soon, Chase may still issue you the new card. (This differs from some other card issuers, which may deny such applications outright.) In this case, Chase typically notifies you by letter within a month or two after approval that, as a previous cardholder, you will not receive the bonus a second time.