Reward Card --- Denied- update!

[MikeL1515]

I applied for a Citibank Reward card a few few weeks ago and received a letter today saying they are unable to approve this account because ‘Your credit bureau report shows you have no revolving accounts with a balance’.
Now, I worked hard to get my credit cards paid off. I had a balance on my one Citibank cards for about 11 years until I paid it off about two months ago. I also have two other credit cards with 0 balance, numerous department stores, Lowes, Home Depot… All 0 balance.
I am a ‘deadbeat’, when I use my cards, I pay them right off.

All I wanted was a reward card, and for paying off all my credit card debt I can’t get rewarded!

Is this an industry standard?
Should I try another card?
Should I call Citibank and say I was a loyal customer for the past 11 years and this is how I get treated?
Anyone have any ideas?

Thanks

 

[KTSMOM]

I have the Chase rewards credit card. You might want to try that one. I pay off my credit card at the end of each month and that didn't seemed to bother them one bit.

 

[HM]

We have several cards that give rewards (use one at at time depending on needs) and also pay them off every month. We have not been denied a new card (got the Disney one last spring) because of it. I think you should try another card company.

 

[Ozymoe]

I would call Citibank directly and ask for clarification. I have never heard of anyone being denied because they pay their credit cards off each month. Perhaps you have several credit cards that you seldom or never use? That might be a factor.

 

[disneysteve]

First thing I would do is go to www.annualcreditreport.com and order all 3 of your credit reports. I would also pay the fee to get your FICO score from each bureau, or at least one. Whether or not you pay your balances each month isn't what is important. What is important is what your credit score is. If your score is low, figure out why by reviewing the reports and work on fixing the problems and getting the score up.

I would also try and call the card company and see if they can give you a better explanation of why you were denied.

 

[MyGoofy26]

Along with checking your report. . . once you order, check the inquiries and see which report they looked at to make this determination. Then make sure that all of your CC's are reporting on this particular one and HOW they are reporting. Sometimes they'll report a "current balance as the credit limit and if that's the case, you paying off your credit cards may have caused a glitch that says you have a credit LIMIT of zero. You could then call up or write your CC companies and ask them to correctly report the credit limit and/or file a dispute with the CRA (but this is risky, sometimes they'll delete a good tradeline instead of just doing the work and researching it like they're supposed to)

 

[jennwdw]

Premier Pass is probably the easiest Citi card to get. You can apply for that and once you receieve it, you can call the activation # and convert to whatever citi product your interested in (dividend, diamond etc.) Check www.creditboards.com for threads on this.

 

[MikeL1515]

I have checked my credit report and my score. My score is in the upper 700s and I have credit lines over $10,000. I have had a balance of a couple of thousand dollars on my Citi Simpicity card for years. Just recently paid it off with a home equity loan.

 

[jessica52877]

I have heard of this happening because of the fact that you have too much "available" credit. When I was looking to buy a house, one lender made the comment to me about that because I too pay off everything every month. Might look into closing some you don't need possibly.

Jessica

 

[jeankeri]

It is because you have too much available credit. In addition to closing store cards, you may want to ask the one or two cards you decide to keep to lower your credit limit.

 

[aka-mad4themouse]

Can't you just call Citibank and have them switch the card you currently have to a rewards card? I'm sure that they'll do this if they're faced with the possibility of you closing the account and losing you as a customer.

 

[allboyz]

I agree! It is because you have too much available credit.

 

[hmgolden]

I agree! It is because you have too much available credit.

I would call Citibank and ask them why you were denied. We just applied for the Citibank rewards card and had no problems getting the card or a healthy credit line. DH and I each have several credit cards, and I have a bunch of store credit cards, all with no balances.

 

[SleepyatDVC]

Can't you just call Citibank and have them switch the card you currently have to a rewards card? I'm sure that they'll do this if they're faced with the possibility of you closing the account and losing you as a customer.

I agree. Call your current Citicard's toll free number and ask if you can change it to a reward plan. If it is linked to any other type of reward plan make sure to use up the accumulated points/etc. before switching.

When Chase absorbed First USA and Bank One, I suddenly had 3+ cards with Chase. When my Disney Visa card (my newest card) had a 0% deal, I wanted to take advantage of it but my credit limit was very small under $1k.

I called Chase and they were able to transfer some of the credit limit from my original First USA card (which I NEVER use) which had a credit limit in the 5 digits to my Disney Visa so that I could take advantage of the promotion as well as to my Amazon Visa (which I use all the time).

I didn't want to close my original First USA card because it was one of my oldest cards (80's).

 

[cruisnfamily]

You don't need to pay to get your credit report. When you are denied credit, in the denial letter, it should tell you how to get a copy of the report they used for free. You can always get a free copy when you are declined. Don't pay for it!

 

[spatenfloot]

If it will help, you can have some of my CC balances.

 

[disneysteve]

You don't need to pay to get your credit report. When you are denied credit, in the denial letter, it should tell you how to get a copy of the report they used for free. You can always get a free copy when you are declined. Don't pay for it!

Nobody needs to pay for a credit report ever. Everybody is now entitled to 3 free credit reports each year, one from each bureau. Go to www.annualcreditreport.com to request your reports. A good plan is to pull one report every 4 months, rotating through the 3 companies.

You do need to pay to get your credit score, however.

All those companies that charge people for their credit reports are rip-offs. They prey on those who don't know any better.

 

[jekjones1558]

Is there any chance that the issue is that none of the current cards had any charges on them? I have many accounts I use and they DO have balances which I pay in full each month. Could the OP's problem be that the current cards had no charges at all recently?

 

[GalDisney]

Also a problem might be that you do not have any current balances that you are making payments on. credit card companies like to see that you can meet the obligation of meeting the credit card payment each month. If you pay off the balance at the end of the month, that isnt 'making payments".

 

[MikeL1515]

Can't you just call Citibank and have them switch the card you currently have to a rewards card? I'm sure that they'll do this if they're faced with the possibility of you closing the account and losing you as a customer.

Great Idea I will try that.