There is something about applying for a credit card that is a bit like asking a cute girl on a date. You’ve got that moment of anxiety as you prepare yourself with the speech that you and your friends thought up. You know she’s out of your league, but you go out on a limb to see if she’ll say yes. You stumble through your speech and she immediately looks down. You know its a bad sign, and she tells you that she isn’t sure what her schedule is like tonight. She will have to get back with you. This is bad.
English: First 4 digits of a credit card (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
In the credit card world most of this is the same. You’ve got sweaty palms as you prepare yourself to ask for them to accept you. The anxiety level is high as your mouse hovers over the “Apply Now” button. Most of the time the lovely American Express (with nice curves) is going to tell you yes. Every once in a while you might get a response like the girl mentioned above, and said that she’d get back with you. This could be bad. You want to start resolving doubts and move the credit card application from pending to approved!
Don’t fret, because like the girl that you want to date, you should be able to convince her to join you on the date. Nobody should give up on the first try. Most of the time you’re going to be able to talk the credit card company into reconsidering their offer.
Here are a few reasons that they might not immediately approve you:
1. Your address doesn’t jive with their system. This happened to me with Citibank when I recently applied for the AAdvantage card. Instead of using my home address I was able to give them my work address and they approved me right on the spot.
2. You’ve had too many recent inquiries. This one can be a tough one. Chase told me on my last application that they noticed a bit of activity, but you just need to use the sweet talking voice that you’d use with the girl who told you that she needed to look into her schedule.
3. They want more information about your business. When I applied for the Chase Ink Bold card in November, Chase wanted to ask me some questions about what my business does, and how much I planned on spending on the card.
4. Verify Income. Sometimes they need a verbal on how much your income really was.
5. You’ve already got other cards with them and they need to move around the credit limits. This is really common with Chase. Sometimes they’ll ask you to cancel a credit card that you have with them as a prisoner exchange in order to approve you for a new one. With the luck you’ve been having it’ll be one that you were just about to cancel anyway.
6. They wanna know why you need a new card. This is where you need to be prepared with a few great ideas. Explain that you:
- Need a Mastercard so you can shop at Sam’s Club
- Need a card with a smartchip so you can travel to Europe
- Need a business credit card
- Are separating expenses between you and your wife (not separating the marriage)
- Need a card without foreign transaction fees
- Want a lower interest rate
- etc.
So stop worrying and make the call. It will bring down your blood pressure and up your level of excitement. Knowing that you’ve got another 50,000 miles on their way will put a little feather in your cap.
The overall strategy with the rep needs to be the same as the girl mentioned above. You have to keep your cool with him or her. Brush off the fact that they’ve put you off the first time, don’t grab them by the throat. Be kind, because they more than likely have some leeway based on the way that you treat them whether they approve or deny your application.
Credit Card Reconsideration-American Express
- 866-314-0237 – Reconsideration
- 877-399-3083/866-379-3643 – New Accounts
- 800-230-1284 – Credit Services
- Twitter: @askamex
Credit Card Reconsideration-Bank of America
- 866-458-8805
- Online Application Check
- Twitter: BofA_help
Credit Card Reconsideration-Barclaycard
- 866-408-4064
- Keep in mind that these guys close at 5:00PM Eastern time. Make sure you call them early enough in the day to ensure you get to contact them.
- Twitter: @BarclayCard
Credit Card Reconsideration-Capital One
- 800-625-7866
- Twitter: @AskCapitalOne
Credit Card Reconsideration-Chase
- 888-245-0625 Personal
- 800-453-9719 Business
- Twitter: @ChaseSupport
Credit Card Reconsideration-Citibank
- 800-695-5171/800-763-9795 – Credit Department
- 866-606-2787 / 888-201-4523– Application Status
- Twitter: @AskCiti
Credit Card Reconsideration-US Bank
- 800-947-1444
- 800-685-7680
- Twitter: @AskUSBank
Disclosure: Thanks to our friend Daraius for finding these numbers.
Have you ever been given a pending notice? If so, what for? We wanna hear!
