Question:
Just about to drop a round of apps out. In general, which banks are most sensitive to inquiries? That is to say, which banks should I apply to earliest in the day, and which ones could come after that?
This question comes from reddit user ericphilbin.
Answer:
Below is a small list of banks which are known for being inquiry sensitive. These are in no particular order because it will really depend on what your individual credit profile is like. Remember that if you are denied for a card, to call the reconsideration line and state your case. When doing so it’s important to have a solid reason as to why you want the card (e.g the card offers no annual fee, or no foreign transaction fee is a good reason. Having a massive sign up bonus is a bad reason). Â If you are applying for multiple cards from this list in your app-o-rama, we suggest applying for them in order of importance.
- US Bank
- Barclays
- Citi
- Chase
- American Express
- Bank of America
And some smaller banks/credit unions you may not have heard of:
- Comenity Bank
- Penfed
- FNBO
May want to update this given it’s been Seven years.
And before anyone says this chart is meaningless now as HPs (Hard Pulls) are instant, pseudo App-o-Ramas are still possible. You just apply for 3 credit cards and have each one HP a different Bureau. Ex: I apply for a Citi card to pull Experian, I apply for Barclays to pull Transunion, and I apply for a Wells Fargo card to pull Equifax. If I do all of these in a 24-hour period, the new Credit card account will not show up on any of the Credit Bureau’s yet and you are More likely to be approved. This Strategy can also bypass Chases 5/24.
I did this in September of 2020 when I had a Tuition Payment and put the whole thing on Credit Cards. I applied for Seven Credit cards all in one Day and was Approved for Five by spreading the HPs.
It would be great if we have a list of banks sensitive to new accounts. From my experience, it should be:
first tire: capitalone, barclay, usbank
second tire: citi, chase
third tire: BOA AMEX
not sure about fnbo, td, penfed, wellsfargo, etc
Thank you for this even minor update!
Is this due for an update?
Yeah, it was written in 2014 haha/
Capital One also denied me a reservation code with too many inquiries in the last 6 mo.
Sorry, denied me a card even after being mailed a reservation code for a Quicksilver $150 cash back vs. the standard $100.
Elements Financial denied my wife a card. She has “young” credit and not enough positive posts on her credit report even though there are no negative entries. Also too many inquiries in the last 6 mo.
Oh, yeah. After my app-o-rama in 2007, Chase canceled all my acounts, forfeited earned bonuses and blacklisted forever. This bank has a really black heart, so to speak.
Ok this is an old comment but I need to say this for posterity. Chase does not shut down for no reason. You were not shut down for your app-o-rama. There is always more to stories like this. Late payments, other derogatory items on credit report, cycling credit limit, too much MS, etc. etc.
Yes Bod, Chase does that, I had perfect history with them, P E R F E C T, and opened 3 accounts and the closed them all.
A friend of mine added me as an authorized user to his 3 cards with 12k,15,17k limits within 2 weeks all of his accounts with chase got closed including checking accounts.
My guess is it happened because I have a bad credit like really f*d up credit.
I had a mortgage with chase, checking/savings, and two credit cards, perfect history on all of them. Year before last I was juggling a second housing payment (we’d moved but were having trouble selling the old place and the new place needed a lot of work so my card utilization went up on several accounts), chase had me sit through a very offensive and demeaning call where they demanded to know my situation, I told them each time (yes, carrying a balance for now, yes, plan to pay it off as soon as I can sell my old place, yes, paying all accounts as agreed still, yes, there’s an increase to my balances because I don’t have access to cash until my old place sells)—they lowered my limits by a lot (like one was dropped from $20k or so to $500, the lowest it can go and still stay open). There was absolutely nothing in my history with them (or anyone else) to indicate I wouldn’t or couldn’t pay, I’d been a good customer with them for 15+ years, never missed a payment or overdrew my deposit accounts, but they still kicked me when I was down. (And by the way I paid off all my outstanding card debt literally the day my old place closed and I got the money, and am back to paying everything off in full every month. It was a 100% temporary situation, just like I explained to the rep who demanded answers then wouldn’t accept what I told them.) TL;DR: Chase is garbage and they’ll never be my primary bank ever again.
If credit limit is $5k, cycling it means spending $5k then paying $5k towards credit card then spending $5k again, all BEFORE the billing cycle ends and statement posts
Okay I see. I do this all the time and I have never had any problems. My credit score is really high and I also do lots of credit card bonuses. I guess in my case they don’t notice or care since I don’t have loans with these banks?
Maybe. To be fair my example was one cycle some people do dozens or even more and that certainly can be a risk for shutdown. Also depends if it is an account opened long time ago or one opened recently (bust out/break out risk).