Not Accept CC after applying

[fixcrdt]

I applies Walmart Discover In store yesterday & Got Approved for 2K.

They alreday placed inquiry with eqfax. How can I CLOSE / DISCARD this card before being placed to my CRs ? just not activate?

I belive, I should get a prime CC with better rewards. The only reason to get CC is to raise scores. Today for the first time I got a My FICO trial and found my score is 752 (wow!, it was 671 Aug 5 in EQ score watch).

I have had only 1 prime CC all these years. Received advices that I open more prime CCs for a better score. Hoe ever Amex (Blue Cash) denied me , for EX score being low & 1 collection item. My FAKOs are very low (TU:757 EX:693 EQ:621) , Make me think that I may not get prime CC from any leading bank (amex, citi , chase etc.. ).

[LeslieR]

Unfortunately, in most cases, being approved after application means that the card will appear on your report.

In fact, there was a letter to Liz Pulliam Weston in last week's LA Times about this very topic. Someone was upset that a creditor was reporting a card he/she had never activated. Liz said that's normal and activation isn't necessary.

What are the terms of your WM Discover? I would keep it if I were you esp. with you recent record of being declined. Having this card won't prevent you from opening one more prime account in the next few months..

[fixcrdt]

Thank you. This was the advice i was looking for.

I will keep it.

I am yet to receive it,so not sure about the terms of the card. There is a 0.25% to 1% (after 3.5K) reward point.

[matthewscott]

I don't think this card will hurt you. It seems like you need this card after getting denied on the others. In fact, this may help you get other cards down the road. You should get into a pretty good tier due to your credit score. I bet the terms will be good considering that it is a store card.

Remember, just because you have it, doesn't mean that you have to use it. However, Wal-Mart has some good deals on 12 months no interest. I've used it twice when I needed new tires and when my laptop died. You never know, with the holidays coming up, you might find a use for it after all. Just with any CC, please be responsible.

Congrats on the approval.

[fixcrdt]

Thanks a lot for the info.

Remember, just because you have it, doesn't mean that you have to use it

One of the reason for AMEX denial was "The amount of spending on your bank and retail credit card accounts over the last twelve months is too low. "

I have been using only my Visa CC. Usage on store cards was like 1 or 2 cards (out of 5) 2 or 3 times in the last 12 mos. I wonder what would be considrered 'GOOD' spending on each card in a year ?

[LeslieR]

Well you want to use each card every month to meet the "requirement" for good usage, and PIF for your own personal finance sake. I would say that using between 1% and 10% of your CL is appropriate.

I also think that if you are looking for CLIs sooner or later on one or more cards, it helps to charge close to the maximum and PAY IN FULL (IOW, only charge it up if you CAN PIF). Some creditors reward usage with CLIs - they won't bother to give you one unless they see that you are using their card and may potentially use the increased CL.

Others view the CL as an opportunity to have you spend more and will give it even if you're not using the card (e.g. STORE cards). For example, I got approved for $200 with Dillards. After just one small ($38) purchase, I got a significant CLI and upgrade to the card. I don't see that happening on my other regular credit cards - but I think Dillards sees this as an opportunity to make me a more loyal customer.

[swirlgirl]

Thank you. This was the advice i was looking for.

I will keep it.

I am yet to receive it,so not sure about the terms of the card. There is a 0.25% to 1% (after 3.5K) reward point.

If you were not aware of the terms of the card BEFORE you applied, then you should not have completed the application. When you apply online, a lot of the disclosures and information is there, on the website. You just have to actually read it.

Not to sound harsh, but too many people get into credit cards when they don't understand the terms. Then they blame the CC companies when something goes wrong.

[fixcrdt]

Well you want to use each card every month to meet the "requirement" for good usage

This rule is for the major CCs right?, not for store cards?

[fixcrdt]

If you were not aware of the terms of the card BEFORE you applied, then you should not have completed the application. When you apply online, a lot of the disclosures and information is there, on the website. You just have to actually read it.

Thanks for poitning this out. I thought most card applications when I apply, states like "APR starting from 10%" . And then determines the APR and CL based on my Credit Score, after approval. What other terms matters ?

I am one of those consumers who have not been leveraging the credit availability, until recently. Good to have found this forum. I have started paying attention to my financial life.

[Bigwoodystyl]

You sound like you're vacillating... if you don't want the card, don't use it. Activation is not a big deal. The use of the card is what constitutes acceptance of the agreement.

Call the "Applications" or "Credit Dept" and tell them you want to cancel the account with immediate effect. You don't even have to wait for the card. Generally, they won't report it until near the close of your first statement, sometimes slightly after the close of the first statement, and sometimes not until as late as the close of the second statement.

Contrary to the advice you've been given, getting the account not to report, or even getting it removed once it is reporting really shouldn't be too difficult if you've never used it. In this case, since the account is probably not even "booked" yet, and the plastic may not even have been mailed, I couldn't imagine you would have a problem with this... if that's what you want to do.

Removing the inquiry won't happen via any negotiations with the DF, but it's EQ, so you really won't see a score drop until your 3rd inq anyway, and you could always try to remove it through the "backdoor"

One more thing to keep in mind: it's expensive for the OC to open an account. If your decision is to close it before using it, then you wasted their time and resources. I wouldn't go so far as to say you'll be blacklisted, but GEMB likely will keep your "purged" account in their history for 3-5 years at the minimum, and it will impact your ability (maybe only slightly) to open another account with them... if it doesn't impact your ability to open an account with them, then it will (almost) definitely impact your ability to open an account with them at the best possible "strategy"..... just something to keep in mind. Of course, if you don't want it, that point is moot...

[LeslieR]

So was Liz's info wrong, Woody? Sounds like it? I always take her to be pretty credible. She was pretty cut and dried that once you apply, if approved, they will report and there's not much you can do about it.

[Krash]

dont' mean to be a butt, but from experiance if you dont' want a certain card don't apply! i would love to have the discover walmart card, but I could only get 500 on the wally world store card, and I have citi in excess of 20g's and two penfed cards, 1 gfcu credit union card, So i have prime cards but can't score a walmart discover or a best buy store card! lol.... Weird i know. i would keep it! Just PIF every month and there ya go, use it for food and gas!

[Bigwoodystyl]

So was Liz's info wrong, Woody? Sounds like it? I always take her to be pretty credible. She was pretty cut and dried that once you apply, if approved, they will report and there's not much you can do about it.

I've never read this person, and I'm not afraid to admit that I hadn't heard of her until a few minutes ago via google search. I also obviously haven't read the article in question, so I wouldn't go so far as to say she is wrong... yet.

To be literal, and based upon what you've said, she is correct that if you do nothing the card will report, even if you don't activate it and/or use it.

To get more particular, I suppose it depends on the issuer and on that company's policies and on the person(s) you speak with..

I, knowing firsthand how easy it is for them not to report it, wouldn't take no for an answer. If I didn't want the card, and I knew this the day after I applied for it, I can assure you that it wouldn't be reporting on my CR:wink:

To take it one step further, most issuers use very similar software, and the electronic forms sent to the CRA have been standardized. It is therefore possible for ANY issuer to make the account not report. (because they all use the same forms!)

To go one step further still, when I wrote accounts, it was in our manual that if we received a "credit bureau update" request from the consumer to remove the account from reporting within 30 days of the initial application, and provided the account had not been used, that we were "required" to remove it.

Whether this was a customer-friendly corporate policy, or a legal compliance issue that "required" us to do this, I don't know...

While I am bending over backward so as not to say outright this "esteemed" writer of finance and credit is flatly incorrect, I would be remiss not to consider the possiblity she is; at the very least, she isn't 100% correct.

It's certainly not the first time that I heard a popular "professional" with a very large forum say/write something about credit that isn't entirely correct. Everytime these people make mistakes they get a million emails from someone like me informing them how they erred, but a retraction is rarely published b/c it would be too costly to their "reputation". It's better for them, of course, that the public gets misinformation:roll:

I know nothing about this person. Those are my thoughts in general.

[fixcrdt]

Apparently Liz is correct in my case. Today (the first working day since the card approval), it appeared in my experian file. I am yet to receive the card.

I am keeping the card to build enough history for a amex blue cash in future.

Thanks for all the advices and comments and there is a lot for a newbie to learn from this thread.

[fixcrdt]

This is probably a topic for a diffrent thread.

Do you all credit gurus advice to OPT IN for receiving pre-approved card offers ? What are the benefits ? what are the disadvantages (other than ID theft possibility) ?

Few years ago, I OPTED OUT. I am thinking, now that I need a card, I would have saved some shopping around and inquiries if I had left it open.