Declined by Kohl's Department Store??? How?

[DaveC]

I have excellent credit and I've have so for several decades with never a late payment. My Fico score is 810.

I recently was declined Kohl's department store credit card. The cashier only asked for my name and address and I was instantly refused. A few days later I got a letter from Kohl's saying I was rejected because of:

"Ability to pay income." What does this mean? Their decision was based on information from Experian. The letter further reports that my credit score is 931.

I was never asked by the cashier for my annual income, just my name and address. Should I have been asked my family income? Is it possible she entered ZERO for income and screwed it up on me? Is there even such a question on her computer? I guess I should have asked her at the time.

My Experian credit report is practically perfect with never a late fee. I really can't figure this out because I've never been denied any credit card in my life.

Thanks to all who help.

[Oarman1954]

I would call Kohl's directly and ask. There has to be some sort of mistake. Unless you have an IRS lien or something it must just be an error...it is possible the clerk even typed in the wrong social security number. Good luck!

[IndiraMehta]

3 possibilities:

Possibility A: The "credit score" you are looking at online could be a "FAKO" credit score, promoted by many credit bureaus to encourage you to buy their monthly credit monitoring product.

Possibility B: Many department stores (including Kohl's) make lots of money -- roughly 30% of their margins -- on late payments, interest, and fees applied to delinquent store credit customers. Having high credit scores disqualify you from having a credit card sounds preposterous, but there are many banks that specifically serve the store-credit card market because they know they will make lots of money off of middle to low income borrowers with mediocre credit scores.

Possibility C: You don't have enough credit in your name. If you have no debt (like I do), and you pay your bills on time, it is damn near impossible to get a store credit card, because you have no debt. There's no accessible track record of how you pay back loans. So, you can have an excellent score, but little by way of revolving credit.

Possibility D: Your name and address as entered do not match the credit report used to verify your details. This happens a lot. I worked at Macy's and used to sign people up for Macy's cards. A lot of McKays and MacCary's and O'Dell -type names would get instantly rejected because a credit bureau has their name typed with a space between the first "Mc /Mac /Di/ O'" part of their last name and the rest of it. So, "Mc Kay" is different than "McKay"

Possibility E: ALL OF THE ABOVE. or None.

[energizer]

My wife applied with Kohl's with only a Name & address and she has been here in USa for over 10 years without a drivers license and absolutely no tradelines on credit report.

The car dealership report would pull no credit, Kohl's wouldnt issue anything &she wouldnt qualify for a secured credit card in 2010 via HSBC

she has a well paying job but no tradelines.She had to join a credit union and take out a $300 secured credit as minimum, have a $600 CD and borrow against it for 9+ mos before they would consider her for a credit card. She has had a bank account for over 5 years with no overdrafts or non=sufficient checks

Everything is in the way FICO is scored.

Edited September 22, 2012 by energizer
Banking

[eoth2011]

I have a Kohls card, and i can tell you , my credit score is NOT

810

[Beergoggles]

I think the real question is why you would want a Kohls card. Rates are high just pay cash! why would you give someone 21% more to buy something? thats over 1/5th more!!!! If your going to do that then you just do not need it. http://www.kohlscorporation.com/Legal/CardmemberAgreement.pdf

[racecar]

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[energizer]

Thats also one of the reasons why people coming out of bankruptcy, people with chargeoff's & no tradelines on their report & ineligible for a secure credit card would want to build a History of payments using KOHL's card Gas Cards ,Furniture Purchases and be disciplined to actually want to pay on time and give it upto 24 months of payment history just so a credit history can be established.

I would do that in a heartbeat, becoz the next time i wanna go apply for a car loan and i have no tradelines i better show i am paying and its reportable to the credit bureaus.

It matters whether its installments, revolving or mortgage but you do have to start somewhere when you know have nothing to show for it.

I got rejected by a bank for an auto loan with 690 Auto enhanced score only becoz i was paidoff on my car note 2 years ago and i had not re-signed or taken out another auto loan and making payments on it. the 690 didnt matter so much, the fact that i have no other debts i am paying on now, mattered.

I think the real question is why you would want a Kohls card. Rates are high just pay cash! why would you give someone 21% more to buy something? thats over 1/5th more!!!! If your going to do that then you just do not need it. http://www.kohlscorporation.com/Legal/CardmemberAgreement.pdf

[Beergoggles]

They can get a credit card no issue there. The issue I have is the 20 plus percent interest rates. To me that is just foolish.

[VADebtor]

I agree that for someone who doesn't have the discipline to pay it off the Kohl's card has a high interest rate. But they frequently (almost continuously) offer 15 to 30% off everything if purchased on their card, and at least once a month offer 20% Kohl's cash on top of those savings.

[energizer]

It pays to Discover!!!!!!....The Card (KOHL's, Gas, Consumer)that pays you back?

If you need a start, there is no doubt the rates will be higher. If you have 750+ excellent scores you dont need KOHL's, Gas Card, Consumer Cards

That simple!!!!!!.