amtrakwolverine
Engineer
what are the chances that chase will approve me in September when i try again. tried in November didn't have enough credit account was only a month old. i don't write checks just have my debit card.
Chase tightening up credit
- Thread starter rogers55
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Do you have anything that is helping you build a credit history? A checking account (with or without checks or with or without a debit card) won't do anything. You need to have a loan or some other thing that is reportable to the credit bureaus--a secured credit card, a car loan, even student loans--that is helping build your credit score. Otherwise, you can apply every month until you're blue in the face and you'll never get approved.
If you don't have anything and your parents or others won't cosign for you, go to your local bank or credit union and ask about a secured credit card. You'll need to plop down some amount--usually $500 or so--as a guarantee to the bank (it'll earn interest in a savings account), and then you'll receive a credit card (yes, a real credit card, with a line of credit) for an amount either equal to or slightly less than what you put down as a deposit. After six months or so of that, you should be able to either apply for a card with another company or convert the secured card into a regular card and receive your guarantee back.
It may take a bit longer than six months to get enough of a credit history to where Chase will give you the AGR card (its requirements are probably a bit higher because it is available only in the Platinum and World classes, which are the upper echelon of MasterCards. Six months after I got my first secured card, I applied for the Alaska Airlines Visa Platinum card but was only approved for the basic Classic card. Since the AGR card is not (AFAIK) offered in a basic level of card, you may not be able to qualify for another year or so.
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This happened to me as well when I first opened my AGR Mastercard - I got the card, realized 3k wasnt enough, and requested a higher line of credit which was denied. I would guess you have to wait about 6 months and like jackal says, use it. They approved you for x amount of credit when you opened the account, so I think you'd need to show why you can be trusted with more credit before they go approving you for a higher line.
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My card doesn't say Platinum or World anywhere on it - how can I tell if it's one of them?
stlouielady
Lead Service Attendant
Here's a tip I was given many years ago, when I first started applying for credit. Go to a bank, credit union, etc, and secure a loan (with a co-signer if necessary) that you do not really need. Don't spend it; put it into a savings account, etc; somewhere that you won't touch it, but can still withdraw the monthly amount to make the payments. Make the payments as required, and, that will help establish a credit history. You do earn a little bit of interest on the amount in the savings account (granted, not MUCH), but obviously not enough to pay the interest from the loan. However, I look at that as the 'cost of doing business'. Depending on the interest rate and terms on the loan, you can always make a few monthly payments, and then pay it off early and save some of these costs. After successfully paying off the loan, you should now have a successful borrowing and repayment history. Just make sure you don't spend the money earmarked for repaying the loan!
Good luck; I just thought I'd offer a suggestion that has worked for several people that I know....
the_traveler
Engineer
I'm not sure if they are all the same (location), but mine says in the bottom right corner "MasterCard" (with the symbol) and right below it "World" - it is a World MasterCard!
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Nope, no World for me. Doesn't say platinum anywhere either, and the website didn't provide me any more information. Guess the AGR cards come in regular flavors too.
I could be mistaken. However, this is among the terms and conditions at the card info page on the Chase website (same thing on the AGR website):
Seems like it is only offered in two variants: World and Platinum. I suspect if there are no markings on your card, it is of the Platinum variety. There could be an unmentioned basic version, though.
To KISS_ALIVE: You may wish to try applying for a "student card." These may have lower credit requirements for qualification, though if you have absolutely no credit, they may still deny you (and a secured card or an unneeded co-signed loan, as stlouielady suggested, will be the only way to go). You can start your search here--some of the cards that turn up are offered by Chase, which may actually make your transition to an AGR card easier, since they will already have experience with you as a cardholder.
amtrakwolverine
Engineer
student won't work. you have to be in collage. forget it debt is enough for now.
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wayman
Engineer
Exactly. Chase just raised my credit limit this month, to an amount I will probably never use in a month. It won't change my spending habits or my paying-the-credit-card-bill habits one bit, so as far as my using the card, having a higher credit limit doesn't matter at all to me. But I'm glad they raised it because as I understand it this will ultimately lead to my having a better "credit rating" which will help with car loans, house loans, etc, down the road. Part of your credit rating is based on the ratio of your "current credit balance" to your "available credit". So if you've currently got a $2000 balance on a credit card with a $5000 limit, that's a ratio of 2/5; if you've got the same $2000 balance but your credit limit was raised to $10000, that's a ratio of 1/5. And that lower ratio helps raise your credit rating.
Ryan
Court Jester
Be careful there, as there is such a thing as too much of a good thing. Sometimes you'll have trouble getting approved if you have a massive amount of unused credit available to you lenders will not want to extend you more (the though being if you utilized all the credit available to you, you wouldn't be able to afford paying the bills on all of it).
As long as your finances justify it, credit that you don't use is good. And, the more the better.
The problem currently is people having been extended credit that their finances didn't justify. So, there's more credit out than there really should be, and it's with risky folks; that leaves less available for those who might be very good risks but didn't ask before.
The problem currently is people having been extended credit that their finances didn't justify. So, there's more credit out than there really should be, and it's with risky folks; that leaves less available for those who might be very good risks but didn't ask before.
