I applied for student credit card and got rejected because of inquiries?

Question

I have a credit score of 708, 698, and 715 after having 9 months worth of credit. I have two credit cards and all of them have been paid off on time. Now, Wells Fargo tells me that the reason they declined me from getting credit is because i have "too many inquiries"

I have three credit cards now

Is there something I can do: I think the reason they

CAN THEY DECLINE SOMEONE BASED ON INQUIRIES EVEN THOUGH I HAVE 9 MONTHS OF GOOD CREDIT WERE ALL CREDIT CARDS ARE PAID OFF AND HAVE HIGH CREDIT SCORES?

Answer 1

Credit offers that are "pre-approved" have not actually looked at your credit... yet. But if you call them and say you want their offer, they will dive into your credit report.

Your credit scores are GREAT. Now you have to work hard to keep them there. Having 3 credit cards as a student (paid off, if I read your question correctly) is plenty. Don't get more.

Banks and other lenders look at several factors when evaluating you for credit:
1) Credit score
2) ratio of actual debt to potential debt
3) ability to pay back
4) number of inquiries

1) Credit score is the whole calculation of the other items. It takes into account how long you've had your credit file open (9 months for you), how much you have outstanding, how high your credit limits are, and how well you've paid your debts over time.

2) Ratio of current debt to potential debt means if you have a credit limit on a card of $5000, and your current balance is $1000, then you have only borrowed 20% of your maximum. This can cause concern if you have 3 or 5 cards in the same boat. You have $3000 outstanding, but if you ran out today and started buying things, you could run up $15000 very quickly. They want to know if you have the ability to handle that potential debt load and associated payments.

3) Your job. How much you earn per month in relation to how much you can afford to pay back each month.

4) How many places are you trying to get credit, and how close together are your applications? If you apply today to one place, and another tomorrow, the second place does not know if you were approved or not at the first place. You have more potential debt out there, and are therefore a higher risk than if you had simply tried the one place. Certian situations are looked at differently than credit cards, such as car loans and mortgages.

Any loan that is secured by your signature (yes, a credit card is still a loan, just a different type) is called Unsecured Debt. Lenders do not like to see a lot of this because they have no recourse if you default on the loan. If you default on your car payment, they can take your car. Same with a house payment. They cannot take your signature.

Keep your debt low, your number of credit accounts low, and keep making payments regularly. Don't apply for a lot of credit, you already have enough. The longer you go without inquiries, the better your scores will be, and the more likely you will be to be approved when the big ticket item is needed.

Answer 2

Wells Fargo is a bank. They may have a stricter guidelines to follow for giving credits. Check your credit score and see yourself what they are talking about. Credit scores also take into consideration how long in average your credit has been open. More than a year is better than 9 months. If you don't need it right now, wait for 3 months so you can say your credit card is a year old. Try citibank or some other companies that do a lot of consumer credit instead of wells Fargo.

Answer 3

yes....when I went to buy a car last year, my mom (a retired banker) warned me about trying too many times to get credit. it actually shows up and knocks a teensy bit off your credit score, also shows up as inquiries, so it looks like you are aksing for credit all over the place, whether you got it or not.
my mom's advice to me was to limit as much as possible the number of places that look into your credit, do not send out for any of those "pre-approved" type offers, etc.
unfortunatley, the credit card companies can poke into your records without you really asking for credit, so they can hurt you without you even wanting them to.
My suggestion is to contact wells-fargo back again and ask them for help/info/brochures on smart credit, improving credit score, etc. it will take a bit of time, but you CAN get it fixed. good luck!

Answer 4

Yes they can turn you down for that. It means that in a short time period you applied for a few credit cards or whatnot. I don't know why, but they seem to think that you may be preparing to spend more then you can afford. All you can do is wait a few months.

Answer 5

you have apllied for to much credit,,,,everytime you apply for credit the comapnies check your credit...therefore you have to many inquries on your report...even your car insurance company will check your credit report