I've been reading through a lot of "Citi" posts. I honestly don't think Citi uses a scoring model, and I think the have "human" reviews. here's my theory: I got approved with a 580 TU score, when I applied I had an unpaid C/O from 98. When hubby applied he had a 619 score with an unpaid charge off from 2000. He got denied. I noticed a few others got approved with 500 scores, so I'm thinking, if you have small unpaid charge offs over 2-3 years old and not a boat load of inquiries, you may get this card. I think they work like a mortgage company, as long as it's not recent, you're likely to get it. Again this is just MY theory, so anyone else please chime in with your thoughts! Also if you have applied please put your scores and the most recent derog you had and if possible the amt. Me: 1998 C/O $125 score 580 appr. $8500 Hubby: 2001 C/O $587 score 619 denied
Barring superhuman powers, there is no way a human could have reviewed my application. I applied late at night and received instant approval online, within 30 seconds of submitting my application. Then turned around with the BDD and duplicated the results on a second card. Evelyn Wood could not have reviewed my report that fast They may have human reveiws for applications that need further processing or are borderline, and may in fact have reviewed my account at a later time after I was approved to confirm the results of the instant approval, but not all Citi applications are reviewed by a human.
if you dont get online approval, it goes to a human to review (and another inquiry) as long as the basics are met. I got a citibank with 579 score ! most of my past debts were 5+ years old. So yes, they have their own system, and it benefits us immensely.
CITI along with every other credit grantor has their own "fico based" scoring system and it has little or no connection with the scores we look at. My wife has 3 15k citi cards with a CE score of 713. I could only get a 7k limit with a 698 score. Every single credit card company employs an army of statisticians to tweak their scoring and modeling program. There just isn't any way to guess which factors they consider more strongly than others. My impression is that CC balances play a much bigger role in the decision than we are led to believe. If you have high balances or high ratios, don't look for any good offers.
A rep. from Citibank told me that they use their own internal scoring model. This may explain why it's difficult to correlate credit bureau scoring with Citibank approvals and denials. Whatever Citibank's model is, it seems to place far greater emphasis on recent history than the models used by the bureaus. That is why people with scores in the 500 to low 600 range whose scores are dragged down by derogatories that are three years old or more may be able to get approved while other lenders who rely on the bureau models will deny them. On the other hand, people with more recent flaws whose bureau scores are not affected that much may have trouble with Citibank. This is just a theory based on my discussion with the Citibank representative and what I observe from my own experience and what I've read from posts on this board by others.
You said EXACTLY what I meant!!!! So I guess when someone asks what score is needed for a Citibank card, we should be asking when their last derog was!
Sorry to mislead you George, that was from my application in Sept '01 Not sure if it is alive or dead but I have not heard any recent successes. I have not tried since my first combine...I have not needed the limit. -Peace, Dave
If somebody wants to do it...and is a "SUCESSFUL" BDD...I guess I could do it for my wife... MY LUCK...I GET HER 4 INQUIRES AND NO ACCOUNTS...
Citibank must not want my business. I have nothing negative on my reports, scores are around 700, they denied me when I tried to do BDD several moths ago.
The ONLY way I got my PLATINUM SELECT was the BDD. I was DENIED applying by phone...mail...on-line... I had a 3-4 "PRE-SELECTED"/"PRE-APPROVED" type applications...DENIED... What is AMAZING is I had 2 accounts in the 90's PERFECTLY PAID...but closed.... I WAS TOLD ON THIS WEB SITE THAT THEY HAVE A "BLACK LIST"...A CLOSED ACCOUNT IS LIKE A BK TO CITIBANK...
Just to encourage anyone thinking of applying for hte BDD, that feels that they can't possibly be approved for a prime CC (I know I didn't, and was only able to apply after reading about several people that were approved with similiar scores to mine.) My scores when I applied were EQ 619, EX 631, TU 615. My negative tradelines included a 30 day late that was 9 months old, and a couple charge offs that were about 6 years old. My positive tradelines were a cap one card that was 2 years old and a 6 month old Providian card. I applied for both the silver & gold cards and was approved for a $5k limit & a $6k limit. I combined for a card with an $11k limit. This card increased my credit score 20-30 points on all CRA's immediatly after it started reporting for me. Good luck to all applying!! ellen
They MUST use their own freak'n model. On a recent AAdvantage online Ap they pulled TU (864!!!- no derogs) and the message was "we will let you know blah blah blah at the address you provided on your ap) What gives? I'm (pretty) sure ap will be approved, but why not instant? And OT, anybody else running into problems on Amex's website? Message says: Congratulations! You are pre-approved for $1000 line of credit increase. Simply click "Accept Offer" to update your account. But! It doesn't work. Clicking "Accept Offer" leads to an error message. We're Sorry... We are currently upgrading our site to improve American Express Online Services. During this time you may experience intermittent system delays. If you wish to review your account, please call 1-800-528-4800 and a Customer Service Representative will be available to assist you. If you wish to make a payment, you can pay via telephone by calling 1-800-472-9297. To redeem Membership Rewards® points, please call Membership Rewards® Customer Service at 1-800-AXP-EARN (1-800-297-3276). For any questions regarding our online services, please call 1-800-AXP-1234. New catagory. Credit Teasers. Grrrrrrrr
Calypso Message says: Congratulations! You are pre-approved for $1000 line of credit increase. Simply click "Accept Offer" to update your account. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I got a "PRE-APPROVED" second card...NOTHING ELSE...
George...I'm wonderig how that would work since we all had to close at least 1 account to do the BDD. Are we all banned from ever having another Citi card since we closed an account or two in order to get a higher cl on one card??? Ozzy.
Update on that Citi ap. Almost a month later, the card finally arrived yesterday with a 15K credit line. I wonder why the whole process took so long. It seems like most people get instant answers. A letter arrived about 5 days ago saying congrats with no details. Slightly OT, there also seems to be no rhyme nor reason to their instant credit limit increases. But I've wasted enough brain cells trying to figure out the CRA scoring models. If I start on CC company internal scoring analysis, I'll end up in a straight jacket.
I spoke with a rep about a week ago when getting the status on my 1st app. Citi says that application rates are way up which is the result of the delay. I called their app status number today to check the status on a 2nd Citi app and they've changed the menu. If you applied less than 3 weeks ago it says to wait the full 30 days then call back.
