Hi folks, My wife just received a Citi preapproval (not prequalified) for 7.99% Platinum Select card. My efforts to establish a solid credit history for her are finally bearing fruit ... Are these preapprovals real deal? Someone posted here before that Amex honors its preapprovals unless something drastically changes ... was expecting a similar yes or no from you folks ... My wife makes $20,000 per year ... mine is $65K ... what are her chances with stating her income only? Does it even matter?
If it says pre-approved, I'd go ahead and go for it. It is not guaranteed as AMEX usually is, but your chances are better than 50/50
If she states her income only, she'll likely never end up with much of a CL. Most companies will give you up to 20% of your income as a MAX CL. They won't ever start you out at that though. So with $20K, her MAX CL would likely only be $4K (using the 20% rule). Most credit apps ask for household income or other yearly household hold income. Since you are married, I would likely combine the 2 of your incomes and list that. Then your starting CL will be a little more generous. You may not need all of it, but it'll definitely help with utilization.
unless it explicitly asks for YOUR income, put Household in, lol. I always put my wife's as part of income, since it is. if they question it i play dumb. MBNA did question it once, i explained, and the SR analyst said okay i understand. Obviously i'm not the only one on the planet following this schema.
Thanks all for your suggestions. The preapproval form has 3 columns ... "Your annual income", "Other income" and "Total Household Income" ... presumably the last is the sum of the first two. We plan to put in a figure in the Total Household Income column only, leave the other 2 blank, and send it in. Cross our fingers, and hope for the best. Will keep you all posted.
Does it give you a link and allow you to apply online? With such conveniences today of the internet, I don't know if I could ever sit through the agony of sending in an app and just waiting. The damn internet has spoiled me.
Unfortunately, it doesn't It does give the option of calling in to a 800 number, but we'd rather send it in than call. Somehow uncomfortable about being recorded and who knows what silly thing we might say and regret later ? You are not alone in being spoilt by the internet. We are too ... and that was the first thing I looked for, front and back ... couldn't find it, unless it's buried in some fine print
