So I got my rejection letter from my Chase United Business card application from almost a month ago. They turned me down for these reasons even though it showed a credit score of 818 from Equifax:
- You already have the maximum amount of credit we can offer you
- Too many credit or loan accounts have been opened recently
- Insufficient business revenue
As soon as I got the letter, I called the number on the back for the Chase Business Card reconsideration line at 800-453-9719. I told them I wanted them to reconsider my application because I didn’t need a $21K credit line on my Ink card and would be willing to move credit around. She then proceeded to ask me questions that I basically answered already in the application. She asked about: nature of my business, how long I’ve been in business, gross revenue and profit/loss from 2013, 2014, and projection for 2015. She then asked for my personal income as well. She then put me on hold for 3-5 minutes and came back to ask me 1 question – “I see that in 2014, you opened 12 revolving lines of credit. May I ask why?” Of course I saw this coming a mile away. My response, “Well each credit card was for a specific purpose. I was flying Alaska a lot last year, and so I wanted to get the Alaska Visa card. Then I started to fly American, and so I wanted an American credit card.” She asked, “Oh, so for the bonus?” I told her, “No, no. It’s because I was flying Alaska, and so I wanted the Alaska Visa because it gives me something like 3X miles on Alaska flights. And that’s why I want your United card. It’s because I plan on flying United a lot this year, and so I want your card because it gives me something like 3X on spend.” The reason I told her NO to the bonus was because you don’t want them to think you are only opening the card to get the sign-up bonus. Anyway, she seemed to like that answer and put me on hold again to process the application. Another 3-5 minutes later, she comes back on and asks if I would be willing to move $5K from my Ink card. SURE LADY! Then she put me on another 3-5 minute hold and comes back, “You know what, I think we’ll try to move $10K since you put $8K once on your Ink card and we want to make sure you have sufficient credit.” SURE LADY, MOVE ANYTHING YOU WANT! Then another 3-5 minute for her to come back on and say, “I have noted all of your information and have to send this to a senior service representative to review your application. You can call back in 24-48 hours for the decision or wait 2 weeks in the mail.” I think I’ll wait the 2 weeks to see how this plays out; pretty sure calling again won’t help my situation.
Conclusion
Man, it’s no longer easy to get Chase cards. These calls 2 years ago would take 5 minutes if you said the magic word, “move credit from another card” and they would immediately approve it. They definitely wouldn’t need to get a “senior” specialist involved. The economy must be better now, and so they don’t want to give out as many bonuses or new cards like they used to. I am also slightly worried that my cancellation of my IHG card means they’ll give me a hard time if I try to get it again in the future. I was planning on cancelling my Hyatt card, but now I may just keep it and pay the annual fee.