A few readers pointed me to this reddit thread that discusses a Citi application rule I haven’t seen discussed before. The “rule” seems to be as follows:
- You won’t be approved for a credit card if you have six or more inquiries on the credit report that Citi pulls for your application.
- If they pull multiple credit bureaus, they’ll judge this based on the report that has the least amount of inquiries
- If you’re denied, you can get them to pull another credit bureau with less inquiries on it.
Contents
Data Points
This doesn’t seem to be a new rule. Here are some data points:
Agree with “rule”
Don’t agree with “rule”
Our Verdict
I don’t think this is really a hard rule, it seems that Citi will use this for a reason to deny accounts though when other factors might also be in play. Citi won’t approve you with a frozen report, but if they cite too many recent inquiries you can call reconsideration and ask them to pull a different credit report instead. Keep in mind the other Citi rules:
- Maximum of one Citi personal application per eight day period
- No more than two applications per 65 day period
- No more than one business application per 95 day period
- You won’t receive the sign up bonus if you’ve opened/closed a card within that family/brand in the last 24 months
Feel free to share your data points in the comments. Just remember this is based on the number of inquiries on the credit report that Citi pulled for you and not total inquiries across all three consumer reporting agencies. Read here on how to monitor your credit for free.
I applied for the Citi Custom Cash card today and got instantly denied. I called recon and they said it is because I have 1 inquiry within the last 5 days (I had just applied to the Freedom Flex card just minutes before submitting my Citi application). They both pulled my Experian report. I was told that the system will automatically reject you if you have 1 or more inquiry within the last 5 days for anti-fraud purposes, and you can not submit another application for 30 days.
I saw that you mentioned you can ask them to pull another report, so I asked them to pull my Equifax report because I don’t have any inquiries on that one, and then got an instant approval. Thank you Doc!
good luck getting anyone on the phone you call the number they give and all you get is a recording.
DP: Declined with 5 inquiries in the last 6 months on Experian (Citi being the 6th). They don’t seem to recon.
Citi is my 6th inquiry in 2 years on experiance. Denied. Technically the oldest inquiry should have fallen off in Aug (now is Sep) but still shows on the report. CSR told me to freeze Ex and the system will automatically pull another bureau.
Citi Costco Card automated denial (letter in mail).
Called recon after receiving letter denied for “too many recent inquiries” (Experian). Friendly application review rep told me that “once the automated system does the denial, they can’t override it”. Asked to speak with a supervisor, who then told me the same thing. Asked if there were any exceptions and she took a moment to look and came back with a no.
Any suggestions?
EX Score 770, 2% utility, no derogs or negs. (Approved for Chase and Barclays card a week prior to the Citi denial)
Inquiries last 6 months: 3 Car buying inquiries (for the same car) and 2 other CC inquiries besides the Citi inquiry (including one on that same day).
Wife was denied with too many inquiries. It was only 2 inquiries within the last 6 months and 3 in the last 12 months. 833 credit score. She had just gotten under the Chase 5/24 and applied/approved for Chase Bus/Pers. Same day tried for Citi and was denied. Recon says it is due to too many inquiries.
So 2 in 6 months or 3 in a year is too much? Perhaps the issue is 2 other inquiries the same day? This is upsetting with Citi because I wanted to cancel the Prestige but do it after being approved for Premier.
For myself, I am also finally under Chase 5/24, but I might apply for Citi first so they don’t see the Chase inquiries.
My question then is, would Chase still work under 5/24? They would see the Citi inquiry the same day, but the Citi card if approved, won’t be on my account yet. Seems this is the better way to go.
I have 7 inquiries in the past 6 months on the credit report Citi pulled and I was just approved for the AAdvantage Platinum Select.
After applying I did get a message that said they needed to verify some info and to call 1-866-808-2787. I called, they put me on hold and then came back saying I was approved. No questions asked besides application number and my full name.
DoC, what is the correct way to calculate 6 inquiries in past 6 months?
For example, let’s say your inquiries are Jan 13, Feb 4, Feb 17, Feb 28, Mar 2, Apr 10.
In this scenario, do you go under 6 inquiries in past 6 months on (a) July 14, or (b) August 1?
Thank you in advance
Not sure as this doesn’t seem to be a hard rule with Citi so impossible to know really.
My wife has more than 6 pulls on Equifax in the last 2 years and Citi usually pulls Equifax for our address (Northern VA, DC area). I took the plunge and applied for a new Citi card (Diamond Preferred, we need 0% APR for some balance), it was immediately approved for $4500. The limit is disappointingly low and it won’t be as helpful as it could have been. She has excellent credit but a few recent cards were opened (2 in December and 3 more in January). Citi gave her $6k in January and Chase gave a 15k on a new card (British Airways). She has an Amex $15k. Discover increased her $5k to $15k recently.
My DP is worthless because I didn’t read the “rule” correctly. My wife DID NOT have 6 pulls in 6 months.
I honestly believe that their “rule” is card-based, really.
In August 2016, I had 11 inquiries in 12 months and 8 inquiries in 6 months and was approved for AA Plat. However, in September 2016 I applied for Hilton Reserve and got denied for too many inquiries … I checked and I had 12 inquiries in 12 months and 9 inquiries in 6 months.
Maybe it might be better to grab DP on which card they applied as well.
How do you get them to pull a different CB? I called twice and both said they cannot restart the app, and can’t guarantee what bureau will be pulled on a new app.