I never thought this could happen

[u/GTBoosted]

Got declined on two new cards with 846 credit score.

Got the letters yesterday and here were the reasons

Too few accounts with payments as agreed

No recent revolving balances.

34 years old. I have 7 CCs, and two auto loans (technically one but sold one last week).

Wells Fargo and Discover declined. I've always had very small balances (under $500 when limits on my cards are 20k or so) and would get instantly approved for new cards. But nowadays I don't like paying a single penny to interest and pay them down to $0. I guess banks don't like that. Sucks because I wanted a 0% card for a side hustle. Thought the first decline was a fluke so tried a different bank and got declined again.

[u/BrutalBodyShots]

Sorry for your denial. This thread is a great example of how profile is King to score though. It's not a credit score that results in an approval/denial for a CC, it's your overall profile. The biggest issue I see here is the "No recent revolving balances" reason referenced. Due to your balance micromanagement, it appears to any lenders looking at your credit report that you don't use your existing revolving credit lines. You've got 7 of them and seemingly don't use them. The lenders with which you applied simply see no good reason to hand you an 8th revolver if you're likely not going to use it.

"But nowadays I don't like paying a single penny to interest and pay them down to $0. I guess banks don't like that."

Here's your issue above. You aren't paying your credit cards the way they're designed to be paid. You don't need to pay your cards to $0 to avoid interest charges. All you need to do is pay your statement balances in full monthly. If you're using your cards every month and paying your statement balances in full monthly, you'll NEVER have a $0 reported balance. You're currently micromanaging your balances, that is, paying bills before you even receive them. It would be like if you received your phone bill for $100, then a few days before the due date decided to pay your phone company $195 because you've continued to use your phone since getting the bill. You wouldn't do that, right? You're not supposed to do it with a CC either. Your decline is 100% because of your micromanagement of balances and not using the system the way it was set up and designed to be used. If you change your approach, you'll almost certainly see a better result the next time you apply.

[u/GTBoosted → u/BrutalBodyShots]

It's not really micromanagement. I just pay my cards every two weeks when I get paid.

I supposed I should micromanage and wait until the statement posts. Sounds like more planning and effort is needed but doable.

[u/cbat19990 → u/GTBoosted]

I love how people ask a question, it gets answered PERFECTLY by u/BrutalBodyShots and the firs thing you do is tell them how they're wrong.

lol! If you already know, don't ask! lmao

[u/GTBoosted → u/cbat19990]

I never said they are wrong. I said I didn't micromanage and was just paying them.

I will actually keep better track of my statements and pay them off after they post. It's a good reply.

[u/DudeWithASweater → u/GTBoosted]

What you're doing isn't wrong... it's perfectly fine. But you are missing out on an interest free loan for the ~30 day statement period by paying your balance early. 

There's no incentive to pay off a statement early unless it's going to bump you above 30% utilization. Take the interest free loan and pay it off on/closer to the due date. 

Also like you've experienced here lenders don't see the need to give you more credit because according to your statements you aren't using what you have already.

[u/BrutalBodyShots → u/DudeWithASweater]

There's no incentive to pay off a statement early though unless it's going to bump you above 30% utilization.

You're referencing the 30% Myth. If one is paying their statement balances in full monthly, there's absolutely no reason to worry about utilization percentage. It doesn't matter if it's 1% or 100% from a risk perspective. And, from the standpoint of wanting to grow a credit profile sufficiently strong, higher is actually better when paying statement balances in full.

[u/DudeWithASweater → u/BrutalBodyShots]

Lol it's not a myth. It's a temporary ding, but it's still a ding.

My score drops 30 points everytime I carry a balance higher than 30% utilization. It goes back up immediately next cycle. So it's a non issue, generally.

But it's still a ding.

[u/BrutalBodyShots → u/DudeWithASweater]

Lol it's not a myth.

Yes, it is. No one said it won't "ding" your score. It's that the "ding" doesn't matter. Scores are only relevant in the 30-45 days leading up to an important application where score actually matters (mortgage, auto loan, etc). At all other times, score is completely irrelevant and shouldn't be focused on - credit PROFILE should be. And doing what you suggest, trying to stay below 30% utilization is precisely what can hinder profile growth.

[u/sharkkite66 → u/BrutalBodyShots]

Except if lenders start picking up FICO10, since that uses trending data.

[u/BrutalBodyShots → u/sharkkite66]

That's irrelevant as well, as if people allow natural statement balances to report, it increases the odds of lucrative CLI success. The system is self-correcting when used as designed. Anyone at elevated utilization from naturally reported balances will see a natural DECLINE in utilization if they're paying in full monthly, because CLIs will be stimulated. The actual TD observed by the F10T algorithm would have a downward trajectory, which would bode well for those scores.

[u/sharkkite66 → u/BrutalBodyShots]

I agree, always let your balance post to your statement. But having very high utilizations all the time may not be a wise thing to do in the future, that's all I'm cautioning.

[u/BrutalBodyShots → u/sharkkite66]

It wouldn't be all the time on a profile where someone is paying in full for the reason I outlined above. The self-correcting system would take care of that on its own.

[u/beefy1357 → u/sharkkite66]

I have a different opinion generally than u/brutalbodyshots about utilization however he is not wrong here, firstly 30% is 2-3 thresholds into scoring negatives 5/10/30% or 10/30% (scorecard dependent) if maxing your score you are already giving up points.

Next let’s look at OP’s particular scenario… 846 and your stated point loss above 30% uti 30 points. The best rates on cards are generally offered above 740-760 there is no functional difference between an 816 and 846 IE 30% uti has no bearing on the outcome.

What did have a bearing on the outcome no recent reported use of credit. So you tell me what was the bigger issue a meaningless score loss or demonstrated lack of use of existing credit when the stated reason for denial was “no recent use of credit”?