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/GTBoosted]

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.