They Had An 798 Credit Score But Still Got Rejected For A Personal Loan. Here’s The Unusual Mistake They Kept Making Over And Over

A Reddit user with a nearly perfect 798 FICO score was stunned when Citi rejected their application for a personal loan. Despite never missing a payment and holding six open accounts with a 10-year credit history, the denial letter cited an unexpected reason: “Low balances on revolving accounts recorded on your credit bureau report.”

The person shared screenshots showing their Experian report, with just $233 in credit card debt out of a $72,000 credit limit and a 0% credit utilization. That might sound ideal, but it actually backfired.

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So why didn’t they get approved for a loan? According to them, it’s because they always pay off the balance before the statement comes out. As a result, their balances were always reported as zero.

Credit card issuers report balances to the credit bureaus on the statement closing date, not the due date. By paying off everything early, the person unintentionally erased any evidence of credit usage, making them look inactive in the eyes of lenders.

One top commenter summarized it clearly: “You don’t need to ‘carry’ a balance to show usage. All you need to do is pay your statement balances in full monthly as opposed to paying your card to $0 before statement generation. That’s where OP went wrong.”

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Another contributor added, “You should not be paying off your balance before your statement closing dates. That’s not how credit cards are designed to be paid. Treat them just like a utility bill. Once you receive your statement, THEN pay the statement balance off by the due date.”

Many in the thread agreed that letting a small balance post each month before paying it off is a better way to show responsible usage without accruing interest. One suggested, “Let 5-10% report then pay it off after the statement. Should fix the problem pretty quick.”

OP acknowledged the oversight: “I don’t like to see a big number, but it’s my fault. I’ll set auto-pay after the statement now.”

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Some also pointed out that lenders may get suspicious when someone applies for a personal loan but has zero visible debt.

“They are questioning why you need a ‘personal loan’ when you have no debt,” said one former loan officer. “Without any debt, most banks will flag a generic loan,” another person said. “If OP allowed their credit card balances to report organically, the lender would have seen ‘debt’ and wouldn’t have denied them.”

The thread also warned against opening more accounts or taking loans just to build credit. “You don’t need another card now,” wrote one commenter. “Allow your accounts to age. You also shouldn’t take on loans just for the sake of taking on loans. You’re currently throwing away money on interest on a loan that you didn’t need.”

The original poster now plans to change their approach: “That’s why I am going to carry some debt now and pay it off. I think they also don’t see my debt management. It’s always 0. But if I have debt every month and pay it off, that should work.”

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This article They Had An 798 Credit Score But Still Got Rejected For A Personal Loan. Here’s The Unusual Mistake They Kept Making Over And Over originally appeared on Benzinga.com

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