In this article we will be taking a look at what Amazon Credit card approval odds looks like, to help you increase your Amazon credit card approval odds.
The approval odds for Amazon credit cards may not follow the typical ideology of “a better credit equals a better chance for approval”.
You can have a credit score of over 800 and a mortgage with no other accumulated debt, with a substantial income and very low debt-income ratio, and still be denied an Amazon credit card.
Even with the fact that you are an Amazon Prime member and regularly buy stuff from Amazon.
There is likely a sweet spot for approval to ensure profit, ‘too low’ is credit risk; ‘too high’ is a ‘no revolving balance’ risk.
Keep reading this article to know more about how you can improve your Amazon credit card approval odds.
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What Does a Credit Score Mean?
Before we dive into how to improve your Amazon credit card approval odds, let’s take a brief look at what credit score means for those of you who don’t know already.
A numeric representation of your credit history and creditworthiness. Some people may refer to it as the FICO Score, which is the most popular type of score.
Nevertheless, it is important to know that there are thousands of credit scores, and a lot of lenders also build and use their own proprietary scores.
The higher your score, the better your credit. Paying your debts on time can help your credit score skyrocket. It’s much easier to get loans when your credit score is high.
Amazon Credit Card Credit Score Requirement
The Amazon Credit Card credit score requirement is 700 or better, therefore, with a credit score of over 700 you have better approval odds of an Amazon credit card.
That means people with good credit or better have a shot at getting approved for the Amazon Credit Card.
You should note that while your credit score is an important factor, there are plenty of other things that will impact your chances of being approved for the Amazon Credit Card, too.
Some other key criteria include your income, existing debt load, number of open accounts, recent credit inquiries, employment status, and housing status.
If you excel in other areas, you might be able to get approved with a slightly lower credit score in some cases.
But it’s best to wait to apply until you meet the Amazon.com Credit Card credit score requirement. You can check your credit score for free on WalletHub.
You might get better odds if you have the store card already, but generally, you should have at least 700.
Amazon Store Card With No Credit History
You will have a difficult time getting the Amazon Store Card with no credit history, that’s why it’s necessary you know how to improve your Amazon credit card approval odds.
According to the Amazon website, you will need the following minimum credit scores to have a likely chance of being approved: Excellent (720+); Good (680); and Fair (640).
When you have no credit history, that doesn’t necessarily mean you have a credit score of 0 but your score is really low.
You will need to work a lot on your credit score if you want to get higher approval odds for an Amazon credit card.
It means that you’ve yet to establish a pattern of borrowing money and paying it back on time. Payment history is one of the key factors issuers consider before they extend credit to a borrower.
If you don’t have at least fair credit, your options of landing any unsecured line of credit with favorable terms and benefits will be limited.
The Amazon Store Card is as advertised. You can only use the card only for Amazon.com purchases.
If you don’t pay your credit card bill in full, you’ll be charged interest at a 27.74% APR on any unpaid balance.
To get an Amazon Store Card, you will need to come up with a plan to establish credit and build a solid credit profile.
You can open a secured credit card account. Cards such as the Capital One card require a minimum initial deposit of $200 to secure your credit limit.
With several months of timely payments, you may be eligible for a credit limit increase, a refund of your security deposit, or a transition to an unsecured credit card.
You may also sign on as an authorized user on someone else’s credit card. This allows you to build your credit based on the primary cardholder’s credit history. Be careful, though, if you choose to become an authorized user.
Should the primary cardholder’s credit profile take a nosedive, any negative activity will also show up on your credit report.
Once your credit history reaches a healthy level, you may be eligible for the Amazon Rewards Signature Visa card.
It’s a co-branded store card that can be used for purchases outside of Amazon. You’ll need at least a minimum good credit score (680+) to qualify.
Just try to resist the temptation and avoid applying for too many credit cards is a short amount of time, especially if you’re just starting out with credit.
Multiple inquiries on your credit report will shave a few points off your credit score and stall your efforts to build good credit.
Does the Amazon Store Card Affect Your Credit Score?
Yes, the Amazon Store Card does affect your credit score, but the exact impact depends on how you use the card.
If you make payments on time and keep your credit utilization low, your score should increase, and it will decrease if you don’t.
In addition, applying for the card has a small negative effect on your credit, and closing the card can hurt your score as well. This could in turn reduce your Amazon credit card approval odds.
If you want to estimate how the Amazon Store Card might affect your credit score, in particular, you can use WalletHub’s free credit score simulator.
How the Amazon Store Card Affects Your Credit Score:
- Application: Applying for the card will drop your score by around 5-10 points regardless of whether you’re approved or denied. This is easy to bounce back from after a few months of responsible use.
- Payments: Synchrony Bank, the card’s issuer, will report your payment status to the credit bureaus on a monthly basis.
Paying on time should increase your credit score, while late payments will cause it to decrease. Paying in full every month and not carrying a balance is the best situation.
- Credit Utilization: Using more than 30% of your credit limit can have a negative impact on your credit score.
Using around 1% to 10% is ideal, but even using 0% will help your score. Synchrony Bank will report your credit utilization to the credit bureaus on a monthly basis.
- Closing the Account: Canceling your card can have a negative impact on your credit score, but exactly how much of an impact depends on how long you have had the account open and how big your credit line is.
Older accounts with bigger credit lines will hurt your score more if you close them and this can reduce your Amazon credit card approval odds, should you want to apply for an Amazon credit card.
In summary, the only way the Amazon Store Card affects your credit score that’s out of your control is the initial hard pull with the application.
After that, whether your score goes up or down depends on how responsibly you use the account.
How to Increase Your Credit Score Quickly
As we discussed earlier increasing your credit score can be a good way to improve your Amazon credit card approval odds.
The fastest ways to improve your credit score are to pay down your balances, dispute incorrect information on your credit report, make more frequent payments, and reduce credit utilization.
Here’s how to improve your credit score in order to improve your Amazon credit card approval odds fast:
Pay down your balances: If you aren’t eligible for a credit limit increase, focus on paying down existing debt.
Paying down a large chunk of debt at once will help your credit utilization ratio and bump up your score.
If you can’t make a large payment all at once, try to pay more than just the minimum monthly amount.
If you have multiple debts, start by making payments on the debt that has the highest interest rate so you can limit interest charges.
- Make more frequent payments: Credit utilization is calculated based on the statement balance on each of your credit cards.
You can reduce these balances, thus decreasing your credit utilization and increasing your credit score, by making payments before the end of each billing period.
Then, pay off the remaining balance by the due date to avoid interest charges and credit-score damage.
- Become an authorized user: If you’re just starting out, or your credit report has a string of negative marks, a good move would be to become an authorized user on someone else’s credit card and build your credit over time.
Just make sure the primary holder is responsible and pays their bills on time.
- Add new payments to your credit file: There are new services that can add positive information, like on-time utility payments, rent payments, and positive bank balances to your credit report.
Not all of these programs apply to all credit bureaus, and some cost money to utilize, but they could boost your credit score over a few months.
- Increase your credit limit: A higher credit limit can reduce your credit utilization ratio, assuming your spending does not increase.
The only potential problem is that asking for a credit limit increase usually results in a hard credit inquiry, which would temporarily hurt your credit score a bit.
But if you get a credit limit increase without asking, or you have a few months before you need the highest credit score possible, a higher limit could definitely help.
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CONCLUSION
Finally, everyone’s credit situation is different, so not every option will be relevant or available to you.
The best way to find out exactly what you can do to quickly improve your Amazon credit card approval odds is to check out the personalized advice in the Amazon forum.