"Rebuilding AND Approved!!!"
Discover® Motiva Card Review
Written by: finallyawake on 2011-12-06
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finallyawake's review: 
Based on how much time I have logged reading reviews on this site, I feel obligated to share my recent approval story. Warning: this is lengthy & detailed!!
I began rebuilding in April 2011 and my starting points were: Exp 601 / EQ 569 / TU 599. As of Dec 2011 they are: Exp 666 / EQ 621 / TU 642. Still alot of work to do. I had resisted urges to apply for cards and my last attempt had been about 16 months ago--denied for AMEX & BofA card in Aug 2010. I had applied before understand how credit works and before I was rebuilding. Here is an idea of my situation: I had a student loan that was in a C/O status but has since been changed to OK, 1 collection account (paid but still on report), and to this day I have a old 2007 Citi account that is listed as a C/O status which I am working to get removed due. Another site that you can compliment your use of this website with is whogavemecredit.com. I would not have applied for this Discover card if something else hadn't happened first. I was reading that the AMEX Zync card was approving people with around the same Experian score with me, many of whom earned less than me (85k), and those same people also that they were given credit decisions based on Exp alone--as you can see this played into my benefit due to it being my best score. I decided to go for it. I received an instant approval!! Apparently this is not a typical credit account with a traditional CL but rather a "charge card" in which I will pay in full after each month and there is no "limit". I am still in the process of receiving the card, finding out what my one time transaction limit is, and also how it will affect my chances of getting a more prestigious and traditional AMEX in the future. I will give an update in the next couple of weeks. But back to the Discover Motiva card...so I was feeling that there may be a chance of receiving an approval with this Discover card so I applied online. I received the "please wait 5-7 days" message and called the backdoor number listed on the myfico.com forum (another awesome site!!!). I was connected right to an extremely nice senior credit analyst who asked me several questions: income, how long i have worked at this current job, previous job, allowed me to explain several discrepencies on the report he was looking at--and afterwards let me know they'll approve me with a $1000 CL. He commended my effort by noticing that I have had a good year of paying a Capital One Card, a small HSBC card, student loans, and a Chase Auto loan. If you find yourself in a similiar situation and you're on the phone with a credit analyst--be professionaly and don't shy away from sharing your rebuilding strategy to the CSR!! He said after 6 months they will review and perhaps extend that initial CL, and/or negotiate a lower APR. I did not ask the exact reports they pulled, or if it was FICO or FAKO, or even the exact details of the intro APR or normal APR. I hope this can give some people insight!!
Based on how much time I have logged reading reviews on this site, I feel obligated to share my recent approval story. Warning: this is lengthy & detailed!!I began rebuilding in April 2011 and my starting points were: Exp 601 / EQ 569 / TU 599. As of Dec 2011 they are: Exp 666 / EQ 621 / TU 642. Still alot of work to do. I had resisted urges to apply for cards and my last attempt had been about 16 months ago--denied for AMEX & BofA card in Aug 2010. I had applied before understand how credit works and before I was rebuilding. Here is an idea of my situation: I had a student loan that was in a C/O status but has since been changed to OK, 1 collection account (paid but still on report), and to this day I have a old 2007 Citi account that is listed as a C/O status which I am working to get removed due. Another site that you can compliment your use of this website with is whogavemecredit.com. I would not have applied for this Discover card if something else hadn't happened first. I was reading that the AMEX Zync card was approving people with around the same Experian score with me, many of whom earned less than me (85k), and those same people also that they were given credit decisions based on Exp alone--as you can see this played into my benefit due to it being my best score. I decided to go for it. I received an instant approval!! Apparently this is not a typical credit account with a traditional CL but rather a "charge card" in which I will pay in full after each month and there is no "limit". I am still in the process of receiving the card, finding out what my one time transaction limit is, and also how it will affect my chances of getting a more prestigious and traditional AMEX in the future. I will give an update in the next couple of weeks. But back to the Discover Motiva card...so I was feeling that there may be a chance of receiving an approval with this Discover card so I applied online. I received the "please wait 5-7 days" message and called the backdoor number listed on the myfico.com forum (another awesome site!!!). I was connected right to an extremely nice senior credit analyst who asked me several questions: income, how long i have worked at this current job, previous job, allowed me to explain several discrepencies on the report he was looking at--and afterwards let me know they'll approve me with a $1000 CL. He commended my effort by noticing that I have had a good year of paying a Capital One Card, a small HSBC card, student loans, and a Chase Auto loan. If you find yourself in a similiar situation and you're on the phone with a credit analyst--be professionaly and don't shy away from sharing your rebuilding strategy to the CSR!! He said after 6 months they will review and perhaps extend that initial CL, and/or negotiate a lower APR. I did not ask the exact reports they pulled, or if it was FICO or FAKO, or even the exact details of the intro APR or normal APR. I hope this can give some people insight!!
3 Comments
Comment 1 by wanderer
Re: Rebuilding AND Approved!!! 
on 2011-12-06
Congrats! You have moved into the main stream. You joined the FG Discover Card crowd now. Several of us because of the write-ups at FG went for it and got hits! YES! Oh, thanks for the complete write up... it should help others to evaluate their chances for success.
on 2011-12-06 Congrats! You have moved into the main stream. You joined the FG Discover Card crowd now. Several of us because of the write-ups at FG went for it and got hits! YES! Oh, thanks for the complete write up... it should help others to evaluate their chances for success.
Comment 2 by derek1061
Re: Rebuilding AND Approved!!! on 2011-12-06
Congratulations. Excellent review, it seems to be very through and I'm sure someone will find it very useful.
on 2011-12-06 Congratulations. Excellent review, it seems to be very through and I'm sure someone will find it very useful.
Comment 3 by lovinlifeinkc
Re: Rebuilding AND Approved!!! on 2011-12-10
Very helpful.....great information
on 2011-12-10 Very helpful.....great information
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Disclaimer: This content is not provided by Discover Card. Any opinions, analyses, reviews or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the author's alone, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by Discover Card. Review content is powered by Finance Globe.
