Consumer complaint received 2023-10-29
Company: JPMORGAN CHASE & CO.
State: NY
Product: Credit card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Advertising and marketing, including promotional offers
Sub-issue: Confusing or misleading advertising about the credit card

Complaint:
Complaint Date : XX/XX/2023 Subject : JPMorgan Chase Bank XXXX XXXX ( hereinafter, " Chase '' ) Re : Received Promotional Offer for Pre-Approved Credit Card After First Credit Card Application was Denied. 

I. XX/XX/2023 : XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX I am a Chase checking account holder. On XX/XX/2023, I applied for a Chase Freedom credit card through my online account. I submitted the application with information regarding my income, XXXX ID, and employment status. Chase did not immediately provide a decision. Instead, Chase performed a hard inquiry into my creditworthiness, and on XX/XX/2023, I received an electronic letter in my Chase online account that my application was denied. Although my XXXX XXXX was XXXX and my payment history was exceptional, the reasons given for the denial were : " high debt relative to income, '' " credit card balances are high compared to the age of the accounts, '' " insufficient revolving account information, '' and " total available credit on credit cards is too low. '' XXXX. XX/XX/2023 : Promotional Offer and Second Credit Card Application Just XXXX months after my credit card application was denied, I received a promotional offer from Chase on XX/XX/2023, through a message on my online checking account, that I was pre-approved for a Chase Freedom XXXX credit card. Because this was the first time that I received a pre-approved offer this year, I was lead to believe that I was more likely to qualify for a Chase credit card due to improvements in my financial circumstances. Since my first credit card application in XX/XX/2023, I have a full-time job with a salary that is higher than the median household income in my state of residence. My payment history was also exceptional, but my first student loan repayment was on the horizon. I accepted Chase 's promotional offer, and I applied for the credit card with information regarding my updated gross income and employment status. Again, Chase did not immediately render a decision but immediately conducted a hard inquiry into my creditworthiness. On XX/XX/2023, I received an electronic letter in my Chase online account with the same reasons for denying my credit card application as were provided in the first rejection letter. But Chase included one additional reason : " Number of requests for new credit in the past 12 months. '' XXXX. Conclusion : Request for XXXX Chase 's promotional offer for a pre-approved credit card for which I did not qualify and for which it had reason to believe that I did not qualify after the denial of my first credit card application a mere XXXX months ago, was deceptive. The offer was personalized to my account and mislead me, a Chase customer, to believe that I was creditworthy for the Chase Freedom XXXX credit card. Furthermore, the promotional offer for a pre-approved credit card induced me to submit a second credit card application only XXXX months after the denial of my first credit card application. Although Chase had access to my credit report from its first hard inquiry on XX/XX/XXXX, Chase conducted a second hard inquiry a mere XXXX months later and then provided substantially the same reasons for denying my credit card application. The denial reasons that Chase offered in the second letter strongly suggest that Chase had reason to know that I did not qualify for the credit card for which I received a promotional pre-approval offer. As a result of Chase 's deceptive, personalized marketing of the Chase Freedom XXXX credit card, Chase 's offer induced me to apply for a second credit card and a second hard inquiry on my account within XXXX months of the first inquiry has adversely affected my credit score ( e.g., between the first inquiry and the second inquiry, my credit score dropped by XXXX points ). 

Because my second application for a credit card was based on Chase 's deceptive promotional offer a mere XXXX months after denying my first credit card application, I am requesting that the second hard inquiry be removed from my credit report.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation