Consumer complaint received 2019-03-19
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY
State: OK
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Getting a credit card
Sub-issue: Application denied

Complaint:
I would like to file an official complaint regarding Wells Fargos credit card application process. On the afternoon of XX/XX/2019, I applied for a credit card ( Wells Fargo XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX ). Shortly after that, I received an email that my application was pending. I thought that was strange, so I called the phone number listed in the email. I was then told that I was actually denied because there was something wrong with my credit. I knew that had to be a mistake, as I have excellent credit ( in the XXXX ). I also do not have any debt, other than my car payment, which I have actually been doubling my payments on in order to pay it off in half the time of my loan. I also knew I did not have any late payments, and I pay my credit cards off in full each month. 
I was now very worried that my identity might have been stolen, although I have taken the extra step to protect my credit by freezing it a while back and having it monitored by several sources. I only unfroze my credit from XX/XX/2019 until XX/XX/2019 specifically to apply for this credit card. I do not need this credit card, but I want to buy a new computer, and this credit card offers a sign-up bonus of {$300.00}. I have the cash to buy the computer, but I wanted to be smart and save the {$300.00}. 
After I was told that there was something wrong with my credit, I explained that there was no way that could be true and went on to tell the gentleman I spoke with how my credit rating is considered excellent and why. He even thought that it did not make sense. He said that he would have someone physically take a look at my application, and I could call back the next day to find out the status. 
I was so worried that my identity had been stolen, that I immediately checked one of the sources that monitors my credit, and there was no new credit reported, other than the credit card I had just applied for. I actually received an email from them immediately after applying for this credit card, so I knew that I was being notified of all activity on my credit, and my identity could not have been stolen. I looked at my score details, and there was nothing negative listed. They give you a breakdown of how you can improve, and I had nothing negative that I needed to improve upon. See attached score details for XXXX and XXXX. 
When I called Wells Fargo back the next day, XX/XX/2019, I was told the same thing by the woman I spoke with, that there was something negative on my credit report from XXXX. I was told to contact XXXX, that the negative report came directly from XXXX. She said that if there was a mistake, that XXXX   could send Wells Fargo a corrected report. 
I then called XXXX, and after 45 minutes on the phone, was told that there is nothing wrong with my credit. They actually said that they did not send Wells Fargo anything, and could not send them anything, that Wells Fargo only views my information reported by XXXX  online. A couple of times XXXX   mentioned that maybe Wells Fargo ran the credit check by using my middle initial and not my full middle name is the only thing that they could think of. They said that they would mail me my credit report so that I could pass it on to Wells Fargo to prove that there is nothing wrong with my credit. 
I then called Wells Fargo back and was transferred to an Underwriter. This time, she said that I did not have anything wrong with my credit, that it was because I have too many credit cards, and I have the POTENTIAL to go into debt. This makes absolutely no sense to me whatsoever! I have had this many credit cards for years. It should be obvious from my credit history, that I do not accumulate debt. Why would I suddenly do that after all of these years? What is the point of Wells Fargo viewing my credit HISTORY, if they are not going to take the HISTORY into account? 
I was told that Wells Fargo does not look just at a credit score, that they look at multiple things. Okay, so if they are looking at multiple things, and they think that the number of credit cards is a negative, then all of the other things that are positive, which is EVERYTHING ELSE, should have outweighed the ONE negative. As of matter of fact, all the research I have done has shown that the number of credit cards is not a negative, it is how much you owe on those credit cards. From what I understand, if you are under the 30 % utilization rate, or balance-to-limit ratio, it is not supposed to be a negative. It actually helps your credit to have multiple credit cards. Not too long ago, when I bought a car, I was told Whatever you are doing, keep doing it!. The finance person was referring to my credit. Just recently, in XXXX, when I bought my car, I was told that I had a credit score of at least 850. It may have been a little higher, but it was at least 850. I assume that they use a different scoring system than the three major credit bureaus, since I believe that XXXX if their highest score. I actually teased my husband because my score was a few points higher than his. We have competed for a higher score than the other for years. 
At one point, the person I was talking to from Wells Fargo said sometimes it is actually better to carry a small balance to help your credit, after I was telling her how great my credit is and how I never carry a balance. I said you mean to tell me that Wells Fargo wants me to carry a balance and pay interest instead of paying my balance off in full, and then I would qualify for a credit card with them. She then said no, not Wells Fargo, that she has just been in this business for years. Now, I am beginning to think that this is the reason I was denied, that it is because I pay my balances off every month, that Wells Fargo does not stand to benefit from me because I would not being paying interest to them. It appears that Wells Fargo has gone from setting up accounts for people that were unaware an account was being set up for them, as reported in the news on multiple occasions, to now denying people with excellent credit a credit card account because Wells Fargo does not stand to gain anything from them. 
By the way, the Underwriter even told me that I might consider closing some older credit cards that I do not use anymore, which DOES hurt your credit! It seems that Wells Fargo has things backward or something. 
I am very upset because I was put through the stress of thinking my identify might have been stolen, have now been denied a credit card for no reason, have a hard inquiry on my credit for it ( which does affect your credit ), have wasted hours on the telephone, have wasted time writing this complaint, etc.

Company public response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation