What’s Going On With ARS & U.S. Bank? Will They Instantly Deny You With A Frozen Report?

Recently there has been reports of people being automatically denied for U.S. Bank credit cards if they have had their ARS credit reports frozen according to card investigation representatives. This is one of two credit reports that we recommend freezing to improve your chances of being approved. According to some this is a new policy at U.S. Bank. I thought it would be helpful to look at the data:

Approved

• 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13

Denied

• 1 (denial was after two approvals), 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

My Thoughts

I think there are a few possible explanations:

• This is an easy excuse for representatives to use for denials
• If you’re instantly approved for a card then ARS isn’t necessary but if you’re denied and it’s frozen then reconsideration isn’t possible
• This is a new rule and hasn’t been 100% implemented or the data points are sufficiently old that they aren’t relevant

Feel free to share your datapoints in the comments below.