What your Credit Karma Approval Odds mean

Credit Karma’s Approval Odds can help take the guesswork out of applying for a new credit card or personal loan, showing you which offers may be a good fit for your credit profile before you apply.

Applying for a new card or personal loan often results in a hard inquiry on your credit reports, which could cause a small dip in your credit scores for a short period. 

That’s where Approval Odds can help you shop and apply smarter, selecting offers you’re more likely to be approved for. 

Offers with Outstanding Approval Odds represent your highest likelihood of approval for offers on Credit Karma and can also help you see more accurate personal loan rate estimates before you apply.

We’ll break down what Approval Odds mean, what goes into them and how you can use them to make informed financial choices.

• What credit card issuers and lenders may consider before approval
• Why trust Credit Karma Approval Odds?
• Why ‘outstanding,’ ‘excellent’ or ‘very good’ Approval Odds don’t guarantee approval
• What to do if you aren’t approved

What credit card issuers and lenders may consider before approval

While your credit scores are an important piece of your financial picture, they’re not the only factor lenders consider when evaluating your application.

When a lender reviews your application for a new credit card or personal loan, they’re typically looking at your complete financial profile. This often includes a deep dive into factors such as your income, debt-to-income (DTI) ratio, employment history and banking information, including cash flow and savings. 

Lenders may also use their own proprietary algorithms and rules that can lead to a denial even if your credit scores are excellent.

For example, the unofficial “Chase 5/24 rule” may lead to a denial if you have opened five or more credit cards from any issuer in the past 24 months. 

Other banks, like Bank of America, may have their own internal policies, such as the 2/3/4 rule, which limits approvals to a maximum of two new cards in 30 days, three in 12 months and four in 24 months.

Beyond those factors, there’s also the issue of credit score variability itself. You have many different credit scores based on a variety of scoring models, and each model can produce different scores depending on how it weighs data and which of your credit reports it uses. 

Credit Karma provides free VantageScore 3.0 credit scores from TransUnion and Equifax — two of the three major credit bureaus. A lender may use a different scoring model or their own proprietary model.

Why trust Credit Karma Approval Odds?

Credit Karma’s Approval Odds are built on advanced models that looks at a variety of data points to provide you with a reliable estimate.

To do this, Approval Odds don’t just look at your credit scores. They consider …

• Thousands of data points
• Insights from more than 20 score versions
• Real criteria that lenders use
• Your credit profile

Approval Odds are designed to give you a strong sense of your approval chances before you apply, helping you shop with confidence instead of guessing based on your credit scores. While they are a good indicator, final approval is always a decision made by the lender.

Outstanding Approval Odds and Karma Guarantee

Offers with Outstanding Approval Odds are Credit Karma’s most reliable signals for a potential approval. These offers use real lender criteria, so you can have greater confidence when you apply.

• Outstanding Approval Odds: Credit Karma offers with Outstanding Approval Odds give you the highest upfront approval certainty across its personal loan and credit card marketplaces.
• Karma Guarantee: For credit card offers with a Karma Guarantee badge, it means that if you apply for that card through Credit Karma and are declined, you can receive a payment from Credit Karma. For personal loans, Karma Guarantee gives you $50 if you’re declined for that offer or get worse terms.

The other Approval Odds categories — Excellent, Very Good, Good, Fair and Poor — provide a helpful signal of your chances of approval based on a comparison of your credit profile to other Credit Karma members who were approved for the given product shown.

Why ‘outstanding,’ ‘excellent’ or ‘very good’ Approval Odds don’t guarantee approval

While Approval Odds use statistical analysis, the final approval decision always rests with the lender after you submit a formal application.

A lender may look at a wide range of criteria to determine if you’re a good fit for their credit card or personal loan. 

For example, a lender may deny an application because of factors like a high debt-to-income (DTI) ratio, too many recent credit applications or insufficient income. 

Broader economic trends can also lead some lenders to tighten their approval criteria across the board, making it harder to get approved.

What to do if you aren’t approved

If your application for a new credit card gets denied, don’t panic. The hard inquiry may affect your credit scores, but getting denied doesn’t further hurt them. The impact on your credit is typically small and can improve over time.

Next, you’ll want to take a few proactive steps:

• Check your credit reports. You can regularly request a free copy of your credit report from each of the major credit bureaus at annualcreditreport.com.
• Make sure all the information is correct. To correct mistakes on your credit report, you can dispute the error with the credit bureau and the business that originally reported it. You can also file a dispute directly with TransUnion using Credit Karma’s Direct Dispute™ tool. 
• Keep your credit utilization ratio — the amount of available credit you use — below 30%.
• Verify your payments are on-time and paid in full to keep your credit in good shape.
• If you think the credit card company made a mistake, consider calling their reconsideration line to make your case. There’s no guarantee this will work, but it can’t hurt to try.

What’s next?

Credit Karma Approval Odds can be a helpful tool for making smarter, more informed decisions about a new credit card or personal loan.

The best way to increase your chances of getting approved for a financial product is to take control of your credit health. This means doing your best to make on-time payments, keeping your balances low and regularly checking your credit scores and reports.

By focusing on healthy financial habits, you can build a stronger credit profile and help position yourself for the credit you want.

*Approval Odds are not a guarantee of approval. Credit Karma determines Approval Odds by comparing your credit profile to other Credit Karma members who were approved for the card shown, or whether you meet certain criteria determined by the lender. Of course, there’s no such thing as a sure thing, but knowing your Approval Odds may help you narrow down your choices. For example, you may not be approved because you don’t meet the lender’s “ability to pay standard” after they verify your income and employment; or, you already have the maximum number of accounts with that specific lender.