Overview

Understanding why an application was not approved can help you identify areas for improvement and increase your chances of success in the future. We focus on helping you achieve your financial goals by providing transparency into our decision-making process.

Common reasons for denial

There are several factors that may lead to an application being declined:

• Insufficient credit score: A higher credit score generally increases your chances of approval.
• Limited credit history: If you're a new credit user with a "thin" file, there may not be enough history to assess how you manage borrowed money.
• Age requirement: You must be the age of majority in your province or territory of residence to be eligible for a credit card. You can reapply once you’ve reached the age of majority. 
• Multiple recent applications: Too many hard inquiries in a short timeframe can suggest financial overextension.
• High debt obligation: Paying off other credit cards and decreasing your high-interest debt can increase your credit score.
• Insufficient or unstable income: We must verify that you have adequate income to manage minimum payments.
• Negative credit history: Items like late payments, charge-offs, collections, foreclosures, or bankruptcies significantly impact approval decisions. These marks typically remain on credit reports for seven to ten years and flag applicants as high-risk.
• Application errors: Incorrect information, incomplete details, a recent change of address, or mismatched data can result in automatic application denials. If the bureau doesn't yet have your new address, it could affect our ability to retrieve your credit history. We require accurate information to verify identity and assess eligibility properly.
• Credit report frozen: If you have a security freeze on your credit report, we can't access the information needed to verify your identity.
• Recent application: If you applied for a Wealthsimple credit card within the last 30 days, you must wait until that period has passed before applying again.

How to improve your chances for future approval

If your application was denied, you can take these steps before applying again:

1. Build your history: Use your Wealthsimple account regularly to establish a stronger relationship with us.
2. Grow your deposits: Adding money to your accounts helps build your overall financial profile.
3. Improve your credit health: Focus on repaying loans on time, catching up on missed payments, and paying off high-interest credit card debt.
4. Check your qualifications: Work toward increasing your assets or income to meet the minimum requirements for specific plans.
5. Remove credit freezes: If you have a freeze with TransUnion, you must lift it before we can process your application. Please reach out to us once the freeze is lifted so we can help you reapply.