If your credit card application is rejected, the Equal Credit Opportunity Act obligates the lender to either tell you why the application was rejected or to let you know that you have the right to learn why you were denied if you ask within 60 days. If you apply online, you might receive that explanation of rejection directly on-screen, via email or in a snail-mail letter.
If You Were Denied for Insufficient Credit File
If the reason for denial was “insufficient credit file,” Capital One is telling you that you don’t have enough credit history for it to gauge whether it should give you a line of credit.
You can start changing that with responsible credit tools like secured credit cards or credit-building loans, but make sure that any lenders you’re working with report to all three credit reporting bureaus: Equifax, Experian and TransUnion.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau offers a credit-building checklist to help you build that financial track record that shows credit card companies you’re an acceptable risk to take.
If Your Application Was Rejected for Other Reasons
If your Capital One Venture card application was rejected for any other reason and you don’t agree with it, review your credit report to see if it contains any common errors, such as the same debt being listed more than once, incorrect credit limits or account balances and accounts incorrectly being reported as late or delinquent.
Federal law entitles you to a free credit report from each of the three nationwide reporting bureaus—Equifax, Experian and TransUnion—once a year. Through the end of 2023, these credit bureaus have actually been offering free credit reports online weekly.
Credit reports also contain instructions on what to do if you spot errors. Typically, you’ll need to contact both the credit bureau that reported the error and the creditor or company that gave that information to them.
Your Next Steps
If your application for a Capital One Venture card was rejected because you didn’t meet its credit standards, you might qualify for a different credit card. However, making too many applications in too short a time can temporarily lower your credit score. When in doubt, a very common rule of thumb is to wait about six months between applications.
If you’ve decided to focus on building better credit before applying or re-applying for a card, you might decide to wait even longer. After all, hard credit inquiries are listed on your credit report for two years, although they typically affect your credit for no more than a year.
In the meantime, that waiting time is the perfect opportunity to work on building your credit score.