I've been denied like 5 different credit cards, the first time I applied for Wells Fargo, when my ssn was new, they denied me right away... then I applied for Capital One in person at the bank, they approved me with $49 deposit they gave me 200$ credit limit, my very first credit card. I've maxed it out every month, and pay every cent when is due, that has built me good credit, my credit started showing up at the first 4 months with 722. When my card was like 5 months old or so, I applied for another Capital One credit card, I was defined, and they placed a hard "request" on my record, the same day I applied for a Discover Card, I also was defined there, and they also placed a hard request on my credit report. I didn't know about the hard requests until the showed up - this brought my credit score down to 706 ( from 722). Last couple of weeks, I applied for a Wellsfargo Credit Card, just for kicks, but at the moment my bank account balance was sort of low, and that was the reason the denied me, but they didn't place a hard request on my record. In the month of September my credit score went up to 720 ( from 706 ), thanks to my good credit history conduct of paying everything every month. Last but not least, two days ago, I applied for a American Express Credit Card, and was approved, which I should be getting about next week or even this week. This is new territory for me, but I am guessing once I have my AMEX card, and make responsible usage with it, I am set .