The days are gone when we could walk into a bank and to speak with the manager, who knew us since our parents set up our first savings accounts. Nowadays, knowing the bank manager carries with it little weight at all. Bank managers are now sales managers, focused on building teams to book business. Most financial institutions focus has changed and no longer carries the personal attention that is found woven through their historical foundation.

The branch manager now coordinates staff and targets marketing sales efforts. When going to your branch to apply for credit, you begin a process that will whisk you away faster than you will anticipate. The process for applying is swift, as are the decisions on your loan application. Reversing decisions and adding new information (amendments) to your application after the decision process is difficult and annoying at times because it’s streamlined to review applications, not amendments to them. You will likely not be able to speak with the bank’s decision maker about the details of your application either. Everything you need to communicate needs to be explained to a bank representative and they in turn rephrase what you have said and forward the details onto their loan approval division.

Centralized approval centers are busy reviewing credit requests from across the country so their time is highly valuable and in great demand. To keep revealing the same application with numerous amendments is annoying, and they are likely to post a stand and decline to your application just so they can move on. They really don’t care about your personal affairs, your dreams, or your families requirements. This is another solid reason why resenting your application as complete as possible the first time is so important. Don’t rely on the local bank officer to simply grant you a loan.

Often people believe that it matters what branch they apply to will make a difference to being approved. In today’s networking environment, the first banker contacted enters your application(s). A separate team, most likely in a different city and state, reviews your credit application that was received electronically through a web-based or e-mail type process, and responds back to the bank or on whether the application for credit has been approved or declined. You would be surprised to know that the electronic form that the loan officer fills out is almost identical to the online loan application forms you see on the Internet for possible borrowers like you. They just key in the information they have procured from you and click submit the same way you would if you were applying online.

The banker then informs you, the applicant, of their decision. Going to another branch of the same bank to apply for the same loan does little good (actually it does you a lot of bad) if they take an application from you it could be simply to humor you. They know the same lending review team that declined your previous application will review it again with the same results if nothing major has changed. Also, the second banker will be noted for submitting a duplicate application for the same loan that was shown as refuse on the computer. Most bankers will not submit a second application on your behalf, rather referring you to the original banker to review your questions. The old days are gone or you can skip from bank to bank asking first various loans hoping to click somewhere.

It’s very important to be reminded that when something important was not mentioned or realized in your first application, then let the first banker know and ask for an amendment to be considered. This shows that your intentions are to add clarity to your first application rather than take what you learn from the process and try again with another banker, perhaps altering your information in a way to misrepresent the facts in your determination to get your loan. If a note shows on their computer system that they suspect this is happening, your chances of obtaining credit now or in the future becomes very compromised. A banks lending database has an extremely long memory, so keep the information on the bank’s database is clear and as truthful as possible!

If your bank declined your application, make an effort to understand why. Learn from it. Don’t just throw your hands in the air, march off down the street and a huff and do the same thing at the next bank. If you do, don’t be surprised when they also declined you. You’re not just asking for a loan, you’re asking the bank to start building a relationship with you. That’s something they don’t have to do if you don’t fit their criteria as a good risk. They don’t have to grant a loan to you just because you qualify.

Once you understand the reasons surrounding your declined application make the necessary changes he for reapplying. Review your credit Bureau report for errors. Go over options with the lender that took your initial application to ensure they have all the correct information. If you are unclear ask to speak to another lender, someone to review the application with a fresh set of eyes, perhaps someone with more lending experience. Sometimes a more knowledgeable lender can work with a declined application and turn it into an approval by presenting your information differently (presentation is everything when it comes to banking, borrowing, and lending) and that’s why it’s so important to understand why and what they are listening for when interviewing you so you can present your affairs in a way with which they can work with. We will review more about this in future posts.

If after listening and working with your bank, your application is still declined and you feel it should be approved, take what you have learned and try applying at another bank. Perhaps your bank will refer another to you they know that may be tolerant to your particular decline reasons. Financial institutions, which lend to higher risk applicants, also charge more due to the risk there is in that you may not repaid them and default on your loan altogether.

Continued in the Carol’s Borrowing Series Category of Clf.