A quick tip if you need to provide documents to the Chase verification team

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If you’ve recently applied for a Chase credit card and weren’t instantly approved, one of the reasons may simply be verification. Whether that be verification of address, proof of business incorporation, etc you’ll need to provide proof. This proof can be faxed or taken into a Chase branch, but here’s a quick tip dealing specifically with proof of address that will avoid a delay in your application being processed properly.

I went through this entire process last year, and just recently went through it again with my father who has had a freeze on his credit do to fraud in the past. After unfreezing his account they still emailed my dad requesting document be sent in. We faxed in cable bill and his driver’s license using TinyFax. Super easy. A few days later he received a notice alerting him that his new Freedom Flex was en route. This whole experience was identical to mine, which I detail below, aside from the hiccup I experienced with a bill that was unpaid. I thought this could be useful seeing as though a lot of people are very keen on Chase cards at the moment, and could avoid a headache.

My big tip – Provide a bill that is paid or doesn’t show anything past due.

This is the situation I found myself in, and it was quite the headache. I was asked to provide proof of address with a bill and then fax it to:

• 201-328-3289

I provided Chase with a gas bill and faxed it using an app on my phone called Tinyfax. Super easy and took all of 5 minutes. However the bill that I provided didn’t reflect the payment that had been made in the interim between my January and February statements. I didn’t think this was a big deal, and the new balance was due March 15th, but after a week of waiting to see if the application had been processed, I phoned in to make sure the bill had been received.

It had been, but was rejected as a valid proof of address, even though it plainly showed my address on it, for the reason that I explained above. It had a balance/past due balance. The odd thing is nothing on the bill says past due, it just says I owe the total of the two months utility, or roughly $50.

After speaking with the rep I discovered that everything about the bill was completely valid apart from it having a balance owed, or past due as she called it.

I paid the bill, waited a couple of days for it populate in my account, printed out the new statement which reflected the payment and resubmitted the form.

I then called back in to make sure the documents had been received and sure enough, I was approved.

If you need to speak directly with verification you can reach them directly at:

• 1-800-278-8830
• Monday to Friday 8-8 EST