I've been wanting to establish a banking relationship with a credit union for a long time to potentially utilize for a future auto loan. Like so many, I was also enticed by the Power Cash Rewards. Upon joining PenFed this evening, I immediately applied for the PCR card. It was not instantly approved and had to be sent to a loan officer. The customer service rep I was dealing with on the phone was extremely friendly and helpful and he escalated my application for immediate review by an analyst and after a fairly brief hold, he came back with the good news that I was approved for $4500 with a 9.24% APR, which is their lowest APR offered (he even commented that he rarely sees approvals with that APR). I have to admit, as pleased as I was to be approved, I was kind of disappointed with the credit limit since most of my cards hover around the $8k-$10k+ range. I asked if a recon would be possible at some point to raise the limit and he said yes, but because my account is so new, it's not likely to happen for at least three months. I accepted this because he was so gracious and it seemed logical and I didn't want to press my luck during that call. I then proceeded to open the Access America checking account needed to make the PCR card 2% rather than 1.5%.
After getting off the phone, I did some research on this forum and I read a couple of posts from people requesting CLIs before they even received their card with great success. I don't know my exact FICO scores, but all of my FAKOs are in the very high 700s or low 800s (my highest score is probably EQ, which is what PenFed pulls). My total credit utilization has to be under 5% and I never carry a balance. My disadvantages would be my student loan debt that's about $32k that I'm paying off on an income based repayment plan and my income that is on the low side (below $40k).
Is it worth calling in before I even receive the card to try and get that credit limit higher or should I just wait? The rep I spoke with did say that the credit pull was good for 3 months, which is why I don't want to wait until after this current pull has expired to request an increase.
Any feedback, advice, or suggestions would be much appreciated.
@celluloid17 wrote:I've been wanting to establish a banking relationship with a credit union for a long time to potentially utilize for a future auto loan. Like so many, I was also enticed by the Power Cash Rewards. Upon joining PenFed this evening, I immediately applied for the PCR card. It was not instantly approved and had to be sent to a loan officer. The customer service rep I was dealing with on the phone was extremely friendly and helpful and he escalated my application for immediate review by an analyst and after a fairly brief hold, he came back with the good news that I was approved for $4500 with a 9.24% APR, which is their lowest APR offered (he even commented that he rarely sees approvals with that APR). I have to admit, as pleased as I was to be approved, I was kind of disappointed with the credit limit since most of my cards hover around the $8k-$10k+ range. I asked if a recon would be possible at some point to raise the limit and he said yes, but because my account is so new, it's not likely to happen for at least three months. I accepted this because he was so gracious and it seemed logical and I didn't want to press my luck during that call. I then proceeded to open the Access America checking account needed to make the PCR card 2% rather than 1.5%.
After getting off the phone, I did some research on this forum and I read a couple of posts from people requesting CLIs before they even received their card with great success. I don't know my exact FICO scores, but all of my FAKOs are in the very high 700s or low 800s (my highest score is probably EQ, which is what PenFed pulls). My total credit utilization has to be under 5% and I never carry a balance. My disadvantages would be my student loan debt that's about $32k that I'm paying off on an income based repayment plan and my income that is on the low side (below $40k).
Is it worth calling in before I even receive the card to try and get that credit limit higher or should I just wait? The rep I spoke with did say that the credit pull was good for 3 months, which is why I don't want to wait until after this current pull has expired to request an increase.
Any feedback, advice, or suggestions would be much appreciated.
You will receive a satisfaction survey regarding your "application experience" with the card - that survey actually gets read by people who can recon your limit. So your best move would be to wait for the survey and then in your response is where you put together something eloquent expressing your "dissatisfaction with the starting limit as it doesn't meet my expectations given the other credit lines in my profile"
No need to use my words, but I hope you get the gist - use the survey as your recon opportunity
@Anonymous wrote:
@celluloid17 wrote:I've been wanting to establish a banking relationship with a credit union for a long time to potentially utilize for a future auto loan. Like so many, I was also enticed by the Power Cash Rewards. Upon joining PenFed this evening, I immediately applied for the PCR card. It was not instantly approved and had to be sent to a loan officer. The customer service rep I was dealing with on the phone was extremely friendly and helpful and he escalated my application for immediate review by an analyst and after a fairly brief hold, he came back with the good news that I was approved for $4500 with a 9.24% APR, which is their lowest APR offered (he even commented that he rarely sees approvals with that APR). I have to admit, as pleased as I was to be approved, I was kind of disappointed with the credit limit since most of my cards hover around the $8k-$10k+ range. I asked if a recon would be possible at some point to raise the limit and he said yes, but because my account is so new, it's not likely to happen for at least three months. I accepted this because he was so gracious and it seemed logical and I didn't want to press my luck during that call. I then proceeded to open the Access America checking account needed to make the PCR card 2% rather than 1.5%.
After getting off the phone, I did some research on this forum and I read a couple of posts from people requesting CLIs before they even received their card with great success. I don't know my exact FICO scores, but all of my FAKOs are in the very high 700s or low 800s (my highest score is probably EQ, which is what PenFed pulls). My total credit utilization has to be under 5% and I never carry a balance. My disadvantages would be my student loan debt that's about $32k that I'm paying off on an income based repayment plan and my income that is on the low side (below $40k).
Is it worth calling in before I even receive the card to try and get that credit limit higher or should I just wait? The rep I spoke with did say that the credit pull was good for 3 months, which is why I don't want to wait until after this current pull has expired to request an increase.
Any feedback, advice, or suggestions would be much appreciated.
You will receive a satisfaction survey regarding your "application experience" with the card - that survey actually gets read by people who can recon your limit. So your best move would be to wait for the survey and then in your response is where you put together something eloquent expressing your "dissatisfaction with the starting limit as it doesn't meet my expectations given the other credit lines in my profile"
No need to use my words, but I hope you get the gist - use the survey as your recon opportunity
Yours was one of the posts that gave me the idea that an early recon might be possible. How long did it take for you to receive the survey? Did it come before you received the card?
@celluloid17 wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@celluloid17 wrote:I've been wanting to establish a banking relationship with a credit union for a long time to potentially utilize for a future auto loan. Like so many, I was also enticed by the Power Cash Rewards. Upon joining PenFed this evening, I immediately applied for the PCR card. It was not instantly approved and had to be sent to a loan officer. The customer service rep I was dealing with on the phone was extremely friendly and helpful and he escalated my application for immediate review by an analyst and after a fairly brief hold, he came back with the good news that I was approved for $4500 with a 9.24% APR, which is their lowest APR offered (he even commented that he rarely sees approvals with that APR). I have to admit, as pleased as I was to be approved, I was kind of disappointed with the credit limit since most of my cards hover around the $8k-$10k+ range. I asked if a recon would be possible at some point to raise the limit and he said yes, but because my account is so new, it's not likely to happen for at least three months. I accepted this because he was so gracious and it seemed logical and I didn't want to press my luck during that call. I then proceeded to open the Access America checking account needed to make the PCR card 2% rather than 1.5%.
After getting off the phone, I did some research on this forum and I read a couple of posts from people requesting CLIs before they even received their card with great success. I don't know my exact FICO scores, but all of my FAKOs are in the very high 700s or low 800s (my highest score is probably EQ, which is what PenFed pulls). My total credit utilization has to be under 5% and I never carry a balance. My disadvantages would be my student loan debt that's about $32k that I'm paying off on an income based repayment plan and my income that is on the low side (below $40k).
Is it worth calling in before I even receive the card to try and get that credit limit higher or should I just wait? The rep I spoke with did say that the credit pull was good for 3 months, which is why I don't want to wait until after this current pull has expired to request an increase.
Any feedback, advice, or suggestions would be much appreciated.
You will receive a satisfaction survey regarding your "application experience" with the card - that survey actually gets read by people who can recon your limit. So your best move would be to wait for the survey and then in your response is where you put together something eloquent expressing your "dissatisfaction with the starting limit as it doesn't meet my expectations given the other credit lines in my profile"
No need to use my words, but I hope you get the gist - use the survey as your recon opportunity
Yours was one of the posts that gave me the idea that an early recon might be possible. How long did it take for you to receive the survey? Did it come before you received the card?
Sadly, I have no first-hand experience with PenFed (not *quite* true - I just joined yesterday) - I've just got a keen eye for detail and a good memory 