So, after reading about Penfed I took the plunge two days ago and joined and immediately applied for their new cash rewards Visa card. It gave me the sent to LO for review comment so I was worried! I called about 30 minutes later, anticipation was killing me, and was met with a pleasant voice letting me know I was approved for $1k. I am very happy for the approval but was not overly excited with the CL. I asked about that and was told as a new member this is what the LO set up and I needed to create some history with them. Okay no big deal!
Fast forward a day and a nice gentleman calls from Penfed and asks if I'm satisfied thus far. I of course say yes but follow it up with a CL displeasure and ask if there is any shot at a higher CL? He places me on hold for a couple minutes and comes back letting me know he was able to get it raised to $2k! I'm ecstatic as this will be my highest CL now! I also signed up for the checking and tossed $500 in the account so I can take advantage of the extra .5% for a total of 2% cash back rewards on the card. In order to not be charged the $10 fee for the checking, you need to have a $500 minimum balance every month or direct deposit setup into the account. Since they don't have any local branches near me, I prefer to keep my checking and savings primary with Fairwinds Credit Union.
For reference, my three scores range from about 650-690 and Penfed had me showing 679 on my EQ. I currently have the following accounts:
Fairwinds Credit Union cash rewards Visa-$1500 CL (started with a $1k secured visa with them and they offered a cash rewards after 11 mos with their secured card)--0 balance on card and this was opened 11/16--unfortunately it didn't just turn into a unsecured card and the old secured acct shows closed now...oh well
Discover Secured-$1000 CL since 8/16--7th statement hits 3/24/17 so I'm hoping for a graduation from them--I've spent and paid off roughly $9k in these 6 months on this card. Last statement balance showed $600 as I didn't pay it off in time of closing--current statement balance $44
CapOneQS1-$300 CL since 11/16-Used once to get the CL bump they offer if used and paid in first 6 mos.- Hit the request a CL increase today and was told it was under review. Current balance $0
Fairwinds Installment loan opened in 11/2016 for $5000--all payments made on time. My car was paid off so I took a small loan out on it to help the credit rebuilding process.
Currently have one collection showing on all three bureaus for $996 and is being disputed. Some slow pays from 5+ years back show still and that is all.
With this new approval from Penfed, I'm in the garden to watch my score climb! Thanks for all the advice given here. So much to read, so little time!
⋅ INQs: 6
