Applying for US Bank Cash+ Visa Signature over phone | Updated with #

[enharu]

They just don't want too many people to be applying for it because they want to limit their exposure to credit cards.

[LS2982]

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@fittiger wrote:

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@Peteyglad wrote:

No go for me, just tried calling the number posted and was told I had to apply in person at a branch office. May try again later.

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Thats the most absurd thing I've ever heard.  Why would they not allow online or phone apps?  I live in a state that does not have any US Bank branches.

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I was thinking the same thing, sounds like they are missing out on alot of potential cardholders.

[enharu]

Wells Fargo is also doing a similar thing. You have to be a current customer with them to apply online, else you need to apply in a branch

[Peteyglad]

Tried one more time yesterday to register over the phone with no luck. Since the nearest branch office to me is roughly 150 miles away I am going to be taking this card off my list.

[fittiger]

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@enharu wrote:
They just don't want too many people to be applying for it because they want to limit their exposure to credit cards.

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This doesn't quite make sense either.  The Cash+ is the only credit card product that requires applying at a branch.  The rest allow for me to apply online.

[Dustink]

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@fittiger wrote:

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@enharu wrote:
They just don't want too many people to be applying for it because they want to limit their exposure to credit cards.

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This doesn't quite make sense either.  The Cash+ is the only credit card product that requires applying at a branch.  The rest allow for me to apply online.

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It was their most abused product, probably by people who applied online.

[longtimelurker]

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@Dustink wrote:

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@fittiger wrote:

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@enharu wrote:
They just don't want too many people to be applying for it because they want to limit their exposure to credit cards.

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This doesn't quite make sense either.  The Cash+ is the only credit card product that requires applying at a branch.  The rest allow for me to apply online.

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It was their most abused product, probably by people who applied online.

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That's probably true, although the "abuse" was different than for most other cards.   Most abuse is doing manufactured spend (buying basically cash equivalents, whether coins from the mint in the past, Vanilla Reloads today) in quantities far exceeding what you would normally spend (because you get the money back straight away).  Cash Plus abuse mainly came because people were able to pay big bills under the Bill Pay category.  These were real spend, stuff people would have spent anyway but now get 5% back.  (And to a smaller extent giftcards from Home Improvement and 5% of airfare).

Just much more than US Bank expected!

Now they have got rid of these bad categories, not sure why they need to restrict it to in region.

[enharu]

They probably are kinda doing a "test run" experimenting with different categories from being implemented and some taken away for now. Until they can come up with something that is profitable for the bank and beneficial for the users, it will probably stay this way.

Everyone knows how badly abused this card was

[longtimelurker]

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@enharu wrote:
They probably are kinda doing a "test run" experimenting with different categories from being implemented and some taken away for now. Until they can come up with something that is profitable for the bank and beneficial for the users, it will probably stay this way.

Everyone knows how badly abused this card was

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Actually, I don't know how badly abused it was!  But, unlike the manufactured spend stuff, where there were opportunities on many different cards, I guess anyone with a big regular bill to pay in the allowed areas would gravitate to this card.  (My providers didn't allow this, so I just got $250 in 6 months, practically nonuse for some!)

[enharu]

Some people literally prepaid 1 whole year of rent, insurance, cable, phone and whatever bills they could include. That's probably as extreme as, if not more than those buying vanilla reloads on a daily basis. Seeing how creditors get 1-2% in fees and they are giving people 5% back (you could actually make the cashback rate even higher with other tricks such as bonus 25 per 100, etc), it probably incurred a huge loss for the bank, especially if you are using the card only for the 5% category