Sallie Mae MC - Possibly one of the best cards

[Gunnar419]

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@zyzzus wrote:

Congrats on the approval! I will be VERY VERY INTERESTED in seeing what score they gave you in approval letter.  Would you mind posting credit details?  Im getting itchy myself...

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Will do once I have the info, zyzzus! If I decide to recon, I'll ask during the call who they pulled, what score they're using, and what APR they gave me. But since Barclays has a reputation for being decent (though unpredictable) with auto-CLIs, I'm still considering whether to recon or not.

My known scores are: 769 (EQ Beacon 5.0 MyFico); 774 (TU08 Walmart); 783 (EX CS FAKO). Would be nice if Barclays pulled TU and gave me an 04 score. But we'll see. In a way, I hope they pulled EQ, since that would help spread out my inquiries.

[kimmiller112]

Seriously considering this one.  I spend about $200/month on gas.  I currently use my BofA 123 card for groceries, but would use this for the first $250 - I probably spend about $300/month on groceries.  Books are one thing I splurge on, so this would be great for that too. 

[Gunnar419]

Anyhow, I'm TOTALLY JAZZED to finally have the perfect everyday card for my needs. So thank you, tatterz, for bringing up this subject. I just wish I'd found the Sallie Mae card before getting a couple of cards that won't do anywhere near as much for me.

MyFico is an amazing forum, but I have to laugh. The way people focus on certain "hot" cards (CSP, Amex BCP/BCE, Discover IT, the PenFeds and NFCUs), I forgot that there must be thousands of other cards out there. Of course, it's not just here; those are also the ones that are always getting hyped on "10 Best" lists & such.

But it still seems strange that such an amazing little rewards card for everyday small spenders is so little known.

[Gunnar419]

Sorry to post hog here. But exploring their very nice site, I discovered my APR: 13.99! Whoohoo! The very best they offer.

That's unusual for me. Even with decent scores I tend to have some strikes against me (self employed, limited income) that cause me to get less than optimal terms. This is the first time I've EVER gotten somebody's lowest APR right out of the gate!

But IIRC, this may mean they won't send me a score with my new-card paperwork.

[Gunnar419]

Final act of post hogging. Called the credit analyst line to see if I could get a higher CL. Denied. Too much new credit. Said everything else looked good, but they'd like to have several months of solid payment history with them before granting an increase.

Very friendly and efficient English speaking analyst said try again in three months. It'll be an HP then, though. So I'll just wait for auto-CLIs.

They pulled Transunion but would not tell me the score (except to say it was VERY good, with a nice emphasis). I'll either find that out when I get the paperwork or this is all I'll learn about it.

That's that. I am SO jazzed!

[tinuviel]

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@Gunnar419 wrote:

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@zyzzus wrote:

My personal experience with Barclay and a recon went well. I was initially approved for 1,000.  I hung up and was not satisfied and called back IMMEDIATELY and was able to get approved for 2,000.  If you get itchy and decide to scratch I'll be very interested to hear how it goes.

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Well, I scratched that itch. Instant approval for $1,400. Easy account setup, too. And a nice looking, easily navigable site. Not sure yet what APR they gave me.

Boy, reconning. Not sure. How is Barclay with auto-CLIs? I don't really need a big limit on this card, since it's just for groceries, gas, and books (probably $400 a month) and will be PIF'd. But the bigger the CL the better, of course! If they're generous with auto-CLIs, I'll wait. If not, I'll recon to see if I can get to $2,500.

But first ... off to remove that shiny new bronze spade I just earned.

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Congrats on the approval! It sounds like a good fit for you, so use it well and enjoy it.

As for the bronze spade, not to worry -- you'll be able to have it back soon. See you in the garden.

[tatterz]

Woohoo, Congratulations man. Glad to be of help. I've looked at this card before while trying to decide what to app for but since its never really discussed, I opted against it. Ended up apping for a few popular prime cards, Freedom and BCE.

I'm not sure how this flies under the radar so much. I'm going to app in a few months, after my Freedom and BCE age a bit, my final car payment posts and I'm more likely for approval. I'm really itching right now though..I think it will be my main card followed by Freedom.

[winner88]

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@Gunnar419 wrote:

If there are no student related requirements, this is THE card I've been looking for. I'm single, don't drive a lot, spend under $200 a month on groceries, and shop at Amazon and Walmart. I've also been wanting to add a Master Card to the arsenal.

Problem is before I learned about this card (right here in this thread), I had apped for, and gotten, three new TLs in the last two months. One is the Amex BCE (which I wouldn't have apped for had I known about this one), which will be up for its 61 day 3X CLI late next month.

I was planning to garden until next year. But now I've got the app itch and got it bad. I would happly cancel a couple of my other cards because this one does exactly what I've been looking for, where several of the others do only part of the job.

From the credit pulls DB at The Site That Is Not to Be Named it looks as if this card has fairly tough requirments. And I hear Barclays is tough in general.

Here's me:

FICOs in the 770 range on all three CRAs

3 inqs on TU; 1 on Equifax (I see that this card usually pulls one or the other)

Very moderate income

AAoA 4 years (will drop to 3 after Amex reports)

Oldest TL 18 years

Util 6.5%

No baddies except the recent inqs.

Do I have too many inqs? Too much new credit? Would I be risking my Amex 3X by apping now?

My brain tells me to wait until after 61 days with Amex. But this card is the one I've been waiting for all these years. What do I do? What do I do?

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Are you kidding? You are over qualified for this card .. I was got instant approved (albeit the Platinum version) for Sallie Mae, the pricline and the US airways card all in 1 day with TU fico in 670s and 4 baddies. 

[winner88]

Lol sorry didnt read the whole thread.. congratulations on the approval! I am surprised thou you only got a 1400 limit and recon failed.  I did a recon on 1500 limit and was bumped to 2500

[Gunnar419]

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@winner88 wrote:

Lol sorry didnt read the whole thread.. congratulations on the approval! I am surprised thou you only got a 1400 limit and recon failed.  I did a recon on 1500 limit and was bumped to 2500

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That's okay, winner. And congrats to you on the nice recon.

It was definitely too much recent credit that did me in. So I'll be spending LOTS of time in the garden soon.

Thanks all for the good wishes. And Tinuviel, thanks for letting me back in your lovely garden.