What makes a Signature or World (Elite)?

[MyLoFICO]

What makes a Visa a Signature Visa and a MC a World or Elite? I have several visa's and mc's but they have low limits, Under 4k.

Recently I app'd some new cards and I have a Stash Visa coming with a 8k limit and 2 MC's with 6k limits. Since I have never gotten a major with that kind of limit I was wondering what makes it upgrade to the Signature or World versions?

[Anonymous]

The whims of the card issuers.

[Anonymous]

It really depends on the issuer what makes a card a Visa Signature (VS) or World Mastercard (WMC).  Traditionally, the credit limit needs to be at least $5k to qualify to be either one.  Once your credit limit has been increased  to at least $5k CL - you can ask to have your card upgraded to either one.  

But I recently was approved for a Jetblue Mastercard with Barclays and this card only has a CL of $2.5k but it is a WMC.  

[MyLoFICO]

I notice the Stash website only shows the Signature. I guess that is all they offer. I will have to check on the other two but since they are both Synchrony I doubt a WMC is an option through them. 

[Anonymous]

Wemc seems to be looser than a Visa signature however my Chase Amazon went signature with a really low limit and appears that Bank of America is going signature with limits at 4,000 and a little bit less as well

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

The whims of the card issuers.

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Best explanation yet!

While some banks & credit unions strictly enforce a $5k min credit limit for a Signature card, others don't seem to have any particular requirement (like how all existing Chase Amazon cardholders were suddenly upgraded to Signature status). It's probably most dependent on whether the bank believes it's worth the extra cost of additional service provided in comparison to the bump in transaction fees they get for the card by upgrading it.

[Anonymous]

Well I know that $5K isn't required for WEMC. I received my Citi DC with a $3500 limit as a WEMC, although I did get it bumped to $5k upon activation. But my Freedom was changed upon request to a Siggy when I was bumped over $5k. It was made clear to me as soon as I received the higher limit by the Chase rep.