topic 1st Financial Bank USA - AUTO CLI! in Credit Card Approvals

1st Financial Bank USA - AUTO CLI!

Anonymous — Sat, 13 Jul 2013 19:15:35 GMT

I've been with 1st Financial Bank USA since January 2013 when they approved me for the Student Visa, my first credit card. It had a measly $500 limit, and I dutifully paid it off in full every month, keeping my utilization under 30% and building my credit. I got approved for the Citi Forward and Discover IT student cards last month, each with $1,500 limits. I naturally sock drawered my 1FBUSA card, since the APR is 29.9% and there are no rewards.

Lo and behold, I logged into my account today and saw that my available credit line went from $500 ---> $1,500! They must've tried to match my prime cards! This is my first CLI, so I'm pretty excited!

Naturally, as a myFICO'er though, I wonder if there's more that I can do. Does anyone here have experience with 1FBUSA (the South Dakota bank/predatory lender that preys on college and high school students) have any recommendations for what I should do? Part of me is tempted to call and ask them to beat my existing limits, ask for an APR reduction or see if they can give me some other improvement in terms, but I don't want to get a hard pull since I'm firmly entrenched in the garden until the end of the year. I don't really have much to lose (minus a HP), since the card is staying in the sock drawer unless they can give me a good offer.

Re: 1st Financial Bank USA - AUTO CLI!

myjourney — Sat, 13 Jul 2013 19:14:57 GMT

Congrats

Re: 1st Financial Bank USA - AUTO CLI!

scenery_guy — Sat, 13 Jul 2013 19:17:17 GMT

If the 1FBUSA card has no AF then just forget about it, sock drawer it and let it age. Don't use it and eventually it will close. I would not close it now as it represents 1/3 of your available credit. I wouldn't ask them for anything else either. Congrats on your approvals last month. That's the direction of your future credit needs, 1FBUSA is your past.

Re: 1st Financial Bank USA - AUTO CLI!

Anonymous — Sat, 13 Jul 2013 19:20:57 GMT

@scenery_guy wrote:
If the 1FBUSA card has no AF then just forget about it, sock drawer it and let it age. Don't use it and eventually it will close. I would not close it now as it represents 1/3 of your available credit. I wouldn't ask them for anything else either. Congrats on your approvals last month. That's the direction of your future credit needs, 1FBUSA is your past.

Unfortunately it does have a $29 AF. Apparently you can call every year and they will waive it, though, so that's what I'm planning to do every year. I'm defintiely planning to keep it open as long as I can, assuming I don't have to pay any fees or anything. You're right, I should probably be happy with my SP CLI and enjoy the benefits from the comforts of the garden.

Thank you! It's still kind of hard to believe that I've move on from 1FBUSA and will be doing more business with prime lenders in the future!

Re: 1st Financial Bank USA - AUTO CLI!

zeusta20 — Sat, 13 Jul 2013 19:46:38 GMT

Good ole FIrst Financial Bank USA. They were/ARE my VERY first credit card when I turned 18 back in 2008. I started out with a limit of 800. And they increased my limit since then, to 6400. I've only had ONE HP through them, ever. They've kept increasing my limit through SP. My limit went all the way up to 4900 before I decided to do a HP and they gave me 6400. I've pretty much SD'd it. My APR is 23% (which they won't lower). I don't have an annual fee, probably because I got my card back in 08'. But I don't ever use it. I use it probably every three months or so, just because its one of my oldest cards, (minus my Wells Fargo card which I got a month later). They'll keep raising it. Just be patient. I've been wanting to close out this card because I don't even like having it under my portfolio. But hey, they've given me my SECOND highest CL (it was FIRST highest until I apped for a card lastnight and got approved for 7.5k lol)

Re: 1st Financial Bank USA - AUTO CLI!

shane82388 — Sat, 13 Jul 2013 20:14:39 GMT

Ahh i kinda hate 1st Financial Bank USA...i had the card way back when as my 1st or 2nd card and it was great as far as increasing limits quickly but the fees are ridiculous...$9 to pay your bill online? On the phone too? 29% interest rate?

Brutal. I was late on some payments because my dad said he would take care of them and of course forgot...I didnt realize the implications of being late on payments at the time and it got ugly because I moved to a new address and didnt get any of the bills for a long while. Its been haunting me ever since...some 90 day lates from 2009 are still lingering on my reports.

Ive tried to good will letter with them, especially after all these years I figured they might want to help me out a bit but all i get are canned responses that they "have to report correct information to the credit bureaus" and some passive agressive threats to stop sending good will letters...which sort of made me nervous to send them any more good will letters....

I paid it off and closed the card a couple years ago. I jsut wish I could good will letter it away but i dont know who to even contact at this point since there is such a SMALL AMOUNT OF INFO on this bank online, whatsoever...

if anyone knows of an email...an address....soemthing to send more good will letters to, id be very please to know!

Re: 1st Financial Bank USA - AUTO CLI!

laz98 — Sat, 13 Jul 2013 20:18:02 GMT

We have this card, & it's our highest limit. One of our oldest cards & we are going to keep it open forever! It does have an AF, but as you mentioned, they are very easy with waiving it, so I don't mine at all. I wish the APR was lower, though (29.99%!). We use it here & there, & have had no problems with their customer service.

When credit was really easy to come by, they were handing out CLIs like candy. After that, the CL stayed the same for a couple of years, & then in November 2012, they gave us a $1,500 CLI, & 6 months later, another $500 CLI. It now sits at $17,500.

Re: 1st Financial Bank USA - AUTO CLI!

09Lexie — Sat, 13 Jul 2013 20:55:05 GMT

Congrats on your first auto CLI!

Re: 1st Financial Bank USA - AUTO CLI!

zeusta20 — Sun, 14 Jul 2013 01:42:40 GMT

@shane82388 wrote:
Ahh i kinda hate 1st Financial Bank USA...i had the card way back when as my 1st or 2nd card and it was great as far as increasing limits quickly but the fees are ridiculous...$9 to pay your bill online? On the phone too? 29% interest rate?

Brutal. I was late on some payments because my dad said he would take care of them and of course forgot...I didnt realize the implications of being late on payments at the time and it got ugly because I moved to a new address and didnt get any of the bills for a long while. Its been haunting me ever since...some 90 day lates from 2009 are still lingering on my reports.

Ive tried to good will letter with them, especially after all these years I figured they might want to help me out a bit but all i get are canned responses that they "have to report correct information to the credit bureaus" and some passive agressive threats to stop sending good will letters...which sort of made me nervous to send them any more good will letters....

I paid it off and closed the card a couple years ago. I jsut wish I could good will letter it away but i dont know who to even contact at this point since there is such a SMALL AMOUNT OF INFO on this bank online, whatsoever...

if anyone knows of an email...an address....soemthing to send more good will letters to, id be very please to know!

Why does everybody have an annual fee with 1st Financial Bank??!! And an apr of 29%??!! Not to mention, getting charged for paying your bill online?! I don't have any that, but when I hear others have it, it makes me wonder if thats going to be the terms on my card pretty soon!

I really hope not.

Re: 1st Financial Bank USA - AUTO CLI!

zeusta20 — Sun, 14 Jul 2013 01:43:33 GMT

My APR is 23%, so its still very high...but I don't get charged to pay my bill and I don't have an annual fee either

Re: 1st Financial Bank USA - AUTO CLI!

GatorGuy — Sun, 14 Jul 2013 01:46:25 GMT

Auto increases are always fun!

Re: 1st Financial Bank USA - AUTO CLI!

Anonymous — Sun, 14 Jul 2013 02:22:15 GMT

@zeusta20 wrote:
@shane82388 wrote:
Ahh i kinda hate 1st Financial Bank USA...i had the card way back when as my 1st or 2nd card and it was great as far as increasing limits quickly but the fees are ridiculous...$9 to pay your bill online? On the phone too? 29% interest rate?

Brutal. I was late on some payments because my dad said he would take care of them and of course forgot...I didnt realize the implications of being late on payments at the time and it got ugly because I moved to a new address and didnt get any of the bills for a long while. Its been haunting me ever since...some 90 day lates from 2009 are still lingering on my reports.

Ive tried to good will letter with them, especially after all these years I figured they might want to help me out a bit but all i get are canned responses that they "have to report correct information to the credit bureaus" and some passive agressive threats to stop sending good will letters...which sort of made me nervous to send them any more good will letters....

I paid it off and closed the card a couple years ago. I jsut wish I could good will letter it away but i dont know who to even contact at this point since there is such a SMALL AMOUNT OF INFO on this bank online, whatsoever...

if anyone knows of an email...an address....soemthing to send more good will letters to, id be very please to know!
Why does everybody have an annual fee with 1st Financial Bank??!! And an apr of 29%??!! Not to mention, getting charged for paying your bill online?! I don't have any that, but when I hear others have it, it makes me wonder if thats going to be the terms on my card pretty soon!

I really hope not.

I have the 29.9% APR and a $29 easily waived annual fee. I don't get charged for paying my bill online, though, so I manage to use the card without ever paying them a fee. I think they used to charge $9, but they got rid of that. I don't think you have too much to worry about there.

I'm just wondering how people are getting these (relatively) low interest rates! I also read on some other forum I found through google that some cardholders get 2% cashback on all purchases. How can I get terms like that instead of my awful terms?!

Re: 1st Financial Bank USA - AUTO CLI!

zeusta20 — Sun, 14 Jul 2013 10:22:47 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@zeusta20 wrote:
@shane82388 wrote:
Ahh i kinda hate 1st Financial Bank USA...i had the card way back when as my 1st or 2nd card and it was great as far as increasing limits quickly but the fees are ridiculous...$9 to pay your bill online? On the phone too? 29% interest rate?

Brutal. I was late on some payments because my dad said he would take care of them and of course forgot...I didnt realize the implications of being late on payments at the time and it got ugly because I moved to a new address and didnt get any of the bills for a long while. Its been haunting me ever since...some 90 day lates from 2009 are still lingering on my reports.

Ive tried to good will letter with them, especially after all these years I figured they might want to help me out a bit but all i get are canned responses that they "have to report correct information to the credit bureaus" and some passive agressive threats to stop sending good will letters...which sort of made me nervous to send them any more good will letters....

I paid it off and closed the card a couple years ago. I jsut wish I could good will letter it away but i dont know who to even contact at this point since there is such a SMALL AMOUNT OF INFO on this bank online, whatsoever...

if anyone knows of an email...an address....soemthing to send more good will letters to, id be very please to know!
Why does everybody have an annual fee with 1st Financial Bank??!! And an apr of 29%??!! Not to mention, getting charged for paying your bill online?! I don't have any that, but when I hear others have it, it makes me wonder if thats going to be the terms on my card pretty soon!

I really hope not.
I have the 29.9% APR and a $29 easily waived annual fee. I don't get charged for paying my bill online, though, so I manage to use the card without ever paying them a fee. I think they used to charge $9, but they got rid of that. I don't think you have too much to worry about there.

I'm just wondering how people are getting these (relatively) low interest rates! I also read on some other forum I found through google that some cardholders get 2% cashback on all purchases. How can I get terms like that instead of my awful terms?!

Really??!! I've NEVER heard of people getting rewards with 1FBUSA!! But then again, I don't hear a whole lot of people that have this dang card.

Re: 1st Financial Bank USA - AUTO CLI!

dave0311 — Mon, 15 Jul 2013 21:48:48 GMT

I got this as my first CC back in 2007 when I turned 18, with a $500 limit. No AF, no rewards, and 29.9% APR all to this day. This was the only card I used until 2008 when I got my first rewards card. PIF'd every month and got to $5,000 limit after the first year -- all auto CLIs.

For several years after I got my Royal Caribbean card (and later Amex) I never once used the card. Earlier this year I made a small $1-something purchase because I was afraid they might close the card due to inactivity (the expiration date is coming up). At the time my limit was $7,500 -- they continued to increase it all those years even though I never used it. I just checked and they bumped it up to $8,000 after my $1 purchase a couple months ago!

If I were you, I wouldn't ask for a CLI. I've spent literally $1 on the card in the past 5 years and I've gotten $3,000 in CLI (all auto). I'm not sure why I got those CLIs: to match my other cards, to entice me to come back, etc.? Whatever the reason, they seem to be very generous in handing out CLIs if you don't mind waiting a few months for them. SD it and let it age. It's worked out great for me!

Re: 1st Financial Bank USA - AUTO CLI!

Anonymous — Tue, 16 Jul 2013 19:28:51 GMT

@dave0311 wrote:
I got this as my first CC back in 2007 when I turned 18, with a $500 limit. No AF, no rewards, and 29.9% APR all to this day. This was the only card I used until 2008 when I got my first rewards card. PIF'd every month and got to $5,000 limit after the first year -- all auto CLIs.

For several years after I got my Royal Caribbean card (and later Amex) I never once used the card. Earlier this year I made a small $1-something purchase because I was afraid they might close the card due to inactivity (the expiration date is coming up). At the time my limit was $7,500 -- they continued to increase it all those years even though I never used it. I just checked and they bumped it up to $8,000 after my $1 purchase a couple months ago!

If I were you, I wouldn't ask for a CLI. I've spent literally $1 on the card in the past 5 years and I've gotten $3,000 in CLI (all auto). I'm not sure why I got those CLIs: to match my other cards, to entice me to come back, etc.? Whatever the reason, they seem to be very generous in handing out CLIs if you don't mind waiting a few months for them. SD it and let it age. It's worked out great for me!

Wow, not bad! I hope they'll keep bumping me up.

Coincidentally, I went over to my dad's to find not one, but TWO mailings from good ol' First Financial. After a brief moment of panic where I wondered if I had somehow missed a payment or something, I opened the first. Turns out it was an application to apply... for the same card that I already have. I recycled it, opened the other one and lo and behold, it was the same thing! Gotta love 1st Financial! Just for kicks and giggles I read through the terms and looked at the application.

They had a section saying about how the CARD Act of 2009 required that borrowers under 21 demonstrate an independent ability to pay, and they had a a bunch of boxes that you could check with your various sources of "income" including grants, scholarships, parental support, gifts, and a bunch of other things that most lenders don't count.

I'm very tempted to send 'em a secure message on the 19th (the day my 6th statement cuts and I pay it off) and tell them my updated income, which consists of $41,000 in grants and scholarships, just to watch them fall all over themselves giving me a ridiculous limit for a student... please talk me down from the edge!

Re: 1st Financial Bank USA - AUTO CLI!

Anonymous — Wed, 17 Jul 2013 18:01:57 GMT

@zeusta20 wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@zeusta20 wrote:
@shane82388 wrote:
Ahh i kinda hate 1st Financial Bank USA...i had the card way back when as my 1st or 2nd card and it was great as far as increasing limits quickly but the fees are ridiculous...$9 to pay your bill online? On the phone too? 29% interest rate?

Brutal. I was late on some payments because my dad said he would take care of them and of course forgot...I didnt realize the implications of being late on payments at the time and it got ugly because I moved to a new address and didnt get any of the bills for a long while. Its been haunting me ever since...some 90 day lates from 2009 are still lingering on my reports.

Ive tried to good will letter with them, especially after all these years I figured they might want to help me out a bit but all i get are canned responses that they "have to report correct information to the credit bureaus" and some passive agressive threats to stop sending good will letters...which sort of made me nervous to send them any more good will letters....

I paid it off and closed the card a couple years ago. I jsut wish I could good will letter it away but i dont know who to even contact at this point since there is such a SMALL AMOUNT OF INFO on this bank online, whatsoever...

if anyone knows of an email...an address....soemthing to send more good will letters to, id be very please to know!
Why does everybody have an annual fee with 1st Financial Bank??!! And an apr of 29%??!! Not to mention, getting charged for paying your bill online?! I don't have any that, but when I hear others have it, it makes me wonder if thats going to be the terms on my card pretty soon!

I really hope not.
I have the 29.9% APR and a $29 easily waived annual fee. I don't get charged for paying my bill online, though, so I manage to use the card without ever paying them a fee. I think they used to charge $9, but they got rid of that. I don't think you have too much to worry about there.

I'm just wondering how people are getting these (relatively) low interest rates! I also read on some other forum I found through google that some cardholders get 2% cashback on all purchases. How can I get terms like that instead of my awful terms?!
Really??!! I've NEVER heard of people getting rewards with 1FBUSA!! But then again, I don't hear a whole lot of people that have this dang card.

Us cardholders have to stick together! haha

I'm wondering if it might be from the Gold or Platinum cards... when you go to the secure mail center, it has these options under suggested messages:

You just increased the Credit Line on my Classic Visa Card to $2,500. Can I have a Gold Visa Card instead at no additional cost?
You just increased the Credit Line on my Classic Visa Card to $5,000. Can I have a Platinum Visa Card instead at no additional cost?

Do you or anyone else have either of those cards? I just have the normal student VIsa AFAIK, but once my CL reaches $2,500 I will shoot for one. I just sent them a secure message and asked what the difference is between the cards, I'll post an update when it comes.

Re: 1st Financial Bank USA - AUTO CLI!

zeusta20 — Wed, 17 Jul 2013 18:35:17 GMT

@dave0311 wrote:
I got this as my first CC back in 2007 when I turned 18, with a $500 limit. No AF, no rewards, and 29.9% APR all to this day. This was the only card I used until 2008 when I got my first rewards card. PIF'd every month and got to $5,000 limit after the first year -- all auto CLIs.

For several years after I got my Royal Caribbean card (and later Amex) I never once used the card. Earlier this year I made a small $1-something purchase because I was afraid they might close the card due to inactivity (the expiration date is coming up). At the time my limit was $7,500 -- they continued to increase it all those years even though I never used it. I just checked and they bumped it up to $8,000 after my $1 purchase a couple months ago!

If I were you, I wouldn't ask for a CLI. I've spent literally $1 on the card in the past 5 years and I've gotten $3,000 in CLI (all auto). I'm not sure why I got those CLIs: to match my other cards, to entice me to come back, etc.? Whatever the reason, they seem to be very generous in handing out CLIs if you don't mind waiting a few months for them. SD it and let it age. It's worked out great for me!

Thats what i'm doing! I've just SD it. I haven't gotten an auto increase yet seeing as my last increase was just in march. But hopefully they'll increase it even more haha. Btw, what is the code for your card to pop up on the bottom??? I've been trying to find an image of the 1st Financial Bank USA Credit card, but I cant find any images. And thats exactly what my card looks like! Would you mind posting the code so I could put in my siggy too? lol

And for me as well, 1FBUSA was my first credit card when I turned 18 back in 2008. I got this card 07/08 and then the next month later, I got Wells Fargo student credit card in 08/08 (which is not upgraded to a reg cc). But although 1FBUSA has given me my 2nd to highest CL, I still refuse to use them. I just use it to keep it active. If it weren't for me NOT having an annual fee, I'd close them out to get rid of them altogether.

Re: 1st Financial Bank USA - AUTO CLI!

Anonymous — Thu, 18 Jul 2013 21:15:01 GMT

So I decided to send them a secure message and ask what the difference between the Gold/Platinum cards were. Here's what they replied:

Thank you for your recent message. Your account is eligible for an upgrade to a Visa Platinum card. Your Visa Platinum benefits include Warranty Service, Travel & Emergency Assistance, and Auto Rental Insurance. In addition, an Annual Activity Summary is automatically sent at the end of the calendar year. A brochure will be sent with your card with complete information. The APR on the Platinum card is the same as your Classic card. Please send a message to us to request a Platinum card if you are interested.

Nothing too compelling (my Citi and Discover offer these benefits and more), but I figured it couldn't hurt to ask for more information. I sent them a couple of questions to make sure that it wouldn't mess up my gardening if I decided to go for it. They replied:

Thank you for your message. The annual fee is the same on the Platinum accout as your classic card. You can request to have the annual fee credited on a year to year basis.

With the upgrade to a Platinum card it would be a different account number, however you would be able to continue to use the card you have now until the Platinum card is received. The Platinum card would not show as a brand new line of credit on your credit report. You would retain the original date that your classic account was opened. We would not request a credit report in order to upgrade your card.

Am I safe to go for the Platinum version? From what I'm understanding there's no downside in it, but I wanted to double check here before I commit. What do you guys think?

Re: 1st Financial Bank USA - AUTO CLI!

09Lexie — Thu, 18 Jul 2013 21:21:12 GMT

Yes, no new TL and the option of having the AF waived.

Re: 1st Financial Bank USA - AUTO CLI!

creditYum — Thu, 18 Jul 2013 21:39:31 GMT

Seems as if you can have the annual fee credited in both cases (Classic and Platinum). Personally, doesn't seem to be worth it unless you are actually going to use the card. Even then, idk. There is no downside to switching, but is there really an upside? Your choice obviously, but I prefer to just SD it and be done with it No point to mess with it for basically no benefit haha.