topic Lesson learnt - US Bank Cash + in Credit Card Applications

Lesson learnt - US Bank Cash +

FICOlearner123 — Tue, 25 Feb 2020 20:05:44 GMT

Recently I got unable to approve for US Bank Cash + and thought of sharing the lesson learnt from my experience. I had just 2 credit cards as of early Dec, 19. BoA Visa cash reward (since Feb 2011) and Target Credit Card (since Mar 2014). I took a mortgage in Apr 2019.

In Dec 2019 I stumbled upon $200 bonus promo from BoA Cash rewards Master card and also though it would be good to have an additional category for 3% cash back and applied for it in and got approved, encouraged I further applied for BoA Cash rewards WWF Visa card in Jan 2020 and got that approved as well, the WWF also had a $200 promo, both promos are linked with spending $1000 in 90 days.

I learnt about 5% category cash back cards in Feb and found my credit score to be above 780 and thought of applying for US Bank Cash + card.

Lesson learnt: Avoid too many credit applications in a short span no matter how good your score is.

Re: Lesson learnt - US Bank Cash +

AllZero — Tue, 25 Feb 2020 20:11:56 GMT

That's unfortunate about the denial. Thank you for sharing the data points.

Congratulations on your BoA approvals!

Re: Lesson learnt - US Bank Cash +

blindambition — Tue, 25 Feb 2020 20:23:03 GMT

US Bank is a hard nut to crack. Inquiry sensitive though. Did you try recon?

Re: Lesson learnt - US Bank Cash +

Anonymous — Fri, 28 Feb 2020 01:54:39 GMT

Sorry about your denial! Thanks for the DP's.

Congratulations on your approvals!

Re: Lesson learnt - US Bank Cash +

FICOlearner123 — Tue, 25 Feb 2020 20:37:09 GMT

Yes, I called and learnt the denial was due to too many accounts in a short span.

Re: Lesson learnt - US Bank Cash +

vic6string — Wed, 26 Feb 2020 03:10:29 GMT

I just recently had the exact same experience. Denial was due to "too many tradelines opened in the last 12 months". I opened 3 new cards from around July 2019 to Dec 2019 and the US Bank application was in Feb 2020. So now I want to grab a WF Cashwise or BB&T Spectrum because I can't use any of my cards at Costco (only take Visa), but I really want the US Bank Cash+ so I know I should wait until Dec. which will put me at no new cards in last 12 months. I hate all these damned stipulations!

Re: Lesson learnt - US Bank Cash +

Medic981 — Wed, 26 Feb 2020 17:11:31 GMT

@vic6string wrote:
I hate all these damned stipulations!

Unfortunately, it is their money so they make the rules.

Re: Lesson learnt - US Bank Cash +

FICOlearner123 — Wed, 26 Feb 2020 19:23:06 GMT

Medic981, true its their money but they also tend ot make money from consumers

Re: Lesson learnt - US Bank Cash +

FinStar — Wed, 26 Feb 2020 20:53:16 GMT

@FICOlearner123 wrote:
Medic981, true its their money but they also tend ot make money from consumers

And, by the same token they also have to mitigate risks so that pricing and product flexibility is sustainable under any current environment.

The average consumer doesn't really apply for that many CCs in such a short timeframe.

Re: Lesson learnt - US Bank Cash +

vic6string — Thu, 27 Feb 2020 00:06:59 GMT

@Medic981 wrote:
@vic6string wrote:
I hate all these damned stipulations!
Unfortunately, it is their money so they make the rules.

I agree, but I hate that they all have their own set of rules and all we can do is guess. Like now, for instance, I am considering not getting another card for the rest of the year because the Cash+ really is the perfect fit for my wallet. That, of course, assumes that the only reason I didn't get the card was that I opened "too many" cards in the prior 12 months when I applied. So what is "too many"? was it really just the last 12 months? Was my score borderline enough that if it drops 2 points I will get a decline anyway?

If you aren't going to post your selection criteria (and I can see why you wouldn't want to) then at least have a pre-qual site to give us a good idea of our chances. Banks all hate you having too many inquires, but then they make it so you have to get an inquiry blindly every time. You could be the pickiest lender in the world and I'd be okay with it so long as you give me a good idea of what your are looking for. If you are going to use an automated algorithm to approve/deny me without any human intervention, then give me some of he highlights of the criteria. It could be as basic as "Don't bother if you have any BKs in last 5 years, 3 or more new cards in the last year, or a score below 700" That still leaves them a bunch of factors to look at without our knowledge, but let's us know the most common stopping points.

Re: Lesson learnt - US Bank Cash +

Meanmchine — Thu, 27 Feb 2020 03:29:49 GMT

Sorry about USBank but at least BoA luvs ya

Re: Lesson learnt - US Bank Cash +

Medic981 — Thu, 27 Feb 2020 03:32:27 GMT

@vic6string wrote:
@Medic981 wrote:
@vic6string wrote:
I hate all these damned stipulations!
Unfortunately, it is their money so they make the rules.
I agree, but I hate that they all have their own set of rules and all we can do is guess. Like now, for instance, I am considering not getting another card for the rest of the year because the Cash+ really is the perfect fit for my wallet. That, of course, assumes that the only reason I didn't get the card was that I opened "too many" cards in the prior 12 months when I applied. So what is "too many"? was it really just the last 12 months? Was my score borderline enough that if it drops 2 points I will get a decline anyway?

If you aren't going to post your selection criteria (and I can see why you wouldn't want to) then at least have a pre-qual site to give us a good idea of our chances. Banks all hate you having too many inquires, but then they make it so you have to get an inquiry blindly every time. You could be the pickiest lender in the world and I'd be okay with it so long as you give me a good idea of what your are looking for. If you are going to use an automated algorithm to approve/deny me without any human intervention, then give me some of he highlights of the criteria. It could be as basic as "Don't bother if you have any BKs in last 5 years, 3 or more new cards in the last year, or a score below 700" That still leaves them a bunch of factors to look at without our knowledge, but let's us know the most common stopping points.

According to data from Gallup, the average American has 2.6 credit cards, although this includes the 29% of Americans who don't have any credit cards at all. When you exclude this group, the average among people who have at least one credit card is 3.7. I wonder what the average myFICOer with a good or better credit profile has?

With that said, the average consumer does not have multiple inquires and does not have credit-seeking behavior. Credit-seeking behavior is a red flag to some financial instituions, USBank being one of them.

Re: Lesson learnt - US Bank Cash +

Anonymous — Thu, 27 Feb 2020 15:35:43 GMT

@vic6string wrote:
@Medic981 wrote:
@vic6string wrote:
I hate all these damned stipulations!
Unfortunately, it is their money so they make the rules.
I agree, but I hate that they all have their own set of rules and all we can do is guess. Like now, for instance, I am considering not getting another card for the rest of the year because the Cash+ really is the perfect fit for my wallet. That, of course, assumes that the only reason I didn't get the card was that I opened "too many" cards in the prior 12 months when I applied. So what is "too many"? was it really just the last 12 months? Was my score borderline enough that if it drops 2 points I will get a decline anyway?

If you aren't going to post your selection criteria (and I can see why you wouldn't want to) then at least have a pre-qual site to give us a good idea of our chances. Banks all hate you having too many inquires, but then they make it so you have to get an inquiry blindly every time. You could be the pickiest lender in the world and I'd be okay with it so long as you give me a good idea of what your are looking for. If you are going to use an automated algorithm to approve/deny me without any human intervention, then give me some of he highlights of the criteria. It could be as basic as "Don't bother if you have any BKs in last 5 years, 3 or more new cards in the last year, or a score below 700" That still leaves them a bunch of factors to look at without our knowledge, but let's us know the most common stopping points.

Yeah they actually made it even more strict last year. First time I applied it was new accounts in 6 months. Then when I tried again in June they had changed it to new accounts in 12. So I'm gardening. I grabbed everything else I wanted first and my last two goal cards require me to garden.

Re: Lesson learnt - US Bank Cash +

FICOlearner123 — Thu, 27 Feb 2020 18:11:57 GMT

Completely agree with Saeren

Re: Lesson learnt - US Bank Cash +

DoppelgangerD — Mon, 16 Mar 2020 20:21:40 GMT

Hey peeps. New to the forum to get some perspective on using the latest CCs to my advantage.

Unfortunately I think I was also just denied the Cash+ card for too many recent accounts or inquiries as well, but what really irks me in all of this, is that the banks have no shame in doing a hard pull of your credit just to trun around and tell you you have too many inquires.
So now there is yet another one that will take 2 years to fall off, and I got nothing for it.
I did nothing wrong per se, but my credit suffers. I try to play their game, but the whole credit bureau nonsense is stacked in the favor of the banks. I get that they have to asess risk, but if someone has no bad credit, they still only have a mediocre score, because they chose to pay cash instead of paying interest to banks. The more interest you pay (IE: mortgages, auto loans), the higher your score, which is just ridiculous IMHO.

Re: Lesson learnt - US Bank Cash +

FICOlearner123 — Mon, 16 Mar 2020 22:08:23 GMT

It would be ideal to have a prequal with a SP.

Re: Lesson learnt - US Bank Cash +

Anonymous — Tue, 17 Mar 2020 00:53:15 GMT

@DoppelgangerD wrote:
Hey peeps. New to the forum to get some perspective on using the latest CCs to my advantage.

Unfortunately I think I was also just denied the Cash+ card for too many recent accounts or inquiries as well, but what really irks me in all of this, is that the banks have no shame in doing a hard pull of your credit just to trun around and tell you you have too many inquires.
So now there is yet another one that will take 2 years to fall off, and I got nothing for it.
I did nothing wrong per se, but my credit suffers. I try to play their game, but the whole credit bureau nonsense is stacked in the favor of the banks. I get that they have to asess risk, but if someone has no bad credit, they still only have a mediocre score, because they chose to pay cash instead of paying interest to banks. The more interest you pay (IE: mortgages, auto loans), the higher your score, which is just ridiculous IMHO.

It isn't about paying interest to banks, it is about managing different types of credit. You can still have great scores with no loans and without paying a dime of interest to any creditor.

Re: Lesson learnt - US Bank Cash +

Keatonsdaddy — Tue, 17 Mar 2020 01:15:59 GMT

Sorry about your denial. When I app'd in May of 2018 I got an instant approval of $500. I called underwriting same day and got it up to $2000 and it's been the same since. I've tried 2 times for CLI with SP's each time with no luck.

Re: Lesson learnt - US Bank Cash +

EdMan63 — Tue, 17 Mar 2020 21:57:19 GMT

Sorry for your denial. Reading some of the post above, I disagree with the notion that banks should state their criteria for approvals. I believe its true that the average consumer does not deal with 5/24 and excessive inquiries. If you educate yourself on credit and Fico scoring, you will read everywhere you should only apply for credit when you need it. It's not only the inquiry, its also the additional account lowering your credit age and displaying credit seeking behavior and most banks frown on that.

While it sometimes seems like a game/hobby on this site, the banks surely don't see it that way. They are looking for longterm dedicated customers who will use their card frequently and responsibly. It's up to the consumer to use their own good judgement when and if they should apply for cards. Trying to slip in the back door will only work so many times.