topic Re: Bank Of America - - TARGETED Offer Questions! in Credit Card Applications

Bank Of America - - TARGETED Offer Questions!

Aim_High — Mon, 08 Jun 2020 19:06:33 GMT

I'm back again soliciting feedback on strategy with Bank of America. I posted in October 2019 so this is a follow-up to that thread but some factors have changed since then.

I'm currently at the GOLD level of the "Preferred Rewards" program. My target has been Platinum Honors in their "Preferred Rewards" program and the difficult-to-get Premium Rewards card. Since this has been shown to be a highly relationship-oriented card, I felt waiting to get Platinum Honors would help my chances so that's the reason for the calculated response. Since I first posted last fall, I reopened checking and savings with a $300 SUB and enough deposits to qualify for the Gold Level. I also just opened a Merrill investment account (with an additional SUB target.) Now I am suddenly seeing a targeted offer for Premium Rewards on my Bank of America home screens!! Made my heart skip a beat! (*See screen shot below.) These appear to be selective offers based on my Gold status and even include a firm APR as opposed to an APR range, which to me seems to indicate it's a very serious and personal offer.

I had been planning to wait a little longer to apply for the PR card since I'm in the process of qualifying for Platinum Honors with some Merrill transfers and that takes three months average balance to upgrade. Now, the targeted offer has rocked my boat. I'm tempted to go ahead and apply now since I see these offers.

On the other hand, I just got turned down for a new card with AMEX for "too many new accounts." I was very active in 2019. And rumor on the street is BofA's limit on new accounts for banking customers is less than seven in last 12 months, although they sometimes will make exceptions. (I am exactly at 7, counting on one AU account.) If I wait until mid-Aug or maybe Labor Day, I'll be down to 5/12 which should be a safer bet.

Opinions? What should I do? App now while there is a targeted offer on the table and be a guinea pig? Or hold out until September when some of my "new accounts" age off and my status is higher with Preferred Rewards?

My thread from October 2019:

https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Card-Applications/Bank-of-America-Premium-Rewards-App-Advice/m-p/5768093#M243826

My recent AMEX denial with data points:

https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Card-Applications/AMEX-wants-my-business/m-p/6025410#M265332

Re: Bank Of America - - TARGETED Offer Questions!

AllZero — Mon, 08 Jun 2020 03:08:26 GMT

Congratulations on your offer! I'm very excited for you. That is a smoking offer with the low APR. It's a good sign. IIRC, the Special Offers may come and go. If you are gardening, you can always wait it out for the offer to come back if it does disappear. I had a Cash Rewards offer that did that for about 6-8 months before I applied. Hope to read of the other replies.

Re: Bank Of America - - TARGETED Offer Questions!

Aim_High — Mon, 08 Jun 2020 03:23:36 GMT

@AllZero wrote:
Congratulations on your offer! I'm very excited for you. That is a smoking offer with the low APR. It's a good sign. IIRC, the Special Offers may come and go. If you are gardening, you can always wait it out for the offer to come back if it does disappear. I had a Cash Rewards offer that did that for about 6-8 months before I applied. Hope to read of the other replies.

Thanks @AllZero ! I'm excited too since I've been plotting an application for this card for probably nine months now. The offer itself (and the 50K SUB) is not anything I couldn't have just applied for off-the-street. But to have them promoting it to me with a firm APR when I sign into my account is something very different. I don't want to waste a HP only to be denied and I especially don't want a "denial" in my file that might impact a future application. I'm definitely interested in other perspectives and appreciate having the community as a sounding board!

Re: Bank Of America - - TARGETED Offer Questions!

Anonymous — Mon, 08 Jun 2020 10:39:28 GMT

@Aim_High I would suggest going ahead and making an application but doing it by phone so in the event they count the AU account you can immediately ask for it to be excluded (Given your profile why do you have an AU account anyway?).

I wouldn't worry too much about waiting the 3 months for the Preferred Rewards qualification. Looking back at my records it appears that BofA can accelerate the qualification if they so choose:

1. Opened Advantage Plus Banking and Merrill Edge accounts on 8/23/19

2. Approved for Premium Rewards card on 9/23/19 (cold apped on 9/20/19)

3. I was able to register for Preferred Rewards on 11/8/19 which is less than 3 months and that date was when I noticed I had that option available in my online account. It might have been available earlier but I hadn't noticed since I was waiting to be notified that I had met the qualification for Preferred Rewards.

They don't make it easy to figure out but while they claim that Preferred Rewards needs a 3-month average, you also have to sign up for the program; it isn't automatic as far as I can tell. So its likely you already have the option to sign up if you check the Preferred Rewards page

Looking back I also noticed my October spend just got the base rewards so you might want to hold off on your initial spending until you're signed up for Preferred Rewards

Sorry for the disjointed comments; just woke up.

P.S. Your tags didn't work as I didn't get a notification.

Re: Bank Of America - - TARGETED Offer Questions!

kdm31091 — Mon, 08 Jun 2020 12:23:26 GMT

I'd go for it. BOA has clamped down on underwriting but from what I have seen their x/12 rules are not set in stone as much as say Chase 5/24. In general yes it's not as easy to get a BOA card as it used to be, for sure... but with a firm APR, you should be fine. Just go for it, you've spent months of mental energy wanting the card.

Re: Bank Of America - - TARGETED Offer Questions!

JR_TX — Mon, 08 Jun 2020 14:22:27 GMT

I'd GO GO GO for it if it was me as I really hate that lingering and nagging feeling of "what if"!! 😂

But that's just me!

But just in case you're wondering, that targeted offer does not go away! At least in DW's case which has been sitting there for over a year now ever since we opted in their PR program. From Gold to now Platinum and hopefully PH someday. You got a really good APR offer for that card which isn't really surprising with your profile.
So I guess a Congrats in advance is in order?! 😉

Re: Bank Of America - - TARGETED Offer Questions!

Aim_High — Mon, 08 Jun 2020 15:06:02 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@Aim_High
P.S. Your tags didn't work as I didn't get a notification.

Thanks for letting me know. I wondered about that. I copied and pasted them into my message. Let me try this again typing them in manually. Let me know if you get this tag please @Anonymous

Ah, I may have seen part of the problem. I got the message, "Too many users mentioned. You can @mention only 10 user(s) in a post."

*I'm tagging several My Fico'ers who previously expressed interest or knowledge in the Bank of America Premium Rewards card.

Thanks in advance for your feedback, guys!

@TSlop, @K-in-Boston, @FinStar, @UncleB, @wasCB14, @imaximous

Re: Bank Of America - - TARGETED Offer Questions!

Aim_High — Mon, 08 Jun 2020 15:05:08 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
P.S. Your tags didn't work as I didn't get a notification.

*I'm tagging several My Fico'ers who previously expressed interest or knowledge in the Bank of America Premium Rewards card.

Thanks in advance for your feedback, guys!

@credit_is_crack, @Turbobuick , @FieryDance , @CreditCuriosity ,

@coldfusion, @VPExecutive , @Anonymous , @simplynoir

Re: Bank Of America - - TARGETED Offer Questions!

imaximous — Mon, 08 Jun 2020 15:12:31 GMT

If I were in your shoes, and I really wanted the card, I'd just go for it. What's a drop of 2 or so points when you have nearly perfect scores? From that perspective alone, I wouldn't think twice about applying.

On the other hand, you do have quite a number of new accounts. From past history, BofA has denied this card to people with great profiles too. Whether you'll be approved or not, it's anyone's guess. But like I said, 2-3 points off your score won't hurt in the least bit, and a denial won't carry any negative effect with BofA for a future application.

From an even more conservative view, I look at your profile and I don't see where it fits or any rush to get it. I know you've been thinking about it for months, but for everyday spend, you have an AOD card that beats it without any relationship, and you're also covered for dining and travel. That SUB has been around for as long as I can remember. I've had my PR card for more than 2 years now. Pretty sure it's always been the same.

I'm only bringing this up because you strike me as the type who likes to be certain 100%. Otherwise, you would've applied a long time ago. I tend to go for what I want regardless of my chances. Heck, I got denied 5 times for a Barclays card before finally getting approved due to number of new accounts.

I'm not trying to discourage you from applying. I'm just offering my take on both ends.

Bottom line for me is in the first paragraph. The rest is just thinking of you and how much you hate denials

Re: Bank Of America - - TARGETED Offer Questions!

kdm31091 — Mon, 08 Jun 2020 15:14:59 GMT

I do also agree that outside of the signup bonus, I don't see how the card would have a ton of use for the OP. But, if they want it, I'd just go for it instead of spending more time debating it. I think we overthink these things sometimes. It's good to go in prepared, but worst case scenario - a denial - isn't the end of the world. With a solid APR I think the OP is likely to be approved. BOA does not give out those offers often. But, no guarantees. The risk is small though IMO and worth it instead of anguishing about it further.

Re: Bank Of America - - TARGETED Offer Questions!

Anonymous — Mon, 08 Jun 2020 15:18:02 GMT

@Aim_High wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@Aim_High
P.S. Your tags didn't work as I didn't get a notification.
Thanks for letting me know. I wondered about that. I copied and pasted them into my message. Let me try this again typing them in manually. Let me know if you get this tag please @Anonymous

Ah, I may have seen part of the problem. I got the message, "Too many users mentioned. You can @mention only 10 user(s) in a post."

*I'm tagging several My Fico'ers who previously expressed interest or knowledge in the Bank of America Premium Rewards card.

Thanks in advance for your feedback, guys!

@TSlop, @K-in-Boston, @FinStar, @UncleB, @wasCB14, @imaximous

I got a notification of a mention this time.

Re: Bank Of America - - TARGETED Offer Questions!

CreditCuriosity — Mon, 08 Jun 2020 15:23:45 GMT

Your phone needs charged

Re: Bank Of America - - TARGETED Offer Questions!

JR_TX — Mon, 08 Jun 2020 15:32:10 GMT

@CreditCuriosity wrote:
Your phone needs charged

And this is how wonderful this community is!!

Even mods will go out of their way to remind you to charge your phone! 😜😝

Re: Bank Of America - - TARGETED Offer Questions!

Aim_High — Mon, 08 Jun 2020 16:29:24 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@Aim_High I would suggest going ahead and making an application but doing it by phone so in the event they count the AU account you can immediately ask for it to be excluded (Given your profile why do you have an AU account anyway?).

I wouldn't worry too much about waiting the 3 months for the Preferred Rewards qualification. Looking back at my records it appears that BofA can accelerate the qualification if they so choose:

1. Opened Advantage Plus Banking and Merrill Edge accounts on 8/23/19
2. Approved for Premium Rewards card on 9/23/19 (cold apped on 9/20/19)
3. I was able to register for Preferred Rewards on 11/8/19 which is less than 3 months and that date was when I noticed I had that option available in my online account. It might have been available earlier but I hadn't noticed since I was waiting to be notified that I had met the qualification for Preferred Rewards.

They don't make it easy to figure out but while they claim that Preferred Rewards needs a 3-month average, you also have to sign up for the program; it isn't automatic as far as I can tell. So its likely you already have the option to sign up if you check the Preferred Rewards page

Looking back I also noticed my October spend just got the base rewards so you might want to hold off on your initial spending until you're signed up for Preferred Rewards

Thanks for the feedback! The phone call to apply is an excellent suggestion since I may be "on-the-fence" with new accounts.

Here's the story on AU and it helps explain why my new accounts are so high. In November (before I got the AOD Visa that pays 3% cash back), I applied for the Discover IT Miles card which would have paid 3% unlimited cash back in year one including the SUB. I had thought I would roll over the credit limit to my other Discover card after the first year. They approved me ... but only for a whopping $1K limit which was totally unusable for the kind of spend I hoped to put on it. (This approval was after other recent new accounts. And I hadn't been using a substantial portion of my other $50K line with them.) I asked DW to apply and she got a more usable $9K limit, so I had her add me as AU and I closed the other $1K limit card. That Discover diversion accounts for two of my seven 'new accounts'. I've thought about having her remove me again since I don't really need that AU account now, but wouldn't it stay on my reports anyway?

I wasn't waiting to qualify for Preferred Rewards. I'm already in Preferred Rewards with Gold status. I was going to wait until my new deposits allowed my status to upgrade to Platinum Honors since I thought it would enhance my odds of Premium Rewards card approval. Plus, if I were to wait, Platinum Honors will earn a higher rewards rate on the SUB spending than I will get as a Gold member.

No, it wasn't automatic. I had to apply to be added to Preferred Rewards.

Re: Bank Of America - - TARGETED Offer Questions!

Aim_High — Mon, 08 Jun 2020 15:46:35 GMT

@CreditCuriosity wrote:
Your phone needs charged

LOL

I knew someone would mention that!!!

No comments on the question though, @CreditCuriosity ?

Re: Bank Of America - - TARGETED Offer Questions!

CreditCuriosity — Mon, 08 Jun 2020 15:48:29 GMT

Will swing back around on zoom meeting now and trying to get some work out got to pretend like I am paying attention to my CEO/CIO

Re: Bank Of America - - TARGETED Offer Questions!

TSlop — Mon, 08 Jun 2020 15:49:56 GMT

Personally, I'd go for it, but I don't mind HPs since I don't usually throw many out per year. Having a solid APR is helpful in the app process.

I previously did not know this was a tough card to get because I cold app'd and was instantly approved, but I've had an IRA since 2010 with Merrill Lynch. As you have mentioned, I've come to read that this is a relationship card. If you have a wealth adviser with your investment account, you could also ask them about it. I'm not sure how much weight the have, but they occasionally push the cards (mine only asked me once long after I had it), so maybe they can help you out. PNC pushed an approval on my original denial (first ever credit card) after talking to a loan officer for my car back in 2006.

Good luck with whatever you do! This is one of my favorite cards since it pays you to use it. It's in my SD currently, but I'll be busting it out once I hit gold in preferred rewards. My IRA is finally bouncing back and I recently doubled my contributions, so I might be there this year. I just used it today since there was 15% back from Tropical Smoothie Cafe.

Re: Bank Of America - - TARGETED Offer Questions!

Aim_High — Mon, 08 Jun 2020 15:52:05 GMT

@kdm31091 wrote:
I do also agree that outside of the signup bonus, I don't see how the card would have a ton of use for the OP. But, if they want it, I'd just go for it instead of spending more time debating it. I think we overthink these things sometimes. It's good to go in prepared, but worst case scenario - a denial - isn't the end of the world. With a solid APR I think the OP is likely to be approved. BOA does not give out those offers often. But, no guarantees. The risk is small though IMO and worth it instead of anguishing about it further.

Thanks for the comments @kdm31091. I do tend to overthink things. It's not common for me to be at 7/12 and the AMEX denial for too many new accounts is really what makes me most hesitant to accept the targeted offer. I know that on a seasoned profile like mine that the effects of Hard Pulls is minimal within reason but I just didn't want to add unnecessary ones if I don't feel optimistic about an approval. I appreciate everyone's advice.

Re: Bank Of America - - TARGETED Offer Questions!

Aim_High — Mon, 08 Jun 2020 16:35:46 GMT

@imaximous wrote:
If I were in your shoes, and I really wanted the card, I'd just go for it. What's a drop of 2 or so points when you have nearly perfect scores? From that perspective alone, I wouldn't think twice about applying.

On the other hand, you do have quite a number of new accounts. From past history, BofA has denied this card to people with great profiles too. Whether you'll be approved or not, it's anyone's guess. But like I said, 2-3 points off your score won't hurt in the least bit, and a denial won't carry any negative effect with BofA for a future application.

From an even more conservative view, I look at your profile and I don't see where it fits or any rush to get it. I know you've been thinking about it for months, but for everyday spend, you have an AOD card that beats it without any relationship, and you're also covered for dining and travel. That SUB has been around for as long as I can remember. I've had my PR card for more than 2 years now. Pretty sure it's always been the same.
I'm only bringing this up because you strike me as the type who likes to be certain 100%. Otherwise, you would've applied a long time ago. I tend to go for what I want regardless of my chances. Heck, I got denied 5 times for a Barclays card before finally getting approved due to number of new accounts.

I'm not trying to discourage you from applying. I'm just offering my take on both ends.

Bottom line for me is in the first paragraph. The rest is just thinking of you and how much you hate denials

Thanks @imaximous ! Yes, I don't like denials but I've always tried to make sure my odds were good for a card before I applied. Having 7 new accounts in 12 months is highly unusual for me. So yes, I am conservative and cautious when it comes to that.

That's a valid point about where the card fits in my lineup and it's something I've considered. I started targeting it last year before the AOD card came along. As many of us have pondered, I have questions as to whether AOD can support that 3% flat rate rewards payout long term. So far it's been great! But if it falls though, that 2.625% on PR would be great to have waiting in the wings. My original plan was to continue to use my Chase quadfecta for UR points but then to have my high-payout cash back system in place with Bank of America for times when I didn't need more travel points. PR would still give me 3.5% in cash payout for dining and travel which is a little better than I get with other cards. Qualifying for Platinum Honors also boosts my Cash Rewards card payouts from 2% to 3.5% for groceries and wholesale clubs and 5.25% in category, but all that is independent of the PR card. So I agree that as long as the AOD card sticks around, the PR card is not as useful to me as I had originally planned and there's no hurry in terms of rewards to apply for it.

I appreciate your encouragement and perspective!

Re: Bank Of America - - TARGETED Offer Questions!

coldfusion — Mon, 08 Jun 2020 16:21:36 GMT

Confirm either through the BoA or Merrill app that you have a TU FICO 8 score (Menu -> scroll to view my FICO Score) and confirm there's a TU FICO 8 score from May being shown but this sounds like one of their true prequals. You can also log onto the BoA website and see if the offer also shows under Special Offers and Deals. As has been pointed out the 7/12 rule is not immutable.

There will be a HP, but if it were me I would pull the trigger if I could meet the SUB. The payout is in points but you can redeem them into checking/savings at $0.01/point.