topic Re: Iberia/Simmons in Credit Cards

Iberia/Simmons

Skye12329 — Mon, 04 Jan 2016 03:01:42 GMT

I am unsure if anyone would know this, but why are they so strict with their cards and rewards? Wouldn't they want people to be able to get their cards so they can make some money? Granted its a risk but to be pratically impossible to get. So my question is why wouldn't they ease up, so they can make more money?

Re: Iberia/Simmons

FinStar — Mon, 04 Jan 2016 03:16:53 GMT

They are simply very conservative financial institutions. Plus, from a lending and portfolio perspective, it would appear they would prefer to limit their losses and only acquire specific customers. It seems that they would prefer only to have the cream of the crop when it comes to very low-risk customers rather than well...not the cream of the crop. They have been like this for years (as far as I can remember) and it appears their business and lending models have worked well for that particular niche (i.e. they're still in business).

Now, keep in mind that there are a variety of CUs with very competitive products, rates and reward structures that are just as comparable to Iberia/Simmons.

Re: Iberia/Simmons

NRB525 — Mon, 04 Jan 2016 03:24:27 GMT

I thought I heard it has as much to do with the state they are incorporated / registered in as anything. Something about usury laws limiting the APR they can charge, which results in extremely strict underwriting so as not to take on any risky clients that they cannot bill penalty interest on.

Re: Iberia/Simmons

redpat — Mon, 04 Jan 2016 03:57:46 GMT

Issuing credit cards is just not part of their core business, IMO.

It's a competive crowed market that the major CCC do well in and is their core business segment.

Their offerings are similar to most CU offerings. They may even use a third party that runs that business unit for them, fia for example.

Re: Iberia/Simmons

FinStar — Mon, 04 Jan 2016 04:09:44 GMT

@redpat wrote:
Issuing credit cards is just not part of their core business, IMO.

It's a competive crowed market that the major CCC do well in and is their core business segment.

Their offerings are similar to most CU offerings. They may even use a third party that runs that business unit for them, fia for example.

Yes, both Simmons and Iberia offer other financial products besides CCs (business and personal - home/auto loans, wealth management, insurance, investement, etc). However, they do not use a third party to service their cards IIRC. CC underwriting and servicing is done by each respective bank. Hence the niche in those CC product offerings.

Re: Iberia/Simmons

redpat — Mon, 04 Jan 2016 04:14:29 GMT

@FinStar wrote:
@redpat wrote:
Issuing credit cards is just not part of their core business, IMO.

It's a competive crowed market that the major CCC do well in and is their core business segment.

Their offerings are similar to most CU offerings. They may even use a third party that runs that business unit for them, fia for example.
Yes, both Simmons and Iberia offer other financial products besides CCs (business and personal - home/auto loans, wealth management, insurance, investement, etc). However, they do not use a third party to service their cards IIRC. CC underwriting and servicing is done by each respective bank. Hence the niche in those CC product offerings.

Sorry for confusion, I meant back room operations, not underwriting.

Re: Iberia/Simmons

Anonymous — Mon, 04 Jan 2016 05:33:07 GMT

Iberia doesn't even seem to offer their low rate card anymore. Lowest I see with no AF is 13.24%, which is a joke for a no frills card. At least Simmons still offers the 7.5% rate, which is fairly comparable to no-reward CU cards (some standouts, like SFFCU, go that low and have rewards though!).

Re: Iberia/Simmons

FinStar — Mon, 04 Jan 2016 05:41:29 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Iberia doesn't even seem to offer their low rate card anymore. Lowest I see with no AF is 13.24%, which is a joke for a no frills card. At least Simmons still offers the 7.5% rate, which is fairly comparable to no-reward CU cards (some standouts, like SFFCU, go that low and have rewards though!).

Right, but even still for both Iberia/Simmons' CC offerings (from a flexibility standpoint and regardless of rewards) still have FTFs.

Re: Iberia/Simmons

thom02099 — Mon, 04 Jan 2016 06:00:20 GMT

@Skye12329 wrote:
I am unsure if anyone would know this, but why are they so strict with their cards and rewards? Wouldn't they want people to be able to get their cards so they can make some money? Granted its a risk but to be pratically impossible to get. So my question is why wouldn't they ease up, so they can make more money?

I can only address IberiaBank, since I've had a card with them before it was the "card du jour" on this forum. That was a number of years back. Some observations:

Yes, they are very conservative. As a Regional Bank, their underwriting is in-house, is personal, and can be time consuming. They have specific requirements for processing an application. When I applied, I dealt with one person, who gave me her name and direct phone number, and that's the person I dealt with through the process. Wonderful lady with a beautiful Southern accent, just a delight to talk to!

And yes, they have outstanding customer service. When you call in, to the bank you'll get a real person. Every time. At least in the times that I've called in. Admittedly it's been a while since I've had a need to call in direct to the bank.

Their credit cards are serviced, at least to some degree, by a third party servicer. On several occasions I've had to call the number on the card, and due to the nature of the issue I was calling about, was referred directly to the bank, and transferred to a bank representative. Also, when dealing with issues of logging in to the account (ezcardinfo.com), I've been referred to a different specialist than a card servicer, but not a bank representative.

Though their website shows that they've increased their interest rates, it appears that, at least some of us have been grandfathered, and continue to have the interest rate that I received on initial application. Or, it could be due to my track record with them. I occasionally carry a balance on the card, so they make a bit of change off me.

Are they worth it today? Worth is always subjective, based on one's specific needs. I've been wavering on this one as a card to retire, now that I'm retired. There is an AF, but it's not a lot ($35), so that's not really a major factor in the decision. That low interest rate (6.9%) is a factor for me. There are others that are a higher priority to retire.

Re: Iberia/Simmons

B335is — Mon, 04 Jan 2016 07:16:01 GMT

Iberia and Simmons tend to like higher income, well established, clean credit. Regardless if you agree with their philosophy, it's the business model they have always followed. The rewards may not be the best, but I've heard they give pretty solid and consistent customer service. I can't help but think it's a card my grandparents would have

Re: Iberia/Simmons

ddemari — Mon, 04 Jan 2016 16:19:51 GMT

Both of these banks have always sparked my curiousity. I kind of remember FinStar saying maybe his mom has had a Simmons for a long time?

Re: Iberia/Simmons

FinStar — Mon, 04 Jan 2016 17:04:13 GMT

@ddemari wrote:
Both of these banks have always sparked my curiousity. I kind of remember FinStar saying maybe his mom has had a Simmons for a long time?

Yes indeed. I can't recall how long she's had it but it's been since the 90's (maybe longer) - back in the day when it was one of those popular but hard to get CCs. I tried a long time ago but in the end they felt I had too much available credit/tradelines which by that point there were other, more lucrative CCs, especially with no FTFs and higher CLs to boot. To some, it's still the "holy grail" of CCs I suppose