topic Elan Financial Services - Nonbranded in Credit Cards

Elan Financial Services - Nonbranded

icednightpaper — Thu, 17 Oct 2019 01:17:44 GMT

Who else around here has an Elan card that isn't branded with anything? My card (which is on the AMEX network) was previously through a local bank, but that bank was bought out and the buyer didn't keep them as an issuer. So now my card just has "Elan" on it and is kind of just sitting there in my drawer. On that note, has anybody product changed Elan cards? The entire (probably) portfolio can be viewed online and I see there are other cards that are on AMEX that are more appealing than the dinky 3% gas/2% grocery benefit that I have now. Just wanted to see if others have similar experiences.

Re: Elan Financial Services - Nonbranded

Anonymous — Thu, 17 Oct 2019 02:26:15 GMT

Elan is the retial side of US Bank. They're simply a servicing branch of USB kind of like Sync does a bunch of different retailers.

Chances of PC'ing from a non-bank backed card you have to something with another bank w/ different benefits would likely result in a new account and HP.

Similar to swapping your Gold to a Revolver... it can't be done. It would require closing the existing and opening a new one because they're totally different types of accounts. In this instance though it would be like asking Chase to issue you a Cash+.

Re: Elan Financial Services - Nonbranded

AverageJoesCredit — Thu, 17 Oct 2019 02:31:45 GMT

Dinky 3%,2% is better than no rewards

Re: Elan Financial Services - Nonbranded

BearsCubsOtters — Thu, 17 Oct 2019 02:34:58 GMT

@icednightpaper wrote:
Who else around here has an Elan card that isn't branded with anything? My card (which is on the AMEX network) was previously through a local bank, but that bank was bought out and the buyer didn't keep them as an issuer. So now my card just has "Elan" on it and is kind of just sitting there in my drawer. On that note, has anybody product changed Elan cards? The entire (probably) portfolio can be viewed online and I see there are other cards that are on AMEX that are more appealing than the dinky 3% gas/2% grocery benefit that I have now. Just wanted to see if others have similar experiences.

Why isn't this card in your signature? How many other cards do you have that are not in your signature?

As someone else said, Elan is (was?) owned by US Bank. I know that US Bank was looking to sell Elan. But to your question; I have never heard of just a plain Elan card. Looks like Elan did not want to lose a customer simply because the the bank was absorbed by a better bank that was bank enough to issue their own cards.

Re: Elan Financial Services - Nonbranded

icednightpaper — Thu, 17 Oct 2019 03:09:11 GMT

@Obscure-Expert

I am aware that US Bank owns Elan (even had to go to a branch for fraud once!), and I get what you're saying. I mean though, I am wondering about product changing one Elan product to another, see example chart here: https://www.elanfinancialservices.com/credit-card/card-member-benefit.html

As well as product types here: https://card.myaccountaccess.com/credit/benefits.do

@AverageJoesCredit

You're definitely not wrong, I came off a little too snooty there!

@BearsCubsOffers

Here's my card:

I do have all of my cards in my signature, Elan is in the text line below the images because I couldn't quickly find a suitable plain pic on Google. Although I could technically add this one if I wanted to now

Re: Elan Financial Services - Nonbranded

ChargedUp — Thu, 17 Oct 2019 05:12:55 GMT

My Florida Community Bank/Elan card started out as a simple platinum card and I PC'd it to the 1.5% card and upgraded it to Signature no problem. I've gotten 2 auto SP CLI's ($2500 each) in the 3 years I've had the card.

Nothing special, but for the little bit I've used this card it's been solid.

Re: Elan Financial Services - Nonbranded

Adkins — Thu, 17 Oct 2019 07:41:31 GMT

My DH has two unbranded Elan cards, with ridiculously high limits in terms of his income.

Re: Elan Financial Services - Nonbranded

Dalmus — Thu, 17 Oct 2019 14:42:21 GMT

Are they still owned by US Bank?

They seem to be frequent issuer of credit/debit cards branded by regional/local banks.

My Elan card is actually branded with my current primary bank. That bank purchased a smaller bank network (that I was a member of) that also used Elan as the issuer.

Re: Elan Financial Services - Nonbranded

FinStar — Sat, 19 Oct 2019 18:21:29 GMT

@Dalmus wrote:
Are they still owned by US Bank?

They seem to be frequent issuer of credit/debit cards branded by regional/local banks.

My Elan card is actually branded with my current primary bank. That bank purchased a smaller bank network (that I was a member of) that also used Elan as the issuer.

Yes.

Re: Elan Financial Services - Nonbranded

Anonymous — Wed, 27 May 2020 03:13:08 GMT

@icednightpaper wrote:
Who else around here has an Elan card that isn't branded with anything? My card (which is on the AMEX network) was previously through a local bank, but that bank was bought out and the buyer didn't keep them as an issuer. So now my card just has "Elan" on it and is kind of just sitting there in my drawer. On that note, has anybody product changed Elan cards? The entire (probably) portfolio can be viewed online and I see there are other cards that are on AMEX that are more appealing than the dinky 3% gas/2% grocery benefit that I have now. Just wanted to see if others have similar experiences.

i'M in a similar situation. I had my card issued by a small local bank (commerce bank new england). it was an elan financial card and AMEX card. Berkshire bank bought them out. it is now berkshire bank amex but its through elan financial services

is this still considered AMEX or is Elan a different thing all together? i see alot of people here talk about amex not sure if this card is under that umbrella

would love to upgrade it to a new product

Re: Elan Financial Services - Nonbranded

K-in-Boston — Wed, 27 May 2020 04:59:15 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@icednightpaper wrote:
Who else around here has an Elan card that isn't branded with anything? My card (which is on the AMEX network) was previously through a local bank, but that bank was bought out and the buyer didn't keep them as an issuer. So now my card just has "Elan" on it and is kind of just sitting there in my drawer. On that note, has anybody product changed Elan cards? The entire (probably) portfolio can be viewed online and I see there are other cards that are on AMEX that are more appealing than the dinky 3% gas/2% grocery benefit that I have now. Just wanted to see if others have similar experiences.
i'M in a similar situation. I had my card issued by a small local bank (commerce bank new england). it was an elan financial card and AMEX card. Berkshire bank bought them out. it is now berkshire bank amex but its through elan financial services

is this still considered AMEX or is Elan a different thing all together? i see alot of people here talk about amex not sure if this card is under that umbrella

would love to upgrade it to a new product

In this case, your card is only on the Amex payment network. American Express otherwise has nothing to do with your card. Just think of it like a Visa or MasterCard logo on your other cards. Any upgrades would be up to the card issuer, Berkshire Bank.

Re: Elan Financial Services - Nonbranded

ChargedUp — Thu, 28 May 2020 00:18:01 GMT

@K-in-Boston wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@icednightpaper wrote:
Who else around here has an Elan card that isn't branded with anything? My card (which is on the AMEX network) was previously through a local bank, but that bank was bought out and the buyer didn't keep them as an issuer. So now my card just has "Elan" on it and is kind of just sitting there in my drawer. On that note, has anybody product changed Elan cards? The entire (probably) portfolio can be viewed online and I see there are other cards that are on AMEX that are more appealing than the dinky 3% gas/2% grocery benefit that I have now. Just wanted to see if others have similar experiences.
i'M in a similar situation. I had my card issued by a small local bank (commerce bank new england). it was an elan financial card and AMEX card. Berkshire bank bought them out. it is now berkshire bank amex but its through elan financial services

is this still considered AMEX or is Elan a different thing all together? i see alot of people here talk about amex not sure if this card is under that umbrella

would love to upgrade it to a new product
In this case, your card is only on the Amex payment network. American Express otherwise has nothing to do with your card. Just think of it like a Visa or MasterCard logo on your other cards. Any upgrades would be up to the card issuer, Berkshire Bank.

Actually, Elan handles the upgrades regardless of the bank name on the front of the card. If a bank discontinues using Elan for their credit card services, your account stays with Elan and just becomes an Elan Visa/MC/Amex with the same rewards structure.

Call the number on the back of your card and ask for a PC. Mine was Visa to Visa and was simple. I don't think going Amex to Visa would be a problem, but I can't say for sure. Let us know!

Re: Elan Financial Services - Nonbranded

K-in-Boston — Thu, 28 May 2020 00:40:30 GMT

@ChargedUp wrote:
@K-in-Boston wrote:
In this case, your card is only on the Amex payment network. American Express otherwise has nothing to do with your card. Just think of it like a Visa or MasterCard logo on your other cards. Any upgrades would be up to the card issuer, Berkshire Bank.
Actually, Elan handles the upgrades regardless of the bank name on the front of the card. If a bank discontinues using Elan for their credit card services, your account stays with Elan and just becomes an Elan Visa/MC/Amex with the same rewards structure.

Call the number on the back of your card and ask for a PC. Mine was Visa to Visa and was simple. I don't think going Amex to Visa would be a problem, but I can't say for sure. Let us know!

If Elan handles the card, certainly. I didn't realize the partnering banks weren't actually servicing their own cards if they're partnered with Elan. I meant it more in the sense of you wouldn't call Visa if you needed to discuss your Chase card product with a Visa logo.

Re: Elan Financial Services - Nonbranded

ChargedUp — Thu, 28 May 2020 01:07:38 GMT

@K-in-Boston wrote:
@ChargedUp wrote:
@K-in-Boston wrote:
In this case, your card is only on the Amex payment network. American Express otherwise has nothing to do with your card. Just think of it like a Visa or MasterCard logo on your other cards. Any upgrades would be up to the card issuer, Berkshire Bank.
Actually, Elan handles the upgrades regardless of the bank name on the front of the card. If a bank discontinues using Elan for their credit card services, your account stays with Elan and just becomes an Elan Visa/MC/Amex with the same rewards structure.

Call the number on the back of your card and ask for a PC. Mine was Visa to Visa and was simple. I don't think going Amex to Visa would be a problem, but I can't say for sure. Let us know!
If Elan handles the card, certainly. I didn't realize the partnering banks weren't actually servicing their own cards if they're partnered with Elan. I meant it more in the sense of you wouldn't call Visa if you needed to discuss your Chase card product with a Visa logo.

Yeah, Elan essentially takes 97% of the credit card handling over regardless of the FI named on the front. AFAIK, the named FI can accept payments and I read someplace that they can make a *recommendation* for approval to Elan based on the customers relationship with the named FI. In the end, Elan makes the decisions and puts up the capital behind the cards. I believe the named FI's get a small percentage from what their cards earn.

Elan seems pretty easy going for being a part of US Bank. Easy PC's and I believe CLI's are SP up to a certain limit. (Both of mine were auto.) Of course, USB's CC offerings are more lucrative though.

Re: Elan Financial Services - Nonbranded

icednightpaper — Thu, 28 May 2020 03:05:00 GMT

@ChargedUp wrote:
Yeah, Elan essentially takes 97% of the credit card handling over regardless of the FI named on the front. AFAIK, the named FI can accept payments and I read someplace that they can make a *recommendation* for approval to Elan based on the customers relationship with the named FI. In the end, Elan makes the decisions and puts up the capital behind the cards. I believe the named FI's get a small percentage from what their cards earn.

Elan seems pretty easy going for being a part of US Bank. Easy PC's and I believe CLI's are SP up to a certain limit. (Both of mine were auto.) Of course, USB's CC offerings are more lucrative though.

While I no longer have my Elan card (closed since I created this thread, for lack of need), I requested CLI twice and they were both HP. I received one auto in four years of having it. I will say though, it was nice to have both US Bank and Elan cards since they offer the same BT promos, so if one card didn't have it, the other might've.