topic Re: First Tech's first Credit Card approval odds in Credit Cards

First Tech's first Credit Card approval odds

John95 — Fri, 20 May 2022 05:30:27 GMT

I just joined First Tech CU and opened a checking acc today and thinking of applying for Odyssey Rewards and Choice rewards cards on the same day. My Experian score is 804. Hoping to get some high SL.

Should I apply for the crads now or I should wait before applying for credit cards? And can I apply for two cards on the same day?

Thank you!

Re: First Tech's first Credit Card approval odds

SouthJamaica — Fri, 20 May 2022 15:32:44 GMT

@John95 wrote:
I just joined First Tech CU and opened a checking acc today and thinking of applying for Odyssey Rewards and Choice rewards cards on the same day. My Experian score is 804. Hoping to get some high SL.
Should I apply for the crads now or I should wait before applying for credit cards? And can I apply for two cards on the same day?
Thank you!

You can go and apply right away.

I can't answer your question on whether to apply for 2 cards at the same time. Me I would never have the nerve But I don't know what their policy is.

Re: First Tech's first Credit Card approval odds

GatorGuy — Fri, 20 May 2022 16:42:59 GMT

You haven't really shared any information on your credit profile.

From what I've seen, they like customers with high income but relatively low aggregate limits. There have been multiple DPs of people being turned down for too much in available credit.

Some people have been approved for two cards and it sounds like they used one HP.

ETA: They require income verification so be prepared to submit docs to support your income.

Re: First Tech's first Credit Card approval odds

woodyman100 — Sat, 21 May 2022 18:25:14 GMT

@GatorGuy wrote:
You haven't really shared any information on your credit profile.

From what I've seen, they like customers with high income but relatively low aggregate limits. There have been multiple DPs of people being turned down for too much in available credit.

Some people have been approved for two cards and it sounds like they used one HP.

ETA: They require income verification so be prepared to submit docs to support your income.

The nerve! They expect you to use the card?! Of all that is holy!😂

Re: First Tech's first Credit Card approval odds

Storyeatermichael — Sat, 21 May 2022 23:30:59 GMT

Hey I've been a member at First tech for about 9 months, let me give you some DP.

They do one hard pull that's good for 30 days. But I've never heard of people getting approved for two CC. To maximize the HP I would apply for CC personal loan and a LOC.

first tech is very conservative with DTI ration and how much available credit you have available. From other peoples data points it looks like any available credit over $60k will be frowned upon and anything over 100k and they will refuse you because of that.

I recommend gardening for 3-6 months and make sure you haven't got any new lines of credit for 3-6 months, 6 months being a better idea.

me I have a loan with them and a secured card. My wife is just started gardening with them so I'm going to wait for another 6 months to apply for a LOC, CC, and refinance car loan.

also they really like direct deposit and people who make over 100k a year. Well I'm sure all financial institutions like that. Lol.

oh also they will ask for prof of income sometimes tax infor and prof of address if you moved in the last 6 months.

Re: First Tech's first Credit Card approval odds

notmyrealname23 — Sun, 22 May 2022 02:49:37 GMT

@Storyeatermichael wrote:
Hey I've been a member at First tech for about 9 months, let me give you some DP.

They do one hard pull that's good for 30 days. But I've never heard of people getting approved for two CC. To maximize the HP I would apply for CC personal loan and a LOC.

first tech is very conservative with DTI ration and how much available credit you have available. From other peoples data points it looks like any available credit over $60k will be frowned upon and anything over 100k and they will refuse you because of that.

I recommend gardening for 3-6 months and make sure you haven't got any new lines of credit for 3-6 months, 6 months being a better idea.

me I have a loan with them and a secured card. My wife is just started gardening with them so I'm going to wait for another 6 months to apply for a LOC, CC, and refinance car loan.

also they really like direct deposit and people who make over 100k a year. Well I'm sure all financial institutions like that. Lol.

oh also they will ask for prof of income sometimes tax infor and prof of address if you moved in the last 6 months.

I'm pretty sure I would have been over 60k when approved by them for a 35k CL. Difference is I've been a FT FCU member for over 20 years and they've been my primary financial institution for almost all of that time (and still are).

To be honest, the Choice Rewards card itself is kind of pants unless they have a promotion going on, 2x in some categories, 1x everywhere else, points are .8 cpp so you're looking at a card with return under 1% for a lot of spend. Nice interest rates and balance transfer features though. I use it enough to keep it alive but it's never going to see spend like it would if it was a 3% card like AOD's.

Re: First Tech's first Credit Card approval odds

digitek — Sun, 22 May 2022 17:58:24 GMT

I recently picked up the Odyssey card from them and am pretty sure points are 1-to-1 for Cashback, not x.8.

They have a rewards system tied to their cards, I tried it for a bit but it wasn't really worth it. Adds .5% to card Cashback and a $10 streaming credit, but it requires $500 of spend and 20 transactions a month. With all the math accounted for it was less back each month than I could get with other cards. Not a bad system, though, just not meant for me.

https://www.firsttechfed.com/bank/first-tech-rewards

AFAIK the Odyssey minimum SL is $25k, but like said above all your credit ducks have to be in a row. Can always try for both, will be interesting to see how it goes.

Re: First Tech's first Credit Card approval odds

QCS123 — Sun, 22 May 2022 21:18:58 GMT

I agree. We were over 60K avail and have been members longer than 25 years with our checking acct being our primary account. DH applied for the Odyssey Rewards card online but ALSO with the help of a rep who called over internally after we applied to see if they needed any more info from us. The rep told us that when we applied for their best card which starts at 25K limit, that if we were denied they would tell us which card they could give us and we would not have to reapply for another card. I don't know if going through a rep, helped or not, but it was nice to get extra info and have someone following up etc. Oh and DH was approved after giving 2 years of tax returns (we are self-employed) for 35K Odyssey Rewards Card.

Re: First Tech's first Credit Card approval odds

Janneman — Mon, 23 May 2022 19:51:11 GMT

Do you guys know if joining this CU is a sp or hp?

Re: First Tech's first Credit Card approval odds

thewally — Wed, 25 May 2022 19:46:46 GMT

Re: First Tech's first Credit Card approval odds

notmyrealname23 — Thu, 26 May 2022 00:42:20 GMT

@digitek wrote:
I recently picked up the Odyssey card from them and am pretty sure points are 1-to-1 for Cashback, not x.8.

They have a rewards system tied to their cards, I tried it for a bit but it wasn't really worth it. Adds .5% to card Cashback and a $10 streaming credit, but it requires $500 of spend and 20 transactions a month. With all the math accounted for it was less back each month than I could get with other cards. Not a bad system, though, just not meant for me.
https://www.firsttechfed.com/bank/first-tech-rewards

AFAIK the Odyssey minimum SL is $25k, but like said above all your credit ducks have to be in a row. Can always try for both, will be interesting to see how it goes.

I have the First Tech FCU Choice Rewards World MC, per my signature. It's not 1 cpp, it's definitely less. Per the FT reward site I logged into just now: "Cash Back redemption starts at 3,125 Points. For example 3,125 Points = $25 cash back". That's .8 cpp.

I'm not paying a $75 AF to get 1 cpp, assuming that the Odyssey actually has 1 cpp... the card is fine for what it is and I use it during bonus periods, but .8% cashback is lame.

Re: First Tech's first Credit Card approval odds

digitek — Thu, 26 May 2022 21:35:24 GMT

@notmyrealname23 wrote:
@digitek wrote:
I recently picked up the Odyssey card from them and am pretty sure points are 1-to-1 for Cashback, not x.8.

They have a rewards system tied to their cards, I tried it for a bit but it wasn't really worth it. Adds .5% to card Cashback and a $10 streaming credit, but it requires $500 of spend and 20 transactions a month. With all the math accounted for it was less back each month than I could get with other cards. Not a bad system, though, just not meant for me.
https://www.firsttechfed.com/bank/first-tech-rewards

AFAIK the Odyssey minimum SL is $25k, but like said above all your credit ducks have to be in a row. Can always try for both, will be interesting to see how it goes.
I have the First Tech FCU Choice Rewards World MC, per my signature. It's not 1 cpp, it's definitely less. Per the FT reward site I logged into just now: "Cash Back redemption starts at 3,125 Points. For example 3,125 Points = $25 cash back". That's .8 cpp.

I'm not paying a $75 AF to get 1 cpp, assuming that the Odyssey actually has 1 cpp... the card is fine for what it is and I use it during bonus periods, but .8% cashback is lame.

That is a good point to make, I checked before I posted and for Odyssey it is 1-to-1 points to cashback, 2500 points = $25. Interesting that they have them different for the 2 cards.

If you use the checking rewards program it can be a solid dining card that averages about 4% Cashback, but there are cards with no AF that can do the same without hoops to jump through.

I figured I could try it for free for 5 years since the SUB was $300 and the AF was waived for for the first year. I kind of got it because it is the last non geofenced card with the full set of Chip+PIN features.

As a CU I like them, but have to admit the card doesn't get much spend on it.