topic Re: US Bank Secured unsuccessful upgrade/product change in Credit Cards

US Bank Secured unsuccessful upgrade/product change

Waldemar — Tue, 23 May 2023 18:28:28 GMT

So I got my ch7 discharged in June 2021. In July 2021, I opened a US Bank Platinum secured card with a 500 limit then in November 2021; I opened a US Bank Cash+ secure card. I tried to graduate both credit cards and have yet to succeed. I did some online reading, and it appears that I may have to wait up to 5 years before US Bank will graduate or even consider the request if it doesn’t happen automatically. I hope to convert to unsecured both cards and upgrade my Platinum card to the Altitude Go card. Any suggestions?

Re: US Bank Secured unsuccessful upgrade/product change

Tcal — Tue, 23 May 2023 21:37:06 GMT

I thought the US Bank cards have an automatic annual review process? I got one recently, and they've been very transparent about how the process works in app.

Re: US Bank Secured unsuccessful upgrade/product change

Waldemar — Tue, 23 May 2023 22:00:00 GMT

From what I read, the process is different with bankruptcy in the credit file. I never had any accounts with US Bank but acquired these cards after discharge.

Re: US Bank Secured unsuccessful upgrade/product change

FireMedic1 — Tue, 23 May 2023 22:08:05 GMT

@Waldemar

"If your account is in good standing while meeting certain eligibility and credit criteria, you do not have any recent bankruptcies, and you have a Social Security number connected to your account, we will proactively review it after 12 months of account history to determine if you are eligible to graduate to a traditional card."

https://www.usbank.com/customer-service/knowledge-base/KB0238524.html

Can you try Discover that graduates?

Re: US Bank Secured unsuccessful upgrade/product change

Waldemar — Tue, 23 May 2023 22:19:52 GMT

Sadly I burned Discover, along with a few other big banks. I hope to get back with Discover and Amex at some point.

I may eventually end up closing the two cards with US Bank or keep them until they do graduate (whenever that is). I don't need the deposit in the secured savings, but I also have some strong credit cards including a BCU with a 10k limit, my Bread Amex with a 7.5k, and a few others. In total, close to 70k in credit card limits. I don't carry balances and always pay them in full each month.

Re: US Bank Secured unsuccessful upgrade/product change

Tcal — Tue, 23 May 2023 22:44:57 GMT

Closing one of them might be beneficial, but US Bank has decent unsecured cards. Might be better to keep the smaller open & milk the cashback on utilities/cable/phone and pay in full. Keep your foot in the door for years down the line when that bankruptcy is gone.

Re: US Bank Secured unsuccessful upgrade/product change

FireMedic1 — Wed, 24 May 2023 08:50:37 GMT

@Waldemar You do have other cards besides these 2 secured I hope.

Re: US Bank Secured unsuccessful upgrade/product change

Waldemar — Wed, 24 May 2023 11:52:18 GMT

I sure do have other credit cards with healthy limits too. I could always have small auto-debits come out of my two US Bank cards and see if it opens other doors down the road with US Bank. I don't need the money tight up in the secured savings, and there is no true rush to get the cards graduated. I just hoped that by now, they would have.

Re: US Bank Secured unsuccessful upgrade/product change

northway — Wed, 24 May 2023 21:37:01 GMT

I had a TD Cash secured card that after 5 years never unsecured even though promising that it would upon review "every month". Even with a FICO of 763, it never happened, so I wound up applying for an unsecured which was approved and closed out the secured.

With US Bank, I had a secured Cash+ and secured Altitude Go. Each one unsecured exactly at the 12 month mark for me. USB likes to see a FICO of at least 650+ before they'll consider unsecuring it. YMMV clearly.

Re: US Bank Secured unsuccessful upgrade/product change

Waldemar — Wed, 24 May 2023 21:48:14 GMT

I just checked my FICO scores and they look alright. My FICO Score 9 are pretty much the same. Aside from the two US Bank secured cards I have a Truist secured which will turn a year in October. Let's see what happens with that one.

Re: US Bank Secured unsuccessful upgrade/product change

sjt — Sun, 28 May 2023 05:29:52 GMT

FYI- US Bank/Elan Card requires 4 years post BK before they will consider converting to an unsecured card or approving an unsecured card.

Re: US Bank Secured unsuccessful upgrade/product change

butterpecan — Wed, 07 Jun 2023 04:38:12 GMT

@Waldemar wrote:
So I got my ch7 discharged in June 2021. In July 2021, I opened a US Bank Platinum secured card with a 500 limit then in November 2021; I opened a US Bank Cash+ secure card. I tried to graduate both credit cards and have yet to succeed. I did some online reading, and it appears that I may have to wait up to 5 years before US Bank will graduate or even consider the request if it doesn’t happen automatically. I hope to convert to unsecured both cards and upgrade my Platinum card to the Altitude Go card. Any suggestions?

Congrats on all your hard work! I am just popping by reading through threads and I have a question:

I see you have opened roughly 24 credit cards, 3 lines of credit and an auto loan all in 2 years time from 2021 to 2023. My question is how do you manage this with all the inquiries that had to have occured? I have so much to learn please take no offense in your strategy...I'm just asking to learn mine. 🙂

Also, I don't have BK and I'm trying decide on my 3rd secured card from a Bank - either BOA, TD Bank or US Bank as I have 2 secured cards from Credit Unions so I'm trolling through posts that come up when I search for these banks. I was almost ready to try TD Bank but then decided BOA should take me I've been with then for 10 years then I decided nah, I want to try something new to have another big Bank in my corner. Still deciding because I've always been taught inquiries are the devil.

Re: US Bank Secured unsuccessful upgrade/product change

Waldemar — Wed, 07 Jun 2023 13:04:30 GMT

@butterpecan

I appreciate, no big deal. Yes, opening this many accounts within a short time is not ideal, but I was trying to regain what I lost during the bk, minus the debt. I do not carry balances anymore as I pay my cards in full each month (and only charge what I can pay), and I do not desire a credit card with annual fees. Now secured cards will have some small annual fees, which is okay, but at one point before bk, I had five Amex cards, and all had annual fees. I was paying over 1k a year in annual fees; crazy thinking about it now. My Navy federal auto loan was acquired before the bk; I willingly reaffirmed it so they would continue to report to the credit bureaus and assist me on my conquest to rebuild.

Honestly, I'm not 100% how I managed it all within a short time, but soon enough, all these inquiries will be gone around the same time, which is why I prefer to apply back to back. Yes, hard inquiries can be "bad," but I'm at a place where I do not need to apply for anything for a long while. I thought things would be much more difficult with a bk on file, but I guess things have changed over the years, and bks are becoming more "normal."

Regarding secured cards, and with you not having a bk, BOA is a good choice, US Bank too, particularly for their US Bank Cash+ Secured card, even Discover. Not long after I was discharged, I opened an FNBO Secured card, and they automatically graduated me in about 10 months. Sadly, my limit has only increased to 650.00 (from the original 500), but it is one of those cards I keep in the drawer and decide down the road what I'll do. One approach I took to help me was to open store cards to make small purchases, pay them in full each month, and have all that positive data reporting.

Re: US Bank Secured unsuccessful upgrade/product change

butterpecan — Mon, 19 Jun 2023 02:53:04 GMT

@Waldemar wrote:
@butterpecan
I appreciate, no big deal. Yes, opening this many accounts within a short time is not ideal, but I was trying to regain what I lost during the bk, minus the debt. I do not carry balances anymore as I pay my cards in full each month (and only charge what I can pay), and I do not desire a credit card with annual fees. Now secured cards will have some small annual fees, which is okay, but at one point before bk, I had five Amex cards, and all had annual fees. I was paying over 1k a year in annual fees; crazy thinking about it now. My Navy federal auto loan was acquired before the bk; I willingly reaffirmed it so they would continue to report to the credit bureaus and assist me on my conquest to rebuild.
Honestly, I'm not 100% how I managed it all within a short time, but soon enough, all these inquiries will be gone around the same time, which is why I prefer to apply back to back. Yes, hard inquiries can be "bad," but I'm at a place where I do not need to apply for anything for a long while. I thought things would be much more difficult with a bk on file, but I guess things have changed over the years, and bks are becoming more "normal."
Regarding secured cards, and with you not having a bk, BOA is a good choice, US Bank too, particularly for their US Bank Cash+ Secured card, even Discover. Not long after I was discharged, I opened an FNBO Secured card, and they automatically graduated me in about 10 months. Sadly, my limit has only increased to 650.00 (from the original 500), but it is one of those cards I keep in the drawer and decide down the road what I'll do. One approach I took to help me was to open store cards to make small purchases, pay them in full each month, and have all that positive data reporting.

@Waldemar Congrats on all of your success your rebuild is amazing. I appreciate your detailed response in the inquiries. I am very new to the do this not that in terms of credit and have quite a bit of learning to do.

Re: US Bank Secured unsuccessful upgrade/product change

Astrosnik — Thu, 16 Oct 2025 17:49:28 GMT

Great info! Can you tell me how you know it's 4 years post BK to graduate or be approved for an unsecured? Thanks!