topic Re: Is there any benefit to applying via Credit Karma? in Credit Cards

Is there any benefit to applying via Credit Karma?

dlister70 — Thu, 21 Mar 2024 12:50:27 GMT

I know that the Credit Karma recommendations are basically just advertising, but I noticed on todays offers that it says they'll pay $50 if I don't get approved for a couple of Citi cards.

I didn't really have much doubt that I'd be approved, but I guess it might be worthwhile to apply through them if I wanted that card, just in case?

That got me to thinking if there was somehow better odds at approval or interest rate or credit limit if you apply through a partner like Credit Karma or Nerd Wallet.

I've read that a car dealership can sometimes get you approved at a bank that you couldn't get yourself because they deal in volume and the car dealership is sending a lot of business to that bank, so they make an exception and take a credit profile that they maybe wouldn't have, or lend 125% LTV when they maybe would have only given you 100% if you had asked yourself.

I'm not sure how true that is about car loans, but it made me wonder if there was any pull at all to applying through a third party link rather than applying directly on the bank website.

Re: Is there any benefit to applying via Credit Karma?

K-in-Boston — Thu, 21 Mar 2024 12:56:00 GMT

With the car loans, dealerships get a kickback for sending along the loan from the bank or CU. Same with CK. The only reason to apply through their links would be for the $50 if you didn't think you'd get approved. The outcome of a lending decision wouldn't be affected by applying through the CK link.

Re: Is there any benefit to applying via Credit Karma?

Brian_Earl_Spilner — Thu, 21 Mar 2024 13:12:24 GMT

The guarantee is made based on datapoints and likelihood of approval. Based on your profile they are fairly confident you will be approved, so much so that they're willing to put $50 on the line. The issue is there is no way for them to know that for certain. Amex is used a lot in these types of examples. Credit Karma does not use EX which is what Amex primarily uses. Without access to EX there is no way for them to give a somewhat accurate approval likelihood as they can only assume your EX profile matches TU and EQ.

As for whether or not there are any perks to applying through Credit Karma, that depends on what you consider perks. The only one I'm aware of is with Credit One. Their X5 and Wander cards are Visas, but if you apply through certain third parties like Credit Karma or Experian, you can get an exclusive Amex version that you can't get directly from Credit One. I don't know if there are other deals with other lenders, but this is the only one I'm aware of.

Re: Is there any benefit to applying via Credit Karma?

Horseshoez — Thu, 21 Mar 2024 14:13:37 GMT

@Brian_Earl_Spilner wrote:
The guarantee is made based on datapoints and likelihood of approval. Based on your profile they are fairly confident you will be approved, so much so that they're willing to put $50 on the line. The issue is there is no way for them to know that for certain. Amex is used a lot in these types of examples. Credit Karma does not use EX which is what Amex primarily uses. Without access to EX there is no way for them to give a somewhat accurate approval likelihood as they can only assume your EX profile matches TU and EQ.

The other CreditKarma/AMEX wrinkle is for those of us who've been blacklisted by AMEX; CK is constantly hawking various AMEX cards to me but being blacklisted I figure it's an easy $50 if I should ever be in need of a few bucks.

Re: Is there any benefit to applying via Credit Karma?

Brian_Earl_Spilner — Thu, 21 Mar 2024 15:09:26 GMT

@Horseshoez wrote:
@Brian_Earl_Spilner wrote:
The guarantee is made based on datapoints and likelihood of approval. Based on your profile they are fairly confident you will be approved, so much so that they're willing to put $50 on the line. The issue is there is no way for them to know that for certain. Amex is used a lot in these types of examples. Credit Karma does not use EX which is what Amex primarily uses. Without access to EX there is no way for them to give a somewhat accurate approval likelihood as they can only assume your EX profile matches TU and EQ.

The other CreditKarma/AMEX wrinkle is for those of us who've been blacklisted by AMEX; CK is constantly hawking various AMEX cards to me but being blacklisted I figure it's an easy $50 if I should ever be in need of a few bucks.

There's always the exclusive Credit One Amex through Credit Karma! 😃

Re: Is there any benefit to applying via Credit Karma?

GZG — Thu, 21 Mar 2024 15:10:58 GMT

CK's "Karma guarantee" is another data point you can use to determine how likely you might be to get approved, it's a good, but not conclusive data point.

When combined with Experian and mailers and the pre-qual they recently brought back you can get a better understanding of your likelihood of approval when applying.

I recently used a CK "Karma guarantee" when I applied and I was approved

I also had been inundated with recent mailers and had 99% match on Experian, so I thought I had good odds of approval.

Re: Is there any benefit to applying via Credit Karma?

GZG — Thu, 21 Mar 2024 15:18:13 GMT

@Brian_Earl_Spilner wrote:
The guarantee is made based on datapoints and likelihood of approval. Based on your profile they are fairly confident you will be approved, so much so that they're willing to put $50 on the line. The issue is there is no way for them to know that for certain. Amex is used a lot in these types of examples. Credit Karma does not use EX which is what Amex primarily uses. Without access to EX there is no way for them to give a somewhat accurate approval likelihood as they can only assume your EX profile matches TU and EQ.

CK does pull Experian, so I imagine they're using it in the background, even if they aren't providing the score for it.

Re: Is there any benefit to applying via Credit Karma?

Horseshoez — Thu, 21 Mar 2024 15:30:53 GMT

@Brian_Earl_Spilner wrote:
@Horseshoez wrote:
@Brian_Earl_Spilner wrote:
The guarantee is made based on datapoints and likelihood of approval. Based on your profile they are fairly confident you will be approved, so much so that they're willing to put $50 on the line. The issue is there is no way for them to know that for certain. Amex is used a lot in these types of examples. Credit Karma does not use EX which is what Amex primarily uses. Without access to EX there is no way for them to give a somewhat accurate approval likelihood as they can only assume your EX profile matches TU and EQ.

The other CreditKarma/AMEX wrinkle is for those of us who've been blacklisted by AMEX; CK is constantly hawking various AMEX cards to me but being blacklisted I figure it's an easy $50 if I should ever be in need of a few bucks.
There's always the exclusive Credit One Amex through Credit Karma! 😃

LOL, you're killing me.

Re: Is there any benefit to applying via Credit Karma?

ptatohed — Thu, 21 Mar 2024 16:53:03 GMT

I don't know how often it happens but I will say my upgrade Cash Rewards Elite Visa had a whopping $400 Welcome Bonus on CK at the time I applied, when the upgrade site was only $200 I believe. Today, the Welcome Bonus is $200 at both CK and upgrade.

Also, maybe I am wrong but I think I have only seen the Discover it Balance Transfer Card available on CK. (Although I can't really tell the difference between the BT Card and the regular Cash Back Card other than the BT offer).

Re: Is there any benefit to applying via Credit Karma?

Horseshoez — Thu, 21 Mar 2024 17:23:42 GMT

@ptatohed wrote:
I don't know how often it happens but I will say my upgrade Cash Rewards Elite Visa had a whopping $400 Welcome Bonus on CK at the time I applied, when the upgrade site was only $200 I believe. Today, the Welcome Bonus is $200 at both CK and upgrade.

Also, maybe I am wrong but I think I have only seen the Discover it Balance Transfer Card available on CK. (Although I can't really tell the difference between the BT Card and the regular Cash Back Card other than the BT offer).

I just did a quick look-see at what CreditKarma is offering me:

20 AMEX cards (on the black list)
6 Discover cards (Discover wouldn't even approve me for a secured card)
12 Citi cards (I appear to be on this black list as well)
21 Chase cards (two of which I already have)
14 CapitalOne cards (two of which I already have; lots of partial dups in this list due to different SUBs)
10 Bank of America cards (not sure they'd approve me for anything as they also wouldn't approve me for a secured card)
55 assorted cards from Wells Fargo, CreditOne, Mission lane...

Re: Is there any benefit to applying via Credit Karma?

ptatohed — Thu, 21 Mar 2024 17:41:25 GMT

@Horseshoez wrote:
@ptatohed wrote:
I don't know how often it happens but I will say my upgrade Cash Rewards Elite Visa had a whopping $400 Welcome Bonus on CK at the time I applied, when the upgrade site was only $200 I believe. Today, the Welcome Bonus is $200 at both CK and upgrade.

Also, maybe I am wrong but I think I have only seen the Discover it Balance Transfer Card available on CK. (Although I can't really tell the difference between the BT Card and the regular Cash Back Card other than the BT offer).
I just did a quick look-see at what CreditKarma is offering me:
20 AMEX cards (on the black list)
6 Discover cards (Discover wouldn't even approve me for a secured card)
12 Citi cards (I appear to be on this black list as well)
21 Chase cards (two of which I already have)
14 CapitalOne cards (two of which I already have; lots of partial dups in this list due to different SUBs)
10 Bank of America cards (not sure they'd approve me for anything as they also wouldn't approve me for a secured card)
55 assorted cards from Wells Fargo, CreditOne, Mission lane...

Don't forget the "Luxury" Gold, Black, and Titanium Cards offering high AF and low rewards!!!

https://www.luxurycard.com/

Re: Is there any benefit to applying via Credit Karma?

Horseshoez — Thu, 21 Mar 2024 17:53:05 GMT

@ptatohed wrote:
@Horseshoez wrote:
55 assorted cards from Wells Fargo, CreditOne, Mission lane...

Don't forget the "Luxury" Gold, Black, and Titanium Cards offering high AF and low rewards!!!

https://www.luxurycard.com/

LOL, yeah, those were included in the 55.

Re: Is there any benefit to applying via Credit Karma?

CorpCrMgr1 — Fri, 22 Mar 2024 03:46:12 GMT

CK claims I will be approved for CC that I already have. A few times I've directly checked a site for a card recommended by CK. The reward on the home site is generally twice what CK is offering. I've never applied through CK nor do I ever recommend it.

Re: Is there any benefit to applying via Credit Karma?

SouthJamaica — Fri, 22 Mar 2024 03:49:22 GMT

@dlister70 wrote:
I know that the Credit Karma recommendations are basically just advertising, but I noticed on todays offers that it says they'll pay $50 if I don't get approved for a couple of Citi cards.

I didn't really have much doubt that I'd be approved, but I guess it might be worthwhile to apply through them if I wanted that card, just in case?

That got me to thinking if there was somehow better odds at approval or interest rate or credit limit if you apply through a partner like Credit Karma or Nerd Wallet.

I've read that a car dealership can sometimes get you approved at a bank that you couldn't get yourself because they deal in volume and the car dealership is sending a lot of business to that bank, so they make an exception and take a credit profile that they maybe wouldn't have, or lend 125% LTV when they maybe would have only given you 100% if you had asked yourself.

I'm not sure how true that is about car loans, but it made me wonder if there was any pull at all to applying through a third party link rather than applying directly on the bank website.

It's true about dealerships getting you a car loan.

But I don't think CK improves one's chances of being approved for a credit card.

Re: Is there any benefit to applying via Credit Karma?

Zoostation1 — Fri, 22 Mar 2024 04:59:34 GMT

@Brian_Earl_SpilnerEven though they only show reports and VS 3.0 scores for EQ/TU, I'm getting regular SPs from CK on my EX. I just pulled my reports from annualcreditreport tonight and I've had more SPs in 2024 on EX from CK than anywhere else.

Re: Is there any benefit to applying via Credit Karma?

markhs777 — Sat, 23 Mar 2024 01:47:22 GMT

Freeze all your reports and go for the "guaranteed" card. Technically you would be denied and should get the $50. No?

Re: Is there any benefit to applying via Credit Karma?

ptatohed — Sat, 23 Mar 2024 08:07:42 GMT

@markhs777 wrote:
Freeze all your reports and go for the "guaranteed" card. Technically you would be denied and should get the $50. No?

Hmmmmm. :smiley with hand on his chin, thinking:

Re: Is there any benefit to applying via Credit Karma?

MitchDeerfield — Sat, 23 Mar 2024 16:18:21 GMT

Sometimes you will get a better signup bonus using Credit Karma, though usually not. I always check both CK and the bank website (incognito) and check which is better.

Re: Is there any benefit to applying via Credit Karma?

fortis — Sat, 18 May 2024 23:11:00 GMT

I noticed that they claim that they might report the $50 to the IRS