topic Re: Experian, Credit Karma and WalletHub recommending poor cards with 740+ Credit Score. in Credit Cards

Experian, Credit Karma and WalletHub recommending poor cards with 740+ Credit Score.

CharlesCA1358 — Fri, 05 Jul 2024 04:21:20 GMT

Look, I get it, if you are new to credit or your credit is bad, I get it, you must do what you must. With that said, I have never, ever obtained a fee-harvesting card, ever! Not even when I started my rebuild back in June of 2018, with an embarrassing FICO score of 443! My FICO score was 443, because i adopeted the Dave Ramsey method and paid cash for everything, so when my 17 separate student loans went into default back in early 2018, they were literally the only things on my entire credit report.

But, I did my research and knew what cards to obtain and which cards to stay away from and when my FICO was 443, I totally understood Experian, Credit Karma and WalletHub recommending me the worse fee-harvesting cards known to man, but I never obtained one, not one, as I started my rebuild with five secured credit cards(BofA, USAA, CapitalOne, TD Bank and Citi), then I ventured into the no annual fee store charge cards(Comenity/Synchrony).

Anyway, I managed my credit perfectly and one month, literally one month after I started my rebuild, my credit score jumped from 443 to 565, literally! Then, it gradually increased over time and from June 2021 my three scores averaged 645 and yet, Experian, Credit Karma and WalletHub continued to offer me those three dreaded fee-harvesting cards, that i need not name?

As of today, July 4, 2024, my scores are: Experian 746, Equifax 758, TransUnion 777 with only four inquiries, all from "approvals" of the Chase Sapphire Preferred, Chase Marriott Bonvoy Boundless, Chase Freedom Unlimited, and the American Express Blue Cash Preferred, all with 0% utilization, as I use my cards for cash back and pay them off either the same day or the next business day. Yet with that said, Credit Karma, WalletHub and Experian are recommending the cards that offer low limits, with most starting at $300.00 limits, then charging ridiculous fees. Cards like Credit One, Premier, Fortiva, Aspire, First Prgress, Fit, Surge and Reflex cads??? It's so upsetting, that I literally wanted to close my Experian, Credit Karma and WalletHub accounts!

I have family members, all with 700+ scores and they ren't recommended garbage cards. Could it be my settings fo each site? I have not changed my settings, so whatever setting each site sets by defaut is what I have.

Keep in mind, I always check the pre-qualification tool on the actual sites of credit card issuers or banks of the cards I want, it's just a matter of convenience to be able to look at these sites and trust them.

Re: Experian, Credit Karma and WalletHub recommending poor cards with 740+ Credit Score.

Horseshoez — Fri, 05 Jul 2024 03:30:38 GMT

@CharlesCA1358, a few thoughts:

What is a fee harvesting card? I've never heard that term before.
Ignore the cards on all of those web sites, they are simply paid advertising from the financial institutions offering the cards.
Stop applying for cards, you have a good foundation; sit on what you have for a year and your scores will improve nicely

Re: Experian, Credit Karma and WalletHub recommending poor cards with 740+ Credit Score.

CharlesCA1358 — Fri, 05 Jul 2024 04:09:35 GMT

Thanks for the exceptionally quick response, but I find it difficult to believe you are a Senior Contributor and have not heard of "Fee-Harvesting" credit cards most of which i named, but a fee-harvesting card is a card that's structure for damaged credit and it gives low-limits and charge crazy fees right off the top, then continue to do you for months and years.

As for my foundation of cards, i agree wholeheartedly, but my goal is to obtain the Chase trifecta, the AMEX trifecta as well as cards that allow me to take advantage of airport lounges and more.

My frustration with Experian, Credit Karma and WalletHub is for four years now, my credit has been good to borderline excellent, yet these sites offers me garbage cards only. I have four college student children, each of them have credit scores in the 700s too, but their Experian, Credit Karma and WalletHub accounts not only not offer "them" these horrific cards, but recommends the best cards they have to offer. I have not change my settings on either site, so the settings are the default settings.

Also, i am aware that most of these site's recommendations come from paid advertisers, but to not offer me any cards comparable to a 777 FICO score is ridiculous.

Re: Experian, Credit Karma and WalletHub recommending poor cards with 740+ Credit Score.

ptatohed — Fri, 05 Jul 2024 09:10:21 GMT

My scores are in the 800s and I get a slew of garbage cards on those sites too. I don't take it personally and neither should you. These sites get a kickback if you apply through their site so, among good cards, they are going to offer bad cards too. They are simply taking a 'Throw 100 pieces of bologna against the wall to see which ones stick' approach.

Re: Experian, Credit Karma and WalletHub recommending poor cards with 740+ Credit Score.

coldfusion — Fri, 05 Jul 2024 11:11:01 GMT

That isn't bologna they're throwing against the wall.

Re: Experian, Credit Karma and WalletHub recommending poor cards with 740+ Credit Score.

Jnbmom — Fri, 05 Jul 2024 12:12:26 GMT

I have never heard the phrase either and I am a credit mentor 😂 There are plenty a catch phrases used around here . Those type of card to me are bucketed subprimes.

Re: Experian, Credit Karma and WalletHub recommending poor cards with 740+ Credit Score.

Horseshoez — Fri, 05 Jul 2024 12:57:17 GMT

@CharlesCA1358 wrote:
Thanks for the exceptionally quick response, but I find it difficult to believe you are a Senior Contributor and have not heard of "Fee-Harvesting" credit cards most of which i named, but a fee-harvesting card is a card that's structure for damaged credit and it gives low-limits and charge crazy fees right off the top, then continue to do you for months and years.

Not sure what you're driving at; the "fee-harvesting" for credit cards is not used here very often, if at all. Out of curiousity, I just did a search, on the first page, there were a few posts of yours, then a single post from 2021 and another single post from 2008; so yeah, not a commonly used term. Said another way, "believe", I am a recently minted Senior Contributor, and your usage of that term was the first time I've ever seen it used.

Re: Experian, Credit Karma and WalletHub recommending poor cards with 740+ Credit Score.

ptatohed — Fri, 05 Jul 2024 15:00:51 GMT

@coldfusion wrote:
That isn't bologna they're throwing against the wall.

Regardless, sometimes it may still stick.

Re: Experian, Credit Karma and WalletHub recommending poor cards with 740+ Credit Score.

coldfusion — Sat, 06 Jul 2024 01:05:56 GMT

@Jnbmom wrote:
I have never heard the phrase either and I am a credit mentor 😂 There are plenty a catch phrases used around here . Those type of card to me are bucketed subprimes.

It gets tossed around here informally in a thread now and then, I remember K-in-B as someone who has used it before in a context that aligns with yours. Technically it refers to practices being used in the past that were so egregious that they influenced provisions outlined in the CARD act back in 2009 such as a card's SL must be at least 4x its AF at the time of application and to some extent curtailing the practice of nickel-and-diming cardholders by using secondary fees and charges.

Re: Experian, Credit Karma and WalletHub recommending poor cards with 740+ Credit Score.

Remedios — Sat, 06 Jul 2024 06:12:34 GMT

@CharlesCA1358 wrote:
Look, I get it, if you are new to credit or your credit is bad, I get it, you must do what you must. With that said, I have never, ever obtained a fee-harvesting card, ever! Not even when I started my rebuild back in June of 2018, with an embarrassing FICO score of 443! My FICO score was 443, because i adopeted the Dave Ramsey method and paid cash for everything, so when my 17 separate student loans went into default back in early 2018, they were literally the only things on my entire credit report.

But, I did my research and knew what cards to obtain and which cards to stay away from and when my FICO was 443, I totally understood Experian, Credit Karma and WalletHub recommending me the worse fee-harvesting cards known to man, but I never obtained one, not one, as I started my rebuild with five secured credit cards(BofA, USAA, CapitalOne, TD Bank and Citi), then I ventured into the no annual fee store charge cards(Comenity/Synchrony).

Anyway, I managed my credit perfectly and one month, literally one month after I started my rebuild, my credit score jumped from 443 to 565, literally! Then, it gradually increased over time and from June 2021 my three scores averaged 645 and yet, Experian, Credit Karma and WalletHub continued to offer me those three dreaded fee-harvesting cards, that i need not name?

As of today, July 4, 2024, my scores are: Experian 746, Equifax 758, TransUnion 777 with only four inquiries, all from "approvals" of the Chase Sapphire Preferred, Chase Marriott Bonvoy Boundless, Chase Freedom Unlimited, and the American Express Blue Cash Preferred, all with 0% utilization, as I use my cards for cash back and pay them off either the same day or the next business day. Yet with that said, Credit Karma, WalletHub and Experian are recommending the cards that offer low limits, with most starting at $300.00 limits, then charging ridiculous fees. Cards like Credit One, Premier, Fortiva, Aspire, First Prgress, Fit, Surge and Reflex cads??? It's so upsetting, that I literally wanted to close my Experian, Credit Karma and WalletHub accounts!

I have family members, all with 700+ scores and they ren't recommended garbage cards. Could it be my settings fo each site? I have not changed my settings, so whatever setting each site sets by defaut is what I have.

Keep in mind, I always check the pre-qualification tool on the actual sites of credit card issuers or banks of the cards I want, it's just a matter of convenience to be able to look at these sites and trust them.

So, you're mad that CMS are recommending you cards that are somehow offending your sensibilities and you're so mad you just might stop monitoring your credit though them - two of which are always free and even EX offers some freebies.

Also, they cannot make you apply, their recommendations mean jack, you shouldn't be looking at what some website is peddling in a first place, you should be doing your own research before you apply.

I don't get it

Re: Experian, Credit Karma and WalletHub recommending poor cards with 740+ Credit Score.

Anonymous — Tue, 09 Jul 2024 18:58:44 GMT

Is there a question here I missed?

Re: Experian, Credit Karma and WalletHub recommending poor cards with 740+ Credit Score.

xenon3030 — Tue, 09 Jul 2024 19:12:17 GMT

CK previously got caught for these so called "pre-approved offers" and there was a settlement, due to wasting time of consumers that resulted unnecessary HPs and eventually, degraded the Fico8 of customers. Here is a link:

https://www.cnbc.com/select/credit-karma-3-million-settlement-how-to-file-a-claim/

So, if these pre-approved offers still exist, there might be more upcoming settlements soon

Re: Experian, Credit Karma and WalletHub recommending poor cards with 740+ Credit Score.

MauiMan85297 — Tue, 09 Jul 2024 19:49:42 GMT

Don't fret about the cards they show you, I get the same cards you're describing and I'm in the 800's. BTW, I've never heard of the term fee-harvesting and been on this site for 10 years.

Re: Experian, Credit Karma and WalletHub recommending poor cards with 740+ Credit Score.

FicoMike0 — Wed, 10 Jul 2024 00:41:32 GMT

My fico scores are mostly 800. I just looked at creditkarma, the top two cards are fee harvesters (did I use the term correctly), amex gold and bcp. The third is no fee, amex hilton, which I already have. They must think my last name is express. Should I be offended? It seems I'm offered amex plat a lot, I think they give that to anyone who'll pay them $695, lol.

Since the first year fee is waived, i d go for bcp, if they upped the sub. It's $250, doc says it's been as high as $400.

Re: Experian, Credit Karma and WalletHub recommending poor cards with 740+ Credit Score.

xenon3030 — Wed, 10 Jul 2024 04:24:03 GMT

Lol. They tell me that I am pre-approved for several cards that I already have . Anyway, I gave up using CK, since its login does not work for several months and everytime, it asks to reset the password and it collects SSN to let me in. So, instead of helping customers, I guess, they may hurt customers by possibly exposing SSN each time to the bad guys.

Re: Experian, Credit Karma and WalletHub recommending poor cards with 740+ Credit Score.

zerofire — Thu, 11 Jul 2024 07:49:27 GMT

@Jnbmom wrote:
I have never heard the phrase either and I am a credit mentor 😂 There are plenty a catch phrases used around here . Those type of card to me are bucketed subprimes.

Trust me those are not subprime cards. Subprime issuers are Comenity and Synchrony. Comenity even tried to launch the Bread brand to go upscale but it still is the same company. The catch with surprime is that it is easy to get approved and the card is useful even if limited. Those cards that he is referring to are Junk cards because they normally come as junk mail and nobody in their right mind will sign up if they read the terms. There is no value for Junk cards.

I will say that you want to fill in more info on the cards that you have so that credit karma will not select the same cards and shows that you qualify for higher end stuff. I remember having to sort through a load of junk until I added a few higher quality cards to my wallet and linked them to my credit report.