topic Re: Alliant or PSECU? in Credit Cards

Alliant or PSECU?

Anonymous — Wed, 25 May 2011 01:00:52 GMT

I'm planning on joining one of these CU next month (waiting till my discover hits 6 months so I can go for a cli, also gonna go for cli with my USAA.)

I'm torn since I really want a CU Card with a higher limit. Right now my highest are a Citi Forward with 3300 and an Amex Blue Cash Preferred with 2000.

I'd really like to join PSECU for personal line/cc combo and the EX scores. But I don't really want to take 2 hard pulls to do it. Plus I've heard it's a great big hassle to join.

I've also heard good things about Alliant, and I like that I can app several things with one pull.

I'm guessing PSECU is the more generous lender, but is it worth the hassle.

Oh and my EQ Fico is up to 735 now. Need to update my cig. It should be over 740 by game time.

Re: Alliant or PSECU?

Chaos122 — Wed, 25 May 2011 01:25:38 GMT

I cant speak on allliant because i have no experience with them,, However psecu is fantastic, youll get you ex fico score each month, plus they are very generous lenders.

Also its not really a hassle to join, its just a little slow (couple of weeks average), however once your a member everything is really fast.. Its definetley worth it if your willing to take 2 inquiry hits

Re: Alliant or PSECU?

CS800 — Wed, 25 May 2011 01:28:23 GMT

Does PSECU hit you with a hard inq when you initially apply? What about every month when they give you your EX FICO?

Re: Alliant or PSECU?

fot1 — Wed, 25 May 2011 01:29:52 GMT

I just joined PSECU and had no hassle at all. Mailed in my application with copies of the park and rec membership, DL and pay stub got all my packet, card and checks within 2-3 weeks. I think they just got flooded when this and atleast one other board flooded them with new apps.

Re: Alliant or PSECU?

score_building — Wed, 25 May 2011 01:34:45 GMT

Both are excellent IME, Alliant for deposit rates, ACH hub etc. and

PSECU for the combo, EX... it's generally no more of a hassle than any other CU to join these days, experiences vary.

Re: Alliant or PSECU?

Anonymous — Wed, 25 May 2011 01:38:36 GMT

I just am not sure if I want to get hit for 2 more hards on my EX. Already have like 4.

EQ has 3 and TU 2.

I know USAA pulls EQ, not so sure on Discover (heck maybe with some luck it will be a soft.)

Re: Alliant or PSECU?

trumpet-205 — Wed, 25 May 2011 01:51:37 GMT

Why not join both?

Alliant - Great deposit rate, CURewards for its credit card. (Pulls EQ and Chexsystem)

PSECU - EX FICO score, generous credit (its credit card does not have rewards however).

Did you know that Digital Credit Union offers free EQ FICO for every month?

Re: Alliant or PSECU?

CS800 — Wed, 25 May 2011 01:57:59 GMT

Trumpet:

I'm with DCU and yes they do offer free EQ FICO that I get at the end of each month. I am contemplating PSECU for the EX FICO. But as many said it's a hard pull initially then soft afterwards.

I only know my EX plusscore is 644, so it would be godo for me to know my EX FICO. Stll debating

Re: Alliant or PSECU?

TangMeister — Wed, 25 May 2011 04:58:44 GMT

@trumpet-205 wrote:
Why not join both?

Alliant - Great deposit rate, CURewards for its credit card. (Pulls EQ and Chexsystem)

PSECU - EX FICO score, generous credit (its credit card does not have rewards however).

Did you know that Digital Credit Union offers free EQ FICO for every month?

+1. Join them both. You will NOT regret the extra hard inq(s) in the long run.

Re: Alliant or PSECU?

Anonymous — Wed, 25 May 2011 05:13:56 GMT

I plan to join both eventually, however, I am going to be buying a car right around the end of the year (nov-jan) and I don't want to have too many inquiries that could cause issues with me getting approved.

3 more inq is alot more than I really want.

Especially the 2 on EX. I know 6 isn't that many, but it's just MEH >_<.

I believe Alliant pulls EQ, (if i've read correctly they also soft EX, but who cares about that)

There will also be another inq on EQ from USAA.

As for Discover, if it's a hard, it looks like it will be a bit of a toss up, though probably TU (HOPE!!!) or EQ.

Honestly, I don't really care about the inqs, since once I get the Auto Loan won't be apping anything else for quite a while, and all but 1 of the inqs I have now will have fallen off by Dec next year anyway.

I also happen to have a USAA Auto Loan preapproval showing for now, it's popped in and out, but I have no idea what would happen if I hit accept. Rate is 4.69 which isn't terrible as far as I'm concerned.

Having Alliant and PSECU available for auto loans would be nice as well. How badly do you think the extra inq would hurt my chances? Or would it more just lower the rate?

Re: Alliant or PSECU?

trumpet-205 — Wed, 25 May 2011 05:40:32 GMT

If you want auto loan, you might want to joing PSECU at first. While their deposit rates are not much compare to Alliant, it also means their loans "should" have lower rates compare to Alliant.

Re: Alliant or PSECU?

Anonymous — Wed, 25 May 2011 06:32:53 GMT

How does applying for the Combo Card/PSL work anyway? Do you have to pick 20/20 or 10/10 up front? Or you just apply and they approve you for one of them?

I'd love the 20/20, but it seems unrealistic when my income is only 30k. I have minimal expenses, and I wouldn't really use it, but it would be amazing for UTIL.

Currently my 5 cards are:

Citi Forward - 3300 - Opened 12/10

Amex Blue Cash Preferred - 2000 - Opened 5/11 (In theory it won't actually be reporting yet when I apply, not sure if this is good or bad)

USAA - 1000 - Opened 08/06

Discover - 1000 - Opened 12/10

Amex Gold Preferred - Ummm - 5/11

Current Util is 12%

There's like 10 reporting on my citi, and 495 on the USAA.

Both statements cut before I plan on applying for any more credit.

I'm expecting like 25 on the citi (cash advance fees) and 0 on everything else. So util is definately not a problem.

When does PSECU actually pull your credit? When you do the online thing, or once they receive your papers.

I'm assuming that my current numbers would be good enough to get a checking/share as it stands now, and then I could wait until after all the other CLI and statement closures to apply for the combo. I really want to get all my inq done with before the end of June, so I don't want to wait until my last statement closes on 6/14 before I try and open the account, since then I would be unable to app for the combo until July.

Does that sound about right?

Re: Alliant or PSECU?

Anonymous — Wed, 25 May 2011 08:36:40 GMT

Just gave in and applied for PSECU, was approved, just gotta send in the paperwork. Let's hope all goes well, I guess if nothing else I've got free EX Ficos.

Re: Alliant or PSECU?

score_building — Wed, 25 May 2011 09:24:56 GMT

btw PSECU card seems better suited for cash advance (which are ofcourse best to limit or avoid and repay ASAP to eliminate/minimize interest) compared to CIti card:

9.9apr, no fee, has not generally been reported to be an AA trigger

@Anonymous wrote:
How does applying for the Combo Card/PSL work anyway? Do you have to pick 20/20 or 10/10 up front? Or you just apply and they approve you for one of them?

I'd love the 20/20, but it seems unrealistic when my income is only 30k. I have minimal expenses, and I wouldn't really use it, but it would be amazing for UTIL.

Currently my 5 cards are:

Citi Forward - 3300 - Opened 12/10
Amex Blue Cash Preferred - 2000 - Opened 5/11 (In theory it won't actually be reporting yet when I apply, not sure if this is good or bad)
USAA - 1000 - Opened 08/06
Discover - 1000 - Opened 12/10
Amex Gold Preferred - Ummm - 5/11

Current Util is 12%
There's like 10 reporting on my citi, and 495 on the USAA.

Both statements cut before I plan on applying for any more credit.

I'm expecting like 25 on the citi (cash advance fees) and 0 on everything else. So util is definately not a problem.

When does PSECU actually pull your credit? When you do the online thing, or once they receive your papers.

I'm assuming that my current numbers would be good enough to get a checking/share as it stands now, and then I could wait until after all the other CLI and statement closures to apply for the combo. I really want to get all my inq done with before the end of June, so I don't want to wait until my last statement closes on 6/14 before I try and open the account, since then I would be unable to app for the combo until July.

Does that sound about right?

Re: Alliant or PSECU?

Anonymous — Wed, 25 May 2011 09:33:15 GMT

Oh, the only card I currently have that even has interest ATM is my USAA, and I have been PIF the Citi and Discover pretty much every month since I've had them.

The fee is for the actual withdrawls, I didn't realize that Citi charged $10/5% on cash advances (which was very depressing when I released how many times I had paid 15 between the fee/atm fee to pull out 20.

But the cash advance side of the card does look nice compared to pretty much every other card I've seen. I also like the 1% foreign transaction fee, not 0, but still very nice.

Re: Alliant or PSECU?

visorboy1974 — Wed, 25 May 2011 11:12:57 GMT

@CS800 wrote:
Does PSECU hit you with a hard inq when you initially apply? What about every month when they give you your EX FICO?

Hard when you apply for membership as well as each credit product. Each month for the FICO though, it's a soft towards the 5th.

Re: Alliant or PSECU?

visorboy1974 — Wed, 25 May 2011 11:17:54 GMT

If you apply with Alliant, you may be better off doing it over the phone. That way you can ask the LO if you can use that one pull for everything. They're also known for having some glitches with the verification questions...then the message will say you're denied when in reality you're approved.

Alliant is very good for their interest rates and ACH product (It's really fast!). Credit products are OK for a CU, but I'd say PenFed has better CC rewards.

PSECU so far for me has been great for the EX FICO and that's it. They rejected me for having too many EX inquiries. (I had 10 when I applied, but 1 non-PSECU inq within the past year).

Re: Alliant or PSECU?

CS800 — Wed, 25 May 2011 14:02:24 GMT

I wonder if they have a min EX score to open an account. I only have 3 ins on my EX in the last 6 months (needed a car so I got hit by 3 inqs shopping around.

Re: Alliant or PSECU?

Anonymous — Fri, 27 May 2011 04:50:13 GMT

Well that was fast, sent my application by expressmail yesterday, called today to confirm it was deliverred, got an email a few hours later.

"Welcome to PSECU" blah blah blah Stuff in Mail.

Edit: Should also advise, I included last 4 paystubs, last years W-2s and photocopies of my ID and SS card. Didn't want to hassle with it.

Re: Alliant or PSECU?

Anonymous — Fri, 27 May 2011 05:12:40 GMT

@visorboy1974 wrote:
If you apply with Alliant, you may be better off doing it over the phone. That way you can ask the LO if you can use that one pull for everything. They're also known for having some glitches with the verification questions...then the message will say you're denied when in reality you're approved. [...]

If anyone reading this is in Arizona, as of last February there's now an Alliant branch in Arizona. I say that assuming that would-be applicants can apply in person at a local branch.

http://www.alliantcreditunion.org/about/locations/

http://www.alliantcreditunion.org/news/pressreleases/alliant-credit-union-merges-continental-federal-credit-union/

"Alliant Credit Union, based in Chicago, Illinois, announced that it has completed its merger with Tempe, Arizona based Continental Federal Credit Union. The merger adds over 23,000 employees, family members and retirees of Continental Airlines and U.S. Airways as new members of Alliant. [...]"