topic Re: Help me find a Mastercard in Credit Cards

Help me find a Mastercard

ramblin_wreck08 — Sat, 25 Aug 2012 14:19:47 GMT

I currently have a Citi Dividend World Mastercard filling my MC slot, but after calling Citi and getting someone in another country on a very fuzzy line, I'm thinking about switching to someone who would give me a little better customer service and closing the Citi account. Any recommendations? The card is essentially a backup to my Amex and won't get much use other than places that don't accept Amex.

FICO scores are in my sig, but should be going up drastically soon as I drop my utilization from 35% down to the 1-9% range. No baddies or anything and an AAoA of 2+ years. Have 2 hard pulls on TU, 0 on Experian, and 6 on Equifax (4 in the last year). The Chase Sapphire caught my eye, but I need something that will report my CL for utilization purposes since my only other credit card will be my Forward (keeping for 5x back at restaurants and Amazon despite CS).

Thanks everyone!

Re: Help me find a Mastercard

Anonymous — Sat, 25 Aug 2012 15:07:34 GMT

Have you looked at the Chase Freedom Mastercard? To get the Mastercard version, go through the mastercard site and find the freedom.

Re: Help me find a Mastercard

ajh5408 — Sat, 25 Aug 2012 15:30:44 GMT

In addition to the Freedom, Chase also offers the Sapphire in a Mastercard flavor. A brief search didn't turn up any applications, but you could always call and inquire about it... Mastercard's website does list an application for the Preferred version of the card, though it has an annual fee. Both, however, provide excellent customer service.

Also, Sapphire does report your CL and appropriate utilization to the bureaus.

Re: Help me find a Mastercard

LS2982 — Sat, 25 Aug 2012 16:30:23 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Have you looked at the Chase Freedom Mastercard? To get the Mastercard version, go through the mastercard site and find the freedom.

I agree, I have the MC version myself.

Re: Help me find a Mastercard

kevinjjc — Sat, 25 Aug 2012 17:05:33 GMT

Barclaycard Ring MasterCard

Re: Help me find a Mastercard

ramblin_wreck08 — Sat, 25 Aug 2012 19:56:28 GMT

Thanks everyone. I have looked at the Freedom, but like the benefits of the Sapphire over the rewards structure of the Freedom. So if the Mastercard, non-preferred version reports a credit limit, I think that's the one I'll be going after.

So for the regular Sapphire, are my current scores high enough to go ahead and apply, or do I need to wait a month or two to get my utilization down? And how hard will I be knocked for opening a new account and closing my current one (open since 11/11). Right now my Amex will not show up as my first statement hasn't cut, and I have 2 Citi cards, with $4k and $4.2k limits. If income plays a factor for this card, I make $55/year.

Re: Help me find a Mastercard

Anonymous — Sat, 25 Aug 2012 20:36:30 GMT

@ramblin_wreck08 wrote:
Thanks everyone. I have looked at the Freedom, but like the benefits of the Sapphire over the rewards structure of the Freedom. So if the Mastercard, non-preferred version reports a credit limit, I think that's the one I'll be going after.

So for the regular Sapphire, are my current scores high enough to go ahead and apply, or do I need to wait a month or two to get my utilization down? And how hard will I be knocked for opening a new account and closing my current one (open since 11/11). Right now my Amex will not show up as my first statement hasn't cut, and I have 2 Citi cards, with $4k and $4.2k limits. If income plays a factor for this card, I make $55/year.

I didn't recommend the Sapphire bc you mentioned you use your Forward card at 5% CB at restaurants, then the Sapphire will only give you 1pt per dollar on all other stuff. But, the Sapphire has a better CS experience than the Freedom from a few posts I have read in the past. The good thing about Sapphire is the minimum CL they will give out is at least 5k so it should sit above all your other cards CL-wise. Like I said, just make sure you apply though the mastercard site, otherwise it will probably default to visa and you will have to change it to mastercard later.

Re: Help me find a Mastercard

webhopper — Sat, 25 Aug 2012 20:39:03 GMT

My mom has the freedom mastercard

Re: Help me find a Mastercard

Anonymous — Sat, 25 Aug 2012 20:40:21 GMT

As for your scores and comparing them to whogavemecredit, it seems you are in the approval area. The only thing, is that Chase seems to like to "match" CL's. Since none of your current CL's are above 5k (yes they are close) that is the only thing I could see maybe being an issue. You might want to get your utilization down a bit.

Re: Help me find a Mastercard

Anonymous — Sat, 25 Aug 2012 21:02:27 GMT

@ramblin_wreck08 wrote:
Thanks everyone. I have looked at the Freedom, but like the benefits of the Sapphire over the rewards structure of the Freedom. So if the Mastercard, non-preferred version reports a credit limit, I think that's the one I'll be going after.

So for the regular Sapphire, are my current scores high enough to go ahead and apply, or do I need to wait a month or two to get my utilization down? And how hard will I be knocked for opening a new account and closing my current one (open since 11/11). Right now my Amex will not show up as my first statement hasn't cut, and I have 2 Citi cards, with $4k and $4.2k limits. If income plays a factor for this card, I make $55/year.

I can understand that, while rewards are important, so is customer service. It wouldn't hurt to wait until your utilization comes down, but depending on your overall credit report it might not matter that much. Chase does like to see experience with higher limits, but it's not a deal breaker in-and-of-itself and $4K and $4.2K are pretty close to $5K. Your income is also certainly sufficient. I think you stand a good chance of approval. Do make sure that if you want the MasterCard version that you apply through the MasterCard website, as they seem to default to Visa.

Re: Help me find a Mastercard

ramblin_wreck08 — Sat, 25 Aug 2012 22:33:48 GMT

You're exactly right. To me, customer service is definitely worth it. I might give up $100 a year in rewards by using an Amex as my primary over rotating cards and maximizing cash back, but to me it's worth very penny. Customer service is the most important thing to me right now, as I stay really busy and saved time is valuable. And not having a hassle to take advantage of extended warranties, returns, etc. is a wonderful thing. I was recently diagnosed with premature ventricular contractions due to high stress. Having a card that backs me is one way to reduce that stress and help my heart.

Re: Help me find a Mastercard

ramblin_wreck08 — Sun, 26 Aug 2012 03:19:35 GMT

If I close my Citi card will it continue to age until it drops off of my credit report? I'm hoping to get a home in the next 2 or 3 years, so I just want to make sure my credit score won't be negatively affected by this move when the time comes.

Re: Help me find a Mastercard

Anonymous — Sun, 26 Aug 2012 03:22:01 GMT

Yes, it will continue to age and affect average age of accounts until it falls off in about 10 years.

Re: Help me find a Mastercard

migliogiorni — Sun, 26 Aug 2012 07:30:27 GMT

your income is there just need to get uti down. they denied me the sapphire because of uti. Seems rep was willing to give me card but told me to app again in 6 months. Give it a shot and recon if denied, GL.

Re: Help me find a Mastercard

webhopper — Sun, 26 Aug 2012 08:58:02 GMT

Fyi, chase gave me a 5k limit on amazon card, at the time of approval my highest limit was discover at 4200.

Previously I had had several ge cards that were in the 3500 to 4000 range

Re: Help me find a Mastercard

Anonymous — Sun, 26 Aug 2012 14:43:50 GMT

FWIW, with a lower EQ, lower income (in the 30s) and 7 inqs between feb-april of this year, i was approved for the sapphire(and freedom, same day apps). Also all my cards were 1K-3K and a total credit history of 1 year. utilization 61/8600(shows as 1%).