topic Re: Prime Cards in Credit Cards

Prime Cards

Anonymous — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 20:54:08 GMT

Just taking a census...What do you all consider Prime cards? As well if you have a Prime card what did you do with your sub-prime cards (I am assuming subprime is your credit1, cap1, orchard bank, 1st premier...etc?

Re: Prime Cards

Tommy5746 — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 21:03:20 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Just taking a census...What do you all consider Prime cards? As well if you have a Prime card what did you do with your sub-prime cards (I am assuming subprime is your credit1, cap1, orchard bank, 1st premier...etc?

Prime:

Amex

Chase

Discover

Citi

SOME people consider Capital Ones Venture card to be prime but thats debatable

Bank of America

SubPrime:

almost all Capital One ones

Almost all store branded cards

credit one

first premier

You get the idea.. Rebuiler cards are always subprime

Re: Prime Cards

Anonymous — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 21:10:13 GMT

Thanks Tommy

Re: Prime Cards

jamie123 — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 21:10:33 GMT

These would be my suggestions as to what cards are prime:

AMEX

Bank of America

Chase

CitiBank

Discover

Wells Fargo

Barclays (Maybe)

All other cards are sub-prime.

Re: Prime Cards

Jlu — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 21:23:13 GMT

a card is prime if it meets two of the three criteria:

1) No AF (Unless mathmatically justified)
2) 0% Intro or other promotion
3) Rewards

4) >$1000 Limit

Re: Prime Cards

asteroidblues86 — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 21:28:16 GMT

Capital One Venture cards are prime.

Re: Prime Cards

RockinRay — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 21:31:56 GMT

@asteroidblues86 wrote:
Capital One Venture cards are prime.

Yep - so is my Green Cash Back card...

Re: Prime Cards

jamie123 — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 21:34:56 GMT

Jlu,

Almost all cards could meet your criteria.

Your #4 at >$1000 is really low. The cards I listed, and is actually one of my criteria, will regularly issue cards that have in excess of 20K+ credit lines. Lenders that issue credit likes in excess of 20K+ are what I consider prime.

Re: Prime Cards

asteroidblues86 — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 21:43:29 GMT

First National Bank of Omaha cards are prime.

Re: Prime Cards

Cdnewmanpac — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 22:37:13 GMT

I think the concept of prime cards or lenders is a misnomer. There are prime borrowers and subprime borrowers. Some lenders target only subprime borrowers, such as first premier. Some target both with different products, such as capital one. Some target both with the same product, such as the discover more and chase freedom. But there aren't really "prime" cards or lenders. The term has no meaning in that context. Every time someone asks this question (about once a month), someone instantly names capital one as a "subprime" card. This is followed within milliseconds by someone pointing out that the venture is a prime card. Getting a chase freedom with a 650 score doesn't make you a prime borrower, even if chase is a "prime" lender and many view the freedom as a "prime" card. Fico makes no distinction and most of the stories about Amex making the distinction are apocryphal.

Re: Prime Cards

migliogiorni — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 01:06:06 GMT

totally agree, capital one appeals to both sub prime and prime lenders just as Amex does with Zinc everything else is prime, Chase and Discover both lowered their criteria some as well. It all depends on the type of card.

Re: Prime Cards

creditnocash — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 01:06:41 GMT

what about bank cards?

my citizens bank is 2k limit.

no af.

and its cash back.

plus it has 18 month 0% balance transfers.

Re: Prime Cards

creditnocash — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 01:07:43 GMT

@migliogiorni wrote:
totally agree, capital one appeals to both sub prime and prime lenders just as Amex does with Zinc everything else is prime, Chase and Discover both lowered their criteria some as well. It all depends on the type of card.

so you consider the zync subrime?

even if its npsl.

Re: Prime Cards

jsucool76 — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 01:33:10 GMT

My prime list would be...

Amex, Chase, Citi, Discover, Kind of BoA (heard they're kinda shady) and definitely cap1.

It's not really debatable with cap 1, even though they do a triple pull, their prime card are actually pretty decent. And they treat their prime customers a LOT differently than they treat us little people

Also @Creditnocash:

NPSL isn't no spending limit. You have a spending limit just like a regular card, and amex increases and decreases just like a normal lender would do, the only difference is they don't tell you what it is.

Many people have been approved for zync, but not approved for other cards, I myself would consider zync between sub-prime and prime, almost like....A faux prime...

It gets all the prestige of amex, but not really all that difficult to qualify for. It is one of those cards that gets a different level (subprime, prime) for each person. In my opinion any card that fits a person's lifestyle and spending habits is a prime card for that person. The aforementioned lenders just happen to offer the cards that fit most people's spending habits.

Re: Prime Cards

webhopper — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 01:28:57 GMT

I consider my zync to be prime because it fits my needs and allows me a good bit of purchase power... same with my other cards...

Re: Prime Cards

migliogiorni — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 01:58:39 GMT

Hmmm now that I think about it I don't know cause Amex is normally hard to get in with all of their products unless you have stellar scores. Zinc is a card that folks in their mid 600's can get

, it's clear they're attempting to reach subprime consumers. So it could go either way

Re: Prime Cards

migliogiorni — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 02:06:55 GMT

Nvm Zinc is prime. Once in with Amex you can boost AAOA with backdating and thats for sure prime and unique, gotta love backdating.

Re: Prime Cards

CreditScholar — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 03:17:39 GMT

I don't see the Zync as prime, but moreso a stepping-stone for prime Amex products if used properly. The underwriting criteria isn't anywhere near difficult enough to justify prime status. Too many people get excited by the Amex name and automatically assume that all of their products are prime. They're not.

Also just because a card fits your own personal needs doesn't make it prime either. Your needs can be easily met, and therefore the argument that meeting your personal needs = prime doesn't hold.

Re: Prime Cards

creditnocash — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 03:30:54 GMT

What about Bank cards as i previously stated?

2k limit

no af

3% cash back on most used catagory (of merchants) and 1% on everything else.

bt 0% for 18 months.

also i have a chase freedom and amex zync.

but my scores are in the high 600's with limited aaoa now because of 5/6 new accounts.

honestly this prime sub-prime is all a big ego stroke.

(i personally never had a cap one card until it bought out hsbc for best buy store card)

but i dont think i would care if i paid for my lunch with a cap one/orchard vs a amex centurion or anything signature visa. like a crappy car it gets you from point a to b. but obviously someone would rather drive a new ferrari over a **bleep**ty rust bucket(new england) honda /end mini rant.

Re: Prime Cards

CreditScholar — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 03:42:53 GMT

@creditnocash wrote:
What about Bank cards as i previously stated?
2k limit
no af
3% cash back on most used catagory (of merchants) and 1% on everything else.
bt 0% for 18 months.

also i have a chase freedom and amex zync.
but my scores are in the high 600's with limited aaoa now because of 5/6 new accounts.

honestly this prime sub-prime is all a big ego stroke.
(i personally never had a cap one card until it bought out hsbc for best buy store card)

but i dont think i would care if i paid for my lunch with a cap one/orchard vs a amex centurion or anything signature visa. like a crappy car it gets you from point a to b. but obviously someone would rather drive a new ferrari over a **bleep**ty rust bucket(new england) honda /end mini rant.

It isn't purely about ego, but some cards/lenders are frankly better than others. Due to my credit history and the cards I have, there are benefits available to me that simply aren't available to people with subprime numbers.

For example I can get 10% off any British Airways flight anytime, anywhere as part of the World Elite Mastercard program. Access to something akin to Virtuoso or FHR gets you upgraded rooms, free breakfast, and priority check-in at hotels I don't have elite status with. This is quite important since my time is valuable. Included lounge access is also important as I spend a lot of time overseas, and concierge services have proven invaluable when things have gone seriously wrong. I can also charge large amounts through my cards every month without having the hassle of being declined or calling in for a referral.

There are benefits to having good products if they fit your needs. However the reverse isn't always true: just because a card fits someone's needs doesn't make it high end. It could just be that their needs are low-end. Therefore a low-end card works just fine.