topic Re: Wells Fargo or Bank of Am in Credit Cards

Wells Fargo or Bank of Am

doc101 — Thu, 27 Jun 2013 01:47:38 GMT

Which bank has the best secured card......WF or BoA?

Re: Wells Fargo or Bank of Am

BearsAndTurtlesRtheBest — Thu, 27 Jun 2013 01:53:28 GMT

Ive seen BofA cardholders with successful secured cards graduating stories, i say bofa

Re: Wells Fargo or Bank of Am

myjourney — Thu, 27 Jun 2013 02:24:27 GMT

IMHO

BofA by far is a better product

Re: Wells Fargo or Bank of Am

Open123 — Thu, 27 Jun 2013 02:38:23 GMT

@myjourney wrote:
IMHO
BofA by far is a better product

In my view, BofA has the best secured card.

Problem with Wells is (1) the uncertainty regarding when and if it graduates, (2) and even if it were to graduate, they lack the options offered by BofA.

Re: Wells Fargo or Bank of Am

kampfer09 — Thu, 27 Jun 2013 05:12:59 GMT

Better check SDFCU they have way better secured card 6.9 and they report it all 3 CB.

Re: Wells Fargo or Bank of Am

09Lexie — Thu, 27 Jun 2013 05:27:23 GMT

I agree with kampfer about SDFCU- it will not graduate however.

Re: Wells Fargo or Bank of Am

kampfer09 — Thu, 27 Jun 2013 05:52:05 GMT

You can always ask them if they can upgrade it to unsecured card. I have done it in the beginning after having the card for a year and boom they gave it to me.

Re: Wells Fargo or Bank of Am

09Lexie — Thu, 27 Jun 2013 08:52:02 GMT

Good to know!

Re: Wells Fargo or Bank of Am

doc101 — Thu, 27 Jun 2013 23:37:21 GMT

Can anyone apply for the card from SDFCU?

Re: Wells Fargo or Bank of Am

Anonymous — Thu, 27 Jun 2013 23:56:07 GMT

@doc101 wrote:
Can anyone apply for the card from SDFCU?

Don't bother with them. Tryin to even get membership is like tryin to jump through hoopes on fire from a 30,000 foot skydive. They want your whole life story before they approve you. I got an email from them last week asking for the following

Copy of drivers license

copy of social security card

copy of permament resident card or passport

copy of recent utility bill in your name

copy of mortgage or rental lease

Than they pull your credit score and report and make the determination if they will approve your membership. I eventually told them forget it. They said they take verification very seriously so if i could not send them the info, than i was more than welcome to walk into a branch (they only have them in the great DC area) and talk to a banker.

You are better off with BOA because WF may deny it. You can also look at US BANK secured cards. They do offer rewards for their members and discounts on rental cards and their cards unsecure in as little as 12 months. I had one back in 2001 that unsecured after 9 months.

Re: Wells Fargo or Bank of Am

doc101 — Fri, 28 Jun 2013 00:00:56 GMT

Thanks for the info. Since I already bank with WF, I may try them first. Then again, I may try BoA

Re: Wells Fargo or Bank of Am

Anonymous — Fri, 28 Jun 2013 02:08:56 GMT

@doc101 wrote:
Thanks for the info. Since I already bank with WF, I may try them first. Then again, I may try BoA

I have a Wells Fargo credit card (and I have a checking account with them). I've had nothing but good service from them. Treat Wells Fargo good and they'll extend the same courtesy.

Re: Wells Fargo or Bank of Am

Revelate — Fri, 28 Jun 2013 05:01:03 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@doc101 wrote:
Can anyone apply for the card from SDFCU?
Don't bother with them. Tryin to even get membership is like tryin to jump through hoopes on fire from a 30,000 foot skydive. They want your whole life story before they approve you. I got an email from them last week asking for the following
Copy of drivers license
copy of social security card
copy of permament resident card or passport
copy of recent utility bill in your name
copy of mortgage or rental lease

Than they pull your credit score and report and make the determination if they will approve your membership. I eventually told them forget it. They said they take verification very seriously so if i could not send them the info, than i was more than welcome to walk into a branch (they only have them in the great DC area) and talk to a banker.

You are better off with BOA because WF may deny it. You can also look at US BANK secured cards. They do offer rewards for their members and discounts on rental cards and their cards unsecure in as little as 12 months. I had one back in 2001 that unsecured after 9 months.

This wasn't my experience with SDFCU at all for membership nor their secured card application.

Regardless, BOFA is the best secured card nearly hands down, with the exception if you need non-trivial forex purchases in which case SDFCU is better (3% on BOFA's card is harsh). For reference, BOFA's secured card with the exception of the AF is effectively equivalent to an Amex BCE, and obtainable somewhere 120 or more FICO points below from an underwriting perspective.

Really for establishing positive payment history, one should acquire two (or maybe 3, debatable) cards anyway. If I had to do it all over again, I would've gone BOFA secured, SDFCU secured, and ignored everything else until I was able to pull a trigger for my eventual Amex charge card and Chase Freedom (relationship) and subsequently stepping into a backdated Amex revolver for limit chasing.

Plenty of paths though, and with good habits they all lead to where we want to go eventually, really when establishing positive history *any* secured card which reports is ideal. Optimal rewards or credit report reindeer games can be pursued later.

Re: Wells Fargo or Bank of Am

armbenderc — Fri, 28 Jun 2013 05:03:41 GMT

I used to have Wells Fargo checking. I just finish paid auto loan with them never late. They won't give me a CC. They offered secured. I lol and move my business to chase and the rest is history.

Re: Wells Fargo or Bank of Am

mcf — Fri, 28 Jun 2013 05:15:59 GMT

+1000 Wells Fargo is insane! They denied me offered a secure card, which ive banked with them for a while.. my thought, they access my direct deposited funds before i do lol.. But, now BofA whom i have no checking, no savings, and no IRA with, extends their gracious hand out and call me and say "come my son here is 7k line of credit on our signature card." Hope this helps your view. I will be switching banks soon i do believe.. Why stay at a bank that doesnt work with own customers...

Re: Wells Fargo or Bank of Am

Revelate — Fri, 28 Jun 2013 05:19:10 GMT

@mcf wrote:
+1000 Wells Fargo is insane! They denied me offered a secure card, which ive banked with them for a while.. my thought, they access my direct deposited funds before i do lol.. But, now BofA whom i have no checking, no savings, and no IRA with, extends their gracious hand out and call me and say "come my son here is 7k line of credit on our signature card." Hope this helps your view. I will be switching banks soon i do believe.. Why stay at a bank that doesnt work with own customers...

Sadly WF focuses on their mortgage business and much of the rest of their portfolio is an afterthought. Wells cards are utterly bland and nothing to write home about, and personally I think anyone armed with information found on this forum should really look other options than WF for cards. As far as checking accounts go I've not heard any complaints from my associates that use them, and for business checking I think they're near the top from what little I've heard, but for cards, go elsewhere is my recommendation.

Re: Wells Fargo or Bank of Am

Anonymous — Fri, 28 Jun 2013 07:14:24 GMT

Personally I like Wells Fargo a lot. Service has been really good and any problems I had were resolved easily and quickly, including problems with CRAs.

That being said, their credit cards are indeed lackluster. I would recommend people to apply for them only if they already happen to have a banking relationship with Wells Fargo and are trying to establish their credit.

However, for people who are trying to RE-build or are interested in getting their secured cards, I definitely do not recommend it at all. Wells Fargo isn't an ideal bank for one to rebuild credit with. They are extremely conservative, to the extent it may seem to be paranoid or just fussy. They do not seem to be as willing to graduate people to unsecured, and they are very tough on approvals as well. If you can get approved for a Wells Fargo unsecured, you probably will have no issues getting approved for the lower to mid tier chase or citi cards as well.

Re: Wells Fargo or Bank of Am

Anonymous — Fri, 28 Jun 2013 12:43:57 GMT

@Revelate wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@doc101 wrote:
Can anyone apply for the card from SDFCU?
Don't bother with them. Tryin to even get membership is like tryin to jump through hoopes on fire from a 30,000 foot skydive. They want your whole life story before they approve you. I got an email from them last week asking for the following
Copy of drivers license
copy of social security card
copy of permament resident card or passport
copy of recent utility bill in your name
copy of mortgage or rental lease

Than they pull your credit score and report and make the determination if they will approve your membership. I eventually told them forget it. They said they take verification very seriously so if i could not send them the info, than i was more than welcome to walk into a branch (they only have them in the great DC area) and talk to a banker.

You are better off with BOA because WF may deny it. You can also look at US BANK secured cards. They do offer rewards for their members and discounts on rental cards and their cards unsecure in as little as 12 months. I had one back in 2001 that unsecured after 9 months.
This wasn't my experience with SDFCU at all for membership nor their secured card application.

Regardless, BOFA is the best secured card nearly hands down, with the exception if you need non-trivial forex purchases

Whats a non trivial forex purchase?