topic Re: Wells Fargo Cash Back College Card VS Citi Forward in Credit Cards

Wells Fargo Cash Back College Card VS Citi Forward

xgac12x — Mon, 29 Jul 2013 23:26:33 GMT

I came across the Wells Fargo card today at the bank. I was just wondering, should I just apply for this over the Citi Forward? It seems like a pretty solid card.

Can you guys let me know of some pros and cons of each card and suggestions on which one I should apply for.

Re: Wells Fargo Cash Back College Card VS Citi Forward

Anonymous — Mon, 29 Jul 2013 23:29:28 GMT

I was one of those whose WF secured card graduated in 2 years.

It's a pretty average card and WF removed two benefits in 2 years so I won't recommend this card although I have it myself.

I also don't like banking with Citi. WHy don't you try an AmEx?

Re: Wells Fargo Cash Back College Card VS Citi Forward

Creditaddict — Mon, 29 Jul 2013 23:31:00 GMT

@xgac12x wrote:
I came across the Wells Fargo card today at the bank. I was just wondering, should I just apply for this over the Citi Forward? It seems like a pretty solid card.

Can you guys let me know of some pros and cons of each card and suggestions on which one I should apply for.

I HATE Wells so I may not be so political in my answer but to me they are not even a close comparison. Wells is very conservative, they will ALWAYS be HP CLI and they are blah blah blah rewards that have only recently even become basic let alone anything to write home about.

Citi gives auto CLI more, they do SP CLI "sometimes", they have WAY better rewards, categories... i have not looked at forward in a long time but I would go that way 100x over before wells.

Re: Wells Fargo Cash Back College Card VS Citi Forward

Anonymous — Tue, 30 Jul 2013 00:10:19 GMT

@xgac12x wrote:
I came across the Wells Fargo card today at the bank. I was just wondering, should I just apply for this over the Citi Forward? It seems like a pretty solid card.

Can you guys let me know of some pros and cons of each card and suggestions on which one I should apply for.

They have very different features, so you should be able to decide fairly easily.

First off: WF is 3% off gas/groceries/drugstores, none of which are covered by Forward, but only for 6 months. Then it is a straight 1% card. So, this is pretty limited, unless you can spend a lot in those categories in those 6 months (which you can do if you are into manufactured spend but there are better cards for that!).

Citi Forward is 5% off books, restaurants/fast food, entertainment. Books include Amazon, which makes this very worthwhile. And there is no time limit.

Thank You points aren't the easist thing to deal with, getting statement credits is a bad exchange for example. And with the Forward, you will need to call to get a student loan redemption, or wait till you have enough for a $100 gift card for maximum value. WF redeems at $25, and offers statement credit (not sure if this is 1:1)

So to me, the time limit on WF rules it out.

Others might suggest Sallie Mae as a card to consider as well.

Re: Wells Fargo Cash Back College Card VS Citi Forward

Anonymous — Tue, 30 Jul 2013 00:20:50 GMT

Yeah I dont like the wells fargo, and citi thankyou points are pretty hard to get a value as longtimelurker pointed out.

I will however jump in and state that the Sallie Mae card is AWESOME! https://www.salliemae.com/landing/WorldCreditCard/

Re: Wells Fargo Cash Back College Card VS Citi Forward

xgac12x — Tue, 30 Jul 2013 00:29:01 GMT

Wow that Sallie Mae Card looks great! I actually might apply for that instead. Question, do you have to have a student loan with them to qualify for the credit card? I am very interested in this card. But right now I am looking to apply for 4 cards this coming December, Chase Freedom, Sallie Mae Mastercard (thanks!), Amex BCE, and the Capital One Quicksilver. I might not apply for the Capital One Quicksilver, and apply for the Citi Forward instead, I am currently a college student so the rewards that Citi gives along with Sallie Mae look a lot better than the Capital One Quicksilver.

Re: Wells Fargo Cash Back College Card VS Citi Forward

Anonymous — Tue, 30 Jul 2013 00:29:15 GMT

Well figured I would crawl out of the garden for this...I started with a wells fargo college card a year and a bit ago so I have some experiance with them.

The great thing for me was their low income requirment...3500. As a student with little income at the time this was perfect- Instant approval at 1200 im now at 3000 with soft pull CLI's every 6 months. Thanks to them my profile now looks like:

WF College 3k
Amex Zync NPSL
Amex Delta 6k
Citi Div Plat Select 1k
Discover it 2k

AAoA 11 months scores all around 740.

Re: Wells Fargo Cash Back College Card VS Citi Forward

Anonymous — Tue, 30 Jul 2013 01:02:45 GMT

@xgac12x wrote:
Wow that Sallie Mae Card looks great! I actually might apply for that instead. Question, do you have to have a student loan with them to qualify for the credit card? I am very interested in this card. But right now I am looking to apply for 4 cards this coming December, Chase Freedom, Sallie Mae Mastercard (thanks!), Amex BCE, and the Capital One Quicksilver. I might not apply for the Capital One Quicksilver, and apply for the Citi Forward instead, I am currently a college student so the rewards that Citi gives along with Sallie Mae look a lot better than the Capital One Quicksilver.

If you get the Sallie Mae, depending on your spending, the Amex BCE doesn't really add much, unless you exceed the Sallie Mae cap. (And anyway, ALWAYS get the BCP over the BCE!). If the goal is to get an Amex, look for something that doesn't duplicate, maybe Blue Sky. Quicksilver is a good card, 1.5% on everything. Again depending on where you spend, this can end up being more valuable than some of the others.

Re: Wells Fargo Cash Back College Card VS Citi Forward

xgac12x — Tue, 30 Jul 2013 01:15:40 GMT

Well right now I dont buy any groceries really, just gas and eating out at restaurants..also the BCP has an annual fee right? I dont think I would use it enough for it to be worth the annual fee.. Im really looking to get the best cards for my situation..chase freedom, citi forward, sallie mae and which ever amex..can you explain the difference and what I would have to do to make the annual fee worth it?

Re: Wells Fargo Cash Back College Card VS Citi Forward

Anonymous — Tue, 30 Jul 2013 01:16:34 GMT

@Creditaddict wrote:
@xgac12x wrote:
I came across the Wells Fargo card today at the bank. I was just wondering, should I just apply for this over the Citi Forward? It seems like a pretty solid card.

Can you guys let me know of some pros and cons of each card and suggestions on which one I should apply for.
I HATE Wells so I may not be so political in my answer but to me they are not even a close comparison. Wells is very conservative, they will ALWAYS be HP CLI and they are blah blah blah rewards that have only recently even become basic let alone anything to write home about.
Citi gives auto CLI more, they do SP CLI "sometimes", they have WAY better rewards, categories... i have not looked at forward in a long time but I would go that way 100x over before wells.

They do not ALWAYS hard pull for a CLI. They showed me auto love after 12 months, then again 6 months after. They graduated my College Cash Back card to their Visa Platinum Cash Back card AND reduced my APR from 15.15% to 11.99%.

I love my Wells Fargo Cash Back card

Re: Wells Fargo Cash Back College Card VS Citi Forward

xgac12x — Tue, 30 Jul 2013 01:20:05 GMT

And also, what would be a great alternative to the Amex, say I didnt get amex at all? I want to get an amex so I can start a relationship with them (hopefully a black card). So far I think I am definiteyl getting the Chase Freedom, Citi Forward..? (instead of the Capital One Quicksilver..I currently have the Secured cap one), Sallie Mae Mastercard and an Amex BCE or BCP??..(could change with suggestions..)

Thanks.

Re: Wells Fargo Cash Back College Card VS Citi Forward

Anonymous — Tue, 30 Jul 2013 01:27:59 GMT

If you're going for AMEX, go for the BCP (It's free for the 1st year, if you don't spend enough to justify the annual fee, just downgrade before the AF hits).

Re: Wells Fargo Cash Back College Card VS Citi Forward

Anonymous — Tue, 30 Jul 2013 01:29:44 GMT

@xgac12x wrote:
I came across the Wells Fargo card today at the bank. I was just wondering, should I just apply for this over the Citi Forward? It seems like a pretty solid card.

Can you guys let me know of some pros and cons of each card and suggestions on which one I should apply for.

I don't know about the Wells Fargo card but I do have the Citi Forward and if you eat out a lot (restaurants or fast food, doesn't matter they both count) or buy things from Amazon or go to the movies or pay your netflix bill with it, it's worth having I think. The 5x points on those areas make it worthwhile to me. And yes, I agree that the Thank You Points redemption value are not a straight 1:1 (it's usually 6500 TYP for a $50 gift card I believe), I do like having it because I do eat out/drive through places often and I buy things from Amazon so the card works for me because every $1 = 5 points. Also if you buy things online through their Thank You site, you can get an extra 2 or 3 points per every dollar depending on what site you bought it from (case in point I bought my brother a Wii U a few months back as a graduation present and I did it online by going through the Thank You site to get to the Best Buy site and I got a extra 600-odd points credited to my account less than 5 days later).

Also you get a extra 100 points/per statement for paying on time and staying within your credit limit which is nice. And every 4 months if you have stayed under your credit limit and paid at least the minimum they lower your APR down by .25% up to 8x I believe. My APR is currently at 11.24% and I want to say I started with either 13.99 or 12.99% APR back when I first got the card in '08? Sorry, I don't really remember but those numbers seem right

Like I said, I know this card doesn't work for everyone but it works for me and my habits right now (eating out, Amazon, entertainment) and if those are activities that you are already doing, then this card might be of benefit to you.

Re: Wells Fargo Cash Back College Card VS Citi Forward

Anonymous — Tue, 30 Jul 2013 01:28:57 GMT

Yes you do not need a student loan for the sallie mae card. Just beware, the 5% is limited to 250 spend per month (compared with 500 for the amex BCE/BCP)

Also note the bookstores count for most amazon purchases! (750 max spend per month)

I decided against the Amex when I got the Sallie Mae card.

Re: Wells Fargo Cash Back College Card VS Citi Forward

xgac12x — Tue, 30 Jul 2013 01:31:37 GMT

I dont think I will get the Capital One Card.. I think I will just get the amex sallie chase and citi. Amex seems pretty good along with the sallie mae

Re: Wells Fargo Cash Back College Card VS Citi Forward

Anonymous — Tue, 30 Jul 2013 01:43:51 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
If you're going for AMEX, go for the BCP (It's free for the 1st year, if you don't spend enough to justify the annual fee, just downgrade before the AF hits).

Its NOT waived.

Re: Wells Fargo Cash Back College Card VS Citi Forward

xgac12x — Tue, 30 Jul 2013 01:51:20 GMT

I'm thinking about just applying for the BCE. I really dont want to have to worry about the annual fee, and with the other cards I'll have enough room to get rewards with each card.

Re: Wells Fargo Cash Back College Card VS Citi Forward

Anonymous — Tue, 30 Jul 2013 01:56:47 GMT

Wells Fargo does NOT always HP for CLIs. That info is very wrong. Like discover and citi for example, they will try to do a CLI via SP first. If the customer is not eligible for a SP CLI, then they will do a HP CLI automatically. They do tell you its going to be a HP though, and HP CLIs generally take a few days to process, so you have a small time window to call the credit department (not normal CSRs!) and cancel the CLI request.

More importantly, please don't be surprised whenever you get a HP for a CLI request. You are seeking credit. Expect hard inquiries whenever you seek any kind of credit for anything. That's what hard inquiries are for: to keep track of customers' history of seeking credit!

That being said, I do not recommend OP to get a WF card. The only scenario where I would recommend anyone to open a WF card is when they already are a WF customer, and have a thin credit file where it makes it hard for them to seek credit elsewhere. Wells Fargo is very conservative. If you can get approved for their cards, assuming its not done via the relationship route, you probably can get approved for the citi forward, chase freedom, BofA basic cards, discover it, etc.

Re: Wells Fargo Cash Back College Card VS Citi Forward

Anonymous — Tue, 30 Jul 2013 02:08:34 GMT

@xgac12x wrote:
I'm thinking about just applying for the BCE. I really dont want to have to worry about the annual fee, and with the other cards I'll have enough room to get rewards with each card.

The point about the BCP is you get a bigger bonus, covering most of the annual fee vs BCE, but more importantly, most big supermarkets carry giftcards. If they have giftcards to things you use (stores, restaurants etc) you get 6% off, and this, for most people, makes it more valuable than the BCE.

Re: Wells Fargo Cash Back College Card VS Citi Forward

Anonymous — Tue, 30 Jul 2013 02:39:43 GMT

Like what longtimelurker said, I recommend the BCP over the BCE for most people. Do remember though, if most of your grocery shopping is at Walmart, target and costco, you probably will not be getting the 6% instead.