topic Re: Getting "in" with the Big 4 a good strategy? in General Credit Topics

Getting "in" with the Big 4 a good strategy?

Anonymous — Fri, 07 Oct 2016 23:45:11 GMT

I'm sure this really comes down to personal opinion, so I guess I'm soliciting a bunch of opinions here which I'm sure could differ greatly.

I have a desire for whatever reason to get "in" with the Big 4. Not sure why really, other that just wanting to establish positive relationships with them. It is just mentally pleasing to me to know that several years down the line if I'm looking for a mortgage or loan that I've already established solid favorable relationships with the biggest banks which can only be a good thing.

I already have positive accounts on my credit reports with Bank of America and Wells Fargo, but I have never had an account with either Citi or Chase which are two of the biggest discussed banks on these forums, moreso in terms of credit cards I would say. Is it a bad idea to scoop up a credit card with Citi and Chase just to establish a positive relationship with them? I know people say not to get a credit card unless you need it and I certainly wouldn't "need" one from either bank. There are other people that chase sign on bonuses, which I know at least with Chase is a reason to justify apping. I don't have a lot of credit cards (5 total) and my aggregate utilization never exceeds 1-2% so I'm not worried about the risk of taking on another card or two. My profile recovers in about 2-3 cycles from new accounts since I app extremely rarely.

I'm just looking for opinions here on whether or not people feel establishing relationships with the big banks is a good thing, sort of as a means to lay ground work for a possible future with that lender should the need arise.

Re: Getting "in" with the Big 4 a good strategy?

darwin_wins — Sat, 08 Oct 2016 01:15:46 GMT

If you want to apply for Chase, apply as long as you are under 5/24. Chase has good cards but most of them are geared towards using UR program. If you travel that is the best way to the value out of their points. Apply for Freedom / Freedom Unlimited & CSP (if you dont want to apply for CSR). Apply for either United (again if you use United and travel) or some hotel card.

Personally Citi cards are not appealing to me at this point. If I want something like DC I am just going to go with Fidelity card which will dump my points in my account and invest it. I am glad to have more money in long time while I get usage out of other cards now

Re: Getting "in" with the Big 4 a good strategy?

Anonymous — Sat, 08 Oct 2016 01:46:47 GMT

I honestly don't travel much, once a year maybe twice at most. I've always liked the Chase Freedom for the 5% categories, although outside of those categories I don't think I'd use it much. I'm pretty content with the cards I have now as far as CB goes; a Citi DC wouldn't do anything for me as I use Blispay as my general spend 2% card. I'm not really in it for the rewards so much as just getting a positive account going on my reports with Chase and Citi. Will they ever be needed? Who knows. It would only be the expense of an inquiry and new account just to get "in" with them; I'm fairly confident in approval. I wouldn't mind a $150 bonus from Chase for getting on board, but I'm not sure if Citi offers any sign on bonuses. If I did pull the trigger on either/both it would be in March when I have several inquiries falling off.

Re: Getting "in" with the Big 4 a good strategy?

CreditDunce — Sat, 08 Oct 2016 03:03:26 GMT

I am not sure I would count WF as one of the big CCCs. My guess is Cap1 and US Bank are both bigger players. WF is one of the big mortgage players. On the other hand, I would look at PenFed, NFCU, etc for a mortgage first.

If you are interested in a BoA mortgage, it might make sense to look at their PR program. It can give a small APR discount and lowers your closing costs. The PR program is based on deposit assets, not having a CC card with BoA. Chase, US Bank and WF all seem to prefer having a relationship with their customers. Maybe you could think about opening savings/checking accounts. I hear about cash bonuses from Chase and US Banks all of the time. I am sure WF has similar bonuses for opening a checking, etc accounts.

IMO it isn't worth trying to get in with the big banks just to get in. I doubt it does much good. If you don't qualify for a mortgage, you don't qualify. Having a CC with the bank isn't going to make a difference. Actually, having lots of CCs is probably a net negative for most conservative banks.

Re: Getting "in" with the Big 4 a good strategy?

805orbust — Sat, 08 Oct 2016 12:41:01 GMT

I've heard several times on these forums that Chase is more favorable to their existing customers. I have seen this in my experience. It probably comes down to whether or not you believe in "good old business". After researching here I decided a while ago to establish a relationship with PenFed. Gonna use them for car loans (avoid the 55 inquiries at the dealer) and our next mortgage. Haven't even apped for a CC with them yet, just tossing $1500 every month at them while our target dates approach. I do plan to app for a rewards card and possibly a PLOC in the spring after my reports relax In the garden. IMHO, it's worked if you've got credit products AND deposits. YMMV tho as these banks are so illogical at times.

Re: Getting "in" with the Big 4 a good strategy?

805orbust — Sat, 08 Oct 2016 12:53:59 GMT

Isn't CapONE the largest issuer of CC's in the nation? I thought I heard that a while back, although all of the hullabaloo definitely goes in the direction of Chase these days.

*EDIT* Boy was I off. Just looked at an article on card hub, turns out by purchase volume its:

1. AMEX

2. Chase

3. BOA

4. Citi

5. CapONE

Surprised me. However Chase moves to #1 when balance carried is factored in since AMEX has so many charge cards.

Re: Getting "in" with the Big 4 a good strategy?

Anonymous — Sat, 08 Oct 2016 13:10:17 GMT

Here's a site with all sorts of breakdowns on banks...

http://www.relbanks.com/top-us-banks/assets

Re: Getting "in" with the Big 4 a good strategy?

Anonymous — Sat, 08 Oct 2016 13:28:10 GMT

@CreditDunce wrote:
I am not sure I would count WF as one of the big CCCs. My guess is Cap1 and US Bank are both bigger players. WF is one of the big mortgage players. On the other hand, I would look at PenFed, NFCU, etc for a mortgage first.

If you are interested in a BoA mortgage, it might make sense to look at their PR program. It can give a small APR discount and lowers your closing costs. The PR program is based on deposit assets, not having a CC card with BoA. Chase, US Bank and WF all seem to prefer having a relationship with their customers. Maybe you could think about opening savings/checking accounts. I hear about cash bonuses from Chase and US Banks all of the time. I am sure WF has similar bonuses for opening a checking, etc accounts.

IMO it isn't worth trying to get in with the big banks just to get in. I doubt it does much good. If you don't qualify for a mortgage, you don't qualify. Having a CC with the bank isn't going to make a difference. Actually, having lots of CCs is probably a net negative for most conservative banks.

I just stated the biggest banks, not the biggest CCCs. IMO an account is an account with a company, regardless of the type. I've had an auto loan through Wells Fargo and a mortgage through Bank of America already. Those 2 positive accounts IMO have established positive relationships between those lenders and I.

When I think Chase and Citi, I think more along the lines of credit cards which is why I was thinking of going down that route to establish a relationship with them as well.

Re: Getting "in" with the Big 4 a good strategy?

Anonymous — Sat, 08 Oct 2016 13:30:31 GMT

@805orbust wrote:
I've heard several times on these forums that Chase is more favorable to their existing customers. I have seen this in my experience.

See that's sort of what I was thinking and getting at when I started this thread. I don't know which banks sort of follow this mentality and which don't care... but I'm fairly certain that already having established positive account history with a bank that you are looking to for additional credit won't hurt your chances. It's good to hear the different personal opinions and experiences though for sure.

Re: Getting "in" with the Big 4 a good strategy?

youdontkillmoney — Sat, 08 Oct 2016 14:24:15 GMT

If you want to go BIG game hunting in the world of credit, try and bag a Simmons First Credit card and Iberia Bank credit card. Those are the elusive ones to get. I got both, plus Amex platinum and Citi prestige rounds out the "Big" 4 CC's I have.

Re: Getting "in" with the Big 4 a good strategy?

Anonymous — Sat, 08 Oct 2016 15:21:01 GMT

My goal isn't to bag elusive cards, rather just establish positive relationships with big banks that I may need credit from at some point down the road.

Re: Getting "in" with the Big 4 a good strategy?

Revelate — Sun, 09 Oct 2016 05:21:02 GMT

@youdontkillmoney wrote:
If you want to go BIG game hunting in the world of credit, try and bag a Simmons First Credit card and Iberia Bank credit card. Those are the elusive ones to get. I got both, plus Amex platinum and Citi prestige rounds out the "Big" 4 CC's I have.

Those cards are seriously niche. Not saying they aren't laudable goals, but it doesn't make tremendous sense for most people to chase after them.

BBS: regarding your question, I firmly believe in a diversity of lenders, but having all the major ones... not so much as they're sort of redundant. When it comes down to it beyond credit cards and all sorts of things at credit unions, there isn't much relationship building that goes on at the major banks. When talking mortgage or whatever unless they are portfolioing it (not common unless shopping in the jumbo space) there isn't a lot there: conventional and FHA mortgages are both far too stringent for them to do much for any customer. Auto lending is usually a different part of the bank which may or may not look at the rest of your relationship historically.

I don't have any WF accounts for example, and I only picked up a Citi one when they took over Costco and I wanted the membership anyway. Chase dominates my report between mortgage and 25% of my revolving tradelines... but I basically have 12 other cards from other lenders too so I'm not so worried if Chase goes away, wouldn't be the end of the world.

That's really the reason to have a diversity, banks can fail, or grow skittish of you as an individual consumer... it would suck mightily to have all your credit vanish overnight as could happen if a lender decides you're too risky for them now when they are your only oar in the credit waters.

Re: Getting "in" with the Big 4 a good strategy?

Anonymous — Sun, 09 Oct 2016 13:09:26 GMT

Understood, thanks for the reply. Diversification I guess is another way to verbalize what I was going after.

Re: Getting "in" with the Big 4 a good strategy?

SouthJamaica — Sun, 09 Oct 2016 16:39:28 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I'm sure this really comes down to personal opinion, so I guess I'm soliciting a bunch of opinions here which I'm sure could differ greatly.

I have a desire for whatever reason to get "in" with the Big 4. Not sure why really, other that just wanting to establish positive relationships with them. It is just mentally pleasing to me to know that several years down the line if I'm looking for a mortgage or loan that I've already established solid favorable relationships with the biggest banks which can only be a good thing.

I already have positive accounts on my credit reports with Bank of America and Wells Fargo, but I have never had an account with either Citi or Chase which are two of the biggest discussed banks on these forums, moreso in terms of credit cards I would say. Is it a bad idea to scoop up a credit card with Citi and Chase just to establish a positive relationship with them? I know people say not to get a credit card unless you need it and I certainly wouldn't "need" one from either bank. There are other people that chase sign on bonuses, which I know at least with Chase is a reason to justify apping. I don't have a lot of credit cards (5 total) and my aggregate utilization never exceeds 1-2% so I'm not worried about the risk of taking on another card or two. My profile recovers in about 2-3 cycles from new accounts since I app extremely rarely.

I'm just looking for opinions here on whether or not people feel establishing relationships with the big banks is a good thing, sort of as a means to lay ground work for a possible future with that lender should the need arise.

IMHO there is no such thing as establishing a relationship with either of those institutions, unless you have a million dollars or so to deposit with them.

They are huge faceless organizations which will cut you off at the knees the minute they feel like it.

Re: Getting "in" with the Big 4 a good strategy?

Anonymous — Mon, 10 Oct 2016 04:17:19 GMT

I'm not disagreeing with that. But as others have stated, some feel that based on a positive previous relationship [account] (whether past or current) they were treated or welcomed better they felt when attempting another account. This could be a loan, a CC, whatever. Others feel it doesn't matter. I feel like it can't hurt, though, unless you screw up with them with respect to the first account.

Re: Getting "in" with the Big 4 a good strategy?

StartingOver10 — Tue, 11 Oct 2016 14:41:50 GMT

@SouthJamaica wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
I'm sure this really comes down to personal opinion, so I guess I'm soliciting a bunch of opinions here which I'm sure could differ greatly.

I have a desire for whatever reason to get "in" with the Big 4. Not sure why really, other that just wanting to establish positive relationships with them. It is just mentally pleasing to me to know that several years down the line if I'm looking for a mortgage or loan that I've already established solid favorable relationships with the biggest banks which can only be a good thing.

I already have positive accounts on my credit reports with Bank of America and Wells Fargo, but I have never had an account with either Citi or Chase which are two of the biggest discussed banks on these forums, moreso in terms of credit cards I would say. Is it a bad idea to scoop up a credit card with Citi and Chase just to establish a positive relationship with them? I know people say not to get a credit card unless you need it and I certainly wouldn't "need" one from either bank. There are other people that chase sign on bonuses, which I know at least with Chase is a reason to justify apping. I don't have a lot of credit cards (5 total) and my aggregate utilization never exceeds 1-2% so I'm not worried about the risk of taking on another card or two. My profile recovers in about 2-3 cycles from new accounts since I app extremely rarely.

I'm just looking for opinions here on whether or not people feel establishing relationships with the big banks is a good thing, sort of as a means to lay ground work for a possible future with that lender should the need arise.
IMHO there is no such thing as establishing a relationship with either of those institutions, unless you have a million dollars or so to deposit with them.

They are huge faceless organizations which will cut you off at the knees the minute they feel like it.

^^^This. I vividly remember all kinds of people getting their HELOC's and other credit lines shut down by Chase and Wells in 2007 when the markets started to be a little shaky. The people I am referring to had excellent credit and payment history for a long time and some of them even worked for the banks that shut down their lines. The banks were being pro-active by making sure customers couldn't access their credit, but it came as a shock to many.

Diversification is very important. You aren't going to see a real benefit as far as "relationships" go with a lender unless you are with a very small CU or small community bank.

Re: Getting "in" with the Big 4 a good strategy?

Anonymous — Tue, 11 Oct 2016 18:35:06 GMT

Of course there are going to be circumstances like what was referenced above almost a decade ago that could cause uncharacteristic behavior by big banks.

Others however have stated quite clearly in this thread that they believe that having established a positive account (relationship) with a big bank in some way helped them in the future with said bank.

Re: Getting "in" with the Big 4 a good strategy?

Anonymous — Tue, 11 Oct 2016 20:31:04 GMT

I lean a bit toward the "it can't hurt" perspective. I definitely feel that way about Chase. One reason is that it's easy to open a checking account with them for a $300 promotion bonus, and you can usually grab an additional $200 bonus by parking 10k in a savings account with them for a few months. To me that's reason enough. In fact, bank bonus chasers will typically open and close Chase accounts every year for $500.

Discover's bank bonus is not churnable but you can usually find one for $400 if you wait long enough.

Right there that's reason enough to get in with Discover and Chase. I will say that the Chase CSRs usually add a tag line when they talk to me to the effect of: We want to thank you for being such a long and valued customer with Chase.

I am inclined to agree with your assessment of weird events like the 2008 financial meltdown. That's such a strange event, almost like an asteroid hitting the earth out of a science fiction B-movie of the 50s, that its hard to make inferences from its fallout what would happen in normal times. IMO.

Re: Getting "in" with the Big 4 a good strategy?

SouthJamaica — Tue, 11 Oct 2016 21:28:55 GMT

@StartingOver10 wrote:
@SouthJamaica wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
I'm sure this really comes down to personal opinion, so I guess I'm soliciting a bunch of opinions here which I'm sure could differ greatly.

I have a desire for whatever reason to get "in" with the Big 4. Not sure why really, other that just wanting to establish positive relationships with them. It is just mentally pleasing to me to know that several years down the line if I'm looking for a mortgage or loan that I've already established solid favorable relationships with the biggest banks which can only be a good thing.

I already have positive accounts on my credit reports with Bank of America and Wells Fargo, but I have never had an account with either Citi or Chase which are two of the biggest discussed banks on these forums, moreso in terms of credit cards I would say. Is it a bad idea to scoop up a credit card with Citi and Chase just to establish a positive relationship with them? I know people say not to get a credit card unless you need it and I certainly wouldn't "need" one from either bank. There are other people that chase sign on bonuses, which I know at least with Chase is a reason to justify apping. I don't have a lot of credit cards (5 total) and my aggregate utilization never exceeds 1-2% so I'm not worried about the risk of taking on another card or two. My profile recovers in about 2-3 cycles from new accounts since I app extremely rarely.

I'm just looking for opinions here on whether or not people feel establishing relationships with the big banks is a good thing, sort of as a means to lay ground work for a possible future with that lender should the need arise.
IMHO there is no such thing as establishing a relationship with either of those institutions, unless you have a million dollars or so to deposit with them.

They are huge faceless organizations which will cut you off at the knees the minute they feel like it.

^^^This. I vividly remember all kinds of people getting their HELOC's and other credit lines shut down by Chase and Wells in 2007 when the markets started to be a little shaky. The people I am referring to had excellent credit and payment history for a long time and some of them even worked for the banks that shut down their lines. The banks were being pro-active by making sure customers couldn't access their credit, but it came as a shock to many.

Diversification is very important. You aren't going to see a real benefit as far as "relationships" go with a lender unless you are with a very small CU or small community bank.

Even then it depends on whether it's Mr. Potter, or Bill Bailey, that's in charge

Re: Getting "in" with the Big 4 a good strategy?

Anonymous — Tue, 11 Oct 2016 22:03:44 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I lean a bit toward the "it can't hurt" perspective. I definitely feel that way about Chase. One reason is that it's easy to open a checking account with them for a $300 promotion bonus, and you can usually grab an additional $200 bonus by parking 10k in a savings account with them for a few months. To me that's reason enough. In fact, bank bonus chasers will typically open and close Chase accounts every year for $500.

Good info here - I never even considered chasing a bonus related to a checking account. I do need to open another account, so maybe this will be my in with Chase.