Hey everyone!
It's me yet again. 
So, got an interesting piece of snail mail today. I received an invitation from Citi to apply for the Citi Thank You Preferred card. The rate on it was 22.99%. A little high for my liking.
I went ahead and checked their website for pre-qual offers and the Double Cash popped up at the top. Of course, four of them were below with the Thank You Preferred included. What was interesting is that the quote on the website was 14.74% for it, as well as all the others.
I'm curious about a few things. First off, if I were to bite at the invitation letter I got in the mail, what are the odds on it really going through? (741 with EX right now) Secondly, I always see the Double Cash at the top. Is that a better chance of getting approved for than the four below it? Another question, how reliable are the Citi pre-quals on the site for approval? Lastly, is it better to go with one from Citi directly or to get a card like the Best Buy card that Citi underwrites? I hope that's the correct term.
Not sure I want to bite just yet after the AMEX BCE approval, but Citi has been on my list to look at with my next card just to get a Visa or MC to accompany my BCE when it's not accepted. Especially since Crapital One won't graduate my secured card. :-/
As always, I appreciate the feedback and thoughts. I just love this board!!
Odds are really good with a 741. How long since the app for the Amex? If recently, that one hasn't reported yet.
Citi normally pulls EX and will grab EQ sometimes. The prequals seem fairly solid. Especially if you have a set APR.
The DC is a good card! I wouldn't be surprised if it's their most popular CC.
Citi normally pulls EX and will grab EQ sometimes. The prequals seem fairly solid. Especially if you have a set APR.
The DC is a good card! I wouldn't be surprised if it's their most popular CC.
@Gmood1 wrote:
Odds are really good with a 741. How long since the app for the Amex? If recently, that one hasn't reported yet.
Citi normally pulls EX and will grab EQ sometimes. The prequals seem fairly solid. Especially if you have a set APR.
I did the app on the AMEX on 12/30. Just got the card and the closing date is tomorrow, I believe. I'll PIF easily. The EX was 744 but down to 741 with the HP. My EQ is around 764 at the moment. It's not reporting yet either. When it does, given the SL they gave, my total util should be around 10% or less.
Still amazed at the 8% difference from the invite to the site with them.
Amex is the slowest reporter of any lender I've experienced. It will be two months on average before the account shows.
The Citi online prequal normally gives you a better rate. That's the one you go with.
I normally cluster my apps together before any report. Results have normally be pretty good.
Closing date already? Wow..chances are it wouldn't matter as the card won't show for a couple of months.lol
The Citi online prequal normally gives you a better rate. That's the one you go with.
I normally cluster my apps together before any report. Results have normally be pretty good.
Closing date already? Wow..chances are it wouldn't matter as the card won't show for a couple of months.lol
@Gmood1 wrote:
Amex is the slowest reporter of any lender I've experienced. It will be two months on average before the account shows.
The Citi online prequal normally gives you a better rate. That's the one you go with.
I normally cluster my apps together before any report. Results have normally be pretty good.
Closing date already? Wow..chances are it wouldn't matter as the card won't show for a couple of months.lol
When you say "cluster your apps," are you talking about an app spree? And that's a shame about the slow reporting for AMEX. I was ready for that SL to post. I've heard that some banks will base off of the other cards they see. I'd hate for it to be based on the Crapital One $500 limit when my BCE is considerably higher.
Would you suggest going with one of the direct Citi cards or a store Citi card like Best Buy?
I'd go for the in-house CC. Don't expect the same SL with Citi as Amex. It's unlikely to happen. Citi is much more conservative. The limit will grow. Just much slower than Amex. Nice thing is both are SP lenders on CLIs. Unless you get impatient like me and take a HP in order to bump it up faster.
And yes basically a mini app spree.
And yes basically a mini app spree.
@Gmood1 wrote:
I'd go for the in-house CC. Don't expect the same SL with Citi as Amex. It's unlikely to happen. Citi is much more conservative. The limit will grow. Just much slower than Amex. Nice thing is both are SP lenders on CLIs. Unless you get impatient like me and take a HP in order to bump it up faster.
And yes basically a mini app spree.
Appreciate all the info. This is why I love the board. It really provides some insight as to what I'm getting into.
I'm glad to know going in that they are more conservative with the SL. The AMEX about knocked me out of my chair with a $10K SL. I'd just like to have a Visa/MC if needed with some wiggle room and that APR under 15% is VERY attractive for a rewards card. I might take the HP on EX and see what happens. That will be inquiry #5 until where I purchased a car almost two years ago drop off.
Is Citi at least good about a CLI after the first 60/90 days or is it longer with them? Sorry for all the ?s. Haven't dealt with them before.
No problem,
Citi SP CLIs normally come every 181 days. My first wasn't for 360 days. lol
I had a crap ton of new accounts at that time though. As well as a dirty EQ report.
With that low of an APR, it should be an instant approval.
Some folks take a HP right after receiving the card to get a higher limit.
I took mine directly after the SP increase. Which is normally $1400-$2000 on the newer accounts. The CLIs go up as your history with them grows.
Doubtful it matches Amex. I got my Citi and Amex within a week of each other. My Amex exposure is more than double of Citi presently.
Citi SP CLIs normally come every 181 days. My first wasn't for 360 days. lol
I had a crap ton of new accounts at that time though. As well as a dirty EQ report.
With that low of an APR, it should be an instant approval.
Some folks take a HP right after receiving the card to get a higher limit.
I took mine directly after the SP increase. Which is normally $1400-$2000 on the newer accounts. The CLIs go up as your history with them grows.
Doubtful it matches Amex. I got my Citi and Amex within a week of each other. My Amex exposure is more than double of Citi presently.
I'm very interested to see what comes from this! I've also been wondering about the reliability of their online prequals and the UW standards for double cash, which was the next card on my list of wants when suddenly a few days ago I got my first ever hit on their prequal site and it just so happened to be for exactly that (only double cash though, there was nothing else below it, single APR was showing as 24.74%). My score is close to 100 points lower than yours (EX is slightly artificially high right now I think but only by a little, it's 655 but there's some wonkiness ever so slightly helping my AAoA - I think before the weirdness it was at 651 but either way it's only off by a point or 2 - anyway it's almost accurate but the last card on my report should be.. a brand new amex BCE actually lol - congrats on that btw! - instead of a duplicate 8 month old discover, and a $500CL instead of $200 although they're both at 500 now disco just hasn't reported yet.. and i don't know my EQ fico but TU is 648 - idk why it's lower than EX since the info is exactly the same but it's been like this since I've had a fico score) anyway the point of this rambling essay is that if they're giving me a prequal (when they never have before), and with a solid APR to boot, I think you're definitely good to go. If it was me I'd go through the online link @ 14.74% vs the mailer but then again I don't have a lot of experience with this stuff so idk if the mall offers are maybe more legit or something? (edit: looks like this has been addressed since I wrote this - lol I forgot to post it initially and had it sitting unrefreshed as a draft for a while lol) I'm not jumping out of the garden for my prequal yet (although I WAS tempted to do so before my new amex reports and that offer potentially disappears lol) but since my discover is still in cashback match till April or May that's technically a 2% card for me until then, so I won't be able to give you any DPs on whether or not my prequal actually results in an approval, but I still really think it's yours if you want it 
Let us know what happens and good luck with whatever you decide 
