@gdale6 wrote:Didnt even know this card existed till recently, grats on getting it approved
Having an account with Elan does help with getting regular US Bank card offerings in the long run.
Really? Well...I would find out a few months later as I have a plan on applying for US bank Card. I have two Elan cards (thru Flushing bank) for the last 11 years with huge line of credit, and I also have a long term active banking relationship with Flushing bank for almost 13 years. Just recently...last week only..I used my debit card from Flushing bank on oversees site and they wanted to verify my account with them. They asked me whole bunch of questions and the last question was- the debit card I used with them is from which issuing bank- to which I answered- Flushing bank...because that's what written on the card and I got it from them anyway but they said that its not true and gave me very hard time...and eventually told me that in their system its coming up as US bank...Then I did some search online and found out that US bank owns now Elan Fianancial. I have my eyes on US bank cards for a while, so it would be nice if my relationship with Elan could help me out. I have only one inquiry in 24 months and I know that they are 1/12 most of the times but I still wanna wait a few more months....Hopefully, it would work out just fine...
Wanted to share my data from my recent application and approval for the Elan Max Cash Preferred card.
For those who don't know, the Max Cash is basically the US Bank Cash+ card with slight tweaks made to the reward categories.
I was considering US Bank first but had opened my Freedom Flex in October 2020, and also had a couple inquiries from an auto loan and mortgage loan, and I wasn't as confident about the approval from US Bank based on data shared in other threads about their stinginess.
After gathering some insight from the other thread about the Cash+ and Elan comparison, I did a search for Elan partners in my area and ended up finding a regional bank with a location 20 miles away (not a credit union) whose credit card web page had "Learn More" links that took me straight to the Elan Credit Card landing page. The name is Carter Bank & Trust and is a Virginia/North Carolina bank. I applied on Sunday, got an instant approval, got a confirmation email Monday night, and my card arrived today.
Here were some of my stats:
Score was reporting in the 770's for TU and 760's for Equifax. I had 1 inquiry on TU and 4 reporting on my Equifax.
Income is around $50k/year
Perfect payment history and no derogs, and keep cards between 1-2% utilization.
When I applied I had 5 revolvers total, I was 1/6, 2/12, 2/24 with total CL of $55,400
In the box with the vague wording that said something along the lines of "total amount of money held in your accounts here", I decided to interpret "here" as "in this box" and put an accurate balance of what I had in a different credit union account. Same with the retirement account box. I thought this may come up with more inspection by Elan, but approval was instant and no proof to a connection to the bank was required. I am considering joining the bank so I can deposit my rewards into an account there, but it does not appear that Elan viewed the relationship as a make-or-break element in the approval process. It's hard to know how much weight to give to the relationship as a factor, since there are many variables. It may also be different if you apply for a card through a credit union, since they are typically more member focused and exclusive. Maybe I got lucky by finding a bank?
I ended up with a $12,500 limit and 17.49% APR. Sadly, I didn't find anywhere where it said which bureau they pulled from. This bank only offered the VISA Signature, which I wanted more than the mastercard version anyway becuase I wanted one other card I could use at Costco. I downloaded the Elan App, which appears rudamentary compared to other cc apps and has pretty bad reviews, but it seemed decently easy to use after a first tour of the pages and features. Maybe I'll be leaving my bad review in a few weeks, we'll see.
Hope this helps someone out there! And if I forgot any DPs - just @ me!
US Bank Cash + $8,700
Starting Score: 657
Congratulations on your approval! Thank you for sharing the data points!
