@Revelate wrote:
@grillandwinemaster wrote:
@Revelate wrote:Pretty certain that was a one off.
The 99/500 card was something of a unicorn back in the day for people that were on the cusp of BOFA approvals... BOFA was one of the earliest to "recover" a more friendly lending profile than Amex/Chase after the mortgage crisis at least from an anecdotal reports perspective.
The biggest common thread here was "I applied for BOFA unsecured and they offered me this 99/500 card, what should I do?" and the overwhelming response was "take it."
Wasn't much beyond that, partially secured card with a rewards package (at the time they were close to the only one with a real rewards package on a secured card) and it was a pretty good every day card for those of us who were building back from credit ugliness, and the 3-2-1 card UW at a lower FICO than the BCE did at that point, and Sallie wasn't a thing yet, and other than the low credit limit for a $99 deposit you card a card that was identical to the unsecured, and it would graduate... so if you got the product you wanted and you already took the hit, why not accept it? Makes virtually no rational sense to decline.
I completely understand the post mortgage meltdown recovery period and BofA dangling a golden carrot for folks in recovery mode. Your absolutely correct in that it makes no rational sense to decline the BofA offer, especially after already sustaining the damage of a hard pull.
In this case, the people accepting the offer already have an established progressively seasoned, rebuilt profile. Some of the replies are from folks well ingrained in the 700's+ Fico score range. At least two or three of them had established credit accounts in the 10k+ range.
That thread that I linked was started, AND completed just last year. That's 2016. Well past the mortgage/housing debacle of ten years past.
So with this in mind, WHY would a seasoned rebuilder with an established credit profile be so inclined to accept a semi secured BofA card?
I can't imagine the same profile considering a Discover secured, or, to a greater extent, a Cap1 secured.
I truly am intrigued as to the rationale of this BofA offering and subsequent acceptance of the offer from week seasoned rebuilders.
I was just offering the historical context of the card, but really this isn't all that strange of an occurence here.
Why does someone need a metal card? (far more cashiers seem to think my CSR is sexy as compared to the general population regarding me in my recent Tinder experiment run back here in LA since returning... just sayin!).
Why does someone need 250K+ in unsecured credit limits?
Why does someone need 25+ credit cards?
There's no real explanation for all of human behavior even simply looking at the little slice of the pie chart on this forum; just because it doesn't make sense to you or me, and presumably we each think ourselves rational humans, doesn't mean it doesn't make sense to someone else.
Human behaviour truly is a powerful dynamic! Oftentimes, actions without explanations ensue. Thanks for the historical context, Revelate, on this strange little card. I alwyas enjoy your ensightful comments!
@Anonymous wrote:
@grillandwinemaster wrote:
@Revelate wrote:Pretty certain that was a one off.
The 99/500 card was something of a unicorn back in the day for people that were on the cusp of BOFA approvals... BOFA was one of the earliest to "recover" a more friendly lending profile than Amex/Chase after the mortgage crisis at least from an anecdotal reports perspective.
The biggest common thread here was "I applied for BOFA unsecured and they offered me this 99/500 card, what should I do?" and the overwhelming response was "take it."
Wasn't much beyond that, partially secured card with a rewards package (at the time they were close to the only one with a real rewards package on a secured card) and it was a pretty good every day card for those of us who were building back from credit ugliness, and the 3-2-1 card UW at a lower FICO than the BCE did at that point, and Sallie wasn't a thing yet, and other than the low credit limit for a $99 deposit you card a card that was identical to the unsecured, and it would graduate... so if you got the product you wanted and you already took the hit, why not accept it? Makes virtually no rational sense to decline.
I completely understand the post mortgage meltdown recovery period and BofA dangling a golden carrot for folks in recovery mode. Your absolutely correct in that it makes no rational sense to decline the BofA offer, especially after already sustaining the damage of a hard pull.
In this case, the people accepting the offer already have an established progressively seasoned, rebuilt profile. Some of the replies are from folks well ingrained in the 700's+ Fico score range. At least two or three of them had established credit accounts in the 10k+ range.
That thread that I linked was started, AND completed just last year. That's 2016. Well past the mortgage/housing debacle of ten years past.
So with this in mind, WHY would a seasoned rebuilder with an established credit profile be so inclined to accept a semi secured BofA card?
I can't imagine the same profile considering a Discover secured, or, to a greater extent, a Cap1 secured.
I truly am intrigued as to the rationale of this BofA offering and subsequent acceptance of the offer from well seasoned rebuilders.
Maybe that was their only way in with BofA at the time so they took it. While they had other cards (lenders) with larger limits, perhaps BofA didn't approve a regular card and the person wanted in with BofA for one reason or another. 🤷🏻♂️
Herein lies my dilemma. What is so special about BofA? I suppose it is a prime lender. Is it along the lines of Citi or Chase, as far as credit card offerings are concerned? Of course the answer is subjective. However, I certainly don't place B of A along the same lines as say, Amex. However, if given the opportunity to accept a secured card with Amex, with the possibility of allowing it to graduate in a years time, I suspect people would be flocking to Amex.
Thanks SoLong!
I believe the 99/500 is only available as a counter offer. BofA can flat out deny you and NOT make a counter offer. So YMMV.
@Anonymous wrote:
@grillandwinemaster wrote:I believe the 99/500 is only available as a counter offer. BofA can flat out deny you and NOT make a counter offer. So YMMV.
Yes, that's what I thought. This will be most relevant in a few months once I'm ready to start Visa-hunting; I've been thinking on and off about BoA though my first choice is still Penfed or another CU such as Navy, but I'm on the fence about whether, if I go in to the local branch (I've kind of mentioned before that I prefer to do that for things like this!) and ask them for a Visa, and they come back with a 99/500 offer, whether I should take it or leave it. Hard to say...
Personally, between B of A and Navy, I would go Navy all the way.
Best credit wishes to you, Joe, with whatever decision you decide to make.
So, curiosity got the best of me...
I've been instantly declined in the past for any and all BofA products in the past because once upon a time, I had a home mortgage with BofA that went south during the mortgage meltdown of 08-09.
Long story short, I received a "check for offers" from BofA, and there it was, Rewards card offer. I pulled the trigger and was declined, BUT this time I received the counter offer for the $99/500 secured card. Instant approval! In the past, I wouldn't EVER get the semi- secured offer from BofA. They just wanted nothing to do with me, instantly decline me and tell me to get off their website and stop wasting there time.
I'm curious about this card, and now I get to experience first hand what all the fuss is about.
I'm interested in the graduation process, AND the option of getting more than one secured card with them. There's another recent thread about somebody getting two secured $99/500 cards a couple weeks or so apart.
Hmmm... Dare I say it?? Is BofA becoming "the New Cap1??"
