Congrats on your Elan Max Cash Preferred approval
@Aim_High wrote:Congrats on a great Max Cash Preferred approval, @Curious_George2!
Data points are also appreciated!
I note that Elan tends to give a little higher SLs for many of our members and you got $20K versus $10K on C+.
I'm glad my MCP thread has been so helpful to the community.
What's your plan for using this one along with your Cash Plus?
Thanks! I don't have a detailed plan for how I will use the new card. I share your fondness for lender diversification and I have come to value flexible cash rewards with no categories or fixed categories that I use. This card and Cash+ both check those boxes.
Every time I think I have The Plan worked out, something changes and I need (ok, want) to revise it. The emergence of Citi's Custom Cash was one such disruption, albeit a positive one. Another was my recent experience with Amex. In a mood to cut costs, I downgraded my Gold to Green. But then... (plot twist!) they dangled a generous 40k MR upgrade bonus just a few weeks later and now I'm back to the Gold.
I figured getting another two selectable 5% categories, on a no-AF card from a new-to-me lender will be helpful in any setup I choose. So, welcome to my wallet, MCP!
@Curious_George2 wrote:I applied for Elan's Max Cash Preferred Visa, through a small, local credit union I joined a few months ago with a token amount on deposit. I answered the question about how much I have on deposit "here" with just that small amount. Received instant approval for $20k at their lowest advertised APR of 11.99%.
They pulled TU, which surprised me a little. All prior MCP apps I had seen from my state, California, resulted in an EX pull. Perhaps I should have expected TU, since that's what US Bank pulled for my Cash+ app six months ago. TU8 was 792. Util is 1%. New cards were 1/6, 1/12, 4/24. TU inquiries were 1/6, 1/12 and 3/24.
One thing about the application process surprised me. After the wheel of death spun for several seconds, up popped a screen that showed the SL and APR they were offering, and it gave me the choice of accepting or declining. I happily accepted. It wasn't apparent whether declining would have prevented the HP.
(Edited to correct new card numbers. I was 4/24, not 2/24.)
First off, Congrats on the new Max Cash card!
Second, Elan has always been a solid TU user for me in Southern CA as well. I don't recall hearing of them using EX around here.
@Curious_George2 wrote:
@4sallypat wrote:How do you get "membership" thru another CU ?
The relationship between Elan and the banks, credit unions and other organizations it issues cards for is one that I struggle to explain clearly.
What I mean, and what I did, is that I found a CU that uses Elan to issue its credit cards, then I joined that CU in the usual way, deposited a little cash, waited several months to let it all age a bit, and eventually clicked the Credit Cards link on the CU's website. That prompted a warning that I was going to a third party's site -- Elan. From there, the application and everything else was Elan's. The only vestige of a connection to the CU was their logo at the top of some pages on the Elan site.
It's not clear that being a member of such a CU has any bearing whatsoever on the chances of getting a card approved, or the terms of the approval. This has been discussed at some length in @Aim_High's master thread, with no clear conclusions.Plenty of posters have received MCP cards bearing logos of FIs they have zero connection to. I chose to proceed in a more conventional way, partly because having an account at the "partner" FI is necessary for receiving the rewards as a deposit straight into a bank account.
I hope that answers your question. If I missed the point of it, please let me know. 😁
Hear hear. I too am contemplating Elan. Talking with the reps, they say it doesn't matter to them if you have an account. On the apps you can leave the 'relationship' box with a $0 and go finish the app.
I called the rep because I noticed that Elan was the 3rd party backing these beauties:
Connexus FCU Intro 0% APR on buys & BTs for 20 mos.
Spectra FCU...same.
Mechanic's Bank...same.
Busey Bank...same.
Bremer Bank...same.
I told her I was going to punch 3 at once and...would it flag me? She said it shouldn't because they'd be from 3 different institutions.
DYOR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Mission Control, get ready for launch. T minus...
