I had been kind of waffling on if I wanted to apply for this card or not, and today I finally bit the bullet. I'd been waiting for a late student loan payment from 7 years ago to drop off my TU, and it just did, so my score jumped about 20 points.
Last month when I opened my checking & savings, they offered a Cash+ w/ a $4500 limit or a Club Carlson card with a $2000 limit.
Apparently US Bank and I have gotten closer in the past month, because they approved me today with a $28.7K limit! Here are some DPs:
TU: 748 (04) - 760 (08)
INQs: This was #11 I think (although 2 others were US Bank, and the rest were older)
New accounts: 1 CC, 1 RLOC (6 months), +4 CC, 1 auto lease (1 year)
Current Util: ~9% of $130.5K visible CL
Highest CL: $29.1K
I nearly drove off the road when he told me the limit. I was expecting 5K (the minimum for this card), so it seems they're feeling generous with this card.
A little insight into the app process. I was over the 35-day "new customer" window, so I could've applied online, but I heard that app'ing in branch could work out better. So I went this morning and it was actually the branch manager I met with. He brought out the demo box/card (it's nice! little heavier than the CSP) and showed it off, and I figured out pretty quickly that I was the first app he'd taken for the card. One question that I hadn't head before was how much I expected to spend on the card every month. (I said 2500) He had some trouble submitting the app as it kept saying it was a duplicate. He figured out it was because I had done the RLOC last month. He told me that he'd have to call the UW dept and get them to manually push it. A couple hours later I saw the TU pull alerts, and a couple hours later I called to see if it was all set and they gave me the approval.
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One immutable fact I have learned from dealing with US Bank for a very long time is that while they are traditionally ball busters and ultra conservative when it comes to extending credit, they have a MUCH different perspective with folks that they already have a pre-existing relationship with. I opened my US Bank checking account back in undergrad, basically because they were the only national bank in my one horse college town. I have had them ever since. Like yourself, I also had some student loan anguish in my not distant past and had to get my loan "rehabilitated". I had credit cooties for an especially long time after that. Nobody would touch me. I had pretty much even stopped trying until my local banker at my branch told me to apply for the Cash+ card. Guess what? I was instantly approved for 1K on the spot. I was shocked beyond belief at the time, as I figured a secured card was pretty much my only option. It was less than a year later and I was hooked up with both the 365 Amex card and a signature loan for a used car.
I am pretty chummy with the bankers at my local branch since my company is old school and still cuts paper checks for me to deposit, and they have informed me that the corprate folks at US Bank have made a big push to extend credit to existing customers. From what they told me, only about 35% of US Bank customers also carry one of their credit cards. This is a problem they seek to rectify. I also like the ease of having all of my accounts in one place via their online banking hub. It keeps things consolidated. I guess the moral of this story as it pertains to you is that if you are loyal to US Bank you can fully expect them to hook you up in ways they would not extend to those who only applied for one of their cards.
Oh, and where are my manners by the way, as congrats are most certainly in order. The Altitude Reserve is very much the Rolls Royce of US Bank cards. Even here in Chicago I doubt most branches see many apps for that card, much less approvals with that kind of credit line.
@ChiTownRobby wrote:Oh, and where are my manners by the way, as congrats are most certainly in order. The Altitude Reserve is very much the Rolls Royce of US Bank cards. Even here in Chicago I doubt most branches see many apps for that card, much less approvals with that kind of credit line.
Thank you! I was definitely shocked, but from looking on DoC and other approvals on here, US Bank seems to be more generous with this card's SL than with their other cards.
I also agree with your previous comment - they are very much a relationship bank. I had known that before a little big from my Aunt who's a personal banker for them. I didn't realize how much so until reading on here. Djgrolyos on here is a big US Bank fan, and they had some great insights into just how much they value relationships. I've been using them as my main billpay bank for a month or month and a half, so they must've been happy with that at least. So far, I've been pretty happy - only had one minor CS hiccup, and I think that was just misunderstanding about a newer offering they have.
Congrats Op, thats a great limit. Enjoy it 
@Zerohot wrote:Data Point for folks that are “heavy” mobile wallet user. CAUTION: US Bank investigation team may look into you and close your account for no reason! I switched all my regular spending (~$7K/mo) to this card and got the sign up bonus within a month because I use Samsung Pay for everything. About a week after my statement cut, my card stopped working and when I called in I was told I needed to talk with Kristi. When I did talk to her she stated that my account was closed due to a breach of the cardmember agreement. BS! I believe it was their way of weaseling out of paying out the nearly $700 in rewards I had accumulated. That and they don’t want folks who only get Digital Wallet spending at 3%. I filed a CFPB complaint and they refuse to budge reiterating that my purchases were “patterned or excessive” but still couldn’t give me an example of what that means. Also note, I had a $50K credit limit so purchases were around 10% of CL. Needless to say I cancelled all my accounts after that… checking, savings, and my cash+ card as well. I hope Chase crushes US Bank with their new 5% mobile category on their Freedom card next year. I’ll never do business with these crooks again!
If you were buying gift cards, it's been pretty well documented since the card came out that US Bank would shut it down. They want people who are using the card for actual purchases, and they have little/no tolerance for MS.
