Can I get approved without an existing relationship?

[RaeRae1226]

Hi All,

I currently have a long-term goal (about a year out) of applying for US Bank's Cash+ card.  I know that people with scores of like 800+ before have been denied cards with them and I just want to know if it's possible to get a card with them without opening a checking or savings.  I currently have three savings accounts with three different credit unions and two checking accounts with those credit unions.  I guess I just don't want to spread things too thin and open another account if I don't have to.  

My plan is to apply on 12/1/25 which will give me 0-1/12 (I might apply for the Bilt) and I estimate that my score will be in the lower 700's by then (maybe 720ish).  

Any thoughts or suggestions on this?  What paths have people here seen to getting approved for US Bank without an existing relationship?  

Thanks in advance!

[JoeRockhead]

You might get better offers with a banking relationship, but you definitely don't need to have any relationship whatsoever with USB to get approved for their credit cards. Relationship, or not is going to come down to your credit profile. 

Scores 700+ should be fine,  just keep in mind they are sensitive to new accounts and inquiries.

[RaeRae1226]

@JoeRockhead 

Thanks!  Do you happen to be familiar with their preferred credit profile?  

I've read that score is only a small factor so I imagine it's the calculations that play into the profile, but anything I've tried searching for on Google, Youtube, and Reddit keep going back to the relationship.  Are there any steps I can take to help ensure that I'm approved in terms of working on my credit profile?  Also, what are their rules in terms of inquiries?  By then I should be the same (0-1/12) but what is their 24 month rule? Thanks!

[JoeRockhead]

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@RaeRae1226 wrote:

@JoeRockhead 

Thanks!  Do you happen to be familiar with their preferred credit profile?  

I've read that score is only a small factor so I imagine it's the calculations that play into the profile, but anything I've tried searching for on Google, Youtube, and Reddit keep going back to the relationship.  Are there any steps I can take to help ensure that I'm approved in terms of working on my credit profile?  Also, what are their rules in terms of inquiries?  By then I should be the same (0-1/12) but what is their 24 month rule? Thanks!

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You're going to want to be preferably 0/12, no more than 1/12 on inquiries/new accounts. Some other things they weigh is income, and they'll also look at how many open accounts you have. The maturity of your file will play a roll in how the number of open accounts you have are viewed. Again, they may give relationship some level of preference over someone with no relationship, but you'd have to have two different people with identical profiles to determine how much preference is given to the one with a bank account. I've seen good approvals granted both ways. 

My wife and I both have USB cards. She has several of their cards. Neither of us have a banking relationship with them, and as an outlier, and extreme example, she has more than 70+ active credit cards. She also has a high income, as well as a squeaky clean, very mature credit profile (35+ years). 

As for further steps you can take in regards to your profile, I can't answer that since there was no mention of what kind of shape your credit is in now.   

[RaeRae1226]

@JoeRockhead 

Thanks!  This is helpful.  My credit just dropped 9 points last week which brought me from good to fair (you helped me figure out why in my other thread). Before the drop and after my recent inquiries, my score was Ex 673, TU 700, Eq 711.  After the drop, my score for Experian was 664.  I didn't have updated scores for TU or Eq after the inquiries.  

Currently (after my drop last week) my score for Experian is 664, TU is 669 and Ex is 700.  

With your help I figured out why the drop happened after having gotten my utilization to 4% which was because I only had a balance on my AU accounts nad not my own accounts.  So I just let my Chase card report a balance to other day and I expect some sort of increase from there.  

My base pay is $95k but my median quarterly commission is $6000.  So, I make roughly $119,000.  I usually only report my base though.  I've been pretty conservative in that area because I figure it's better to be off by being under than to be off by being over in terms of salary.  

TU and Eq both have my oldest reported account which is an AU account from 2004 but some reason Experian doesn't list it.  My average age for TU and Eq is 5 years 9 months and because Experian is missing my oldest AU account my history only shows as 2+ years. 

I currently have 8 accounts total. 6 are mine and two are AU accounts. 

[JoeRockhead]

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@RaeRae1226 wrote:

@JoeRockhead 

Thanks!  This is helpful.  My credit just dropped 9 points last week which brought me from good to fair (you helped me figure out why in my other thread). Before the drop and after my recent inquiries, my score was Ex 673, TU 700, Eq 711.  After the drop, my score for Experian was 664.  I didn't have updated scores for TU or Eq after the inquiries.  

Currently (after my drop last week) my score for Experian is 664, TU is 669 and Ex is 700.  

With your help I figured out why the drop happened after having gotten my utilization to 4% which was because I only had a balance on my AU accounts nad not my own accounts.  So I just let my Chase card report a balance to other day and I expect some sort of increase from there.  

My base pay is $95k but my median quarterly commission is $6000.  So, I make roughly $119,000.  I usually only report my base though.  I've been pretty conservative in that area because I figure it's better to be off by being under than to be off by being over in terms of salary.  

TU and Eq both have my oldest reported account which is an AU account from 2004 but some reason Experian doesn't list it.  My average age for TU and Eq is 5 years 9 months and because Experian is missing my oldest AU account my history only shows as 2+ years. 

I currently have 8 accounts total. 6 are mine and two are AU accounts. 

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Many lenders ignore AU accounts and will focus on your primary accounts. I think you are in good shape as far as number of accounts.  I also think your income is no problem as long as your DTI isn't out of whack.  I don't know what USB's DTI criteria is specifically, but shooting for 35% or under is usually considered good for credit card applications. If your bonuses are received regularly, and especially if there's a proven history of them, including a median amount in your total income is generally a pretty safe thing to do.

Your current scores would generally indicate some other kind of adverse information being present such as late payments etc... any of that going on in the past? If so, what were they and how recent? 

Don't know when your newest account was approved but once your youngest revolver turns a year old, you'll get some added points out of that too. 

[AndySoCal]

@RaeRae1226 @The checking and savings might help if the checking account is your primary checking account. A checking account with little or no usage does not help in my opinion. A bank or credit union may look at the checking account to see how you manage money ie no over drafts etc. This might be an indicator of how you manage your credit. Savings accounts with big banks you are losing money in the sense you can get better rates elsewhere. Secondly, if the interest rate does not meet or exceed the inflation rate in post inflation dollars you have less spending power with those dollars.  The normal underwriting process is the primary if not the sole driver of approval. The sole benefit of having a relationship is you have a banker that might be able to assist if there is a question or a problem with the underwriting.

[RaeRae1226]

@JoeRockhead 

Ahhh yes you're right.

Synchrony literally closed my Verizon card out of no where this year and when it was closed there were no late payments however when it closed I didn't realize I had a $129 account balance that was charged at the statement end date until I got a late payment email.  I paid it immediately, but my account has 1 late payment for three months showing as paid in June of this year.  It's frustrating because other than that my payment history is perfect.  Even with the late payment my myFico says my payment history is "good".  

It's interesting you say this though, because this late payment is only fairly recent but I've always had a hard time getting past 700 even with a perfect payment history and very little inquiries.  My many inquiries are only in the past 12 months.  But I struggled before that and I'm honestly not sure why.  

Right now, my myFico says the following:

Transunion

• Payment history "good"
• Amount of debt "very good" (4%)
• Legnth of credit history "poor"
• Amount of new credit "fair"
• Credit mix "Exceptional"

Experian

• Payment history "good"
• Amount of debt "very good" (4%)
• Legnth of credit history "fair"
• Amount of new credit "poor"
• Credit mix "Exceptional"

Equifax

• Payment history "good"
• Amount of debt "very good" (4%)
• Legnth of credit history "good"
• Amount of new credit "fair"
• Credit mix "Exceptional"

Honestly, I understand why my score is where it's at right now considering my recent inquiries and my (bad) strategic decision to have a 0% baalnce reported for this current statement, but I've always been baffled by why I can neer get too far above 700.  Like I said, prior to this past spring/early summer my payment history was still flawless and this one late payment was an accident. 

[JoeRockhead]

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@RaeRae1226 wrote:

@JoeRockhead 

Ahhh yes you're right.

Synchrony literally closed my Verizon card out of no where this year and when it was closed there were no late payments however when it closed I didn't realize I had a $129 account balance that was charged at the statement end date until I got a late payment email.  I paid it immediately, but my account has 1 late payment for three months showing as paid in June of this year.  It's frustrating because other than that my payment history is perfect.  Even with the late payment my myFico says my payment history is "good".  

It's interesting you say this though, because this late payment is only fairly recent but I've always had a hard time getting past 700 even with a perfect payment history and very little inquiries.  My many inquiries are only in the past 12 months.  But I struggled before that and I'm honestly not sure why.  

Right now, my myFico says the following:

Transunion

• Payment history "good"
• Amount of debt "very good" (4%)
• Legnth of credit history "poor"
• Amount of new credit "fair"
• Credit mix "Exceptionl"

Experian

• Payment history "good"
• Amount of debt "very good" (4%)
• Legnth of credit history "fair"
• Amount of new credit "poor"
• Credit mix "Exceptionl"

Equifax

• Payment history "good"
• Amount of debt "very good" (4%)
• Legnth of credit history "good"
• Amount of new credit "fair"
• Credit mix "Exceptionl"

Honestly, I understand why my score is where it's at right now considering my recent inquiries and my (bad) strategic decision to have a 0% baalnce reported for this current statement, but I've always been baffled by why I can neer get too far above 700.  Like I said, prior to this past spring/early summer my payment history was still flawless and this one late payment was an accident. 

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@RaeRae1226 considering the recency of the late payment, it's still inflicting a pretty good sting to your scores. While that will subside as more time passes, in the meantime I'd strongly recommend  you reaching out to Synchrony's executive offices and politely pleading (either by phone, and/or snail mail) with them to do a goodwill removal of the late payment on your reports, especially considering your otherwise good payment history, and the circumstances being caused by the closing of the account. 

The other things holding your score back would be the combined amount of inquiries/new accounts/younger account ages. As more time passes the negative impact on your scores will lessen and you'll be well into the 700s, especially if you can get Synchrony to remove that late payment. 

Here is a recent Synchrony GW success story.

[RaeRae1226]

@JoeRockhead 

Here's one dilemma I have: 

One of the new cards I recently got is the PayPal Mastercard.  I was a little too trigger happy and applied before doing enough research to see who backed this card.  So I applied and was approved.  After I was approved is when I realized it was backed by Synchrony.  

Now here's my problem.  I literally don't know why Synchrony closed my Verizon card.  The reason on the letter they sent me was "risk of not paying" but I had never had an account with them before that, I had never not paid any card before that, and had only had my Verizon card for like four months and all payments were paid before the due date. 

That said, I thought about calling them to ask if they would remove it but I also don't want to draw attention to my account in fear that they will shut my Paypal card too.  There is no possible way that it was closed for risk of non payment which is why I'm so confused and am scared to call them about it.  

To clarify, my Verizon card was closed this past spring 2024 and my PayPal card was opened a month ago.  So I'm not sure they even know why they closed my card. The late payment did not appear as something that was owed prior to the account being closed.  After it was closed, I stopped going into the app and didn't realize that I still owed something per the most recent statement which is how I got the late payment (after the card was closed) It's a lesson learned to do my research on who backs a card before applying. If I had realized it was Synchrony, I wouldn't have applied for the PayPal card.