Can I get approved without an existing relationship?

[Kforce]

Just as a data point.

I got the cash+ (no relationship)

With about AAoA's (10y), 830 Ficos, 0 - Inq, 10 other cards.

< 1% utilization.

[NoHardLimits]

I waited until I was 0/12 in new accounts before applying for US Bank Altitude Connect.  I was instantly approved without any previous relationship (no cards, loans, or deposit accounts).  I will say that the starting credit limit was much lower than I had been receiving from other banks during the previous year.  Cards 2 and 3 from USB received much higher SLs.

[Gregory1776]

---

@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. 

---

im certain you can report 119K as income. as long as thats something basically garanteed.

[Realist]

I applied maybe a year or so back to US bank, no relationship.  It was the third in a series of three credit cards that I was approved for the same night.   The first two cards were adequate account amounts, but the US bank account was on the smaller side.  I really didn't need this card, it was just a mark on the report and to see how far I could abuse it.

If your income and debt load is in check.  If you haven't pulled on these strings before, and have a decent credit score, then I wouldn't sweat it.  I can't say if anything changes with credit tightening.

I find that credit is meant to be taken advantage of responsibly.   Abuse it until you are forced to take a break.  I mean who's going to actually use all the credit made available anyways?  It's far too much, and redundant.  

Today, it's all about SUB and rewards.   If it's not free, I'm not interested.

[Pppoolboy]

> I guess I just don't want to spread things too thin and open another account if I don't have to. 

I have 42 accounts with 19 different banks and credit unions... LOL you'll get used to it.

[Anonymous]

---

@Realist wrote:

I find that credit is meant to be taken advantage of responsibly.   Abuse it until you are forced to take a break. 

---

Mmm, not quite sure what those mean together.    The first might be "Abuse in moderation" (for some definition of moderation), "Abuse until stopped"

Both are fine strategies but for different risk tolerances.