Does having a prestige and prime card help your credit profile look better to underwriters?

[Anonymous]

okay a few buddies of mine all had a talk at the dinner table about this. The topic was basically does having a prime card from Amex, Chase, etc make your credit profile look better if an underwriter or someone were to give you a loan and looked through your credit profile in detail. 

The debate ended up going back and forth with one person saying if there was only 1 loan to give out and two people competed. A person with Amex and chase on their profile would get the loan over someone with only capital one in their profile lol. 

I found the the discussion funny, told my friends I'm going to post on my fourm when I got back home to see what all of you guys think about this lol. 

[Dcyphrz]

I'm no banker, but I'd imagine that there is so much other criteria to consider during the loan process that the specific credit cards an applicant carries wouldn't have much affect on their qualifying.  Just a guess.  

[jsucool76]

Having an Amex card can make a difference when applying for another Amex card since you have history with the lender. Same applies to chase, and basically all lenders. Otherwise, I'd find it hard to believe that an underwriter who sees hundreds of reports a day goes "oh, they have an Amex, they must have good credit, approved!"

[Chris679]

Only time I could see this being a factor is if you have a low credit score/limited history/baddies. In that case I think someone with accounts in good standing from Amex/Chase is going to better than someone with a couple store cards and Fingerhut. Once you have a thicker/well established file I don't think it's much of a factor.

[Loquat]

Amex cards really aren't all that hard to get anymore are they?  Don't know why it would be given any more "weight" than any other card?  I would think that the overall credit profile would be the determining factor.  

[bz386]

How would a bank know that you have a "premium" card? All they ser on your credit report is how many accounts you have with each lender, not what specific cards you have.

[Dcyphrz]

Interesting point.

[Anonymous]

I work in real estate lending at a large bank and talk to underwriters every day. Granted, I have never asked them about this but I'm nearly 100% sure that approving someone with an AMEX / Chase card over someone with a Credit One, and that being the only deciding factor, would be a violation of Fair Lending laws. Banks are so careful about this now, at least in theory. We have had to attend class after class about it and many policies have been tweaked or added over the years to ensure we are adhering to Fair Lending practices. Just my opinion but I don't think it would make any difference. A lender would get killed in an audit for it.

[Anonymous]

Also, we see an applicants full credit report on every application. We see everything.

[jacetx]

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@Anonymous wrote:

okay a few buddies of mine all had a talk at the dinner table about this. The topic was basically does having a prime card from Amex, Chase, etc make your credit profile look better if an underwriter or someone were to give you a loan and looked through your credit profile in detail. 

The debate ended up going back and forth with one person saying if there was only 1 loan to give out and two people competed. A person with Amex and chase on their profile would get the loan over someone with only capital one in their profile lol. 

I found the the discussion funny, told my friends I'm going to post on my fourm when I got back home to see what all of you guys think about this lol. 

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I don't think it would help any. IMO a lender would like see a positive payment history, steady income, low # of inquiries, high scores, etc, when making a decision rather than a "prime, prestige" card. You can have Credit One and First Premier cards and have a perfect payment history and a great score. Having a prime or prestige card is not a guarantee that you will be a responsible borrower. That being said, I think having cards with high limits help, some lenders issue a CL based on your other limits.