Elan Max Cash Preferred cards

[coldfusion]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@CreditCobra wrote:

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@GhostCredit wrote:

This person on reddit said that Elan Preferred Max since its underwritten by US Bank that it's tied to your US bank back office is that true? I read the post where the guy said you have to use a seperate site. I hate that... I don't like how the shop your way card is by citi but they use a seperate site as well. until they link together, im not gonna get either cards.

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Not exactly. Elan Financial (who issues the Max Cash Preferred) and US Bank are not one in the same. I'm not entirely sure what the exact relationship is between the two. Whatever it is, they are indeed separate to a point. That said, they have slightly different underwriting and they do indeed have separate sites to log into to manage your cards. If that's a deal breaker for you, then that's that. You shouldn't apply for this card.

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Elan Financial is a wholly owned subsidary of US Bankcorp (aka US Bank).   So it's a very close relationship!

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Close enough that per a discussion that one of our members had with an underwriter about 2 years ago the same team within US Bank handles the underwriting for both US Bank and Elan CC applications.

As an aside Citi had announced at least 18 months ago that they were working to consolidate down to a single portal the management of both their core cards and cards issued and managed by Citi Retail Services (Sears, Best Buy, Home Depot, Macy's, Bloomingdales, etc) but that appears to have fallen off the cliff.

[DieGo2SHAE]

I will be able to add a datapoint here in a few days. About 3 weeks ago I finally hit 6 months from when we closed on a house so I was ready to apply for CC's for the first time in about 4 years (I already had 13 cards so I avoided applying for any more until after we had a house, whenever that came). I wanted to apply for the following: US Bank Altitude Go, the local version of the Kroger credit card, the local version of the Elan MCP, and the AAA Daily Advantage. The obvious problem is that the first two are issued by US Bank and the third is issued by Elan so I decided to apply for them one by one and in the order of the cards I most wanted, figuring if USB/Elan's system got 3 simultaneous apps there was a decent chance I would be denied for all 3. Fortunately I have had my US Bank Cash+ since 2015 so I at least wasn't going in with zero relationship. Here is my progress so far:

- Applied for USBAG on 9/15, got the dreaded 7-10 day message and figured maybe I should have waited longer than 6 months after closing.

- Approved for USBAG on 9/18 for $17k! Waited for the card to arrive and used it

- Applied for local version of Kroger card on 10/1, got the 7-10 day message again

- Approved on 10/2 for $10k! Waited for the card to arrive and used it

- Applied for the local version of the Elan MCP on 10/10, got the 7-10 day message yet again

Will update once I get a response on the Elan MCP 🤞

[PullingMeSoftly]

I would love to know how US Bank views total exposure when a customer has both US Bank and Elan products. When speaking with past USB representatives, it's clear that they could see my Fidelity account alongside my other USB cards. However, I've seen past approval DP's, even when a Cash+ and a Max Cash are approved close together or at the same time, that seem to indicate they are treated as different silos.

Since I'm 0/12 at the moment, I've got my eye on the AR, but I'm concerned about my overall exposure of 70k with USB, and 25k with Elan. Even though they can see it as 95k all together, I'm wondering whether or not they may only consider the 70k in relation to extending more credit to me for an AR. Don't know if it's worth pursuing, or if I might need to CLD a couple cards.

[FormerCollegeDJ]

FWIW, I was automatically approved for the U.S. Bank Cash+ in mid-January 2023 (at 1/12) and then auto approved for the Elan Max Cash Preferred in early May 2023.

[DieGo2SHAE]

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@DieGo2SHAE wrote:

I will be able to add a datapoint here in a few days. About 3 weeks ago I finally hit 6 months from when we closed on a house so I was ready to apply for CC's for the first time in about 4 years (I already had 13 cards so I avoided applying for any more until after we had a house, whenever that came). I wanted to apply for the following: US Bank Altitude Go, the local version of the Kroger credit card, the local version of the Elan MCP, and the AAA Daily Advantage. The obvious problem is that the first two are issued by US Bank and the third is issued by Elan so I decided to apply for them one by one and in the order of the cards I most wanted, figuring if USB/Elan's system got 3 simultaneous apps there was a decent chance I would be denied for all 3. Fortunately I have had my US Bank Cash+ since 2015 so I at least wasn't going in with zero relationship. Here is my progress so far:

- Applied for USBAG on 9/15, got the dreaded 7-10 day message and figured maybe I should have waited longer than 6 months after closing.

- Approved for USBAG on 9/18 for $17k! Waited for the card to arrive and used it

- Applied for local version of Kroger card on 10/1, got the 7-10 day message again

- Approved on 10/2 for $10k! Waited for the card to arrive and used it

- Applied for the local version of the Elan MCP on 10/10, got the 7-10 day message yet again

Will update once I get a response on the Elan MCP 🤞

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As a follow up, I got an email this morning stating I was approved for the local Elan MCP, also for 10k! So for this one it took 6 calendar days but 4 business days from application to approval. Im now 3 for 3 on the US Bank/Elan cards, all back to back applications. Very glad I applied in this order, Ill apply for the AAA card once Ive activated this one and put a charge on it.

[TyrannicalDuncery3]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Very recent thread on this, with more links to the older stuff

Elan Max Cash Preferred - Master List of Banks/Cre... - myFICO® Forums - 6523458

Underwriting is really through Elan, so same requirements for all.

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Interesting, thanks @Anonymous !

I'm planning to apply for this card through my local bank. Do you think I have anything to gain by depositing more money into a) my local bank, b) US Bank, c) doesn't matter?

[TyrannicalDuncery3]

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Have you tried Cash+ and it works with ConEd?  

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This does not answer your question, but:

When I first got the Elan, there was an annoying lag between first activating my categories and the 5% working. At first I thought PayPal wasn't working but actually it worked. Not sure that applies to your situation.

[TrapLine]

A small local bank owner informed me when I asked if he received anything for offering Elan Credit Cards. He said, not really. It was a customer service and Elan handled everything and took care of any collections. He was pretty much insulated from the credit cards. Also, he did not really get any sharing of the profits (if any). Going on, his client base really did not use Debit Cards much and he found them to be a nuisance but again, a customer service.

This bank has been around over 100 years and much of the surrounding geographic territory is demographically older people. Most still like paper checks, evelopes and stamps. The banker completely modernized and added online, mobile app, text and telephone banking. He did not add Tap & Pay on his Debit Cards but the services provider had more the bank could do if the client base would use it?!

[TrapLine]

PullingMeSoftly

Speaking ONLY based on my own experiences. I have a relationship with US Bank. Also, I have relationships with independent banks that utilize Elan. There appears to be no cross over and I have not found an affect either way.

As you put it, siloed.

Again this is my findings.

[NYJfan]

Does anyone know if LL Bean fits into a 5% category on either the Max Cash Preferred or Cash+?  It doesn't fit on either Department Store or Select Clothing Store categories but I thought perhaps it would fit in Recreation category? Any data points?  TIA.