Elan product change question

[increasingmyfico]

I have an Elan credit card with a bank I am ready to end my relationship with due to me relocating out of the area. One of my credit unions also uses Elan for their credit card program. Is it possible to product change to another card at the new institution? 

[K-in-Boston]

Unfortunately, it's not possible.  Elan is simply the servicer for many small financial institutions and you would not be able to change Main Street Savings and Loan to 16th Avenue Bank, as the original lender is the one who actually granted the credit.  Think of it like a gift card company; Macy's and Burger King both sell reloadable gift cards and while the underlying servicer may be the same, you can't just call them up and ask them to switch your Whopper card over so you can buy some Martha Stewart sheets.

There have been cases where product changes were allowed when a FI ceased operations or servicing by Elan, but those have been to Elan cards without branding by another FI.

[ocheosa]

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@increasingmyfico wrote:

I have an Elan credit card with a bank I am ready to end my relationship with due to me relocating out of the area. One of my credit unions also uses Elan for their credit card program. Is it possible to product change to another card at the new institution? 

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@increasingmyfico I would assume by your question that you have the rewards deposited to your bank account? I would give a call to the card customer service and see if they could change the rewards payout from deposit account to statement credit. This would allow you to keep the card/relationship and just make payments using an external bank account. Worst case, they require you to keep the savings only and just leave the min amt allowed in that account. This way you can take advantage of two Elan cards ! Just a thought...

[ChargedUp]

You can "product change" (ie: Real Rewards to Everyday Rewards +) but they will not let you change from the bank you applied through.