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In case anyone is interested, I spoke directly to an underwriter today regarding their approval criteria for the three cards they offer.
First a little history on me. I was laid off by my employer, a major worldwide investment bank, in 2008 just before they filed bankruptcy. At the time I had excellent credit and a handful of prime cards with high limits from Citi, Chase and Amex. I lost my home to foreclosure in 2009, and ended up filing chapter 7 in May of 2010 because I just couldn't keep up with everything anymore seeing as I was very much underemployed. Since then I've gotten a good stable job back in my field, I rebuilt my credit and now my Ficos are hovering right around 700 since my last lender pull in August. I'm closing on a new construction condo in a few weeks on Nov 1st!!!
Since I burned bridges with three major banks, my challenge has been trying to find a viable prime card to apply for in the near future. My checking and savings are with PNC and I wouldn't mind having their cash back card since I would qualify for their highest percentage of cash back. Their website states that you are less likely to be approved if there is a BK in your credit history, and they recommend that someone with a BK apply for their secured card. I rebuilt my credit on two secured cards, and now have two unsecured cards... a Cap 1 No Hassle ($1500 limit) and a Barclay Rewards card ($1000 limit).... so I'm definitely NOT in the market for a secured card. I called the number from their website to speak to someone about what kind of history they want to see if someone has a BK, and the lady actually transferred me directly to underwriting. That kind of surprised me initially as I fully expected to get the cold shoulder from a Peggy-like entity.
The underwriter was VERY nice to me considering she probably NEVER speaks directly to a customer and it's probably not her job description to answer my questions. The info I gleaned from her is that people with a BK are NOT automatically declined. Their underwriting system does look at other factors on the credit report, specifically the credit history both before and after the BK (obviously). It also takes into consideration the ability to repay (household income), current debt to income ratio, and your banking relationship history(i forgot the term she used) with them if you have one. The key was that you need to login to online banking first and then apply for a card in order for your banking relationship to be taken into consideration when you apply. If you have accounts with them, and you just apply without logging in, the system won't "find" your accounts and they won't be considered during the decision.
Also, there is no minimum score requirement. She has seen approvals as low as 560, and denials for people with scores near 800. A weaker score might initially be denied...but... THEY DO RECONS!!! She recommended that if the system automatically denies you, to definitely call in and ask them to review your application manually because there could be other factors that look favorable to them which could make them lean more towards giving you an approval.
And lastly, they offer three cards but I'm only interested in the cash back one. I asked her if the underwriting criteria was stricter for the cards that offer more perks or lower interest rates, and she said no. All three cards have the same underwriting criteria, so if you're approved for one, you'd be approved for any of the three.
I hope this was helpful to someone. I don't see much about PNC cards on here. I'm probably one of the few people who bank with them and actually LIKE them. I plan to apply on Nov 10, which is the day after my 1 year anniversary of having my Barclay card (crossing my fingers for a CLI!), and ten days after I close on my new condo. I will update this thread with the results if anyone shows any interest it.
Thanks for reading!
Ray
Great information to know.
Congratulations on your successful rebuilding!
I love PNC and I guess this answers my question of how I got approved with such short history. I had been banking with them for two years before applying for the Cashbuilder and got an instant approval. It really is a nice card with 1.75% cashback if I cannot use the Fidelity American Express card.
I never knew you could speak directly to an underwriter as I was interested in going for an increase sometime soon. I would advise anyone to not get their PNC Points or Flex card though. PNC points are worthless and the Flex card's interest rate is not that low for a balance carrying card.
@navigatethis12 wrote:I love PNC and I guess this answers my question of how I got approved with such short history. I had been banking with them for two years before applying for the Cashbuilder and got an instant approval. It really is a nice card with 1.75% cashback if I cannot use the Fidelity American Express card.
I never knew you could speak directly to an underwriter as I was interested in going for an increase sometime soon. I would advise anyone to not get their PNC Points or Flex card though. PNC points are worthless and the Flex card's interest rate is not that low for a balance carrying card.
If you know how to use the points, they can pay off big time! I know several people that get triple vs. the cashbuilder. Depends on how you use the card, so I wouldnt say its worthless. Also, the flex is intended for long term balance transfers, up to 24 months. The points offers a 12 month transfer with rewards and intro APR, so I agree its a better choice depending on your timeframe, but they all have their purpose.
jcstarkey8826 wroteIf you know how to use the points, they can pay off big time! I know several people that get triple vs. the cashbuilder. Depends on how you use the card, so I wouldnt say its worthless. Also, the flex is intended for long term balance transfers, up to 24 months. The points offers a 12 month transfer with rewards and intro APR, so I agree its a better choice depending on your timeframe, but they all have their purpose.
I forgot about the zero interest offers, so yes in those cases they are good cards. I would only redeem for cash with the points and that option is very unattractive to me.
50000 is $100, 20000 is $40. You have to spend 125000 to get that 50000 easily. If you have the highest chequing account you get a 75% bonus which is 37500 and brings us to 87500 points which would be $140 for the sake of ease. With the cashbuilder that 12500 in spending gets $218.75. To get the 1.75% with that you can either have the highest chequing account or spend at least $4000 per billing cycle. The $4000 per billing cycle is better in my opinion since I do not wish to keep $5000 tied up with them.
Some of the giftcards do actually appear to be an alright value, which I skipped over when I did the calculations back in January. I have not looked at the travel rewards, but those may be a better value. I will look more into it in January since it will be a year of having the card and may decide to get both. Thank you for pointing out I was wrong.
@navigatethis12 wrote:
jcstarkey8826 wroteIf you know how to use the points, they can pay off big time! I know several people that get triple vs. the cashbuilder. Depends on how you use the card, so I wouldnt say its worthless. Also, the flex is intended for long term balance transfers, up to 24 months. The points offers a 12 month transfer with rewards and intro APR, so I agree its a better choice depending on your timeframe, but they all have their purpose.
I forgot about the zero interest offers, so yes in those cases they are good cards. I would only redeem for cash with the points and that option is very unattractive to me.
50000 is $100, 20000 is $40. You have to spend 125000 to get that 50000 easily. If you have the highest chequing account you get a 75% bonus which is 37500 and brings us to 87500 points which would be $140 for the sake of ease. With the cashbuilder that 12500 in spending gets $218.75. To get the 1.75% with that you can either have the highest chequing account or spend at least $4000 per billing cycle. The $4000 per billing cycle is better in my opinion since I do not wish to keep $5000 tied up with them.
Some of the giftcards do actually appear to be an alright value, which I skipped over when I did the calculations back in January. I have not looked at the travel rewards, but those may be a better value. I will look more into it in January since it will be a year of having the card and may decide to get both. Thank you for pointing out I was wrong.
Oh, I dont think you were wrong. Your opinion is your opinion, I was just giving mine. You might not find that card valuable... heck, I dont find the points card valuable FOR ME, because of the way I use my credit card. I have co workers that use points and rack them UP because they know about the extra points here and all kinds of tricks to get them!!! I use other cashback cards that get more back, but PNC has cards for every type of person depending on your preference.
Good info. Thanks
Im about to hit 6 months with my Discover card. (new to credit) And I would like a PNC card as I bank with them I have a FICO above 680 but my history is short. Ive banked with national city (PNC) from 12 to now 21. I hope that will get me in easier.
Great info!!!
What number did you dial to get the UW?
@7ate9 wrote:In case anyone is interested, I spoke directly to an underwriter today regarding their approval criteria for the three cards they offer.
First a little history on me. I was laid off by my employer, a major worldwide investment bank, in 2008 just before they filed bankruptcy. At the time I had excellent credit and a handful of prime cards with high limits from Citi, Chase and Amex. I lost my home to foreclosure in 2009, and ended up filing chapter 7 in May of 2010 because I just couldn't keep up with everything anymore seeing as I was very much underemployed. Since then I've gotten a good stable job back in my field, I rebuilt my credit and now my Ficos are hovering right around 700 since my last lender pull in August. I'm closing on a new construction condo in a few weeks on Nov 1st!!!
Since I burned bridges with three major banks, my challenge has been trying to find a viable prime card to apply for in the near future. My checking and savings are with PNC and I wouldn't mind having their cash back card since I would qualify for their highest percentage of cash back. Their website states that you are less likely to be approved if there is a BK in your credit history, and they recommend that someone with a BK apply for their secured card. I rebuilt my credit on two secured cards, and now have two unsecured cards... a Cap 1 No Hassle ($1500 limit) and a Barclay Rewards card ($1000 limit).... so I'm definitely NOT in the market for a secured card. I called the number from their website to speak to someone about what kind of history they want to see if someone has a BK, and the lady actually transferred me directly to underwriting. That kind of surprised me initially as I fully expected to get the cold shoulder from a Peggy-like entity.
The underwriter was VERY nice to me considering she probably NEVER speaks directly to a customer and it's probably not her job description to answer my questions. The info I gleaned from her is that people with a BK are NOT automatically declined. Their underwriting system does look at other factors on the credit report, specifically the credit history both before and after the BK (obviously). It also takes into consideration the ability to repay (household income), current debt to income ratio, and your banking relationship history(i forgot the term she used) with them if you have one. The key was that you need to login to online banking first and then apply for a card in order for your banking relationship to be taken into consideration when you apply. If you have accounts with them, and you just apply without logging in, the system won't "find" your accounts and they won't be considered during the decision.
Also, there is no minimum score requirement. She has seen approvals as low as 560, and denials for people with scores near 800. A weaker score might initially be denied...but... THEY DO RECONS!!! She recommended that if the system automatically denies you, to definitely call in and ask them to review your application manually because there could be other factors that look favorable to them which could make them lean more towards giving you an approval.
And lastly, they offer three cards but I'm only interested in the cash back one. I asked her if the underwriting criteria was stricter for the cards that offer more perks or lower interest rates, and she said no. All three cards have the same underwriting criteria, so if you're approved for one, you'd be approved for any of the three.
I hope this was helpful to someone. I don't see much about PNC cards on here. I'm probably one of the few people who bank with them and actually LIKE them. I plan to apply on Nov 10, which is the day after my 1 year anniversary of having my Barclay card (crossing my fingers for a CLI!), and ten days after I close on my new condo. I will update this thread with the results if anyone shows any interest it.
Thanks for reading!
Ray
This is definitely good information! Thanks for sharing. I recently severed my banking relationship with BofA and opened PNC checking and savings accounts. I want to try for a CC but I'm worried about my prior BK and how much time and history they would like to see after. I don't want the secured card due to the fact it doesn't convert to an unsecured card later. I think I'm going to let my banking accounts garden a bit so my relationship will show more in my favor. Please keep us updated with the details!