It's worth moving my saving out of Amex/Discover since they will never going to approve me a card?

[Ladyofthelake]

  Hello. All, I am Feng. I hope you all stay safe and warm. 

  Long story short:I had a tough time when I moved to the states from my home country. I maxed out my Chase/AMEX/Discover card, I couldn't make payments on-time, as a default, I had debt collections in my credit report for 7 years. The 7 years has passed. I finally laned with my foot. I am more stable then I was. Now my credit report is good as a new woman.  I have score of 750+ in all of the three credit bureaus. I vowed to myself I am not going to ruin it EVER AGAIN. 

  I have 2 Cap 1 cards ($500 and $750), Citi costco ($7.7K). I recently applied CSP. I was approved for 5K (A nice suprise, Thank you, Chase for not holding the past debt against me). and I also applied AMEX gold and delta blue. Amex withheld my application, wanted me to see my tax return. Since I am taking care of a family member of mine, (he pays my expensives) I do not have reportable income, so there is nothing I can do but let my AMEX application expired. I didn't bother with Discover this time. Few years ago, when I was rebuiding my credit, they denied my secured card application twice. 

  I have done my homework in this fourm. Amex and Disscover are nodorious for asking for proving of income. As long as I don't have a verifiable income, they will never approve me. Like ever. Espeically I think AMEX has flagged me now, any new application I submit will be asl for POV. 

  Over the years, I do have some money saved in Amex and Disco saving accounts(Both AMEX and Discover will not accept bank statement for POI). I am thinking now since Amex and Discover will not likely appove me a card (not till I can verify my income). Should I end all the relationships with them, and move my saving to a local credit union to earn a highty APR?? Is it worth it?

  Thank you, all. Please share your wisdom. Wish you all well. 

[Remedios]

@Ladyofthelake money in savings/checking isn't income, and you shouldn't list it on any application as such, irrespective of fact whether lender in question is known to ask for POI or not. 

You can list amount you have in savings as "asset", but that's where it stops. 

Bigger issue is this   If you are working (which you are), unless your income is reported to the IRS, you don't have it. 

"Paying expenses" is euphemism for being paid under the table, and I wouldn't mess with that.   

The reason why I'm saying it's an euphemism is because you're applying for cards, and you're paying cards, so it's not that someone is providing you with food and shelter only, money is exchanging hands if you're having discretionary spend. 

Based on what you've typed up there, you've resided in US for at least a decade. 

Have you ever filled taxes, this isn't just about taxes, it's social security contributions etc.   You will need those done day, and while tax free money may seem like a good idea (it's not) right now, it will hurt later. 

In the end, it really doesn't matter where your savings are in terms of credit applications because if you are applying, you're putting income down and we've established that you do not have income you can prove.  

[NyaBuksh]

I would say put your money where ever you feel most comfortable and whether it will help you reach your financial goals.

You don't necessarily need to have prior banking experience with Amex and Discover to get their credit cards. Credit unions on the other hand may be more lenient with their lending products but will most likely require proof of income more often than the big traditional banks.

[Ladyofthelake]

---

@Remedios wrote:

@Ladyofthelake money in savings/checking isn't income, and you shouldn't list it on any application as such, irrespective of fact whether lender in question is known to ask for POI or not. 

You can list amount you have in savings as "asset", but that's where it stops. 

Bigger issue is this   If you are working (which you are), unless your income is reported to the IRS, you don't have it. 

"Paying expenses" is euphemism for being paid under the table, and I wouldn't mess with that.   

The reason why I'm saying it's an euphemism is because you're applying for cards, and you're paying cards, so it's not that someone is providing you with food and shelter only, money is exchanging hands if you're having discretionary spend. 

Based on what you've typed up there, you've resided in US for at least a decade. 

Have you ever filled taxes, this isn't just about taxes, it's social security contributions etc.   You will need those done day, and while tax free money may seem like a good idea (it's not) right now, it will hurt later. 

In the end, it really doesn't matter where your savings are in terms of credit applications because if you are applying, you're putting income down and we've established that you do not have income you can prove.  

---

Hello. Mod. Thank you for your reply. I apprecited it. 

My relative is paying my bills, he never give me a cetrain amout. He helps me here and there. Bacisclly I am depending on him now, but you are right, at the moment I do not have income I can prove. I will stay way from Amex/Discover for now. I will reconsider in the future when I got hired and can provide the documents they needed. 

Thank you for clairfing saving is not a income. 

[Ladyofthelake]

---

@NyaBuksh wrote:

I would say put your money where ever you feel most comfortable and whether it will help you reach your financial goals.

You don't necessarily need to have prior banking experience with Amex and Discover to get their credit cards. Credit unions on the other hand may be more lenient with their lending products but will most likely require proof of income more often than the big traditional banks.

---

Thank you very much.

[dragontears]

I am unclear on your motivation. 

Are you benefiting from having savings account with these banks more than if it was at a different bank? If so, keep the money where it is at. If not, move it somewhere else. Don't make a poor financial decision just because a lender won't give you pretend money to play with; make financial decisions based on what benefits YOU the most, banks will look out for their own interests and not care about you. You should return the favor. 

Especially with Amex and Discover, banking and lending are completely different. 

[Ladyofthelake]

Thank you. You told something I haven't really given a deep thought. The benefits is the local credit union pay 0.15% higher interest than my current saving account with Amex/discover. 

I was hoping if I moved my fund to a local credit union, they will more likely see me having a relationship and approve me a credit card in the future. 

---

@dragontears wrote:

I am unclear on your motivation. 

Are you benefiting from having savings account with these banks more than if it was at a different bank? If so, keep the money where it is at. If not, move it somewhere else. Don't make a poor financial decision just because a lender won't give you pretend money to play with; make financial decisions based on what benefits YOU the most, banks will look out for their own interests and not care about you. You should return the favor. 

Especially with Amex and Discover, banking and lending are completely different. 

---

[FinStar]

---

@dragontears wrote:

I am unclear on your motivation. 

Are you benefiting from having savings account with these banks more than if it was at a different bank? If so, keep the money where it is at. If not, move it somewhere else. Don't make a poor financial decision just because a lender won't give you pretend money to play with; make financial decisions based on what benefits YOU the most, banks will look out for their own interests and not care about you. You should return the favor. 

Especially with Amex and Discover, banking and lending are completely different. 

---

I'm a bit unclear on the bolded statement @dragontears  What, if any, favor should be returned? In exchange for what?

Obviously, it was already clarified upthread that the OP's assets weren't going to be used in any form of consideration for the two lenders they had intended on applying, maybe they didn't know that and it was already explained. Also, if the OP wanted to invest those funds elsewhere (i..e. higher yield of return) that's more prudent than "make a poor financial decision".  How is that a poor financial decision if the OP decides to move the assets elsewhere? There are more competitive (if not better) HYSA rates with other institutions if the OP decides to shop around. It's not like Discover or AENB will be inconvenienced by the movement of said funds -- we aren't privy to the amounts they keep in either of the two banks.

[FinStar]

---

@Ladyofthelake wrote:

Thank you. You told something I haven't really given a deep thought. The benefits is the local credit union pay 0.15% higher interest than my current saving account with Amex/discover. 

I was hoping if I moved my fund to a local credit union, they will more likely see me having a relationship and approve me a credit card in the future. 

---

@dragontears wrote:

I am unclear on your motivation. 

Are you benefiting from having savings account with these banks more than if it was at a different bank? If so, keep the money where it is at. If not, move it somewhere else. Don't make a poor financial decision just because a lender won't give you pretend money to play with; make financial decisions based on what benefits YOU the most, banks will look out for their own interests and not care about you. You should return the favor. 

Especially with Amex and Discover, banking and lending are completely different. 

---

---

@Ladyofthelake 

My suggestion would be to invest your $$ where you can receive a better yield of return, especially if these assets are substantial. Don't necessarily go with a CU if you don't know what their lending policies are. Plenty of CUs value customer relationships and can be flexible with a variety of lending options with considerable assets/investments, but not all CUs do that since in a variety of cases CUs may require POI as part of their underwriting criteria, so just something to consider.

[dragontears]

---

@FinStar wrote:

---

@dragontears wrote:

I am unclear on your motivation. 

Are you benefiting from having savings account with these banks more than if it was at a different bank? If so, keep the money where it is at. If not, move it somewhere else. Don't make a poor financial decision just because a lender won't give you pretend money to play with; make financial decisions based on what benefits YOU the most, banks will look out for their own interests and not care about you. You should return the favor. 

Especially with Amex and Discover, banking and lending are completely different. 

---

I'm a bit unclear on the bolded statement @dragontears  What, if any, favor should be returned? In exchange for what?

Obviously, it was already clarified upthread that the OP's assets weren't going to be used in any form of consideration for the two lenders they had intended on applying, maybe they didn't know that and it was already explained. Also, if the OP wanted to invest those funds elsewhere (i..e. higher yield of return) that's more prudent than "make a poor financial decision".  How is that a poor financial decision if the OP decides to move the assets elsewhere? There are more competitive (if not better) HYSA rates with other institutions if the OP decides to shop around. It's not like Discover or AENB will be inconvenienced by the movement of said funds -- we aren't privy to the amounts they keep in either of the two banks.

---

@FinStar 

Let me clarify, 

The OP should put their money where it benefits them the most and not try to make a lender "happy" by having an account. Keeping money in a poor ROI place because of a credit card potentially being approved at some point in the future can be a poor financial decision. If there is more benefits to keep it where it is, they should; if they have alternatives that gives a better ROI, then they should move it. It is not a complicated concept. 

As for the bolded part of my statement, "returning the favor" means looking out for your best interests and not caring what a bank "thinks".

Hope that makes things clearer.