Should I apply for BOA, WF, or USB secured cards to establish a relationship before gardening?

[Knice86]

I recently went on an App spree and got 6 out of 6 approvals, my inqs stand at trans 5, ex, 6, eq, 3.  My goal is to increase my overall credit limits and establish relationships with lendors who provide high limit credit cards.  My credit scores are all 700-750 range but I imagine they will drop went all these new accts hit.  My plan was to garden for the next 2 years until all these inqs are gone but I'm wondering if I should just bite the bullet on my score for a while and apply for a Bank of America, Wells Fargo, or US Bank Secured card as well as I noticed all of these lendors provide high limits if your income is high enough and I do not have a relationship with any of them yet.  My end goal being to raise my overall credit line as high as possible in the shortest amount of time.  Any Advice on how you would proceed in my shoes?  I'm thinking I could still get approved even with high inqs for a secured card and establishing a relationship now vs in 2 years when inqs are gone would fast track getting high limit CL's with the big banks.  Also plan on applying to Chase after gardening once my new accts hit the 2 year mark becasue of the 5/24 rule so I have some waiting to do there.

[Knice86]

I guess my question is from your experience, do secured cards fast track relationships to getting high limit CL's if you're patient or pigeon hole you into lower limits?  I've seen this work both ways on my secured cards when I first started a few years ago.

I started with a Navy Federal secured card $2500, graduated and now that card sits at $10,500 and I have a Platinium with a 12k limit. 

Also is hasn't worked well with Capital One and Discover

Started with a Capital One secured mastercard $1000, graduated but only at $1300 now and they deny CLI request.

Started with a Discover IT secured card $2500, graduated at 1 yr but they rarely give CLI's and they are small, currently at $3600 and the card is 3 years old.

Basically I'm wondering if my best course of action to get in with the big banks with decent CL's is to wait 2 years and garden then apply for non-secured cards or just get secured cards now.

[Jnbmom]

@Knice86 

I would not apply for any new cards . You have a decent lineup let them age and grow

You have 2 great cards with navy why on earth would you want to open more secured cards? 

[blindambition]

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@Jnbmom wrote:

@Knice86 

I would not apply for any new cards . You have a decent lineup let them age and grow

You have 2 great cards with navy why on earth would you want to open more secured cards? 

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+1

Time to let new cards age, and give scores time to rebound.

Stronger limits are often given on cards when one isn't credit seeking. Put those cards to use and chill. Credit is a marathon, not a sprint. Good luck!

[Remedios]

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@Knice86 wrote:

I guess my question is from your experience, do secured cards fast track relationships to getting high limit CL's if you're patient or pigeon hole you into lower limits?  I've seen this work both ways on my secured cards when I first started a few years ago.

I started with a Navy Federal secured card $2500, graduated and now that card sits at $10,500 and I have a Platinium with a 12k limit. 

Also is hasn't worked well with Capital One and Discover

Started with a Capital One secured mastercard $1000, graduated but only at $1300 now and they deny CLI request.

Started with a Discover IT secured card $2500, graduated at 1 yr but they rarely give CLI's and they are small, currently at $3600 and the card is 3 years old.

Basically I'm wondering if my best course of action to get in with the big banks with decent CL's is to wait 2 years and garden then apply for non-secured cards or just get secured cards now.

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NFCU is great for playing "Which one isn't like the others" game.

That's the stark difference between your navy limits and other cards.

If you continue applying, your limits will keep getting smaller and smaller if your profile is young, or you'll just end up with denials. 

Unfortunately, time is a big factor, and that's something one cannot hurry up. 

Secured cards won't lead to "relationship", but if it's any consolation, unsecured cards don't, either.

Lenders do not relate to individuals, they relate to money. 

If you can stash a few million, they might notice, otherwise it's peanuts they throw at us to make us think we're relating. Some lenders might give increased earning on card, but you have to have chunks of money there and keep it there. Take the money out, relationship over since they weren't "relating" to an individual to begin with. 

Use what you have, build payment history, apply when you need credit. 

As your profile ages, you will be able to apply when you want it. 

[Physh1]

I think people overthink 'relationships'. Nearly all banks let computers do the work. Very few banks manually underwritte most of their approvals (USBank is known for it).

In the older days I think there was some merit to this...in our times though? I don't think so. In my own particular experience...I've been a Chase checking account & savings account holder for nearly 20 years & they've been the toughest overall. I've had zero prior relationship with PenFed, Wells Fargo, US Bank, Discover, etc & they've been easier to deal with at times than Chase.

You're in the mid 700's so I think you're completely wasting your time with secured cards...they are well below where you are.

[cr101]

I don't think that you should apply for anything else, secured or unsecured. Honestly, you got 6/6 approvals, so you don't need secured cards and don't need to court cc companies. If they want your business, they'll give you an unsecured card.

You're wasting a HP for a secured card and tying up your funds for the chance that they'll 1) approve you for an unsecured card 6+ months down the road (which will mean another HP) and 2) give you the high SL that you want. And, who's to say when these cards will actually be unsecured?

At this point, they probably will decline you for an unsecured card bc of your recent inqs and new accts. Since you have the discipline to garden, I'd say don't get ANY secured cards. Apply for your dream UNsecured cards after you garden for 6-12 months.

[Anonymous]

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@Knice86 wrote:

I recently went on an App spree and got 6 out of 6 approvals, my inqs stand at trans 5, ex, 6, eq, 3.  My goal is to increase my overall credit limits and establish relationships with lendors who provide high limit credit cards.  My credit scores are all 700-750 range but I imagine they will drop went all these new accts hit.  My plan was to garden for the next 2 years until all these inqs are gone but I'm wondering if I should just bite the bullet on my score for a while and apply for a Bank of America, Wells Fargo, or US Bank Secured card as well as I noticed all of these lendors provide high limits if your income is high enough and I do not have a relationship with any of them yet.  My end goal being to raise my overall credit line as high as possible in the shortest amount of time.  Any Advice on how you would proceed in my shoes?  I'm thinking I could still get approved even with high inqs for a secured card and establishing a relationship now vs in 2 years when inqs are gone would fast track getting high limit CL's with the big banks.  Also plan on applying to Chase after gardening once my new accts hit the 2 year mark becasue of the 5/24 rule so I have some waiting to do there.

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I know folks w more expertise than I have already answered. Before you go into a 2 year garden, I personally would add one with the Prime Lender I want to be with 30 years from now. I think it's between BOA and WFB. You will know from having researched here which you're more drawn to for something they offer. 

And then before you press apply online, go into a local branch or two of each. Talk with them and ask. They have Pre Qualify pages. Do their secured cards display for you? Or not? That would give you a good indicator. 

Get one if all those signs show ok for you. Then garden. 🙏🏻🪴🪴 

[coldfusion]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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I know folks w more expertise than I have already answered. Before you go into a 2 year garden, I personally would add one with the Prime Lender I want to be with 30 years from now. I think it's between BOA and WFB. You will know from having researched here which you're more drawn to for something they offer. 

And then before you press apply online, go into a local branch or two of each. Talk with them and ask. They have Pre Qualify pages. Do their secured cards display for you? Or not? That would give you a good indicator. 

Get one if all those signs show ok for you. Then garden. 🙏🏻🪴🪴 

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I would go back and re-read Remedios' post above before going down this path.  She speaks the truth.