Store Cards vs. Credit Unions vs. Big Bank CLs

[rdtech]

I'm trying to understand what type of tradeline CL (store card, credit union, big bank) has the most impact when you apply for a new card and are seeking a high SL. We're assuming a particular profile would allow for a high SL, has below 5% utilization, and is free of any derogs so that would put the fico scores in the 700 range I'm guessing. Let's also assume we are going for a 5 figure SL.

I've heard (maybe incorrectly) that store card tradelines have no impact, credit union tradelines often are ignored by some banks, and that the big bank tradelines (Amex, Discover, BoA, etc.) are given the highest consideration when determining a SL. Is this true? Please explain.

Let's say a profile has a 10K Amazon store card, 1K Amex card, and a 25K NFCU card and the AAoA is 2 years along with everything else mentioned prior, would it be reasonable for say BoA or any other big bank to approve this profile for a 5 figure SL?

[Anonymous]

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@rdtech wrote:

I've heard (maybe incorrectly) that store card tradelines have no impact, credit union tradelines often are ignored by some banks, and that the big bank tradelines (Amex, Discover, BoA, etc.) are given the highest consideration when determining a SL.

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I'm not understanding what you mean by "no impact" above.  Perhaps you an explain that.

As far as SLs go, it's all lender/card specific whatever sort of "range" they throw out for SLs.  The better your profile matches what they're looking for in terms of an ideal customer, the better your SL.  Whether a major bank card, local CU card or store card, SLs can be tiny with great profiles and huge with so-so profiles.  If you hit up the approvals section of the forum and scroll through the threads there, you'll no doubt find the card(s) you're intersted in and can see what sort of SLs members were approved for and with what kind of profiles. 

[rdtech]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@rdtech wrote:

I've heard (maybe incorrectly) that store card tradelines have no impact, credit union tradelines often are ignored by some banks, and that the big bank tradelines (Amex, Discover, BoA, etc.) are given the highest consideration when determining a SL.

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I'm not understanding what you mean by "no impact" above.  Perhaps you an explain that.

As far as SLs go, it's all lender/card specific whatever sort of "range" they throw out for SLs.  The better your profile matches what they're looking for in terms of an ideal customer, the better your SL.  Whether a major bank card, local CU card or store card, SLs can be tiny with great profiles and huge with so-so profiles.  If you hit up the approvals section of the forum and scroll through the threads there, you'll no doubt find the card(s) you're intersted in and can see what sort of SLs members were approved for and with what kind of profiles. 

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Hello BBS

"no impact" may have been the wrong statement. What I was really trying to say was that if a lender was looking at a profile and found that a 10K Amazon store card tradeline was on the profie, it would not be considered as far as determining if one could handle a 5 figure SL. In other words, that store card is not part of the decision making process by the lender.

I understand that profiles are a huge factor in determining a SL. However, I've seen here on the forums that big banks don't necessarily want to be the "first" so to speak to dish out a 5 figure SL. I've been through the approval section many times and have noticed also that with decent fico scores (>700) and a few 5 figure big bank cards seem to most of the time lead to a 5 figure SL approval consistently.

Where I'm going with this is that if all cards are considered equal (if not please let me know) and I was trying to get a 5 figure SL with BoA for example or other big bank, but at the same time needed some 5 figure tradelines, my experience on the forums shows that it could easily and quickly be done with Care Credit, Lowes, or Amazon for example and all through SP CLIs. From what I've seen, all of those with the exception of Amazon can grow to at least 20K.

I know we're just guessing or speculating, but If you had a 20K Care Credit, 25K Lowes, and 10K Amazon (all store cards) and no other tradelines. Would that fit the bill for a big bank in regards to ability to handle 5 figure tradelines and lead to an approval of a 5 figure tradeline?

BBS, I hope you can reply to this. You always have a good insight on this stuff.

[Anonymous]

The best answer to that is YMMV. As you stated, profile and history are huge. I would venture that they’re the most important factor in determining any SL. Another big factor is the lender - some are far more willing to open an account with a big limit than others. That being said, having TLs of that size certainly will help IF the user’s history is solid with respect to UTI, payments, etc. All the 5 figure tradelines in the world won’t make much positive difference if one’s payment history is blemished and UTI is high.

However, more directly to your point, I think that seeing a good profile and some non-big-bank tradelines in the 5 figure range would definitely help your odds, if not to get an SL that size, then to at least increase to it reasonably quickly, again if it’s a lender like Synchrony or Disco. Chase, less likely.

[CreditInspired]

In my case, I do believe my $25K NFCU I got in March 2018 (now $20K due to reallocation) netted my $25K AmX in June 2018 because NFCU was my highest 5-figure card.

You mentioned greater than 700. When I got those two $25K cards, my scores were high 700-low 800 and 4yr AAOA. Now granted, NFCU is all over the place and someone with 600 scores may net a $25K CC. So, it’s definitely based on one’s specific credit profile and a YMMV kind of thing.

[AverageJoesCredit]

In a way , i can see your point. Me having high limit Sync cards definetely has not opened up the vault with other lenders. I think your income and other profile factors carry more weight. YMMV indeed.

[Anonymous]

Nice to see someone mention income. 

[rdtech]

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@Anonymous wrote:
The best answer to that is YMMV. As you stated, profile and history are huge. I would venture that they’re the most important factor in determining any SL. Another big factor is the lender - some are far more willing to open an account with a big limit than others. That being said, having TLs of that size certainly will help IF the user’s history is solid with respect to UTI, payments, etc. All the 5 figure tradelines in the world won’t make much positive difference if one’s payment history is blemished and UTI is high.

However, more directly to your point, I think that seeing a good profile and some non-big-bank tradelines in the 5 figure range would definitely help your odds, if not to get an SL that size, then to at least increase to it reasonably quickly, again if it’s a lender like Synchrony or Disco. Chase, less likely.

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Hello ITD,

Thanks for the reply. Something I also didn't consider in addition to the type of card was the lender specifically. As you mentioned, Chase seems to be a little more difficult to obtain a 5 figure SL right out the gate; though I've seen some approvals that would indicate otherwise. Seems to go back to having an otherwise strong profile. 

[rdtech]

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@CreditInspired wrote:
In my case, I do believe my $25K NFCU I got in March 2018 (now $20K due to reallocation) netted my $25K AmX in June 2018 because NFCU was my highest 5-figure card.

You mentioned greater than 700. When I got those two $25K cards, my scores were high 700-low 800 and 4yr AAOA. Now granted, NFCU is all over the place and someone with 600 scores may net a $25K CC. So, it’s definitely based on one’s specific credit profile and a YMMV kind of thing.

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Hello CI,

Very interesting datapoints! It seems like that the 25K NFCU (credit union card) along with your high FICO scores and AAoA contributed to AMEX (big bank) feeling comfortable with also giving you a 5 figure SL. Exactly what I was wondering! 

Thank you.

[rdtech]

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@AverageJoesCredit wrote:
In a way , i can see your point. Me having high limit Sync cards definetely has not opened up the vault with other lenders. I think your income and other profile factors carry more weight. YMMV indeed.

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Hello AJC,

I didn't mention it specifically, but when I said a profile would support a 5 figure SL, I was assuming income would also support that. I do fully agree with you that a 5 figure SL would not be a given if income did not support that given a particular profile.