@AndrewF wrote: My spouse was an immigrant who is now a citizen. He's been working for 5 years and a few months, full time. It's interesting to see his Social Security statements every year, because while it wouldn't be much based on how much he's worked now, it's also not nothing. Even if there was no more work record until he reached FRA, he would still get over $850 for life. They take your highest 35 years. If you haven't worked for 35 years, they take the years you didn't work and average those in as a $0 year.   He isn't eligible for retirement benefits until he has obtained 40 credits,  until the he's only eligible for spousal benefits or SSI.    He should be earning a Social Security credit for every roughly $1750 (current rate) in earned income in each year, but you can only earn up to 4 credits per year.  If your timeline is accurate barring any targeted loophole like having a job that doesn't partipate in SS your husband would potentially be eligible for retirement benefits at some point in 2029, but not before.    That's the actual requirement behind the 'you need to work at least 10 years to collect Social Security'  type arguments.  ... View more

New targeted offer is out:  10X points per dollar spend on up to $500 spend on Back to School purchases from Aug1 - Sep 30.   Snippets from the T&C:   Earn 10 points per dollar spent during the date range listed on the promotion tile under "My Offers" and in the offer you received via email. Offer valid on first $500 in eligible net purchases at department stores, clothing stores, electronic stores, discount stores, and book stores. To earn the 10 bonus points, you must select "enroll now" within My Offers before making eligible purchases.   Appropriate MCCs under this offer are Department Stores (5311), Discount Stores (5310), Clothing Stores (5137, 5139, 5611, 5641, 5631, 5621, 5651, 5661, 5681, 5691, 5699), Electronic Stores (5045, 5732, 7993, 5734, 5815, 5816, 5817, 5818), Book Stores (5192, 5942, 5111). ... View more

@NoMoreE46 wrote: I am renaming US Bank as NERF Bank.   Some of us who have been around here for a while also know it as SOCKS bank, although I'm starting to think that a vowel change might be apropos.  ... View more

  Why did you let a $500 balance report instead of say for example $5?    What is the credit limit of the 1 card that reported the balance?   Was that card a Visa, Mastercard, Discover, AMEX, store card, or ?   If Visa/Mastercard, who issued the card?    Looking to confirm whether or not you followed the correct best practice that leads to highest odds of getting a positive result.            ... View more

One often has to read between the lines a bit to figure out, or at least get a good idea of, the actual reason for a denial.      When denied for credit they have to give you at least 1 reason for the denial, but while there can be an infinite number of different permutations as to why you were denied the FI can legally only select from a curated list of roughly 80-100 phrases to explain the denial.  If there isn't a perfect match they will select whichever reason or (up to 4) reasons from the curated list that they feel most closely approximates the actual reason for denial.    You may be correct that your recently opening 3 new deposit accounts influenced the decision as well as other factors in your credit profile but the new 2 month old Synchrony (Amazon store card) account was probably the most influencial factor in their decision, which makes me suspect that maybe you just have a fairly young/thin credit history.  If you continue to maintain a good history over the next 4-6 months and minimize behavior like carrying balances you may have a better outcome if you try again.      ... View more

@Throttle wrote: Thanks to another posters DP of having his Lexis locked, I cold called the account protection number. They indicated I had a bureau locked. Found out it was Lexis, then proceeded to battle with Lexis to get it temporarily unlocked. After multiple calls back and forth Lexis<->Acct protection I was able to get approved for ~6k credit line!   Unfortunately I got a second Experian hard pull though which I did not authorize -.-. Not sure if I should battle or not. Congrats on the approval - insofar as starting a battle you can ask Bread/Comenity to withdraw the 2nd hard pull.   If they decline to do so, let it go.   ... View more

I don't know but am going to spitball it would be 31 days after the previous soft pull.    Did you close those 2 cards after the 7/16 preapproval failure with the idea that doing so would help your odds of getting a preapproval? ... View more

@NoHardLimits wrote: Numerous bloggers are saying that Prestige cardholders will NOT be forced to convert to Strata Elite.  Most are citing an Instagram post from Brian Kelly (The Points Guy): https://www.instagram.com/reel/DMnLUxAtf0p/  I figured that was going to be the case for sure this morning when I read the fine print, which includes this:   "The $300 Annual Hotel Benefit cannot be combined in the same transaction with the Citi Prestige® Card Complimentary 4th Night hotel benefit if you have both the Citi Strata Elite and Citi Prestige cards. " ... View more

Card is open for applications.  ... View more

No guarantee about when AMEX would let you back in after a chargeoff/IIB even when you voluntarily pay back the charged off amount,  it's handled on a case-by-case basis.   Also, since the 1st-year fees (excluding late/returned payment, over-limit, or optional fees) legally can't be more than 25% of the initial credit limit you can't get a $1K SL on a $650 AF card.    You need to check your current Experian FICO 8 score to assess how AMEX might view you.     Assuming you've been removed from the AMEX internal blacklist It would be almost a miracle to get a Delta Reserve approval with a score in the 500s,  more like there would be a glimmer of hope if somewhere around the mid-600s with odds improving when roughly in the 680-690 range and up.  ... View more

@villemiami wrote: Can they do both steps on the same phone conversation? Or do I have to wait days before credit transfer is confirmed? Because I don't want to pass the 30 days after the annual feeof the United Explorer card, so the AF can be removed. IME the credit limit transfer takes effect immediately.    It's possible you may need to have a live transfer to a 2nd CSR to complete the product change because Chase does maintain a degree of segmentation of CSR teams between different card families.   I know that a United CSR can push CL from a United card to a Sapphire Reserve (see next paragraph) but not if they can also process a Marriott product change or if they have to transfer you to a different team.   My suggestion is that you call the service number on the back of your Explorer card and explain to the United-team service rep exactly what you want to do and ask if they can accomplish all those steps themselves or if they will have to transfer you to execute the Marriott product change.     If you go through this I'd appreciate if you updated us with the steps they had to take as I think it would make for a great data point.    tl;dr I did a consolidation earlier this year where I upgraded my 20yo United card to a Club card (limit was already over $15K) then transferred CL from my existing/current Club card to my Sapphire Reserve and then closed that Club card.  The entire process took less than 5 minutes and only took that long because the CSR had to read out the boilerplate text at each step and have me confirm my authorization to proceed.   Limit on the Sapphire Reserve was updated immediately.  ... View more

@villemiami wrote: \ Can I ask to transfer the full CL of the United Explorer to the Ritz Carlton, and then cancel the United Explorer? The AF of the new United Explorer has increased to $150 so I'm not interested anymore. You can ask but don't be surprised if they tell you they can't do that as nowadays Chase doesn't normally allow an entire limit to be transferred.  Expect that they would be willing to first transfer $4500 over leaving the Explorer with a $500 limit and after they have confirmed that the limit transfered over correctly they would proceed with a 2nd transaction to close out the Explorer card with its $500 limit.   ... View more

@Thomas_Thumb wrote: @FICOdawg    My head would burst managing 26 cards lol. That reminds me of the 1981 movie Scanners!  I mostly remember that movie because Michael Ironside still had hair, wasn't one of Patrick McGoohan's finest works either.   Anyhow I manage more than double that number of active cards,  it takes some organization and help from a password manager and 30 minutes set aside each week to keep track of everything, but it would be harder if I only had 1 card from each and every issuer.  ... View more

@NoHardLimits wrote: - Navy Federal Platinum ask to convert to cashRewards Plus or Flagship Rewards.  Both have no FTF and base earnings of 2% to replace Double Cash when used overseas.  Flagship Rewards also has a yearly credit for Amazon Prime membership which more than offsets the annual fee.  Note:  There are rumors circulating about a product refresh for Flagship Rewards.   As long as the CL on the Platinum is at least $5K this is a great way to go; that's the minimum to be issued either a Flagship or the 2% cash back version of the cashRewards. The Platinum also needs to be at least a year old to be eligible to PC to a Flagship Rewards due to the Flagship's annual fee.   No hard pull needed for either product change.      ... View more

"This Card is issued by First Electronic Bank"   So,  not an actual AMEX card, just a card that uses the American Express payment network.  This is the issuing bank that partners with Cardless.  ... View more

With Synchrony 10-14 days is more commonly associated with their releasing back credit limit on a new-ish card after payment has posted to make absolutely sure that the payment won't get clawed back due to insufficient funds.   7-10 days leans toward a denial but it can also mean that they'll be sending you a letter with instructions to follow to verify it was really you who applied.    They don't have to send you a physical letter to inform you of a denial but they do have to notify you (check your email including your spam folder).  If you've heard nothing from them in 30 days you can file a FDIC complaint online against Synchrony for failure to notify you of the outcome of your application.  ... View more

Comenity is quick to pull the plug on you if their metrics show you becoming what they view as being at elevated risk of defaulting.   Behavior like going on an app spree, having a handful of successful CLI requests within a short period of time,  a big jump in utilization on several cards, or having a late payment report gets their attention and puts you at risk of Adverse Action.   Put another way, they behave a lot like Synchrony does when the overall outlook of financial markets turns cloudy.    Insofar as the card itself it isn't a bad card if you're OK with it using the AMEX payment network.  ... View more

@pauldc73 wrote: On CreditKarma, both my scores are 850.  But do credit karma scores really count? :) Insofar as anyone who matters using them to make credit decisions no, but Vantage 3.0 scores tend to behave in a way similar to a canary in a cave in that they're often more sensitive to changes in your credit profile than FICO scores.   If yours remain stable then your FICO scores are probably also remaining stable but their dropping doesn't necessarily mean that your FICO scores drop anywhere as much, if at all.  ... View more

Correct that they do not report the monthly balance.  They do provide the highest balance reported since the card was opened and if a credit cards they also report the current CL.   ... View more

@ElvisCaprice wrote:     Added:  There is a $100 referral SUB for both parties  (you can ask me in private if you want the code, but I would suggest waiting @ElvisCaprice  I suggest you look at the  @Jnbmom post upthread,  referrals on the site including the use of PMs is a no-no.  Thx.  ... View more

@Vinjints wrote: . All of my accounts are frozen, but I didn't think that would stop any SP.    While some reasons for performing a soft pull against a frozen file like for example the purpose of performing a normal account review are allowed a soft pull of a frozen report in direct response to a request for additional credit wouldn't be considered a permissible purpose.  BoA follows a similar policy. ... View more

  Reading this reminded me of an emusing story that some of the other legacy GC alumni might also remember.....   https://www.boston.com/news/local-news/2025/07/15/escaped-emu-rescued-by-police-after-feather-raising-chase/ ... View more

If you pay the current balance on your Chase card down to $0.00 they will update mid-cycle.    ... View more

@Jnbmom wrote: Hiring a lawyer isn't a bad thing, yes some can file themselves , but not all people can do that .   The likes of TD bank and PNC? They are not bad banks . They're each a top 10 bank in the US by assets managed,   TD's parent TD Bankcorp is almost as large as Goldman Sachs.  ... View more

@marillion wrote:   I make about $80k/year with my business but roll most of it back into the business (inventory purchases in cash) because my monthly expenses are very low. . . .  What do y'all think the issue is here? You likely answered your own question - per your comments you're self-employed (which in itself invites greater scrutiny, partly because self-employent revenue/income can tend to fluctuate) with the majority of business revenue used to directly support the business, only a minority is used to provide personal income.       That explanation would be consistent with explaining the limits on your current cards,  your having good FICO scores infers that you've probably been successful in living witin your means but your current limits and your recent difficulty in adding a card and getting a limit increase suggests that issuers are being mindful of how much potential debt they feel you can reasonably manage.      ... View more

@Janneman wrote: Oh boy....I have 7 cards with Elan...personal and business ones....Making me worried now that they might close my accounts too for no reason as FIs can and do close accounts without any reason at any time.... They may close accounts for reasons you don't agree with or with reasons you aren't aware of, but they don't close accounts without a reason even if it defies standard logic.  ... View more

Just logged in and poked around.  No issues.    Your issues was possibly tied to a routine maintenance activity that inadvertently triggered a small outage.  ... View more

@Gregory1776 wrote: @coldfusion wrote: @creditrizz wrote:  Cardless acquisition of their program   Yeah, what does this mean? Should I try and max out the Credit limit now?   They're still reliant on VC funding and they only have a handful of co-branded cards in their portfolio.   They did try to make a move into co-branded cards tied to sports teams with several successes including the Boston Celtics and the Pelicans a few years ago but that effort failed and most if not all of those portfolios have been terminated with all cards closed out.   They've publicly disclosed how much money they've raised from investors but haven't disclosed revenue figures other than having tossed out a few percentages related to revenue growth (which itself isn't unusual but it's a guessing game as to how well they're really doing financially).    Risky play IMO for both parties.    The comment upthread about their limiting applicants to only having 1 Cardless-issued credit card was correct but they removed that restriction earlier this year.  ... View more

@MrDisco99 wrote: @ocheosa wrote: @MrDisco99 wrote: I've had an Elan (Renasant Bank) MCP for the last 3 years that I've used to pay my utility bills each month.  That's several hundred dollars each month and I paid in full religiously and never missed a payment.  I also got an Everyday Rewards+ card that I briefly used for restaurant spend but has mostly been in the sock drawer for the last year or so.   Yesterday I tried to pay my gas bill with my MCP as is my usual routine and the transaction was declined.  I called the number on the back of the card and they told me my account was closed, could not explain why, and gave me a number to call.  So I called that number and spoke to someone else who looked me up and told me that "due to the terms of the deposit account agreement the accounts have been closed."  I told him I don't have a deposit account, and asked what terms I was afoul of.  He told me he couldn't tell me anything else.   So yeah... if you have account with Elan they might just shut you down and not tell you why. @MrDisco99  , If you recall the app asked if you had a deposit account. I think the easy access to bank/credit union websites and issuing of cards w/o following guidelines is now being corrected.    Lately, when browsing different banks who have elan seriviced cards, I've noticed you have to login to online banking in order to apply for cards.  It was 3 years ago.  I don't remember anything about that application process.   You reminded me of something I forgot to mention, though... when I asked about the supposed "deposit account agreement" the guy on the phone asked me if I'd remembered the document I'd signed when I accepted the card.  Of course I told him no, because I don't remember signing anything, and even if I did, I certainly don't remember what was in it.   He said I'd agreed to terms in that document.  I asked what specific terms were causing my accounts to be closed and he couldn't answer.  So I still don't know what document I supposedly signed or what was in it.   If cardholders are supposed to have deposit accounts and they are cracking down on that, then I guess that would be a reasonable explanation.  He could've just said so, though.  And it's kind of annoying for them to be enforcing that policy retroactively. You can try taking a look at the current (at least recent)  cardmember agreement to see if there are any lines in the terms & conditions sections you see that you might have crossed.   https://online1.elancard.com/oad/teamsite/decisioning/elan/docs/global_default/FR006213482_z02_ELAN_NPSL.pdf   You can also try a Hail Mary and file a CFPB complaint although given that agency's current status I don't know if there's any reasonable chance of that driving a positive outcome.  ... View more

Seeing that makes me wonder if they're going to nerf my Platinum Rewards card (2% back, been closed to new applications for a while) as well.  ... View more