Observations: - some issuers are much more sensitive to the number of inquiries than others - some issuers don't consider an app right away, so it's not enough to just schedule those early in a 1-day AOR (search "late puller" for other observations here)
Based both on my own AOR experience and the great info from play-by-play threads, here's my current plan (with personal and business together in the hope that a few inquiries get combined):
1. Advanta, Barclays (Juniper), CapOne, National City 2. DCU (no fee BT target), GE (including a targetted LOC offer), State Farm 3. Compass (by phone), Elan, RBS, SunTrust, US Bank Baylor (?) 4. majors: AMEX, BoA, Chase, Citibank, Discover 5. utilization only: RBS Kroger, US Bank Gymboree ... any other suggestions?
Cards that some may want to try, but I'm skeptical: - HSBC: very few get more than $600 - WAMU: few get more than $3K (if keep, ESPN WAMU might be best)
Rejected EXCEPT for the first AOR at an address, and with AT LEAST 1 day delay: - FNBO: although I got this card last year, I've now given up - Principal (= Infibank = FNBO): checks the same funky ICS / ARS.
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Great idea, I've wondered about those late pullers and how to snare 'em. Only thing I'd offer is that HSBC gave me a big line and State farm is a complete waste of time. Good luck
I would skip HSBC as the pull is Experian. I also did not do a WAMU card on my wifes AOR because of the low limit they gave me (5K). Kroger denied me as a late puller (same time and all but TMI) so I would skip them. 53rd business was also a waste of time (1.5K limit). Other than that the sky is the limit.
devildoc said:HSBC gave me a big line Did you already have an HSBC savings account with them (perhaps with more than token $ in it)? I know of one $12,500 CL that had perhaps a few $K in savings. Or, any other factor that distinguished your case from the majority?
devildoc said:State farm is a complete waste of time. I know of a $9K limit, and I think WashWest got $24K. Granted State Farm pulls all 3; still looks worthwhile to me. If several people try it EARLY (possibly days not hours), we'll have more realistic data.
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win333 said:did you mean infini = fnbo a fickle or that they are the same like FIA and bofa? Cause my fnbo cards are FNBO and not infini.
Yes, it's at least somewhat like FIA = BoA. e.g. a bit of Googling yields this post (!) plus "FNBO and an affiliated institution, InfiBank, are wholly-owned subsidiaries of First National of Nebraska, Inc (FNNI)".
In addition to the AOR-hostile ICS / ARS report, an old Principal card's monthly statements recently change to become just like the FNBO statement.
cardjuggler said:devildoc said:HSBC gave me a big line Did you already have an HSBC savings account with them (perhaps with more than token $ in it)? I know of one $12,500 CL that had perhaps a few $K in savings. Or, any other factor that distinguished your case from the majority?
devildoc said:State farm is a complete waste of time. I know of a $9K limit, and I think WashWest got $24K. Granted State Farm pulls all 3; still looks worthwhile to me. If several people try it EARLY (possibly days not hours), we'll have more realistic data.
I had a $1.07 balance in my HSBC savings (it was as high as 150K during their 6% promo)
I think you're right about State Farm, getting in way before any other inqs might help. I wonder if having State farm insurance already makes a difference.
Wizard83 said:I got a $12.5K line from HSBC but I did have several thousand in their online savings at that time.
Maybe this is the reason why only a few get good CL from HSBC and most end up with a paltry $500-$800 CL. I got a pre-app offer from them, so I will try it as the last app tomorrow. I don't have much in my HSBC savings account.
My pre-approved BofA Biz app was denied last summer due to some info on my ARS report, so FNBO are certainly not the only ones looking there.
FNBO (biz) also checks EQ Biz or SBFE. Again, they are not the only ones. This is a good thread, but you need more data points and better strategy.
It may be easier to eliminate inquiries from the same issuer on the same day (sometimes within 30 days) as "duplicate".
BTW, I got 21.5K initial CL from HSBC. I've been using them as my main bank for over 10 years and I had over 100K there when I applied, IIRC. My wife, who did not have any accounts with them, got 1.5K CL with similar credit history and the same HHI. This was a year ago.
asdf9876 said:It took me a year of on time payments and several phone calls just to get my 2% HSBC card up to $1,000.
Since I think you can only have one HSBC card, I would hold out until you get the special 2% invitation. I got 2 HSBC cards in my last A0R. One was cobranded GM. Was never able to consolidate.
I've had BIZ cards for about 5 years, my new chase BIZ card is the only 1 that has reported to EQ biz or any biz report. I think your BIZ apps will do much better if you get a BIZ file started (sooner the better).
EugeneV said:My pre-approved BofA Biz app was denied last summer due to some info on my ARS report, so FNBO are certainly not the only ones looking there.
FNBO (biz) also checks EQ Biz or SBFE. Again, they are not the only ones. This is a good thread, but you need more data points and better strategy.
It may be easier to eliminate inquiries from the same issuer on the same day (sometimes within 30 days) as "duplicate".
BTW, I got 21.5K initial CL from HSBC. I've been using them as my main bank for over 10 years and I had over 100K there when I applied, IIRC. My wife, who did not have any accounts with them, got 1.5K CL with similar credit history and the same HHI. This was a year ago.
win333 said:I've had BIZ cards for about 5 years, my new chase BIZ card is the only 1 that has reported to EQ biz or any biz report. I think your BIZ apps will do much better if you get a BIZ file started (sooner the better).
I don't see how this relates to anything that I wrote, but anyway, all of my pre-AOR biz cards report to EQ Biz (directly or via SBFE). Discover was the first from the new cards to report. It appears that these reports are per biz per guarantor/principal. For example, I see my CapitalOne card on the report, but not my wife's (same Biz/EIN/P.O.Box used on both apps).
I keep getting CLI without asking for them from FNBO. I got that card durning my Mini App-O-Rama in Feb with a $25k limit. Then in Sept I got a CLI without asking for it from $25k to $35k and then this month from $35k to $40k.
Now I only asked for $12k BT from them when I got the card. I was sending in $400 per month till the first CLI then increased my payments to $500 in Oct and after 2 more payments I got another $5k CLI.
I still have currently close to $75k in credit card debt showing on my credit reports. I think FNBO does not like BT whores nor people who make the min payment. Btw in March my min payment was $24X.XX and I was paying $400 and in Oct it was $188.XX and I paid $500.
I have never had any deposit accounts with FNBO. I never opened a savings account with them or anything. I made 1x $500 purchase to get $100 statement credit and never used the card again. So you cant say I am a profitable customer either.
I got my FNBO in JAN 07 BT 9500 or 10000 and made 10% payments every month and used the card. Then I paid it off in Aug. and they declined my CLI request. It just doesn't make sence what formula they are using.
dolmar said:I keep getting CLI without asking for them from FNBO. I got that card durning my Mini App-O-Rama in Feb with a $25k limit. Then in Sept I got a CLI without asking for it from $25k to $35k and then this month from $35k to $40k.
Now I only asked for $12k BT from them when I got the card. I was sending in $400 per month till the first CLI then increased my payments to $500 in Oct and after 2 more payments I got another $5k CLI.
I still have currently close to $75k in credit card debt showing on my credit reports. I think FNBO does not like BT whores nor people who make the min payment. Btw in March my min payment was $24X.XX and I was paying $400 and in Oct it was $188.XX and I paid $500.
I have never had any deposit accounts with FNBO. I never opened a savings account with them or anything. I made 1x $500 purchase to get $100 statement credit and never used the card again. So you cant say I am a profitable customer either.
Juggler, big question for you... if you apply for some cards early... how long do you wait until applying for the next cards? A day? Until you see the first group finally pull on the credit reports? And then do you roll to the next group?
The only downside I can see to this strategy would be if the delays added up to the point where you started having new cards reporting on your credit report while you're still trying to get apps processed. That would kind of ruin the "o rama" part of an app o rama. But I couple days probably wouldn't kill anyone.
Also, in my case, Principal/infi/FNBO too a full month until they pulled credit. I presume there was some sort of error.
One other minor tactical consideration:
Some lenders (Chase) can do one pull a day when receiving multiple apps. This would lend more "value" to each of their pulls, unlike lenders that do a new pull for each app (i.e. most of them)
win333 said:I got my FNBO in JAN 07 BT 9500 or 10000 and made 10% payments every month and used the card. Then I paid it off in Aug. and they declined my CLI request. It just doesn't make sence what formula they are using.
It is very simple to figure out. My BT was less than 50% of the limit on my card. I am very conservative on my BT normally take between 50-60% only. I always pay well above the minimum. Most of my credit cards are $50k + and I have $100k credit card too. I have $1,000,000 Heloc showing up on my credit report with a $0 balance and 2 $50k overdraft line of credit.
I make much more than $100k a year and my income to credit card ratio is less than 1:1. So even if I max out all my credit cards I can afford to pay them off in less than 1 year which I am sure is part of the reason FNBO is so willing to keep raising my limit and I am sure that fact I have very large lines of credit from AMEX, BOA, Chase and Citi do not hurt either. Also I am sure both BOA and Citi do not give $50k overdraft line of credit to every schmuck either unless they are constantly making large deposit which I am sure helps when card issuers decided how much credit they are willing to issue me.
Unlike many people on this board I don't have income to credit card ratio is 1:4 or more ie they make $50k a year and have available $200k in credit card credit.
May want to delay Citi cards even further - they seem to report almost instantly. Chase and discover may take 2-3 weeks to get an approval. I don't think I'd apply for CapOne - as it means 1 inq on each of the 3 CR's. I'd typically leave AMEX out of AORs and use them for utilization only. Unless you're doing AMEX-only mini-AOR.
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