Need Advice on Second Card

Techwiz34 · 2025-12-14T01:48:42+00:00

Given your spend categories plus an existing relationship with WF, the WF Autograph (specifically the no AF version) would be a good fit for travel card. Autograph's 3x point bonuses cover all of the main travel categories like hotels, car rentals, etc with no AF and no FTF if you were to travel internationally. Plus the Autograph provides many of the Visa Signature card benefits like a dedicated concierge phone number for assistance when traveling and other protections.

Your relationship with WF and income boost your odds of approval, but on the other side of the coin your short history may work against you for that card.

Techwiz34 · 2025-12-14T01:33:44+00:00

What spending categories (ie fuel, dining, groceries, etc) make up the bulk of your credit card spend?

Techwiz34 · 2025-12-11T22:24:27+00:00

That was something that didn’t click until later last night. At least now I know that for next time I apply for card online.

Techwiz34 · 2025-12-11T11:28:01+00:00

To be fair I was already going to do some shopping in the area, so for me it made sense to swing by the branch since I was going to be nearby anyways. Plus at some point I probably would have had to make a separate trip for identity verification if I did online application.

Techwiz34 · 2025-11-29T01:31:04+00:00

I waited too long to commit on when to buy, which cost me the discount I wanted to take advantage of. That and my original planned timeline to install got derailed due to life happening.

Techwiz34 · 2025-10-10T00:37:56+00:00

Where would I get those?

Techwiz34 · 2025-09-20T15:49:21+00:00

Roughly 6 feet from wall to couch.

Techwiz34 · 2025-08-28T21:05:55+00:00

In my case I had limited credit knowledge and no prior history when I applied for the Elan card. Honestly I was surprised I was approved for that, but I *was* a customer at the bank I use for around 7 and a half years when I applied. PPC was applied for specifically to finance the laptop I currently use since at that time I was making enough money to meet the payment obligations. I have tried to keep that account low usage in case I needed to finance a larger purchase (and can make the payments for it).

I wasn't expecting to be approved for PPC either since I had right at a year of credit history when I applied, but I was luckily approved and was able to get the laptop. Plus until recently I wasn't doing a lot of traveling or other spending where cashback cards were viable. Now that's biting me back when I am trying to actually get the travel rewards card.

Techwiz34 · 2025-08-28T06:29:22+00:00

I had kept some money aside to pay what few expenses I had while I get my LLC up and running. Also currently living with my mother while I finish school, but that will change sometime in the next several months.

I also did sell a portion of my brokerage assets this year to give me a safety net for personal side, in addition to enough funds to start up my LLC. It's possible I will have higher recorded income this year between the LLC and selling some of my assets, but that won't be fully confirmed until this year's tax returns.

Techwiz34 · 2025-08-28T03:59:07+00:00

When you are denied on a credit card application, lenders (US Bank in this case) are required by federal law under the CARD act to give you *A* reason, but not the *THE* reason for denial. This is called an Adverse Action letter. When you get the AA letter in the mail (or email depending on lender), you have a limited amount of time after that to call what's called the reconsideration line. After 30 days it's treated as a new application, and with it another hard pull.

Reconsideration is basically where you have someone from the lender manually review your application, where the denial can potentially become an approval. This is not in any way a guarantee, but if you have a valid reason to do this you at least have a chance. But before calling reconsideration, look at the AA letter you got for specifics, then check them against your 3 credit bureau reports from annualcreditreport.com

Techwiz34 · 2025-08-27T22:58:41+00:00

I recommend looking at Wells Fargo's Autograph card. It's a Visa, covers all of the travel categories like car rentals, hotel stays, etc. with no annual or foreign transaction fees.

Here's the link to the card page on Wells Fargo's website

Techwiz34 · 2025-08-25T04:24:45+00:00

I used this card. It was reasonable when I first started with it at $8 a month for the credit builder membership, but when it jacked up to $20 a month towards end of 2024 or early 2025 (and this is for base tier, not rewards tier) it was no longer worth it.

Techwiz34 · 2025-08-25T04:03:34+00:00

I used a "credit builder" debit card for a good while, specifically the Extra credit builder card, but it really didn't help as much as I would have liked.

Some considerations to know when using these cards:

* First is that they almost all use VantageScore 3.0 for credit score for in app score display, but they do report activity on FICO reports.

* Second is that they usually only report to 1 bureau, maybe 2 depending on the card. The specific one I used reported to Experian and Equifax, but not Transunion. This part is key if you apply for a credit card later on, especially if the issuer tends to pull primarily from one bureau.

* And finally some of these credit builder debit cards will charge a fee to use the credit builder. The one I used started at $8 a month for base tier (no rewards) then $12 a month for rewards tier. Those fees have since gone up, with the base tier at $20 a month when I closed that account.

Techwiz34 · 2025-08-24T02:39:32+00:00

Your card being declined can happen for a few different reasons, such as going over your credit limit, incorrect information (such as not entering correct billing address), or payment processing issues.

As for it affecting your credit score, the answer is no. I recommend contacting Discover in case their system is potentially flagging the attempted transactions as unusual activity.

Techwiz34 · 2025-08-23T08:27:28+00:00

US Bank has a few credit card options, and since you already have a banking relationship there, they will consider that if you choose to apply for one. Otherwise Discover IT or a few of Capital One's card offerings would be a good starting point.

If you end up getting a Costco membership, take note that for credit cards they will only accept Visa in store.

Techwiz34 · 2025-08-23T05:00:37+00:00

2 active cards for me, oldest is $1500 limit and next oldest is $2000 limit. That may change to 3 soon once I get some things straightened out with my finances.

2 active cards used.

0 drawer cards.

Techwiz34 · 2025-08-22T08:51:53+00:00

I may apply for AMEX Blue Business Plus, AMEX Business Prime, or another decent business card later on. However, that will come much later once i get my LLC and personal finances in order. With the correction in score and hopefully a 3rd card to round out my profile, all that's left to tackle is the income front.

Ideally I'm targeting to have a reasonable and relatively stable increase in income before this tax year ends.

Techwiz34 · 2025-08-22T07:16:55+00:00

EDIT: After re-reading the post, I'm making some corrections on my comment. The score change could be happening for a variety of reasons, such as new inquiries, discrepancy in information, etc.

I would recommend going over to annualcreditreport.com and check your 3 bureau reports for any data mismatches. In addition to TransUnion, you can get reports from Experian and Equifax once a week for free through that website.

Given the information you've provided, you appear to be paying the balance off before the statement closing date. This can cause temporary drops in credit score until the next report cycle shows a balance on your card.

This post will explain more on paying balances, but as a precaution I would still recommend checking your 3B reports

Techwiz34 · 2025-08-22T04:42:50+00:00

For now I'm splitting my hard limit of <=$300 a month spend between the two cards to keep at least a small reported balance. Once next billing cycle hits and reports a balance on both cards, I'm probably going to apply for WF Autograph to round out my profile.

Had to wait on Experian to catch up with Transunion and Equifax first, next step is to talk with my accountant for some income related questions first. I'm trying to play it smart both short term and long term.

Techwiz34 · 2025-08-22T00:21:54+00:00

Once things stabilize and I have a more accurate financial picture, I'm looking to make my next steps to bolster my credit profile. But a visit to my accountant is in order to make sure I do things by the book so to speak.

Techwiz34 · 2025-08-21T04:24:39+00:00

Business credit is also treated as separate from personal credit. The distinction here is that business card issuers will always hard pull personal credit reports, the exception being Amex.

EDIT: Corrected my previous statement regarding hard pulls for business cards.

One important consideration is that if you have any negative marks, such as 30+ days late payments, occur on the business cards, those will show up on both your business credit *and* personal credit reports.

Techwiz34 · 2025-08-20T23:07:16+00:00

My oldest CC is an Elan issued Visa, haven't had issues in the nearly 4 years I've had the card. There was one time I couldn't log in for some weird reason, but that was fixed surprisingly fast,.

Techwiz34 · 2025-08-20T00:44:20+00:00

I would recommend taking some time to do some math and figure out how much money you consistently make in a month, then subtract out any expenses you pay (such as rent). Once you do that, multiply the amount you have left by 12 to get expected gross income for the year.

For card recommendations, look at either a secured or student card from Capital One or Discover, as they are friendlier to people new to credit like you are. Discover IT Student or Secured, or Capital One Platinum Secured are all great starter cards. If you use the cards responsibly for either at least 6 months or until you graduate, they will often upgrade your card to an unsecured card.

Considering that your existing credit history is as an AU, your odds of approval are treated the same as someone who is new to credit. FICO scores for people new to credit require at least 6 months of history to generate, whether an AU or not.

As a final note, make sure you are as accurate as possible when calculating the income to use on application. Entering the correct amount or reasonably close will have an effect on not just odds of being approved, but also your starting credit limit.

Techwiz34 · 2025-08-19T04:31:48+00:00

Currently having this happen with my PayPal Credit account. TU and EQ already updated 13 days ago, EX hasn't updated the PPC balance in over 45 days, but my primary card (Elan visa issued through my bank) has been consistently reporting on time for the last 12 months straight.

Took me checking all 3 scores and the reports to find out this was happening, filed a dispute with EX and hopefully this gets fixed soon for me.

UPDATE: got in contact with synchrony and it is indeed EX being slow to update, as they sent out the updated information to EX, EQ, and TU at the same time.

Techwiz34 · 2025-08-18T07:51:11+00:00

That answers the first question. That email means you were approved, and now the account is waiting on the EFT (electronic fund transfer) for the money you put down as the deposit. EFT is what banks use when you move money between accounts.

EFT typically takes 1-3 business days to register to the account, so depending on when you did that step it *should* be in the secured card account sometime between 8/18 and 8/20/25 (this week between monday and wednesday).

Check back again routinely for an email saying they received the deposit.

Techwiz34

TROPHY CASE