Thursday, February 26, 2009

The US credit system... again...

Ok. So I've written about this topic before... and it ain't over yet... With 700 in credit score I happily went to my bank to get a credit card for my business (so I don't have to use my business ATM card when traveling). I'm not planning to keep a balance on the credit card, I don't care about bad interest rates, if they want a deposit, set a limit or to charge annual fees - so be it. I just want the darn card. 

Ok, Washington Mutual, soon to be Chase, is where we have done all our banking (so far...). Personal banking, mortage, business banking etc. If there is someone who knows about the state of our financial life - it should be WAMU. 

But guess what? WAMU STILL reclined to issue me a business credit card. Their system said plainly "No". 

"You probably need four lines of credit first", was the recommendation from the "Business Relations Manager" I talked to (and who also wanted to sell me payroll services and money market accounts). BUT HOW DO YOU GET FOUR LINES OF CREDIT??? GAAAH! Not to mention the fact that I don't want four lines of credit. Actually I only want one... for my business expenses...

There is something seriously wrong with this system. Nowhere in this process do I have to proof that my business actually has a revenue, a profit, montly deposits. The only thing they care about is that I, as in me personally, has had a good load of credit cards before. Does the number of credit cards in your wallet say anything about how good you are to handle credit? NO! And really, probably the opposite. If you need four different credit cards in your wallet, I would say you're in serious trouble. 

Oh, well. Enough ranting. Until I try next time...


4 comments:

CTIZEN said...

STOP TRYING..... You should probably start with a credit union. Jag gjorde det. The more often they check your credit, you obviously know it affects your score. It's going to be harder and harder to get ANY card but Capital One is an option and so is a Bank of America card that's tied to a deposited sum in their bank, I KNOW the pain!!!

JaCal said...

Klaz - yes, I'll wait a couple of months and try to do the credit union. I haven't really tried applying - except for once last fall and now - same place - same card - business card for my business. That's all I really want. I have no need for a private card - I want one tied to the business. But it seems if I'm ever going to get there - I have to go get more private cards... and that's a road I really hate go down - and I can't believe a bank (!!) is actually recommending it. It sure is a pain... Now I'm just going to forget about the sick system for a bit - it's driving me nuts... Thanks for you comments and tips!

Ulrika said...

Det är ett sjukt system, i svenska ögon i alla fall. Men jag säger som Klaz,skaffa ett Capitol One, använd det för småinköp, betala av hela summan innan sista dagen. Då klarar du dig från ränta. Och bygger upp din kredit fort som bara den. Det finns fler av dessa lite obskyra kreditkort, men flrdelen är att för folk som kan sköta dem, fungerar de som en byggfirma för krediter. Lycka till

JaCal said...

Ulrika - vi får väl se om någon annan än min bank (!) kan tänka sig att godkänna en ansökan. Suckar och stönar. Och jo, skulle vara lätt att undvika både räntor och avgifter eftersom jag inte har några planer på att ha någon balans på kortet. Det är helt galet...