Bank account churning: how to make $1600 in a year by being organized

[JupiterGreen]

Thank you, I did end up applying for US Bank Altitude Connect and Chase Freedom Flex, we'll see if I get approved. I'm not finding a lot of good deals, what other bonuses have people signed up for lately? For people who do a lot of churning, do you think new offers will drop once April hits?

If you're under 5/24 and can meet the spend requirements for Chase cards, I would get a Sapphire or Ink with a UR points sign up bonus. I am over 5/24 so I applied for a Barclays Wyndham card (100K points offer). This offer is the highest it's ever been. Wyndham is not my favorite chain but they do have some nice hotels especially outside of the US. You just need to read the reviews carefully because they have a lot of shitty hotels, too

It's impossible to predict which SUB will become available in April or later but if you're not in a hurry I would wait and see. Something good usually comes up every couple of months or so

I think I'm under. I have 4 CCs opened, but I have only opened 2 of them in 2024, but one of them (Freedome Flex) is with Chase. Do they ever issue 2 CC to the same person? If not, maybe I could have my partner apply instead.

[Padonak]

Thank you, I did end up applying for US Bank Altitude Connect and Chase Freedom Flex, we'll see if I get approved. I'm not finding a lot of good deals, what other bonuses have people signed up for lately? For people who do a lot of churning, do you think new offers will drop once April hits?

If you're under 5/24 and can meet the spend requirements for Chase cards, I would get a Sapphire or Ink with a UR points sign up bonus. I am over 5/24 so I applied for a Barclays Wyndham card (100K points offer). This offer is the highest it's ever been. Wyndham is not my favorite chain but they do have some nice hotels especially outside of the US. You just need to read the reviews carefully because they have a lot of shitty hotels, too

It's impossible to predict which SUB will become available in April or later but if you're not in a hurry I would wait and see. Something good usually comes up every couple of months or so

I think I'm under. I have 4 CCs opened, but I have only opened 2 of them in 2024, but one of them (Freedome Flex) is with Chase. Do they ever issue 2 CC to the same person? If not, maybe I could have my partner apply instead.

They can issue several cards to the same person. You can even get sign up bonuses for each card but if you already have a card from the same "card family", you need to check the rules specifically. For example, if you have a free sapphire card, you may not qualify for a sign up bonus for another sapphire preferred or reserve

[MasterStache]

As P2 and I are over 5/24, I don't do business cards, and don't get as much value out of travel cards as some, I've pivoted to interest rate arbitrage by getting 5% interest on 0% cards. Sure it is not as good a return as Chase Sapphire, but you can only do that so often. I'm getting a $200 SUB, 2% cash back on everything (which I usually scoff at), plus the ~5% interest (taxable) in HYSA, money market, or treasuries for 15-18 months until I pay it off. Total ROI is ~10% while I wait for P2 to get back below 5/24.

Here is GoCurryCracker's writeup. I ended up going with a Wells Fargo cash card: https://www.gocurrycracker.com/playing-the-spread-with-0-credit-card-offers/

I've been doing 0% interest rate arbitrage on 4 different Chase Business Ink cards starting late last year. Got 90K UR points SUBs on all 4 of them plus another 100K UR points for referrals. With them being business cards they don't report to personal credit report so there is no credit impact carrying large balances. I have the bulk of the money in a couple OnPath Checking accounts paying 7% (10K limit on the balance for 7%).

I predominantly focus on biz cards for myself and P2. Think I used roughly $4K in SUBs on Biz cards last year to pay taxes. Perhaps better cash out options but not having a huge tax bill at the end of the year is nice. I'll throw in a personal card or 2 throughout the year as well. I like to stay below 5/24 so I don't have to worry about Chase denials since Chase points are pretty valuable to us.

How did you earn 100k points for referrals?

I was mistaken as it was 120K. 40K x 3. P2 refers P1. Vice versa. 

[Padonak]

I was mistaken as it was 120K. 40K x 3. P2 refers P1. Vice versa.

Nice! I see that you also have a link to your referral site. Did you get any referrals from random people visiting your site? I am considering making something similar.

[MasterStache]

I was mistaken as it was 120K. 40K x 3. P2 refers P1. Vice versa.

Nice! I see that you also have a link to your referral site. Did you get any referrals from random people visiting your site? I am considering making something similar.

Rarely for CCs. In fact I think the last CC referral I got was a few years ago. I get referrals for bank accounts from time to time. I also like having all my referrals in one place for when I open accounts for P2. 

[tj]

I was mistaken as it was 120K. 40K x 3. P2 refers P1. Vice versa.

Nice! I see that you also have a link to your referral site. Did you get any referrals from random people visiting your site? I am considering making something similar.

Rarely for CCs. In fact I think the last CC referral I got was a few years ago. I get referrals for bank accounts from time to time. I also like having all my referrals in one place for when I open accounts for P2.

If there's a way for me to use the referral link in conjunction with the pre approval tool, I'll use your Venture link in a few months. :-P

[MasterStache]

I was mistaken as it was 120K. 40K x 3. P2 refers P1. Vice versa.

Nice! I see that you also have a link to your referral site. Did you get any referrals from random people visiting your site? I am considering making something similar.

Rarely for CCs. In fact I think the last CC referral I got was a few years ago. I get referrals for bank accounts from time to time. I also like having all my referrals in one place for when I open accounts for P2.

If there's a way for me to use the referral link in conjunction with the pre approval tool, I'll use your Venture link in a few months. :-P

I appreciate it. I don't think I've ever gotten a Cap One Referral. Ha!
I think if you click the referral link there is a pre-approval tool. Haven't used it in quite some time.

[billy]

2 weeks ago I was denied for Citi premier card, they checked my Experian and Citi said,
high unused credit compared to your available credit
insufficient credit history
too many accounts
date of last entry was too recent

Experian shows I have 3 cards open (I currently have 5 open if including two business cards, and a bunch of closed accounts), so I lowered my credit limit on all 5 cards, and that's now reflected with a 787 FICO, but not on the other two bureaus. I'm under 5/24, I prefer cash bonus, should I unfreeze all 3 bureaus and try applying for Chase Ink Business Unlimited now? Or Sapphire Preferred now?

[jnw]

Maybe go for the Chase business card first before personal card, that way they don't count against your 5/24 also don't count towards your credit utilization.

And maybe if you are going to do multiple Chase business cards in succession like I did, then perhaps start with the Chase Ink Preferred because that card has no intro 0% APR period unlike the others.  Chase likes the cards paid down before apply for the next I hear.   I made the mistake of starting with the Ink Cash and Ink Unlimited first, and paid off those 0% interest cards only to finally end up with an Ink Preferred, which I had to pay off in its entirety the following month due to it not having 0% interest for 12 months.   (I like the free 1 year loan, 0% interest, with no credit utilization hit.)

[billy]

I ended up applying for Chase Ink Business Preferred a couple days ago, went pending, I got big bills due soon so I called in and uploaded a couple docs, called back, but because I could not receive there 2FA SMS every time I called I needed to go through a series of challenge questions, this time I fumbled them up pretty bad, and they said I needed to wait for the letter for additional info., but I just called again today after a few tries as sometimes the line got dropped or went to fraud support (I think when they get busy the fraud dept. picks up so I just hang up), this time overseas department picked up, they approved my application and put a 1-2 bus. day rush so it all worked out.

[tj]

2 weeks ago I was denied for Citi premier card, they checked my Experian and Citi said,
high unused credit compared to your available credit
insufficient credit history
too many accounts
date of last entry was too recent

Experian shows I have 3 cards open (I currently have 5 open if including two business cards, and a bunch of closed accounts), so I lowered my credit limit on all 5 cards, and that's now reflected with a 787 FICO, but not on the other two bureaus. I'm under 5/24, I prefer cash bonus, should I unfreeze all 3 bureaus and try applying for Chase Ink Business Unlimited now? Or Sapphire Preferred now?

Citi is super weird with approvals on that card. You only have 5 cards, and it was probably not wise to lower limits on your cards since you have such a small amount of cards.

A few years back Citi denied me the Premier with the following reasons:

The main factors that contributed to this score are:
• Your credit report shows a high amount of unused credit compared to your
available credit lines.
• Your credit report shows too many bank or national revolving accounts

I had 20+ open cards at that time and my total crdedt limit is over 3x my stated annual income,

Forget Citi - apply to the issuers who will approve you. 

I still get approved for new cards despite having so many...

[billy]

2 weeks ago I was denied for Citi premier card, they checked my Experian and Citi said,
high unused credit compared to your available credit
insufficient credit history
too many accounts
date of last entry was too recent

Experian shows I have 3 cards open (I currently have 5 open if including two business cards, and a bunch of closed accounts), so I lowered my credit limit on all 5 cards, and that's now reflected with a 787 FICO, but not on the other two bureaus. I'm under 5/24, I prefer cash bonus, should I unfreeze all 3 bureaus and try applying for Chase Ink Business Unlimited now? Or Sapphire Preferred now?

Citi is super weird with approvals on that card. You only have 5 cards, and it was probably not wise to lower limits on your cards since you have such a small amount of cards.

A few years back Citi denied me the Premier with the following reasons:

The main factors that contributed to this score are:
• Your credit report shows a high amount of unused credit compared to your
available credit lines.
• Your credit report shows too many bank or national revolving accounts

I had 20+ open cards at that time and my total crdedt limit is over 3x my stated annual income,

Forget Citi - apply to the issuers who will approve you. 

I still get approved for new cards despite having so many...

Ya, from what I gather Wells, Citi, and Cap1 really don’t want deadbeats. I have not been under 5/24 in quite a while, I'll definitely try to pace myself accordingly.

[MasterStache]

2 weeks ago I was denied for Citi premier card, they checked my Experian and Citi said,
high unused credit compared to your available credit
insufficient credit history
too many accounts
date of last entry was too recent

Experian shows I have 3 cards open (I currently have 5 open if including two business cards, and a bunch of closed accounts), so I lowered my credit limit on all 5 cards, and that's now reflected with a 787 FICO, but not on the other two bureaus. I'm under 5/24, I prefer cash bonus, should I unfreeze all 3 bureaus and try applying for Chase Ink Business Unlimited now? Or Sapphire Preferred now?

Citi is super weird with approvals on that card. You only have 5 cards, and it was probably not wise to lower limits on your cards since you have such a small amount of cards.

A few years back Citi denied me the Premier with the following reasons:

The main factors that contributed to this score are:
• Your credit report shows a high amount of unused credit compared to your
available credit lines.
• Your credit report shows too many bank or national revolving accounts

I had 20+ open cards at that time and my total crdedt limit is over 3x my stated annual income,

Forget Citi - apply to the issuers who will approve you. 

I still get approved for new cards despite having so many...

Ya, from what I gather Wells, Citi, and Cap1 really don’t want deadbeats. I have not been under 5/24 in quite a while, I'll definitely try to pace myself accordingly.

Go for business cards. Some juicy bonuses out there for biz cards. That way you can keep churning while not impacting your personal credit and fall back under 5/24.

[tj]

2 weeks ago I was denied for Citi premier card, they checked my Experian and Citi said,
high unused credit compared to your available credit
insufficient credit history
too many accounts
date of last entry was too recent

Experian shows I have 3 cards open (I currently have 5 open if including two business cards, and a bunch of closed accounts), so I lowered my credit limit on all 5 cards, and that's now reflected with a 787 FICO, but not on the other two bureaus. I'm under 5/24, I prefer cash bonus, should I unfreeze all 3 bureaus and try applying for Chase Ink Business Unlimited now? Or Sapphire Preferred now?

Citi is super weird with approvals on that card. You only have 5 cards, and it was probably not wise to lower limits on your cards since you have such a small amount of cards.

A few years back Citi denied me the Premier with the following reasons:

The main factors that contributed to this score are:
• Your credit report shows a high amount of unused credit compared to your
available credit lines.
• Your credit report shows too many bank or national revolving accounts

I had 20+ open cards at that time and my total crdedt limit is over 3x my stated annual income,

Forget Citi - apply to the issuers who will approve you. 

I still get approved for new cards despite having so many...

Ya, from what I gather Wells, Citi, and Cap1 really don’t want deadbeats. I have not been under 5/24 in quite a while, I'll definitely try to pace myself accordingly.

Go for business cards. Some juicy bonuses out there for biz cards. That way you can keep churning while not impacting your personal credit and fall back under 5/24.

How many business cards can you realistically get when you don't have a business though? People are always like "well, just say you sell stuff on ebay"....okay, sure, but are you just faking business revenue and hoping they never ask for documentation?

[therethere]

2 weeks ago I was denied for Citi premier card, they checked my Experian and Citi said,
high unused credit compared to your available credit
insufficient credit history
too many accounts
date of last entry was too recent

Experian shows I have 3 cards open (I currently have 5 open if including two business cards, and a bunch of closed accounts), so I lowered my credit limit on all 5 cards, and that's now reflected with a 787 FICO, but not on the other two bureaus. I'm under 5/24, I prefer cash bonus, should I unfreeze all 3 bureaus and try applying for Chase Ink Business Unlimited now? Or Sapphire Preferred now?

Citi is super weird with approvals on that card. You only have 5 cards, and it was probably not wise to lower limits on your cards since you have such a small amount of cards.

A few years back Citi denied me the Premier with the following reasons:

The main factors that contributed to this score are:
• Your credit report shows a high amount of unused credit compared to your
available credit lines.
• Your credit report shows too many bank or national revolving accounts

I had 20+ open cards at that time and my total crdedt limit is over 3x my stated annual income,

Forget Citi - apply to the issuers who will approve you. 

I still get approved for new cards despite having so many...

Ya, from what I gather Wells, Citi, and Cap1 really don’t want deadbeats. I have not been under 5/24 in quite a while, I'll definitely try to pace myself accordingly.

Go for business cards. Some juicy bonuses out there for biz cards. That way you can keep churning while not impacting your personal credit and fall back under 5/24.

How many business cards can you realistically get when you don't have a business though? People are always like "well, just say you sell stuff on ebay"....okay, sure, but are you just faking business revenue and hoping they never ask for documentation?

Well, I'm up to over 10 business cards. Another 6-8 for P2. So a lot? Chase has had $900 cashback for most of 2023 and 2022, combine that with a 1.5x cashback with my Chase Reserve and a single card was netting $1625-1950 worth of points. I usually try to space applications out to 2x per year. I've heard others have been successful a little more frequent (every 3 months) but I have a large balance of points I'm worried about that I'm trying to spend down before getting greedy.

[MasterStache]

2 weeks ago I was denied for Citi premier card, they checked my Experian and Citi said,
high unused credit compared to your available credit
insufficient credit history
too many accounts
date of last entry was too recent

Experian shows I have 3 cards open (I currently have 5 open if including two business cards, and a bunch of closed accounts), so I lowered my credit limit on all 5 cards, and that's now reflected with a 787 FICO, but not on the other two bureaus. I'm under 5/24, I prefer cash bonus, should I unfreeze all 3 bureaus and try applying for Chase Ink Business Unlimited now? Or Sapphire Preferred now?

Citi is super weird with approvals on that card. You only have 5 cards, and it was probably not wise to lower limits on your cards since you have such a small amount of cards.

A few years back Citi denied me the Premier with the following reasons:

The main factors that contributed to this score are:
• Your credit report shows a high amount of unused credit compared to your
available credit lines.
• Your credit report shows too many bank or national revolving accounts

I had 20+ open cards at that time and my total crdedt limit is over 3x my stated annual income,

Forget Citi - apply to the issuers who will approve you. 

I still get approved for new cards despite having so many...

Ya, from what I gather Wells, Citi, and Cap1 really don’t want deadbeats. I have not been under 5/24 in quite a while, I'll definitely try to pace myself accordingly.

Go for business cards. Some juicy bonuses out there for biz cards. That way you can keep churning while not impacting your personal credit and fall back under 5/24.

How many business cards can you realistically get when you don't have a business though? People are always like "well, just say you sell stuff on ebay"....okay, sure, but are you just faking business revenue and hoping they never ask for documentation?

There isn't really a definitive limit. My P2 has multiple Chase, BofA and US Bank biz cards. Never asked for documentation. Anyone who sells some stuff online is technically operating a business.

[tj]

2 weeks ago I was denied for Citi premier card, they checked my Experian and Citi said,
high unused credit compared to your available credit
insufficient credit history
too many accounts
date of last entry was too recent

Experian shows I have 3 cards open (I currently have 5 open if including two business cards, and a bunch of closed accounts), so I lowered my credit limit on all 5 cards, and that's now reflected with a 787 FICO, but not on the other two bureaus. I'm under 5/24, I prefer cash bonus, should I unfreeze all 3 bureaus and try applying for Chase Ink Business Unlimited now? Or Sapphire Preferred now?

Citi is super weird with approvals on that card. You only have 5 cards, and it was probably not wise to lower limits on your cards since you have such a small amount of cards.

A few years back Citi denied me the Premier with the following reasons:

The main factors that contributed to this score are:
• Your credit report shows a high amount of unused credit compared to your
available credit lines.
• Your credit report shows too many bank or national revolving accounts

I had 20+ open cards at that time and my total crdedt limit is over 3x my stated annual income,

Forget Citi - apply to the issuers who will approve you. 

I still get approved for new cards despite having so many...

Ya, from what I gather Wells, Citi, and Cap1 really don’t want deadbeats. I have not been under 5/24 in quite a while, I'll definitely try to pace myself accordingly.

Go for business cards. Some juicy bonuses out there for biz cards. That way you can keep churning while not impacting your personal credit and fall back under 5/24.

How many business cards can you realistically get when you don't have a business though? People are always like "well, just say you sell stuff on ebay"....okay, sure, but are you just faking business revenue and hoping they never ask for documentation?

There isn't really a definitive limit. My P2 has multiple Chase, BofA and US Bank biz cards. Never asked for documentation. Anyone who sells some stuff online is technically operating a business.

Whether it's actually a business on your return or technically a business operation but not on the tax return is relevant though.  Is the referenced selling stuff online reported on a Schedule C that supports the business revenue shown on the credit card application?


My big thing is I don't want to risk personal credit opportunities if a bank thinks I'm defrauding them on a business card application, which is what I'm doing if i inaccurately say I have business revenue when I don't.


If you have an actual business and the Schedule C to support the facts on the application, then there's really no risk at all.


If you fill out the business card application with $0 listed as the business revenue and qualify under your personal income, then there also is no risk.

[tj]

2 weeks ago I was denied for Citi premier card, they checked my Experian and Citi said,
high unused credit compared to your available credit
insufficient credit history
too many accounts
date of last entry was too recent

Experian shows I have 3 cards open (I currently have 5 open if including two business cards, and a bunch of closed accounts), so I lowered my credit limit on all 5 cards, and that's now reflected with a 787 FICO, but not on the other two bureaus. I'm under 5/24, I prefer cash bonus, should I unfreeze all 3 bureaus and try applying for Chase Ink Business Unlimited now? Or Sapphire Preferred now?

Citi is super weird with approvals on that card. You only have 5 cards, and it was probably not wise to lower limits on your cards since you have such a small amount of cards.

A few years back Citi denied me the Premier with the following reasons:

The main factors that contributed to this score are:
• Your credit report shows a high amount of unused credit compared to your
available credit lines.
• Your credit report shows too many bank or national revolving accounts

I had 20+ open cards at that time and my total crdedt limit is over 3x my stated annual income,

Forget Citi - apply to the issuers who will approve you. 

I still get approved for new cards despite having so many...

Ya, from what I gather Wells, Citi, and Cap1 really don’t want deadbeats. I have not been under 5/24 in quite a while, I'll definitely try to pace myself accordingly.

Go for business cards. Some juicy bonuses out there for biz cards. That way you can keep churning while not impacting your personal credit and fall back under 5/24.

How many business cards can you realistically get when you don't have a business though? People are always like "well, just say you sell stuff on ebay"....okay, sure, but are you just faking business revenue and hoping they never ask for documentation?

Well, I'm up to over 10 business cards. Another 6-8 for P2. So a lot? Chase has had $900 cashback for most of 2023 and 2022, combine that with a 1.5x cashback with my Chase Reserve and a single card was netting $1625-1950 worth of points. I usually try to space applications out to 2x per year. I've heard others have been successful a little more frequent (every 3 months) but I have a large balance of points I'm worried about that I'm trying to spend down before getting greedy.

And to be clear, you have been able to get all these cads without having a business on your tax return? If so, I have left a lot of money on the table over the years. :D

[MasterStache]

2 weeks ago I was denied for Citi premier card, they checked my Experian and Citi said,
high unused credit compared to your available credit
insufficient credit history
too many accounts
date of last entry was too recent

Experian shows I have 3 cards open (I currently have 5 open if including two business cards, and a bunch of closed accounts), so I lowered my credit limit on all 5 cards, and that's now reflected with a 787 FICO, but not on the other two bureaus. I'm under 5/24, I prefer cash bonus, should I unfreeze all 3 bureaus and try applying for Chase Ink Business Unlimited now? Or Sapphire Preferred now?

Citi is super weird with approvals on that card. You only have 5 cards, and it was probably not wise to lower limits on your cards since you have such a small amount of cards.

A few years back Citi denied me the Premier with the following reasons:

The main factors that contributed to this score are:
• Your credit report shows a high amount of unused credit compared to your
available credit lines.
• Your credit report shows too many bank or national revolving accounts

I had 20+ open cards at that time and my total crdedt limit is over 3x my stated annual income,

Forget Citi - apply to the issuers who will approve you. 

I still get approved for new cards despite having so many...

Ya, from what I gather Wells, Citi, and Cap1 really don’t want deadbeats. I have not been under 5/24 in quite a while, I'll definitely try to pace myself accordingly.

Go for business cards. Some juicy bonuses out there for biz cards. That way you can keep churning while not impacting your personal credit and fall back under 5/24.

How many business cards can you realistically get when you don't have a business though? People are always like "well, just say you sell stuff on ebay"....okay, sure, but are you just faking business revenue and hoping they never ask for documentation?

There isn't really a definitive limit. My P2 has multiple Chase, BofA and US Bank biz cards. Never asked for documentation. Anyone who sells some stuff online is technically operating a business.

Whether it's actually a business on your return or technically a business operation but not on the tax return is relevant though.  Is the referenced selling stuff online reported on a Schedule C that supports the business revenue shown on the credit card application?


My big thing is I don't want to risk personal credit opportunities if a bank thinks I'm defrauding them on a business card application, which is what I'm doing if i inaccurately say I have business revenue when I don't.


If you have an actual business and the Schedule C to support the facts on the application, then there's really no risk at all.


If you fill out the business card application with $0 listed as the business revenue and qualify under your personal income, then there also is no risk.

The best answer I can give then is don't do it if you are not comfortable. You don't need an actual business. Chase itself is very loose about what qualifies as a business. Selling clothes and household items qualifies (non taxable reporting events). New businesses with no income qualify. I always put a very low "business income." P2 has a full time job so that income gets put on the application as well.

I've been doing this for years and never been asked for a schedule C. Again though, if you aren't comfortable with this, then don't do it.

[tj]

2 weeks ago I was denied for Citi premier card, they checked my Experian and Citi said,
high unused credit compared to your available credit
insufficient credit history
too many accounts
date of last entry was too recent

Experian shows I have 3 cards open (I currently have 5 open if including two business cards, and a bunch of closed accounts), so I lowered my credit limit on all 5 cards, and that's now reflected with a 787 FICO, but not on the other two bureaus. I'm under 5/24, I prefer cash bonus, should I unfreeze all 3 bureaus and try applying for Chase Ink Business Unlimited now? Or Sapphire Preferred now?

Citi is super weird with approvals on that card. You only have 5 cards, and it was probably not wise to lower limits on your cards since you have such a small amount of cards.

A few years back Citi denied me the Premier with the following reasons:

The main factors that contributed to this score are:
• Your credit report shows a high amount of unused credit compared to your
available credit lines.
• Your credit report shows too many bank or national revolving accounts

I had 20+ open cards at that time and my total crdedt limit is over 3x my stated annual income,

Forget Citi - apply to the issuers who will approve you. 

I still get approved for new cards despite having so many...

Ya, from what I gather Wells, Citi, and Cap1 really don’t want deadbeats. I have not been under 5/24 in quite a while, I'll definitely try to pace myself accordingly.

Go for business cards. Some juicy bonuses out there for biz cards. That way you can keep churning while not impacting your personal credit and fall back under 5/24.

How many business cards can you realistically get when you don't have a business though? People are always like "well, just say you sell stuff on ebay"....okay, sure, but are you just faking business revenue and hoping they never ask for documentation?

There isn't really a definitive limit. My P2 has multiple Chase, BofA and US Bank biz cards. Never asked for documentation. Anyone who sells some stuff online is technically operating a business.

Whether it's actually a business on your return or technically a business operation but not on the tax return is relevant though.  Is the referenced selling stuff online reported on a Schedule C that supports the business revenue shown on the credit card application?


My big thing is I don't want to risk personal credit opportunities if a bank thinks I'm defrauding them on a business card application, which is what I'm doing if i inaccurately say I have business revenue when I don't.


If you have an actual business and the Schedule C to support the facts on the application, then there's really no risk at all.


If you fill out the business card application with $0 listed as the business revenue and qualify under your personal income, then there also is no risk.

The best answer I can give then is don't do it if you are not comfortable. You don't need an actual business. Chase itself is very loose about what qualifies as a business. Selling clothes and household items qualifies (non taxable reporting events). New businesses with no income qualify. I always put a very low "business income." P2 has a full time job so that income gets put on the application as well.

I've been doing this for years and never been asked for a schedule C. Again though, if you aren't comfortable with this, then don't do it.

Fair. On my last Chase biz card application I think I put $1000 in business revenue and it was approved, but it was a rather low card limit.

I tried doing a Barclays business card the other day with $0 business revenue but they didn't approve me. (they pull TU, and my last TU inquiry was a year and a half ago when I got an AA card from them) Waiting on the decline letter to see why. My plan was to say I am going to start a business driving people to the airport and want a separate card for business expenses if they ask if I do recon.

[Michael in ABQ]

I've got a few business cards from major banks; the application always asks for an EIN (or SS#) but never a tax return or anything of that nature. They have lots of ways of checking if a business is legitimate. For instance, is the address listed a commercial address? Is there a separate business phone number - especially a toll free one. Is the business listed by Dun & Bradstreet or Lexis Nexis or any other database?

Banks have no way of checking tax returns or anything of that nature without you giving the IRS specific authorization to share tax transcripts with a bank - or you providing them a copy of your tax return. However, banks will only go off the tax transcripts directly from the IRS since a person could easily generate a fake tax return claiming their business has millions in revenue to support a loan.

[tj]

I've got a few business cards from major banks; the application always asks for an EIN (or SS#) but never a tax return or anything of that nature. They have lots of ways of checking if a business is legitimate. For instance, is the address listed a commercial address? Is there a separate business phone number - especially a toll free one. Is the business listed by Dun & Bradstreet or Lexis Nexis or any other database?

Banks have no way of checking tax returns or anything of that nature without you giving the IRS specific authorization to share tax transcripts with a bank - or you providing them a copy of your tax return. However, banks will only go off the tax transcripts directly from the IRS since a person could easily generate a fake tax return claiming their business has millions in revenue to support a loan.

Sometimes banks will make you fill out the 4506-T after you apply for a credit card. Its not common, but it happens. And I've heard Amex sometimes does "financial reviews" and you must supply the 4506-T

[jim555]

https://www.capitalone.com/bank/bonus1500/

$20,000+    $300
$50,000+    $750
$100,000+    $1,500

1. Open
Open a new 360 Performance Savings account with promo code BONUS1500.

2. Deposit
Deposit $20,000+ of external funds during the 15-day Initial Funding Period after opening your account.

3. Hold
Hold the deposit(s) in your account for 90 days after the 15-day Initial Funding Period ends.

4. Earn
See the bonus in your new account within 60 days after holding. See chart for bonus amounts.

A rate of 4.25% Annual Percentage Yield (APY) applies to all account balances

[tj]

https://www.capitalone.com/bank/bonus1500/

$20,000+    $300
$50,000+    $750
$100,000+    $1,500

1. Open
Open a new 360 Performance Savings account with promo code BONUS1500.

2. Deposit
Deposit $20,000+ of external funds during the 15-day Initial Funding Period after opening your account.

3. Hold
Hold the deposit(s) in your account for 90 days after the 15-day Initial Funding Period ends.

4. Earn
See the bonus in your new account within 60 days after holding. See chart for bonus amounts.

A rate of 4.25% Annual Percentage Yield (APY) applies to all account balances

I'm just finishing up the $300 for $20k offer.  I also got approved for a Cap One Vneture card to get $750 off travel after $4k of spend. Not sure if having the big savings account had an impact on that.

[MasterStache]

https://www.capitalone.com/bank/bonus1500/

$20,000+    $300
$50,000+    $750
$100,000+    $1,500

1. Open
Open a new 360 Performance Savings account with promo code BONUS1500.

2. Deposit
Deposit $20,000+ of external funds during the 15-day Initial Funding Period after opening your account.

3. Hold
Hold the deposit(s) in your account for 90 days after the 15-day Initial Funding Period ends.

4. Earn
See the bonus in your new account within 60 days after holding. See chart for bonus amounts.

A rate of 4.25% Annual Percentage Yield (APY) applies to all account balances

The bonus itself isn't a great rate. But, with the APY it makes it worthwhile. I may try this in a couple months after I've freed up cash from other bonuses. Sometimes I feel like I need about 100K floating around, ha!

[tj]

https://www.capitalone.com/bank/bonus1500/

$20,000+    $300
$50,000+    $750
$100,000+    $1,500

1. Open
Open a new 360 Performance Savings account with promo code BONUS1500.

2. Deposit
Deposit $20,000+ of external funds during the 15-day Initial Funding Period after opening your account.

3. Hold
Hold the deposit(s) in your account for 90 days after the 15-day Initial Funding Period ends.

4. Earn
See the bonus in your new account within 60 days after holding. See chart for bonus amounts.

A rate of 4.25% Annual Percentage Yield (APY) applies to all account balances

The bonus itself isn't a great rate. But, with the APY it makes it worthwhile. I may try this in a couple months after I've freed up cash from other bonuses. Sometimes I feel like I need about 100K floating around, ha!

When you add bonus amount to the 4% + interest rate, it's higher than most other cash options.

[MasterStache]

https://www.capitalone.com/bank/bonus1500/

$20,000+    $300
$50,000+    $750
$100,000+    $1,500

1. Open
Open a new 360 Performance Savings account with promo code BONUS1500.

2. Deposit
Deposit $20,000+ of external funds during the 15-day Initial Funding Period after opening your account.

3. Hold
Hold the deposit(s) in your account for 90 days after the 15-day Initial Funding Period ends.

4. Earn
See the bonus in your new account within 60 days after holding. See chart for bonus amounts.

A rate of 4.25% Annual Percentage Yield (APY) applies to all account balances

The bonus itself isn't a great rate. But, with the APY it makes it worthwhile. I may try this in a couple months after I've freed up cash from other bonuses. Sometimes I feel like I need about 100K floating around, ha!

When you add bonus amount to the 4% + interest rate, it's higher than most other cash options.

Yep! I've got a couple 7% APY Checking accounts open and fully funded. I only pull money out of them if I can beat that rate.

[tj]

https://www.capitalone.com/bank/bonus1500/

$20,000+    $300
$50,000+    $750
$100,000+    $1,500

1. Open
Open a new 360 Performance Savings account with promo code BONUS1500.

2. Deposit
Deposit $20,000+ of external funds during the 15-day Initial Funding Period after opening your account.

3. Hold
Hold the deposit(s) in your account for 90 days after the 15-day Initial Funding Period ends.

4. Earn
See the bonus in your new account within 60 days after holding. See chart for bonus amounts.

A rate of 4.25% Annual Percentage Yield (APY) applies to all account balances

The bonus itself isn't a great rate. But, with the APY it makes it worthwhile. I may try this in a couple months after I've freed up cash from other bonuses. Sometimes I feel like I need about 100K floating around, ha!

When you add bonus amount to the 4% + interest rate, it's higher than most other cash options.

Yep! I've got a couple 7% APY Checking accounts open and fully funded. I only pull money out of them if I can beat that rate.

7%?!? Do they have caps on the balance amount? Require debit card purchases?

[MasterStache]

https://www.capitalone.com/bank/bonus1500/

$20,000+    $300
$50,000+    $750
$100,000+    $1,500

1. Open
Open a new 360 Performance Savings account with promo code BONUS1500.

2. Deposit
Deposit $20,000+ of external funds during the 15-day Initial Funding Period after opening your account.

3. Hold
Hold the deposit(s) in your account for 90 days after the 15-day Initial Funding Period ends.

4. Earn
See the bonus in your new account within 60 days after holding. See chart for bonus amounts.

A rate of 4.25% Annual Percentage Yield (APY) applies to all account balances

The bonus itself isn't a great rate. But, with the APY it makes it worthwhile. I may try this in a couple months after I've freed up cash from other bonuses. Sometimes I feel like I need about 100K floating around, ha!

When you add bonus amount to the 4% + interest rate, it's higher than most other cash options.

Yep! I've got a couple 7% APY Checking accounts open and fully funded. I only pull money out of them if I can beat that rate.

7%?!? Do they have caps on the balance amount? Require debit card purchases?

OnPath FCU. $10K Max for 7%. Requires logging in once per month, E-Statements and 15 debit purchases. I satisfy debit purchases by just doing 15 $1-2 CashApp loads every month. I think they may still have some sort of sign up bonus as well. I got one early in the year. They have bonuses for referrals as well. I have one on my referral site in my signature line.

[tj]

https://www.capitalone.com/bank/bonus1500/

$20,000+    $300
$50,000+    $750
$100,000+    $1,500

1. Open
Open a new 360 Performance Savings account with promo code BONUS1500.

2. Deposit
Deposit $20,000+ of external funds during the 15-day Initial Funding Period after opening your account.

3. Hold
Hold the deposit(s) in your account for 90 days after the 15-day Initial Funding Period ends.

4. Earn
See the bonus in your new account within 60 days after holding. See chart for bonus amounts.

A rate of 4.25% Annual Percentage Yield (APY) applies to all account balances

The bonus itself isn't a great rate. But, with the APY it makes it worthwhile. I may try this in a couple months after I've freed up cash from other bonuses. Sometimes I feel like I need about 100K floating around, ha!

When you add bonus amount to the 4% + interest rate, it's higher than most other cash options.

Yep! I've got a couple 7% APY Checking accounts open and fully funded. I only pull money out of them if I can beat that rate.

7%?!? Do they have caps on the balance amount? Require debit card purchases?

OnPath FCU. $10K Max for 7%. Requires logging in once per month, E-Statements and 15 debit purchases. I satisfy debit purchases by just doing 15 $1-2 CashApp loads every month. I think they may still have some sort of sign up bonus as well. I got one early in the year. They have bonuses for referrals as well. I have one on my referral site in my signature line.

Oh, ok. I was going to open onpath soon, but wasn't going to mess with the debit purchases. I believe they allow $1k cc funding per application. And the referral offer stacks with Swagbucks.

[MasterStache]

https://www.capitalone.com/bank/bonus1500/

$20,000+    $300
$50,000+    $750
$100,000+    $1,500

1. Open
Open a new 360 Performance Savings account with promo code BONUS1500.

2. Deposit
Deposit $20,000+ of external funds during the 15-day Initial Funding Period after opening your account.

3. Hold
Hold the deposit(s) in your account for 90 days after the 15-day Initial Funding Period ends.

4. Earn
See the bonus in your new account within 60 days after holding. See chart for bonus amounts.

A rate of 4.25% Annual Percentage Yield (APY) applies to all account balances

The bonus itself isn't a great rate. But, with the APY it makes it worthwhile. I may try this in a couple months after I've freed up cash from other bonuses. Sometimes I feel like I need about 100K floating around, ha!

When you add bonus amount to the 4% + interest rate, it's higher than most other cash options.

Yep! I've got a couple 7% APY Checking accounts open and fully funded. I only pull money out of them if I can beat that rate.

7%?!? Do they have caps on the balance amount? Require debit card purchases?

OnPath FCU. $10K Max for 7%. Requires logging in once per month, E-Statements and 15 debit purchases. I satisfy debit purchases by just doing 15 $1-2 CashApp loads every month. I think they may still have some sort of sign up bonus as well. I got one early in the year. They have bonuses for referrals as well. I have one on my referral site in my signature line.

Oh, ok. I was going to open onpath soon, but wasn't going to mess with the debit purchases. I believe they allow $1k cc funding per application. And the referral offer stacks with Swagbucks.

Honestly the debit purchases are easy. I do 5 Cash App reloads over 3 days to satisfy the 15. Takes a total of a couple minutes.  Minimal work for over $50 in interest every month.

[tj]

https://www.capitalone.com/bank/bonus1500/

$20,000+    $300
$50,000+    $750
$100,000+    $1,500

1. Open
Open a new 360 Performance Savings account with promo code BONUS1500.

2. Deposit
Deposit $20,000+ of external funds during the 15-day Initial Funding Period after opening your account.

3. Hold
Hold the deposit(s) in your account for 90 days after the 15-day Initial Funding Period ends.

4. Earn
See the bonus in your new account within 60 days after holding. See chart for bonus amounts.

A rate of 4.25% Annual Percentage Yield (APY) applies to all account balances

The bonus itself isn't a great rate. But, with the APY it makes it worthwhile. I may try this in a couple months after I've freed up cash from other bonuses. Sometimes I feel like I need about 100K floating around, ha!

When you add bonus amount to the 4% + interest rate, it's higher than most other cash options.

Yep! I've got a couple 7% APY Checking accounts open and fully funded. I only pull money out of them if I can beat that rate.

7%?!? Do they have caps on the balance amount? Require debit card purchases?

OnPath FCU. $10K Max for 7%. Requires logging in once per month, E-Statements and 15 debit purchases. I satisfy debit purchases by just doing 15 $1-2 CashApp loads every month. I think they may still have some sort of sign up bonus as well. I got one early in the year. They have bonuses for referrals as well. I have one on my referral site in my signature line.

Oh, ok. I was going to open onpath soon, but wasn't going to mess with the debit purchases. I believe they allow $1k cc funding per application. And the referral offer stacks with Swagbucks.

Honestly the debit purchases are easy. I do 5 Cash App reloads over 3 days to satisfy the 15. Takes a total of a couple minutes.  Minimal work for over $50 in interest every month.

I admittedly have no idea how cash app works. I always did small Amazon gift card purchases in the past.

[MasterStache]

https://www.capitalone.com/bank/bonus1500/

$20,000+    $300
$50,000+    $750
$100,000+    $1,500

1. Open
Open a new 360 Performance Savings account with promo code BONUS1500.

2. Deposit
Deposit $20,000+ of external funds during the 15-day Initial Funding Period after opening your account.

3. Hold
Hold the deposit(s) in your account for 90 days after the 15-day Initial Funding Period ends.

4. Earn
See the bonus in your new account within 60 days after holding. See chart for bonus amounts.

A rate of 4.25% Annual Percentage Yield (APY) applies to all account balances

The bonus itself isn't a great rate. But, with the APY it makes it worthwhile. I may try this in a couple months after I've freed up cash from other bonuses. Sometimes I feel like I need about 100K floating around, ha!

When you add bonus amount to the 4% + interest rate, it's higher than most other cash options.

Yep! I've got a couple 7% APY Checking accounts open and fully funded. I only pull money out of them if I can beat that rate.

7%?!? Do they have caps on the balance amount? Require debit card purchases?

OnPath FCU. $10K Max for 7%. Requires logging in once per month, E-Statements and 15 debit purchases. I satisfy debit purchases by just doing 15 $1-2 CashApp loads every month. I think they may still have some sort of sign up bonus as well. I got one early in the year. They have bonuses for referrals as well. I have one on my referral site in my signature line.

Oh, ok. I was going to open onpath soon, but wasn't going to mess with the debit purchases. I believe they allow $1k cc funding per application. And the referral offer stacks with Swagbucks.

Honestly the debit purchases are easy. I do 5 Cash App reloads over 3 days to satisfy the 15. Takes a total of a couple minutes.  Minimal work for over $50 in interest every month.

I admittedly have no idea how cash app works. I always did small Amazon gift card purchases in the past.

Cash App is great because there is no spending involved. Whatever money you load to Cash App you can then deposit it back into your bank account. I definitely encourage you to open an account. Cash App debit loads have worked to satisfy debit requirements for other bank account as well.

[tj]

https://www.capitalone.com/bank/bonus1500/

$20,000+    $300
$50,000+    $750
$100,000+    $1,500

1. Open
Open a new 360 Performance Savings account with promo code BONUS1500.

2. Deposit
Deposit $20,000+ of external funds during the 15-day Initial Funding Period after opening your account.

3. Hold
Hold the deposit(s) in your account for 90 days after the 15-day Initial Funding Period ends.

4. Earn
See the bonus in your new account within 60 days after holding. See chart for bonus amounts.

A rate of 4.25% Annual Percentage Yield (APY) applies to all account balances

The bonus itself isn't a great rate. But, with the APY it makes it worthwhile. I may try this in a couple months after I've freed up cash from other bonuses. Sometimes I feel like I need about 100K floating around, ha!

When you add bonus amount to the 4% + interest rate, it's higher than most other cash options.

Yep! I've got a couple 7% APY Checking accounts open and fully funded. I only pull money out of them if I can beat that rate.

7%?!? Do they have caps on the balance amount? Require debit card purchases?

OnPath FCU. $10K Max for 7%. Requires logging in once per month, E-Statements and 15 debit purchases. I satisfy debit purchases by just doing 15 $1-2 CashApp loads every month. I think they may still have some sort of sign up bonus as well. I got one early in the year. They have bonuses for referrals as well. I have one on my referral site in my signature line.

Oh, ok. I was going to open onpath soon, but wasn't going to mess with the debit purchases. I believe they allow $1k cc funding per application. And the referral offer stacks with Swagbucks.

Honestly the debit purchases are easy. I do 5 Cash App reloads over 3 days to satisfy the 15. Takes a total of a couple minutes.  Minimal work for over $50 in interest every month.

I admittedly have no idea how cash app works. I always did small Amazon gift card purchases in the past.

Cash App is great because there is no spending involved. Whatever money you load to Cash App you can then deposit it back into your bank account. I definitely encourage you to open an account. Cash App debit loads have worked to satisfy debit requirements for other bank account as well.

Is there any sort of referral bonus for opening CashApp? :D

[solon]

Cash App is great because there is no spending involved. Whatever money you load to Cash App you can then deposit it back into your bank account. I definitely encourage you to open an account. Cash App debit loads have worked to satisfy debit requirements for other bank account as well.

Does Venmo work? I have venmo, but not cash app. Willing to open a cash app, but if venmo works I'll just use that.

[MasterStache]

Is there any sort of referral bonus for opening CashApp? :D

There is for like $5.

[MasterStache]

Cash App is great because there is no spending involved. Whatever money you load to Cash App you can then deposit it back into your bank account. I definitely encourage you to open an account. Cash App debit loads have worked to satisfy debit requirements for other bank account as well.

Does Venmo work? I have venmo, but not cash app. Willing to open a cash app, but if venmo works I'll just use that.

You can't add money to your balance via a debit card, only ACH transfer from your bank.

[tj]

https://www.capitalone.com/bank/bonus1500/

$20,000+    $300
$50,000+    $750
$100,000+    $1,500

1. Open
Open a new 360 Performance Savings account with promo code BONUS1500.

2. Deposit
Deposit $20,000+ of external funds during the 15-day Initial Funding Period after opening your account.

3. Hold
Hold the deposit(s) in your account for 90 days after the 15-day Initial Funding Period ends.

4. Earn
See the bonus in your new account within 60 days after holding. See chart for bonus amounts.

A rate of 4.25% Annual Percentage Yield (APY) applies to all account balances

The bonus itself isn't a great rate. But, with the APY it makes it worthwhile. I may try this in a couple months after I've freed up cash from other bonuses. Sometimes I feel like I need about 100K floating around, ha!

When you add bonus amount to the 4% + interest rate, it's higher than most other cash options.

Yep! I've got a couple 7% APY Checking accounts open and fully funded. I only pull money out of them if I can beat that rate.

7%?!? Do they have caps on the balance amount? Require debit card purchases?

OnPath FCU. $10K Max for 7%. Requires logging in once per month, E-Statements and 15 debit purchases. I satisfy debit purchases by just doing 15 $1-2 CashApp loads every month. I think they may still have some sort of sign up bonus as well. I got one early in the year. They have bonuses for referrals as well. I have one on my referral site in my signature line.

Oh, ok. I was going to open onpath soon, but wasn't going to mess with the debit purchases. I believe they allow $1k cc funding per application. And the referral offer stacks with Swagbucks.

Honestly the debit purchases are easy. I do 5 Cash App reloads over 3 days to satisfy the 15. Takes a total of a couple minutes.  Minimal work for over $50 in interest every month.

I admittedly have no idea how cash app works. I always did small Amazon gift card purchases in the past.

Cash App is great because there is no spending involved. Whatever money you load to Cash App you can then deposit it back into your bank account. I definitely encourage you to open an account. Cash App debit loads have worked to satisfy debit requirements for other bank account as well.

Are you ONLY using Cash App for debit purchases and transfers back? I'm surprised they don't mind.

[MasterStache]

Are you ONLY using Cash App for debit purchases and transfers back? I'm surprised they don't mind.

I've had Cash App for several years and did use it quite a bit for some of their cash back deals early on. If another good deal pops up I'll certainly take advantage of it. I mostly just use it for loading money now. 

[jim555]

Discover Bank has one $200 for $25,000 or $100 for $15,000, hold 60 days.  APR is 4.25%

I don't know if this one is invite only, since I got an email about it.

[tj]

Discover Bank has one $200 for $25,000 or $100 for $15,000, hold 60 days.  APR is 4.25%

I don't know if this one is invite only, since I got an email about it.

Barclays has the same $200 for $25k, not targeted, 4.35%

https://www.banking.barclaysus.com/online-savings.html

[tj]

Are you ONLY using Cash App for debit purchases and transfers back? I'm surprised they don't mind.

I've had Cash App for several years and did use it quite a bit for some of their cash back deals early on. If another good deal pops up I'll certainly take advantage of it. I mostly just use it for loading money now.

Thanks! I did get the CashApp. Is 5 the daily max loads that you can do? I remember I had a signu pbonus where I had to do like 40 debit purchases, I did 40 Amazon reloads the same day. :D