That makes a lot of sense. Don't forget about US Bank. They have been approving more and more consumers within the past six months or so.

You will have to keep an eye out on the approval rate bar (1-5), and the FICO score recommendations we have in the cards sections over the course of the year if you are watching cards. This gets adjusted every month. I may even be able to provide a graph of approval rates for cards that are available to apply on-line.

Here's a little soothing

That makes a lot of sense. Don't forget about US Bank. They have been approving more and more consumers within the past six months or so.

ColoNative & FG - closed my Wells Fargo Bank NA Rewards Platinum Visa today. Felt good! Again, thanks for sending me in the right direction. My present to me for saying big boy bank you keep doing what you do. Some of us will do what we do! YES!

ColoNative & FG - Thanks for your guidance and comments past and present. Again ColoNative & FG came through!

Excellent! Glad to hear that you were approved! USAA is consistently recognized as the top bank every year and I have never heard a legitimate complaint against them. Very good news!

Thanks Wanderer, I'm glad you feel that way.

I've had a USAA account since I was 16. I have NEVER been let down by this great company. Professional, efficient and experienced customer service has always proven true. This is a company that I praise. Good luck!

ColoNative & FG - Thanks for your guidance and comments past and present. Again ColoNative & FG came through! YES and totally COOL My pursuit of a replacement for some of the big boys (Wells Fargo Bank NA) has come to pass! I was approved for a USAA Federal Savings Bank membership (Military Active or Retired) which now includes a USAA Checking, USAA Savings, USAA World Rewards Mastercard along with USAA Certificates of Deposit with a USAA Investment Account (transferring my Wells Fargo Advisor investment account). Yes the big boys can go play!

All - In keeping with our Credit Union theme (don't have any where I am eligible now locally) my pursuits took me to Pentagon Federal Credit Union with a global access perspective for military active and retired. I applied to them yesterday. Got denied! There new underwriting standards (seems they have had their losses too...) would NOT accept me with a BK from 09/2001 and lack of longevity in my card mix. How can I have a long average account history when everything was wiped due to the BK. WOW!!! New standards with the credit reform and market.

You were denied membership or did you apply for a loan/card at the same time???

If they accepted your membership but denied you for a card keep in mind that they are very, very strict. And that has made them a very financially sound credit union. They are the 3rd largest in the US and their losses have been very small compared to other credit unions and especially banks. If you are a former military try Navy FCU (largest CU in the country) or USAA. I have been very, very impressed by Pentagon FCU, but I think Navy FCU and USAA have better credit card rates. Pentagon FCU has great personal loan and car loan rates. Also, check out Security Service FCU, I am a member by proxy with them since my local credit union failed in 2006 and they bought them. They work largely with current and former military.

All - In keeping with our Credit Union theme (don't have any where I am eligible now locally) my pursuits took me to Pentagon Federal Credit Union with a global access perspective for military active and retired. I applied to them yesterday. Got denied! There new underwriting standards (seems they have had their losses too...) would NOT accept me with a BK from 09/2001 and lack of longevity in my card mix. How can I have a long average account history when everything was wiped due to the BK. WOW!!! New standards with the credit reform and market. :

Thanks for the info FG, now that is the type of gossip that I love to hear. Being that credit scores has risen way past the number I set my goal for, it makes me feel like there is some chance for us 600's score rankers!

Here's a little soothing for some of us.

I just heard it through the grapevine that most of the larger banks are going to step it up throughout the year and increase approvals. This information will change for specific banks, and who really knows what they're up to. But the word on the street anyway is that.

I'm not really sure what type of credit ratings they will be looking for, but as a whole, my guess is prime/superprime. My best guess is that Chase, Citi, Bank of America, and Discover Card are the ones you will want to consider.

It could be the CardAct that has their attention, and I would think that they don't want to start a new trend of scared consumers dumping their plastic.

And there is nothing wrong with that (using credit). And believe me, I understand that sometimes using the card is the only way to make it for a few weeks or months in between paychecks/jobs. But what gets me hot under the collar is how so many Americans blame the banks! "The bank held a gun to my head and made me charge." Or the people who say, "yeah, I missed a payment (or two) and they increased my interest rate-those loan sharks!" I mean, really? Of course they are going to raise your rate, you have become a credit risk! Like I said, all of my cards were perfect before all of this mess because I was responsible. The credit card companies never messed with me because I followed the terms and conditions. Plain and simple! American's seem to lack taking responsibilities for their own actions and it kills me. And I am not totally siding with the banks-I know they are not angels, and a lot of the credit line decreases and account closures were the result of the economy-but this CARD Act only amplified the recent actions of the banks. LOL okay, I am done

Amen to that!

colonative - Chase stated they were NOT changing APR's at this time. Whatever you presently have on your account remains. My APR's were raised many months back. They lowered the cash APR to 19.24% and moved me up to 12.24% APR for purchases replacing my 8.99% purchase rate. JCPenney has or hasn't adjusted my rate I can't tell yet. The difference between their new rates to others and my old rate is less than 1% so nothing to get excited about as I PIF. Kohl's didn't make much sense but like JCPenney's the rate is already sky high and again I PIF.

Right, as part of the CARD Act they cannot raise your current rate (on past purchases) unless the account falls 60 days past due. They just made sure they raised my "current" rate before the laws went into effect. Don't blame them, I just wonder where my CIT notice was.....I had a 7.9% fixed APR on that card for years, so I knew it would change eventually. They also reduced my cash credit line from $3,800 to $2,000 again without notice. Oh well, I just go with the flow. And now they have sent me three pre-approved Freedom offers. Geesh. They are almost as agressive as WaMu was.

colonative - Chase stated they were NOT changing APR's at this time. Whatever you presently have on your account remains. My APR's were raised many months back. They lowered the cash APR to 19.24% and moved me up to 12.24% APR for purchases replacing my 8.99% purchase rate. JCPenney has or hasn't adjusted my rate I can't tell yet. The difference between their new rates to others and my old rate is less than 1% so nothing to get excited about as I PIF. Kohl's didn't make much sense but like JCPenney's the rate is already sky high and again I PIF.

Colonative - as an update to one of your previous posted comments... I just received my Credit Reform change in term & conditions from Chase for both my personal and business bank credit cards (over the last seven days). Not a lot of notice. Also, my Kohl's Department store card change came today and JCPenney came three days ago. No rush..!

Yeah, I received the CARD Act notice from Chase finally, but it still didn't state an APR increase. That still worries me to this day that they did that. You just now got something from Kohl's? I don't think I ever got anything from them regarding the CARD Act changes...but I did get a 20% coupon a week ago

Sounds like they rushed to get those out at the last minute.

Colonative - as an update to one of your previous posted comments... I just received my Credit Reform change in term & conditions from Chase for both my personal and business bank credit cards (over the last seven days). Not a lot of notice. Also, my Kohl's Department store card change came today and JCPenney came three days ago. No rush..!