Bank of America, Followup to the Followup

Bank of America’s written rules and their real life behavior never quite matched one another. Some of the consequences of the mismatch include:

• Business cards aren’t really limit one per product type, despite the language
• Hard-pulls are combined for between 1 and 30 days, generally
• Phantom credit lines can exist in Bank of America’s systems for a year after you close a card

There’s more detail about the quirks and app-o-ramas in the Bank of America Followup post from 2021, but in the past several months things have changed. Multiple data points now suggest that if you apply for more than 3-4 cards on the same day:

• You may be still be approved for all cards on the same day
• A day or two later, only one card shows up in your online profile
• Several days later, emails or letters show up saying all applications but your first are denied
• If you’re really unlucky, Bank of America will close your accounts (this is rare)

This isn’t entirely consistent, but it happens enough that it’s time for some new guidance on Bank of America app-o-ramas:

• Stick to between one and three cards for safety
• Stagger your applications across days

Generally you’ll still only have one hard pull on your credit report too, and you can freeze your reports after the first application to make sure.

Good luck!

Following up requires a followup to the shirt too.