More News on the U.S. Bank Altitude Card (New Customers, Flexperks & MCC’s)

Details of the upcoming U.S. Bank Altitude card continue to emerge – we wrote a full roundup earlier today, and it landed in the conventional news outlets today on WSJ and others.

A few more key points are apparent from an internal memo that U.S. Bank is sending out to their employees, found on Milestomemories.

Existing Customer Requirement

35-Day Wait

It’s been widely reported that there is a 35 day wait after becoming a U.S. Bank customer before you can apply for the Altitude card. In this memo it’s clear that there isn’t any rule indicating such a thing, rather the system simply won’t recognize you as a customer for up to 35 days. But the 35 day wait can be manually overridden.

If you go in branch after May 1, you can open an account with U.S. Bank and immediately apply for the Altitude card. The banker will be able to contact the underwriters and have them process the application. Moreover, the issue will be fixed in a future system release so that no wait will be necessary.

Business Customers

Similarly, it’s been noted that in order to apply for the Altitude you need to have a consumer relationship with U.S. Bank, not a business relationship. Again, the memo indicates that this is not, in fact, the case. Rather, the system will not recognize you and will instantly deny the application. This issue can be manually waived. And it, too, will be fixed in a future system release.

What happens if someone applies for U.S. Bank Altitude Reserve with no U.S. Bank relationship?

The application will be automatically declined.

 

I have a new customer who is bringing their banking relationship to U.S. Bank? Does a new customer need to wait 35 days to apply for U.S. Bank Altitude Reserve?

No, bankers will need to contact underwriting to ensure the new customer application is not declined. Altitude Reserve uses an automated underwriting process that validates applicants are U.S. Bank consumer customers. New customers will not appear in our systems as ‘customers’ for approximately 35 days. This will be addressed in a future system release.

In the meantime, use the existing underwriting escalation process to notify underwriting and credit operations about the new customer application. Underwriting / Credit Operations will locate the application, manually validate there is a U.S. Bank relationship in Hogan, and submit the application through the underwriting process. Relationship must be confirmed within 10 business days of application.

 

My customer has only has a business relationship with U.S. Bank. Will the automatic underwriting process recognize the customer as a ‘customer’?

No, bankers will need to contact underwriting to ensure the business customer application is not declined. Altitude Reserve uses an automated underwriting process that validates applicants are U.S. Bank consumer customers. This will be addressed in a future system release.

Follow the process outlined in the above question.

Which MCC’s Will Earn 3x?

As with all card, the 3x bonus earning for travel will depend on the Merchant Category Codes (MCC). There are a few specific one’s mentioned there that will work:

• MCC 7011 Lodging – Hotels, Motels, Resorts, Central Reservation Services is included
• MCC 4121 Taxicabs is included

And these won’t work:

• MCC 4722 Travel Agencies, Tour Operators are not included
• MCC 6513 Real Estate Agents and Managers – Rentals are not included

Are transportation companies like Uber and Lyft included in the travel category?

It depends on the Merchant Category Code (MCC) the merchant uses for these transactions. MCC 4121 Taxicabs is included.

 

Are travel companies like Homeaway, Airbnb and VRBO included in the travel category?

It depends on the MCC code the merchant uses for these transactions.

• MCC 7011 Lodging – Hotels, Motels, Resorts, Central Reservation Services is included
• MCC 4722 Travel Agencies, Tour Operators are not included
• MCC 6513 Real Estate Agents and Managers – Rentals are not included

 

Are travel bookings through sites like Expedia and Travelocity included in the travel category?

No

Flexperks Transfer

The memo notes two things with regards to Flexperks transfers.

• At launch, customers will not be able to transfer FlexPoints to Altitude Reserve. The ability to transfer to Altitude Reserve may be available in a future system release.
• Transfer over 20,000 points annually will require calling in.

What is the maximum number of points customers can transfer from FlexPerks products to U.S. Bank Altitude Reserve?

At launch, customers will not be able to transfer FlexPoints to Altitude Reserve. The ability to transfer to Altitude Reserve may be available in a future system release.

When available, FlexPerks cardmembers are limited to 20,000 points in and 20,000 points out annually through the online Rewards Center. This limit applies to online point transfers from FlexPerks products to Altitude Reserve. Customers need to contact Cardmember Service directly for transfers over 20,000 points.

Important! In 2017, FlexPoints have a higher average travel redemption value than Altitude Reserve points so it may not be in a customer’s best interest to switch to Altitude Reserve immediately.