WASHINGTON–Credit card applications from the top 10 credit unions were rated highly when it comes to transparency in a new analysis, although one CU’s app was said to be among the “least clear.”
According to WalletHub’s 2016 Credit Card Application Study, which seeks to help consumers “accurately discern each offer’s net value proposition and, in turn, determine which card will best suit their needs,” the card apps available from the top 10 banks and top 10 credit unions have become much more transparent in recent years.
The online card apps were rated according to the manner in which information on rewards, annual fees, and costs of financing new purchases were presented.
Capital One, Bank of America, U.S. Bank, State Employees Credit Union, Boeing Employees Credit Union, Pentagon Federal Credit Union and Navy Federal Credit Union have the clearest overall credit-card applications, according to WalletHub. The company said it is the seventh consecutive year that Capital One has been among the most transparent.
Wells Fargo (80.44%) and San Diego County Credit Union (88.00%) have the least clear credit-card applications, according to WalletHub’s rankings.
WalletHub gave its “most improved” award to Navy Federal, whose online credit card listings improved 18.03 percentage points relative to 2015, as a result of improvements in terms of new-purchase and balance-transfer financing clarity, the company said.
“Perhaps surprisingly, banks are just about as transparent with their credit-card applications as credit unions, which tend to have a more consumer-friendly reputation,” WalletHub said in its analysis. “The areas in which the most ambiguity remains – for big banks and credit unions alike – are unchanged from previous years: balance transfer fees and rewards redemption value. Overall, application transparency is now at the highest point since we began conducting this study in 2010 – having increased 15.69% since then.”
The CUs rated include State Employees, BECU, Pentagon Federal, Navy Federal SchoolsFirst, Allliant, Star One, Security Service, The Golden 1, and San Diego County.
More information can be found here: https://wallethub.com/edu/credit-card-application-study/24284/