The new cards have now officially launched, you can view our reviews here.
A few days ago we reported that Barclaycard would no longer be the credit card issuer of the Best Western credit card, we can now report that FNBO will be the new card issuer. At this stage the finer details of the new card are not known and it’s not entirely clear what will happen to existing Best Western Barclaycard holders (although we suspect they will be product changed to the new FNBO card).
@Drofcredit The First National Bank of Omaha (FNBO) will be our new provider. You will be notified when your portfolio transfers over!
— Best Western Hotels (@TheBestWestern) March 18, 2015
Who Are FNBO?
FNBO stands for First National Bank of Omaha, while you might not have heard of  FNBO before they do a lot of white labeling and co-branded credit card deals (they are the third largest credit card issuer for other financial institutions). FNBO are one of my favorite credit card issuers, here are a couple of reasons as to why:
- Their credit cards come with a free FICO Score (Experian Bankcard Enhanced FICO score 2008)
- Most of their cards have a secured version with the exact same benefits fees. Most secured credit cards come with high annual fees and crippled rewards programs, FNBO actually usually offer the exact same credit card to those with poor credit histories.
It’s always good to see other card issuers gain a large travel co branded partner, unfortunately FNBO usually pull your Experian report (whereas Barclaycard pull TransUnion). Once the finer details of the new Best Western card are known, we will have an updated post.
I recently applied for the Secured version of the Best Western card series. A day later I received an email thanking me and letting me know it could take 10-14 days to review my application. That same day my credit was pulled through Experian. Interestly, my FICO 8 score actually went up 5 points with this inquiry. About 3 days after this, my security deposit of $400 was drafted from my checking. When I check my app status online, it still shows it is pending. Not sure why this takes so long, but I am hopeful I will be approved.
I used one of there cards to load Serve and they charged me cash advance. I complained and they did refund all of the fees.