Need advice for NO CREDIT

[Anonymous]

Hello friends,

As of December 2017, my wife had NO CREDIT. As in, an empty credit report with score of 0. No history what so ever. (Yes, I married a virgin. lol)

We went to Kay Jewelers. She app'd for credit and was approved for $300, but her account had a special requirement of 20% down on any financed purchase. We purchased a ring and I went ahead and paid for most of it up to an even whole amount and financed the difference below $300 -- a total of $270.49 was placed on the card. The first payment of $30 was due 2/16. I paid $50 on 2/11 bringing the balance to $220.49 (74% util).

Waited for next statement to cut on 2/20 and report to bureaus on 2/21.

App'd for Discover IT - declined. (Still haven't received denial letter!)

Next payment of $30 was due 3/16. I paid $76.30 on 3/10. This brought balance to $150 (50% util). Statement is about to cut again and report by Thursday.

She now has 2 HPs, one of which could be interpreted as a possible new account not reported yet. Should we wait to app for another card or is she safe to go ahead and try again? I've read a lot here trying to help her out and seeking advice for those new to credit.. most say 3 cards to start, even if you're declined for one or two along the way.

I haven't paid the Kay card off because I wanted her to be able to show an "ability to pay" / responsible use (payments over time), and figured I would pay the card down in incremental payments of $50-75. Is this the right route to take?

What are the best cards for her to app for? ..and when should she try again?

[Shadowfactor]

She would probably need to go the secured route or wait 6 months for the Kay card to help generate a score for her.

Being denied for Disco as they are friendly towards thin files sounds like secured is the only option or time.

You can call discover and ask that they use the same hardpull for the secured app.

My only other suggestion is to add her as an AU on a account that has good history and low utilization. She would still her to wait 6 months to generate a score though.

I would suggest maybe a joint app through USB , BoA but with you getting recent denials. Not a good idea at this time.

[Anonymous]

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@Shadowfactorwrote:
She would probably need to go the secured route or wait 6 months for the Kay card to help generate a score for her.

My only other suggestion is to add her as an AU on a account that has good history and low utilization. She would still her to wait 6 months to generate a score though.

I would suggest maybe a joint app through USB , BoA but with you getting recent denials. Not a good idea at this time.

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So should I slow my payment plan on the Kay to span out 6 months to show consistent payments throughout those months?

If I pay it off it won't report payments with a $0 balance, right?

[Anonymous]

It may take a few months of building some credit history first. I would hold off on app'ing until she can get a pre-qual with Cap1 with solid apr. She might not yet, as her credit profile is so new.
If she doent want to wait, there is always the secured route.
Personally, i dont see her being aproved for 3 unsecured cards coming right out the gate..
I'd get one card, use it responsibly for 3-6months, then pick up another, and so fourth.
You could always list her as an authorized user. she would benefit from that as long as your profile is good.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymouswrote:
It may take a few months of building some credit history first. I would hold off on app'ing until she can get a pre-qual with Cap1 with solid apr. She might not yet, as her credit profile is so new.
If she doent want to wait, there is always the secured route.
Personally, i dont see her being aproved for 3 unsecured cards coming right out the gate..
I'd get one card, use it responsibly for 3-6months, then pick up another, and so fourth.
You could always list her as an authorized user. she would benefit from that as long as your profile is good.

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All of my cards have perfect history (100% on time payment history, low (<= 8%) utilization, etc.).

My credit snafus are a CH7 (2008), an auto loan CO (2012) and medical collections (2014).

My negatives wouldn't affect her though, would they?

** ALSO: she was pre-qual'd on Discover. They gave an offer with an interest rate, I figured she was golden. Denied.

** UPDATE: Just ran pre-qual on Capital One (I opt'd her in on optoutprescreen.com a couple weeks ago) and it shows:

ScoreFighter's Wife, your results are in.

Congratulations! We think you'll like this pre-qualified card offer.

Platinum - 24.99% vAPR, $0 AF

QuicksilverOne Rewards - 24.99% vAPR, $39 AF

Should she app? Which is the better card? I don't know anything about Capital One except that they have been holding $750 of my money hostage since January 2015 and never honored their automatic-graduation to unsecured with refund of security deposit despite perfect account history since the day it was opened.

[Shadowfactor]

Most cards will still report to the agencies even with no useage.

I would pay it down immediately. No interest and it shows to the lender you can manage credit better then slowing paying it down.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymouswrote:
It may take a few months of building some credit history first. I would hold off on app'ing until she can get a pre-qual with Cap1 with solid apr. She might not yet, as her credit profile is so new.
If she doent want to wait, there is always the secured route.
Personally, i dont see her being aproved for 3 unsecured cards coming right out the gate..
I'd get one card, use it responsibly for 3-6months, then pick up another, and so fourth.
You could always list her as an authorized user. she would benefit from that as long as your profile is good.

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@this is so weird. I replied to this and just noticed (when I saw @Shadowfactor's reply) that my post disappeared. I also just ranked up apparently, maybe there was a glitch with posting?

Anyway, so I went on Cap One and she got a page that said (trying to recall from memory now):

ScoreFighter's Wife, we think you'll like these offers..

Platinum - 24.99 vAPR, $0 AF

QuicksilverOne Rewards - 24.99 vAPR, $39 AF

.. which card is better? All I know about Cap One is that they've been holding $750 hostage since I opened a secured platinum with them in Jan 2015 that they've never honored their automatic-graduation or refund of security deposit on despite 100% perfect account history.

Also, my post that disappeared included the fact that she was pre-approved on Discover's site (with specific APR) and yet denied upon full app.

[Anonymous]

That is not a pre-qual though, just a recommendation. You may want to hold off a bit and keep checking back.
I recommended cap1 cause their easier to get in with starting off, compared to amex, chase, disc, etc...
Quicksilver gives cash back/w annual fee.
Platinum doesn't give cash back, no annual fee.
I noticed the glitch too, when i clicked on my email it said message isn't here 🤔

[Anonymous]

She just ran the prequal on BoA and got the following.. no specific APR, shows following text description below:

Introductory 0%† APR for your first 12 billing cycles for purchases, and for any balance transfers made within 60 days of opening your account.

After that, a Variable APR that's currently 14.24-24.24% will apply. 3% fee (min. $10) applies to balance transfers.

Is this legit or a "soft" offer?

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymouswrote:
That is not a pre-qual though, just a recommendation. You may want to hold off a bit and keep checking back.
I recommended cap1 cause their easier to get in with starting off, compared to amex, chase, disc, etc...
Quicksilver gives cash back/w annual fee.
Platinum doesn't give cash back, no annual fee.
I noticed the glitch too, when i clicked on my email it said message isn't here 🤔

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That was the response from Cap One's pre-qualification page.. and gave specific APRs -- I thought that's how you know it's a firm offer? How do you know when it's a firm offer otherwise?