100k Liquid Assets - No Credit History - First CC - What should I do?

[DMarc0]

Today I went to BoA and signed up for the card. I used a check to pay for the deposit / collateral and did the amount of 8k.

I didn't sign up for a checking or savings account, as they required direct deposit or a minimum balance of 1500 to waive the monthly fee, I may look into getting free checking with them in the future but I don't want to fool with it right now, it'd be for the rewards redemption.

I called them prior to going in to setup an appointment and the whole thing took less than 30 minutes.

I went in and asked for the Secured Card with Cash Rewards but initially when the agent tried to apply for that the system wouldn't let her. She asked her co-workers and they were having the same problem earlier, after a little investigation it appears BoA changed how they do the initial application and don't have this offer on the secured card.

The agent informed me that after applying for the unsecured version of the rewards card and getting denied they often will provide an offer for the secured rewards card. We went through the process and I was immediately denied and the system then offered me a secured rewards card.

Thanks everyone for the advice, is there anything else I should be doing to create good credit as quickly as possible?

Thank you.

[twist7d7]

I dont agree with getting a secured card. Id app for 3 cards AMEX charge card, Discover it and Chase freedom. Charge card first so no matter what limits get set on the following cards OP can spend the monthly expenses on it without worrying about UTIL. IT because they love clean files. Freedom because i feel like they will give a decent limit. (maybe) Also Might be worth AMEX ED aswell because the CL will grow quiclky.  Companies like clean reports and you have that.

[newhis]

Congrats for this big step.

When I wrote about HP increase, is that if you want to add money to your card to grow to 10K, then BoA will pull your credit report and will mark TU with a hard pull (HP), that will lower your score some. You don't want to have too many HP on your reports most of the time or eventualy you don't care (like people with 30 or more cards).

My recomendation to you on your BoA, wait a few months, then ask them to change your card to Visa Signature card. If you use the card and PIF I bet they will unsecure it at 9 statements. After it unsecure you can call a credit analyst and ask for a lower APR and remove the AF. The AF removal sometimes is hard, I contacted them like 5 times until they removed the AF before it hit again.

You just have to wait 6-7 months with good payment to have good offers, after a year you will get lower APRs. My DW just got 2 cards over 12 months and then Amex show her some offers, PRG with 50K points and BCP $250 / EDP 25K points both at 0% for 15 months then 12.99% APR.

[newhis]

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@twist7d7 wrote:

I dont agree with getting a secured card. Id app for 3 cards AMEX charge card, Discover it and Chase freedom. Charge card first so no matter what limits get set on the following cards OP can spend the monthly expenses on it without worrying about UTIL. IT because they love clean files. Freedom because i feel like they will give a decent limit. (maybe) Also Might be worth AMEX ED aswell because the CL will grow quiclky.  Companies like clean reports and you have that.

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Secured card is not for everyone, but I really don't know why people ara against them at all costs.

There is no way, someone with no credit history to get a 8K credit card and in 6 months, it will be easier to get good limits cards and in 1 year cards with low APRs. I know the money will not get interest, but you have a cash rewards card and will get cash with it. If you open a savings account with $500 they will not charge you and you will get 10% extra cash if you deposit the money into that account. I think the lenders don't care if the card is reported as secured and with BoA, if you can spare a HP, you can easily graduate your card at soon as 5 statements.

I don't want to have 10 cards at 500-1000, so I'm starting with few cards and then adding more with better limits and better APR. My DW has 5 cards, she just got a CLI on her CSP now at 6K, 2 at 5K, and that's because she deposit 5K into her BoA a few months ago, I didn't and I only have 1 card at 6K thanks to Amex that gave me 2K and used the 3X CLI.

I agree if you don't want to put money into a secured card, try to get a unsecured card, is better to get unsecured and work with that in this case.

[DMarc0]

Twist7d7 - I don't think I would have qualifed for any of these cards, I tried to do an unsecured card at BoA and was denied, I doubt the others would be approved.

newhis - I didn't know that about the savings account, I'll look into it. I have it on my calendar to call BoA in 6 months and ask to be graduated. Would it be better to apply for other cards then or wait another 6 months?

Thanks.