Best card for limited credit

[samahok]

Hi everyone, my girlfriend and I are beginning our credit journeys pretty late in life. I'm 27, she's 24. I'm starting from behind because of a couple of missed student loan payments to Sallie Mae right after I graduated, so I am currently playing catch up and have worked my way back from the mid 5s to 630 fico tu and 599 eq fico. Slowly but surely I am making progress to get to a respectable level.

My girlfriend on the other hand is in a muuuuch better predicament. Right after college she found a job in her field, she's had a perfect payment history, but just has absolutely zero forms of revolving credit. She signed up for the 10 day score watch trial and come to find out she got a 778 eq fico score! My question is , what card is out there for someone who's got a great score like that, but absolutely no revolving credit history? She doesn't know much about credit, and I am trying to help her out from from all of the stuff I have been learning from these message boards. Are there any prime card that she could qualify for with a high score but no history? I don't want to waste to many hps to be denied due to insufficient credit history. Any input would be greatly appreciated!!

Thank you very much!

[Dustink]

I think she could try for the Chase Freedom.

[09Lexie]

First off, can you provide a little more regarding your cr profile? You mention lates on st loans; when, how many? Any revolving credit or other installment loans for you? Do you belong to a cu?

For your DG, unfortunately CS is not the only thing cc companies look at when approving for credit. Yes, her CS is good but if she has not demonstrated a payment history then that's not so good. Some lenders will not approve unless there is 6 mos of revolving history. What does she have, student loans, car pyts?

[samahok]

She's got a perfect student loan history, but that's about it. As far as I go, I've got a number of 30, 60, 90 day lates from sallie Mae because I wasn't paying my bills bc they were being sent to my parents house. What makes it even worse is that although I only missed about 4 months of payments, it's reporting as about 15 lates because I had like 6 loans, from various semesters at school. Since I moved home and got a job, I've consolidated those loans and have not missed a single payment. Following the advice from this board, I applied and was approved for my very first cc, the capital one cash rewards card about 2 months ago, and earlier this month when It finally began reporting, I saw an increase of about 25 pts over night! Other than that, my cr is pretty clean.

Thanks again for the advice!

[09Lexie]

Do either of you bank with CUs?

[samahok]

She does, I don't.

[09Lexie]

She should start there. CUs will be her best choice for no revolving history, better rate and perhaps a higher initial CL. After 6 mos, with her CS and established history she should be fine for Chase, Citi, Amex etc.

You already are rebuilding your cr. too many inq's will hurt your building. IMO, if you want another cc, you could try the shopping cart trick- no HP's just a new tl if successful -your two TLs will work well for you. Or you could try BoA secured. Their cc graduates to an unsecured after 12 mos. that is of course,mid you do not want to try the cu route.

[samahok]

I will definitely look into BofA...I contemplated the shopping cart trick, but couldn't really find any stores that I actually use. I may just stick it out a couple more months then try for the Walmart cc so I can get my free monthly tu fico score. I've read that Walmart is 50/50 for someone in my shoes with my score and history. I really just wish there was a way to have those negs removed from sallie mae, but I know how tough they can be.

[09Lexie]

Double check in the rebuilding forum before you give up on the student loans. Make sure they are reporting correctly.

You are on your way and the best news is the baddies are behind you. All you have now is to plan your future.

Best of luck!

[samahok]

Thank you for your input and advice!! Baddies are definitely a thing of the past!! Moving forward with a purpose and much better idea about how to handle credit, credit will no longer be something that I'm afraid of!!! And none of my accomplishments would have been possible without these forums