Better CC For Wife With Not So Stellar Credit

[csementuh]

Hello! I have learned a great and many thing from this forum and as a result am literally a point or two away from the 800 club!

However, my wife is not in the same boat and I'd like to see what I can do to help her out! Suggestions most welcomed.

DW drives a lot for work, so I would like to get her a 'better' credit card she can use for gas, food, etc. She has a terrible First Premier car now with a measely $300 limit and an annual fee. Defintiely not the kind of card you want to have.

Her credit past leaves much to be desired and she is sitting with a current MyFICO ScoreWatch score of 666. Her scores have gone up a bit over time, but what I need to know now is what card to have her try for that she has a good change of actually getting.

Here's her credit 'report card' in a nutshell: 666 score as of now on MyFICO ScoreWatch

A few negatives:

Missed payments on a Sallie Mae school loan from 3 or so years ago. Acct in good standing now. Was able to borrow more now for Grad School.

Medical bills from 5-6 years ago that went to collections and were sold a time or two.

A couple chargeoffs on credit cards that are 7-8 years old and some/most may have dropped off by now.

The positives:

She's an authorized user on two of my best cards. A Chase Freedom with $12,000 limit that is about 4-5 years old and a Dollar Bank Visa with $7,500 that is about 2 years old. I exercise and keep both cards paid off.

She has a couple store cards (Vic Secret and NY & CO) that she has had reporting for the past couple year.

Was able to get an auto loan through Ally 1.5 years ago on a new car.

No inquiries on report.

Here's the million dollar question: With her 666 score, a couple negatives from her past, etc, is there a decent card she can get so that she can hopefully get a $1,000+ limit to be able to get some breathing room on her misc weekly expenses?

I tried the current 'preapprovals' on the card websites but they offered her nothing. Is there a card that is pretty good (cash back preferrable) that her score and history she has a good change of being approved for? Any suggestions? Obviously don't want inquiries to drop her score more, so not looking to shop around here.

[bigblue7722]

I would suggest the capital one quicksilver or boa 123 rewards. The cap one quicksilver is a great cashback card for "everything else" other than gas, and going to the supermarket because its 1.5% back . The boa 123 (3% on gas, 2% at the supermarket, 1% everything else), rewards card would be great because if she gets declined they should offer the 99 down 500 limit secured card so atleast you wont waste the hp. I am not sure at 666 if she would be able to get a discover it or chase freedom she probably should be closer to 700 score.

[tcbofade]

I just got approved for the BofA 123 with a 678 EX.

DW just got denied with a 663.

Good luck!

[TheConductor]

Before she apps anything, I would pull all 3 CRs and verify that those 7-yr baddies have indeed fallen off.   That does not always happen in the timely manner it should, so it is worth checking and asking for their deletion if it is past time for them to vanish.

Also, any debt that was "sold a time or two" may well have some duplication on her report that could be cleaned up.

With that done, I'd second apping the BoA 1-2-3.  And I am decidedly not a Bank of America fan.  They have little regard for customer loyalty and poor customer service. But the aforementioned fallback option to the secured card makes them a good option for this point in your wife's journey.  She will surely qualify for the secured card at least, and has a fair shot at the unsecured.

I'd suggest the Walmart card because they also have a fallback option.  If she doesn't qualify for the Discover version, the store version is there as a fallback.  They're a good creditor to grow limits with, and a surprisingly good card for gas if you have Walmarts in your area with gas stations.  Their gas prices are already low, and you get 5 cents off that always for paying with their card (and often 10 or 15 cents when they are doing promotions). Plus, you get the monthly free FICO score so she can watch her progress as her credit grows.

I'd also suggest apping the Amex Green card, but probably not until her score hits 680+.  Yes, the annual fee is sizable and the rewards are straight 1% on everything.  But Amex is another good creditor to grow with.  I stuck my foot in their door with the discontinued Zync product, spent a lot on it, and a year later they've approved me for two revolver cards I certainly would not have qualified for a year ago.  Now I can take advantage of their 61-day CLI policy and get some really nice limits.  Plus, backdating!  They've been one of the linchpins of my rebuild.  Even if the card she starts with is not the one she eventually wants, I think they are better than many lenders about actually letting someone with borderline approval grow once their foot is in the door.  As I said in another thread, they look beyond the FICO score.

Capital One, on the other hand, will likely approve her, but will not have much growth potential.  And they always pull all 3 credit agencies.  So I'd save them as a solution of last resort.

[MissCredit9]

Try for the Barclaycard Rewards Mastercard for average credit.

[CFG]

My fiance just applied for the Barclaycard Rewards Mastercard for average credit and was approved for $1500

She has a few baddies (Cap 1 collection account from 4 years ago, student loans) but shes been replacing it with good credit 

Zales $500 

First Premier $700

Credit One $400

thanks for the suggestion!

[djc1puno]

As long as shes been good w payments the past few years i would also advice barclays they see to be a bit more forgiving w not so stellar pasts...gl!

[myjourney]

I would suggest working on CR's to increase the likehood of increasing scores and approvals before doing any apps 

Even with a denial you need to be ready for recon by explaining what's on your CR's 

[Crashem]

OP,

My suggestion is to do some credit repair before applying anywhere.  Her medical collections should be easily removed from HIPAA if she paid.  Do a search for that method.  If her other collections are at 7 year mark, then wait for them to fall off or dispute them off.  Then she will only have late payments and significantly higher score.  Why get some more crappy cards she will want to get rid of when, with a couple of months of work, she should have much higher score.

[atarvuzdar]

I agree with working on the medical collections if they're paid off. I had one medical collection on my Experian and was able to get it removed easily after paying the amount due.

That said, I also have a 666 EQ myFICO score, and cards I currently have are in my signature (all obtained with lower EQ score than 666).