BoA Secured or not?

[blooro]

My Scores are Eq 638 and 650 TU.  I was thinking about opening a BoA sig amx card but afraid of decline.  Would it be wise to just go for the secured card?  I have a few inqs and lates from 1 year ago.

[Anonymous]

What is keeping your scores down? Is it lates, high utility, collections, or a combination thereof. If it is just utility I would say lower it a bit then apply. If you can get it up 25 points you would be sitting pretty for non secured cards from prime issuers.

[blooro]

Im not sure really.  I only have 2 cards one with 300 limit and one with 200.  I use them and pay off down to just about nothing, but I use them a lot so high usage brings it down the most I believe.  I dont have collections but I do have 120+ late from last feb.

[Anonymous]

In that case I recommend the secured card because I think you will be hard pressed to get a prime card until that 120 day late hits 2 years. The new account will have the added benefit of diluting bad credit. I recommend you only let a small balance of 20 or less report on one of your 2 cards. Use them but pay them down really low (one completely) before the statement cuts.