Cannot upgrade Bank of America credit card

[Anonymous]

Hi there, my first credit card was a Bank of America secured credit card. That was the best and only way I could build credit. I got that card in 2008.This card comes with a yucky $39 annual fee.

Now my credit is excellent and I've been getting all sorts of rewards credit card offers in the mail. I wanted to upgrade my BoA card to a rewards card with no annual fee. I know I will get approved, but the rep I called said that I could not upgrade from my existing card because it was secured, even though it is now unsecured. So I pretty much have to fill out a new application!

I don't want the annual fee anymore, but if I cancel this card, wouldn't my credit history be shorter, thus lowering my score? Ugh.

What can I do? Am I stuck with this initially helpful, but presently sucky card? It just does not make much sense to me.

Thanks guys!

[CS800]

Just like Cap One, the secure cards wo graduate to unsecure after 12 months have a ceiling and not many perks.

Best I would say is to apply for the card theat you want and of course it would be a HP knowing BOA.

Others might have other experiences with secure-unsecure-rewards card

[MarineVietVet]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Hi there, my first credit card was a Bank of America secured credit card. That was the best and only way I could build credit. I got that card in 2008.This card comes with a yucky $39 annual fee.

Now my credit is excellent and I've been getting all sorts of rewards credit card offers in the mail. I wanted to upgrade my BoA card to a rewards card with no annual fee. I know I will get approved, but the rep I called said that I could not upgrade from my existing card because it was secured, even though it is now unsecured. So I pretty much have to fill out a new application!

I don't want the annual fee anymore, but if I cancel this card, wouldn't my credit history be shorter, thus lowering my score? Ugh.

What can I do? Am I stuck with this initially helpful, but presently sucky card? It just does not make much sense to me.

Thanks guys!

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Welcome to myFICO.

Closing a card will not affect your AAoA (Average Age of Accounts) or credit length history. The closed account will continue to report for usually about 10 years. Here is an excellent thread talking about Closing Credit Cards.

From a BK years ago to:
EX - 3/11 pulled by lender- 835, EQ - 2/11-816, TU - 2/11-782

"Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they've made a difference. The Marines don't have that problem".

[Anonymous]

Thanks. So should I keep this card to let my 3-year credit history survive? I already got approved for a Chase Freedom recently and other people rave about this card. It's probably the best one out there at this moment. My whole point in the upgrade was that I just wanted to eliminate the annual fee, while getting rewards as a bonus.

[Anonymous]

I too had a generic Platinum Plus secured card that unsecured. It took me two attempts to product change it to a BankAmericard Cash Rewards card. It is possible. I would keep calling until you get the right person. The annual fee however remains. Others have had it removed.

[Anonymous]

So maybe I should open another BoA card and once that is approved, I close this existing one to keep the utilization the same?

I can't somehow keep the same credit card number for the new card right?

[MarineVietVet]

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@Anonymous wrote:

So maybe I should open another BoA card and once that is approved, I close this existing one to keep the utilization the same?

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Yes that would work. You also might check out the Credit Card Center here onsite for possible offers.

From a BK years ago to:
EX - 3/11 pulled by lender- 835, EQ - 2/11-816, TU - 2/11-782

"Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they've made a difference. The Marines don't have that problem".

[Anonymous]

Wow, so I am chatting with another rep now and she tells me that my card is still secured. This isn't possible because it became an unsecured card back in 2009 after I paid off everything in full, each month for 1 year....there must be a mistake.

[Anonymous]

So it only effects the utilization immediately right? I mean, since the card will still be on file for 10 years? But after 10 years, my other credit cards would gain lots of history already right? Is that the point of the closing credit cards?

[Anonymous]

I had a secured BofA credit card that had a $99 security on $500 limit, after a while I got a check for the $99.  It is now a regular credit card.