Closing BofA secured card

[Anonymous]

Hey guys,

So I had applied for a Bank of America Secured credit card back in December 2014 with a $1.2k limit (fully secured), and I've been using it for minor purchases since. Anyway, after reading this forum, I decided to give Discover a go as I heard they favor thin but clean credit files. So in January, I got approved for a Discover card with a $4.5k limit, and got a CLI to a total of $7k in 90 days after account opening. And then last week, when I was on Chase's web page I checked my prequalified offers and saw CSP was listed there. I applied to it and got instant approval with a $15k limit.

so now, as you might've already guessed, to me BofA SCC seems really unnecessary. It has 25% APR, no rewards, a $39 annual fee and holds my deposit for $1,200. Now my question is, what would be the "side effects" of closing this account? Will it cause BofA to dislike me in case I need them for something in the future (read the post on BofA long memory)? I don't want another hard pull (got 5 already) so rather than negotiating, I'm trying to decide whether to close the account or to let it stay there untill they unsecure it themselves. PS. I could use the deposit money..

i appreciate any ideas

thanks

[Anonymous]

You and me both.

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/Quandary-about-secured-cards-vs-Signature-cards/td-p/39...

[myjourney]

Every reason you listed says you've made a good case to close so if you need reinforcement 

Close it and collect the money to use elsewhere

It will still report as a good TL and I'm sure it won't hurt UTL

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Hey guys,

So I had applied for a Bank of America Secured credit card back in December 2014 with a $1.2k limit (fully secured), and I've been using it for minor purchases since. Anyway, after reading this forum, I decided to give Discover a go as I heard they favor thin but clean credit files. So in January, I got approved for a Discover card with a $4.5k limit, and got a CLI to a total of $7k in 90 days after account opening. And then last week, when I was on Chase's web page I checked my prequalified offers and saw CSP was listed there. I applied to it and got instant approval with a $15k limit.

so now, as you might've already guessed, to me BofA SCC seems really unnecessary. It has 25% APR, no rewards, a $39 annual fee and holds my deposit for $1,200. Now my question is, what would be the "side effects" of closing this account? Will it cause BofA to dislike me in case I need them for something in the future (read the post on BofA long memory)? I don't want another hard pull (got 5 already) so rather than negotiating, I'm trying to decide whether to close the account or to let it stay there untill they unsecure it themselves. PS. I could use the deposit money..

i appreciate any ideas

thanks

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Because you opened it in December and you have a clean file, I'd hold onto it for another couple months for graduation.  That way you keep the tradeline, get your money back, can request a CLI, and you may be able to product change into a rewards card and get the annual fee waived as well (it happens.  Often.)  

There are people on this board who started out with $300 secured BofA cards that are now unsecured five figure rewards cards.

Obviously, if you want to get rid of it it won't hurt you that bad, since your profile is still rather young and closed accounts still report for up to 10 years so your newer accounts have time to age before it goes away.  That's totally up to you.

[Anonymous]

Don't close it, see if it graduates to unsecured before the annual fee is due again. Keep a zero balance. If you got 15,000 approved by chanae, I'm sure it will be graduating soon.

[newhis]

Well, if you need the money then close it.

If you can wait, I'll do the following:

- chat/message/call and ask to include the Cash Rewards program to your card. I was able to chat and get that even before I got the plastic. Some say they changed policy and they don't do that anymore but others report that they were able to do that, so you get the 3-2-1 rewards plus 10% if you have check/savings. This will not be a HP.

- keep your file clean and maybe you can get auto unsecured at 9th statement

- after unsecure, call credit analyst and ask for APR reduction, I got from 20.x% to 16.9, DW down to 14.9. You can ask every few months (6 or so).

- with same call, you can say that you know that people that treat the card good get the AF removed (DW got AF removed in same call, I had to contact them several times)

- as you have other cards with higher limits, you can use a HP in the future for CLI, you should ask for 20k, you can call back up to 30 days later and ask them to use the same HP and give you more

If you prefer you can apply for Travel Rewards in the future, they give you 1.5 per $1 for travel expenses and 10% bouns if you have a checking/saving account with them. I have an offer for 15,000 (instead the regular 10,000).

Good luck

[randy230k]

If I were you, I'd hold of for graduation to an unsecured card.  You should be really close to being able to graduate.  Then, PC to a non-fee product, ask for CLI, interest rate reduction, etc.  The high amount of available credit will help your credit as the util will vary less with usage and keep your credit score more stable.  Just my $.02

P.S - I started with a BofA secured.  This is the route i took.  I graduated after 9 months

[lmhenry1]

Hey I say keep it.

I'm one of the few who had a $300 secured credit card in dec 2011 and quickly graduated up to 10,500 dec 2013.
1). This card will grow with you.
2. They frequently send me 0% BToffers .
3. This card will graduate right on time a year from when you opened your account maybe even nine months like mines. You get the check back quickly

4. You should have few problems upgrading the rewards, getting rid of the annual fee and reducing the APR to around 9.9% if you do call around multiple times or reach out through social media.

5. If I was in your shoes I would wait for the card graduates and then have them match your second highest limit or go even beyond that because they soft your credit every month and know what limits and banks your working with. and the customer service is top notch I want to say even better than AMEX. Their call centers are mostly US based who are knowledgeable and can help. Heck I even opened a checking account with them even though I do most of my banking through a major credit union.

Use that money when u get it back to invest in yourself or increase ur passive income streams .

Just my 2 cents. Hope I could help.

[skorpyo3]

BofA sounds like a great bank. Can't wait to get my 123 in the mail!

[AeroKrix]

If you do decide to keep it, they will gladly switch your basic CC to their 123 cash rewards card. People usually call and do the switch right at approval so the card they mail is the rewards. But if you switch after the card is mailed, they have to issue you a new card, with a new number.