Cap One is the best of the rebuilders outside of secured cards. 3 years ago I didn't even have a FICO score having abandoned use of credit for over a decade. Didn't need it or want it - debit card for everything. Of course there are problems with that though I didn't understand why until I started reading more about CRAs and how CCs are used to screen car rentals and hotel rooms.
So I had opened a bank checking account that came with a 1k OD CL. I wasn't even aware it came with that - it was just part of the package with no credit pull. I really lucked out because I think that's extremely uncommon and probably wouldn't have gotten it if they had pulled my credit. They reported monthly to all three which was the first time I even knew it has an OD line after pulling a CR. That triggered a flood of preapps First Premier, Millenium Bank. Sub, sub prime stuff. I read a blazing "9.9%" APR from FP and though, wow!, It's been a long time since I had any credit and I have some old baddies. Then I read the fine print which was, like, get a $300CL card with about $250 of initial fees. Oh, so that's why they blaze 9.9% APR. It was a total scam except that, unlike Madoff, they told you up front what a scam it was.
So then I started getting Orchard preapps, both secured and unsecured. Pricey but not as outrageous as the other clowns.
I settled down, learned a lot about credit, and understood my mistake of abandoning use of CCs and being flakey on old utilities and taxes. Got some high limit secured cards one of which paid far above market in CD interest.. Now, less than three years after having only negative items on my CR I have 44k in unsecured CC lines and never had a FP, MB, or Orchard card.
I did come close to apping for Cap One though because of the 0% FX but the 3k max on secured cards didn't work for me.
