Future Changes to the Capital One Secured Card

[Anonymous]

Would be interested in speculation on what Capital One plans to do with it's secured card product.  It seems to me they may change it into a graduating card in the near future.  The short lived $100 rebuilder card was supposed to do that, if I remember correctly.  No longer being able to add to the limit-as of a few weeks from now-is a major change, and, to me, signals they have other plans for this card.  What do you think?

[Anonymous]

This will be interesting to me. I have a secured card with them. But my thought is they will no longer offer it. The new rebuilder card started being offered around the time I got my letter about no more deposits. Ive also noticed that the new card is not listed on their site. (not everyone can go apply for it) It would be a nice thought though to think it will some day graduate. 

[TrialByFire]

I haven't heard about this new rebuilder card. One experiment might be to call/chat cap1 and see if they'll PC the secured into the new rebuilder card, just to see if it's an option. Could be a way to circumvent waiting on an unsecured graduation if they bite

[Anonymous]

I actually tried this a few days ago. They said its not a graduating card.

[Anonymous]

The rebuilder card -no longer on their website- was not a secured card.  It was a $100 limit card that would not even report for 5 months.  If things went well at that point, it would become a regular Platinum card, and presumably, have it's cl increased.  You could not even apply for it if you had an other Capital One product.  They seemed to have changed their mind on this program very quickly. 

If they do decide to make the secured card able to graduate to unsecured, they will have a very poplular product on their hands.  It's not a major deal to me, as I've gotten some unsecured cards since I got my Cap One secured, but it would be nice to not have a low limit card hanging around for no reason other than to keep my oldest credit line alive.

[TrialByFire]

Ah i see thanks for clarifying

[Anonymous]

One aspect of this that might be important is the amount of money Capital One must have stashed away somewhere making money for them while paying out zero interest on it.  I  don't imagine they are too keen on letting that go all at once.  Also, they are still collecting annual fees from a whole lot of people who applied for this card before this summer.  Two pretty big factors in favor of not graduating the card.  On the other hand, the amount that can be made on new accounts of $200 without an annual fee is probably pretty feable.  Is it worth the hastle to them to hopefully bring in new customers for their other, more profitable cards in the future?

[lamplight2012]

Update, here's my conversation with CSR via Chat on Capital One's website
 
You I do have a question regarding the secured card.
 
CSR I'll be more than happy to help you with that!
 
You I have learned that as of 1/19 I won't be able to deposit into the secured card. Is that product changing?
 
CSR We are constantly looking for ways to improve our products, and making this change will enable us to improve the Secured Card customer experience. Unfortunately, our system will not allow deposits after account opening. That does not mean, however, that your credit line cannot be increased. We periodically review customers’ accounts for credit line increases based on payment behavior and credit worthiness, with no additional security deposit required.
CSRAfter this change, you will not be able to provide additional deposits to increase your credit line if your account is already open. However, we periodically review customers’ accounts for credit line increases based on payment behavior and credit worthiness, with no additional security deposit required.
 
You Oh, so that card won't be secured anymore? & it will be apart of the 'credit steps'
You ?
 
CSR Yes.

You Awesome. Eventually, will I be able to combine these two cards? or no?
 
CSR Yes, you can.
CSR Let me help you with the additional information.
 
You Awesome. Thank you!
 
CSR Card accounts must be in good standing
CSR Card accounts must be open for at least 6 months
CSR One card account must have a $0 balance and no pending transaction
CSR Card accounts must be linked in your online banking profile
CSR Account Combination is an online servicing tool that allows eligible US Card customers to request to combine cards. If eligible, customers with more than one credit card account can close a card and add the closed card’s credit line to one of their other existing credit card accounts. This allows customers to simplify their wallet, combine credit lines onto their preferred card and close cards they don’t use.
 
You Awesome. Thank you. So, just to clarify, I can in the future combine xxxx(secured), & xxxx(unsecured)?
 
CSR You may eligible to combine the account once you meet above criteria.

[Anonymous]

I wonder if we will get the deposit back if we combine or PC?

[lamplight2012]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I wonder if we will get the deposit back if we combine or PC?

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That's a good question. I'm sure we would.