Good first card for average credit?

[Anonymous]

Creditors don't just look at scored. You have 8 unpaid collections. 

I would say DiscoverIt or Capital One secured. DiscoverIt would be my recommendation between the two. 

[Anonymous]

I should add BoA secured card too, but with the collections they could deny you. I'd say it's still worth 1 hard pull because I've heard that card usually grows well.

[Anonymous]

Interesting, I'm already a member of NFCU as my husband is a veteran.  Since it's not a local bank we mostly forget it exists as we just keep a small saving pool with them and do our daily banking at a local bank.  I will check them out and see what kind of credit cards they can offer us, thanks!

I know I have a lot of things in collection, but I'm hesitant to pay them because they are all so old.. half of them will fall off in the next year.  I just want to start building credit card credit with a card that allows actual increases.. my secured card is set, it doesn't allow for any CLI increases or additional deposits.  

[bourgogne]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Interesting, I'm already a member of NFCU as my husband is a veteran.  Since it's not a local bank we mostly forget it exists as we just keep a small saving pool with them and do our daily banking at a local bank.  I will check them out and see what kind of credit cards they can offer us, thanks!

I know I have a lot of things in collection, but I'm hesitant to pay them because they are all so old.. half of them will fall off in the next year.  I just want to start building credit card credit with a card that allows actual increases.. my secured card is set, it doesn't allow for any CLI increases or additional deposits.  

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let's get to this, do you see a pre-qual at cap1 site?  a splash page that says your name?  if yes get the plat, it will have a 300-500 limit and you will go through steps for 5-6 months.  do some searches.   if not I would app for a nfcu whatever, they seem to look the other way at almost everything - I know firsthand lol.  you got this, report back!

[grillandwinemaster]

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@Callandra wrote:

If you have inquiries to burn, you could try applying for cards to see what happens. But with all those unpaid collections, I'd recommend Capital One QS One or another secured card. You're borderline (score wise) for Barclays Rewards but they tend to prefer paid collections. I'd personally focus on getting those collections removed or at least paid as that looks better on manual review. 

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+1

My thoughts are exactly as poster above. Cap1 is probably your best bet, with Barclays Rewards a 2nd possibility. 

How were you able to qualify for a mortgage with 8 unpaid collections? I thought that was unheard of??

[Anonymous]

I agree with others here... C1 is probably your only reasonable bet. Your scores are fair, borderline for unsecured approval, but most creditors look at the substance of the report, not just the score itself. With 8 unpaid collections, it's unlikely you'll get approved. If four will fall off within the year, wait for that. As for the others, have you tried disputing? Pay-for-delete? It's difficult, but not impossible to get collections off the report based on the provisions of the FCBA & FCRA. There's tons of great advice on here to do that, or feel free to PM me. Don't burn INQ's now... especially if you're potentially going to see improvements to your report, you'll kick yourself down the road.

[Anonymous]

Well, just thought I'd report back my end results:

American Express Blue Cash Everyday: Denied (I figured as much)

Discover IT: Approved for $2,000 at 24% APR

Amazon Rewards Visa: Approved for $500 at 22.9%

Barclays Rewards Mastercard: Approved $500

It's more cards than I wanted, but I'm happy to have unsecured credit cards now and was pleasantly surprised at Discover.  I use Amazon enough each month that hopefully the card from them will be worth it and I can work on slowly increasing my limits every 6 months.  

[Anonymous]

Great those are all good cards. Just make darn sure you dont carry a balance because those are some HIGH rates.
If i was you id call each one up like a week before thanksgiving and say that you are needing the higher limit for holiday gifts.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Well, just thought I'd report back my end results:

American Express Blue Cash Everyday: Denied (I figured as much)

Discover IT: Approved for $2,000 at 24% APR

Amazon Rewards Visa: Approved for $500 at 22.9%

Barclays Rewards Mastercard: Approved $500

It's more cards than I wanted, but I'm happy to have unsecured credit cards now and was pleasantly surprised at Discover.  I use Amazon enough each month that hopefully the card from them will be worth it and I can work on slowly increasing my limits every 6 months.  

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Discover IT is great.  I love that card and it'll be a long term keeper in my wallet.  They also aren't too shy about SP/Luv button CLIs for a lot of people.  Take advantage of their rotating 5%, the double cash back at the end of the 1st year (so it is more like a 2% CB the first year), Discover Deals / shopping portal, and withdrawing cash back as discounted gift cards.  Then press that luv button after 60-90 days and every 31-60 days after that.

[Anonymous]

You will love the DiscoverIT card. The approved my for $500 when I had less than perfect credit. Definitely request increases once your score starts going up!