Penalized for Orchard Bank?

[Cotton_Britches]

I've heard that having a card from Orchard Bank on your report can work against you when you apply for a CC later on with a major issuer. Is this true?

Also, I requested a card design from Household that had a cat on it. They sent me one with a dog instead.

[creditreformer]

Orchard bank appears as ‘hsbc’, so people don’t know that it’s orchard.  However, from my own personal experience (had 2 orchards + 2 first premiers), it seems like lenders (on manual review) aren’t very willing to give me high cls b/c they see (or saw- I’ve now closed those ccs) ‘subprime’ ccs w/low cls on my reports.  I think if you have a report full of say 200-500 cl, lenders know you’ve likely had some credit issues + I think it can hold you back b/c why would a lender give you say a 5k cl when all you have are 200-500 cl?   

 

I’ve remedied that ‘hold back’ effect (I hope) by closing the subprime ccs + getting replacement 1s- cap 1 1.1k (x2 cap 1s), usaa secured 1.5k, BA partially secured, etc.  Sure, the subprime orchards + first premiers are still visible on my reports, but they’re closed w/2-3 years of flawless history + lenders can see that while I may have had credit issues in the past (why else would anyone get a 3 digit cl cc?), I’m slowly yet surely ‘moving on up’ w/new, better ccs.  I hope to get an even bigger boost by opening up a 5k nfcu cc.

[Cotton_Britches]

Thanks for the insight!

[smallfry]

I had a bunch of them from the late 1990's early 2000's. No problem getting decent limits.

[creditreformer]

Smallfry, how long did it take you to start getting decent cls?  Did you have other ccs in addition to orchard/hsbc?  how long did you keep the orchard/hsbc?

[smallfry]

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@creditreformer wrote:

Smallfry, how long did it take you to start getting decent cls?  Did you have other ccs in addition to orchard/hsbc?  how long did you keep the orchard/hsbc?

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Don't do what I did. LOL. I didn't even concern myself with credit limits until a few years ago. I had 2 Cap One cards that were always maxxed out. Once I found out a bit about credit I paid off the cards and was lucky enough to get in on the tail end of the easy credit era. Penfed and NFCU were very generous with credit at the time. Citi allowed combining/closing and hard free CLI. I did nothing special. In hindsight I should have kept one of my older cards open. 

[creditreformer]

I seem to have started rebuilding at the tail end of the ‘good times’ unfortunately LOL  I was also hindered a bit b/c no one would approve me for a cc but first premier (orchard came a few mos. after that).  My AAOA is very low anyways (I was ‘underground’ for quite awhile credit wise) + since all my new accts were opened between 07-09, I don’t think my AAOA will take a huge hit in 10 years b/c I closed first premier/orchard. I think the USAA 1.5k cc + the NFCU 5k cc will really help me ‘get on my way’ into getting better cls.  I don’t want to add a bunch of jewelry accts or $200 macys and walmart type of ccs, so I hope my approach works out.

[Anonymous]

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@creditreformer wrote:

Smallfry, how long did it take you to start getting decent cls?  Did you have other ccs in addition to orchard/hsbc?  how long did you keep the orchard/hsbc?

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I know I am not smallfry, but my situation may give you some insight as well...

I had HSBC Household, Orchard, and Best Buy Reward Zone after a BK7 in 2004.  Those, along with Merrick and Cap1 were all I had, and they were all crappy, but no AF on any of them, so can't complain too much.  I slowly worked up the CL's on all of them (started at $300 each for HSBCx2, $300 Cap1, $500 merrick in 2006.)  By the time I went on my app spree in summer 2009, I had a single $2k HSBC Household, $2k Merrick, and $3k Crap1.

I think building my lines with those banks gave me a decent story to tell my new banks. They obviously saw my Public Record from 5 years earlier, but they also saw a much higher income, 100+ on time payments in a row across all my accounts since BK (lots of student loans, cars, etc in addition to the revolving TLs), and a progression of higher and higher limits.  I applied with my local CU after about 4.5 years from discharge with my highest CL as Crap1 (it may have even been $2k at that time, can't remember), but they gave me $10k approval.. because I sold myself to them in person and on the phone.  I also told them I wanted to "consolidate" my balances with them and develop a long term relationship with a single bank, rather than many.  This gave them the security of knowing that they stood a much better chance of getting their money as my main creditor, instead of one of many.  Then, when they made the offer of credit and requested me to fill out the forms to authorize them to contact my other banks to transfer the balances and close the cards, I told them I would transfer the balances, but refused to close the cards.. They accepted that deal, and Viola!, a "credit-worthy" credit profile with only one balance reporting, and a fairly high CL.  

Then PenFed saw that $10k, and decided to match it.  Then Citi decided to beat it at $11.3k.  And Navy said "we're the best" and gave me $14k.  Discover followed with $7,500.  All within 6 months.  It's amazing how things can change when you just get the right bank to take an initial chance on you, explain yourself and show maturity and stability... I don't think PenFed is that lender, personally..  I would try a local CU first.  But those opportunities ARE out there.

Good luck! 

 

[laz98]

i don't think i'm being penalized for having orchard cards, but i definitely think it affects creditors' perspective of me.

[-RED]

They can't tell what you have, other than it being a low credit line HSBC card.

HSBC is one the largest retail card holders in the market, so it could be a card from any of them.