No credit card required
Browse credit cards from a variety of issuers to see if there's a better card for you.
Wait for your discharge first!
I'd say anything with a credit union would be best. There are some that are BK Friendly and will help you rebuild your credit. If you are eligible for NFCU and haven't burned them, join there and don't look back. They're notorious for being very generous to those both with and without a BK on their file. After that, I have heard that DCU is pretty good too.
Bank-wise, simply look for something unsecured and no annual fee or a very small one. I remember I started with Orchard Bank and CapOne (both had account fees on most cards). Barclays is another BK friendly creditor in most cases...and they will issue accounts without annual fees.
What should you stay away from...in my experience, the worst ones were the accounts with the monthly fees and/or account setup fees. Make sure you read the fine print (Terms and Conditions of whatever card you're applying for to make sure there's not a $75 annual fee disguised as a $6.25/month fee or that your available credit will be reduced by $200 due to account setup fees. Notorious for this are First Premier Bank and New Millenium Bank. CreditOne Bank is another one with a high annual fee ($75-$150). Do your research and if you find a card you like, ask some more questions and we'll try to help as best we can.
Edit: As a FYI, Orchard's (HSBC) credit rebuilder portfolio has been sold to CapOne.
Rank by easiest to get approved for?
My vote would be the GE CareCredit card, (but it's a bit different than other cards- you can only use it for medical & veterinary expenses.)
I applied with NO credit card history, ZERO income (full-time grad student), and an old charge-off utility bill. No idea what my score was but probably in the 500s then.
I was instantly aproved for 3k.
I have read they will give this card to anyone with a pulse.
Also I see a lot in the forums here that GE is a great line to start with for building credit because they back a ton of retail cards, so responsible use with one will open the door
to the rest for you. The Care Credit card also has a cool feature of 0% interest from 6 months of the date of each use- permanently, not just for the first year. So I used mine for Lasik eye surgery and made interest free payments, building credit the whole time. Then used it again for my dog's surgery, same thing. Their customer service is excellent.
Now that I think about it, I'm surprised I haven't read more about the Care Credit card on these forums. It seems like an unsung hero for credit builders/rebuilders.
@loviedovie wrote:Now that I think about it, I'm surprised I haven't read more about the Care Credit card on these forums. It seems like an unsung hero for credit builders/rebuilders.
Agreed that it is easy to get and has good CL policies, it just has limited use. Walmart is so popular because you can probably find an excuse to buy something from Walmart in a given month, plus you get the free TU score.
| Chase Freedom $9500 DCU Visa $10000 Capital One QS $2000 AMEX BCE $3000 | Lowe's CC $8500 WalMart CC $3100 BOA Platinum $600 AMEX Gold NPSL |
Wouldn't wait on navy. You can always CLI and app for lower % when your cr is in better shape. They might want a secured card though.
gemb is usually pretty easy with ltd history - I started with old navy and Walmart a few months later.
Barclays may be forgiving of BKs, but they're going to want to see some positive history before approving you.
calling local CUs to see if someone will work with you is good, too. Some here have gotten large starting CLs from their local CUs post bk or rebuilding or starting out. But some are conservative, so you need to call around and see what they say.
cap one's sub prime cc is another option, they may not be good at CLIs, but at least they don't gouge their customers like first premier, credit one and other subprime rebuilders out there that take advantage of people in poor credit situations.
I know of one credit union that offers a "rebuilder credit card". The name of the firm is "Community America Credit Union". They are based in the midwest United States. Good luck and remember to always pay on time and when possible in full each and every statement.