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Secured Card Advice.

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yomellamoFICO2013
Regular Contributor

Secured Card Advice.

Hi. I am a new user ot the myFICO forums.

I would like hear your experience and results obtained after applying for Secured Credit cards.

My current FICO is 620. I do not have any recent collections but my prior history (5-7 years) was not great.

I am sorry if this question is re-post or has been asked before.



CURRENT TLS:

AMAZON $2K/ WALMART $2K /DCU $3K DELTA AMEX $1K
DISCOVER $1.2K/ PAYPALEXT $2K /COSTCOTU $1.2K

UPDATED 8/1
EQ
8/1/13 EQ 694 - (myfico) -
7/26/13 EQ 694 - (DCU)
9/10 EQ 701 - (myfico)

EX
9/8 - EX 707 (usaa/EX)

TU
6/18 TU 690 (myfico)
7/2 TU 694 (Walmart)
8/8 TU 676 (Walmart)
9/6 TU 676 (Walmart)
Message 1 of 13
12 REPLIES 12
daybreakgonesXe
Valued Contributor

Re: Secured Card Advice.


@yomellamoFICO2013 wrote:

Hi. I am a new user ot the myFICO forums.

I would like hear your experience and results obtained after applying for Secured Credit cards.

My current FICO is 620. I do not have any recent collections but my prior history (5-7 years) was not great.

I am sorry if this question is re-post or has been asked before.


I started out with an Orchard Bank secured card as soon as i turned 18...

 

Nice part about the card was first year waived annual fee, then after that $35, and doesn't report as secured. As of now, it is currently in the process of being transferred to Capital One, so who knows what will happen to it!

 

Unfortunately, while it was still under HSBC, they were not able to secure my account. I do know that the current Capital One secured is unable to be unsecured as well. That is the one negative of it :/

Message 2 of 13
BearOSO
Contributor

Re: Secured Card Advice.

I am approaching 2 years on my USAA secured. It was my only card for a long time. Oct 2012 I applied for C1 Secured and after obtaining it started receiving pre-approval offers for various AMEX cards, mostly their charge cards and SPG and for Discover.I do not know if it was because the USAA secured card is co-branded by AMEX but  I bit the bullet on AMEX Gold and appd for the Chase Freedom.

So far Capital One has been good with me even though I have one CO from HSBC. My unsecured limits are a bit low for my spending but I am content with it as the same time last year I could not even obtain a store card.  I plan on depositing up to the max limit on the Cap1 cc but may leave some wiggle room to see if they do an auto-CLI, as I've read a few people have been lucky. 

 

It is really a waiting game and patience and knowledge is key. 

Message 3 of 13
Wolf3
Senior Contributor

Re: Secured Card Advice.

I used 3 secured  CC opened over a year (Public Saving Bank $1K,  HSBC $1100,  Capital one $2200(over time).    I kept all opened for about 14 to 16 months.   Right before closing Capial One, I got a unsecured cash back card from them CL $3000 (with $500 credit step).  

 

In hindsight, I think one secured card with high CL is best for most people in building or rebuilding.  

Message 4 of 13
sbeasl11
Regular Contributor

Re: Secured Card Advice.

I was able to get BofA secured visa about 5 months back. I believe my score was around 620 at the time. I have read that the card will unsecure around 12 months. My next step is to go for USAA or NFCU. I am happy that BofA gave me a chance. I have several baddies from a few years back still showing. 

Message 5 of 13
Revelate
Moderator Emeritus

Re: Secured Card Advice.

My own file is a mess in it's prior history.

 

I did the following:

BOFA secured (2K, bumped to 5K, graduated at 12 month mark at 2.5K limit)

Orchard unsecured ($300 -> $400 on CLI)

DCU secured (2K)

 

I also opened an auto loan and a secured installment loan for mix of tradelines.

 

I started at a 561, at the 9 month mark I was at 642 and obtained:

 

Amex Zync (possibly other charge card could've been approved here as well)

Refi'd auto loan from 19.35% -> 5.99%

 

and one year was at a 652 and obtained the following cards:

 

Amex BCP - 1K

Chase Freedom - 1K

USAA MC - 2K

 

random store and also picked up a different secured card but I don't count these as I could've qualified for them earlier.

 

Fact is secured cards when used well, are extremely beneficial to one's credit report while rebuilding and one's resultant credit score.  As with anything credit and/or FICO related in many respects YMMV; however, it does work, and there are thousands of other success stories out there besides my own.

 

Edit; as a follow-up to Wolf's suggestion I would've done something slightly different too - I still would've obtained 2-3 revolving tradelines total as the second card is almost always a straight FICO boost and the third probably accelerates payment history; however, I wouldn't have split my initial funds 2K/2500, I would've done the absolute minimum on one and whatever was left on the other.  Right now doing it over I'd do BOFA at $4400 and C1 at $100, and then simply increase the C1 card over time.

 

 




        
Message 6 of 13
Guyatthebeach
Valued Contributor

Re: Secured Card Advice.

The day my bankruptcy was discharged, I opened a secured credit card at my credit union and my bank. Six months later to the day, I attempted get them unsecured. I got the one with the credit union unsecured. My bank would not unsecure their card. Two different underwriters said they wanted to see atleast 12 months of positive payment history given the nature of my bankruptcy. Since I really enjoy the bank and they have been really great to me, I am leaving it secured and will try again next year.

 

I have added 2 unsecured cards since and am gardening for 2013.

 

I personally reccomend trying a credit union for a secured card. They seem to have the best underwriting policies and lowest fees. If you have to go through a bank, try a bank like PNC. They basically approve it with no problems. The only thing is you have to bank with them.

 

Hope that helps!

Message 7 of 13
yomellamoFICO2013
Regular Contributor

Re: Secured Card Advice.

Thank you for sharing your walkthrough. I have a CP1 Platinum (unsecured) with a $800 CL  that I have been managing, but need to get down to 10% UL.

Since I bank at Wells Fargo, I am planning on applying for their secured card. I hope it does go through.

Regards..



CURRENT TLS:

AMAZON $2K/ WALMART $2K /DCU $3K DELTA AMEX $1K
DISCOVER $1.2K/ PAYPALEXT $2K /COSTCOTU $1.2K

UPDATED 8/1
EQ
8/1/13 EQ 694 - (myfico) -
7/26/13 EQ 694 - (DCU)
9/10 EQ 701 - (myfico)

EX
9/8 - EX 707 (usaa/EX)

TU
6/18 TU 690 (myfico)
7/2 TU 694 (Walmart)
8/8 TU 676 (Walmart)
9/6 TU 676 (Walmart)
Message 8 of 13
Wolf3
Senior Contributor

Re: Secured Card Advice.

Good choice since you already are a customer.   And the card will eventually unsecure.

Message 9 of 13
QAMngrGirl
Frequent Contributor

Re: Secured Card Advice.

I received a "pre-qualified" secured Visa offer from Bofa ($99.00 deposit/$500 CL), as a "special offer" in my online banking menu (checking/savings through them) around 8/2011. Didn't have enough credit/info on my reports to even generate a score for any CRA so I can't relate that info. Now, almost 18 months later, it has graduated to unsecured, (got my deposit back), decent CL for a recently graduated card, and PC'd to a Cash Rewards last month. Never had any issues, and the Customer Service has always been really helpful.

Message 10 of 13
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