Starter Cards

[manwoot]

Hey all,

My wife recently applied for a Chase Freedom card.  It was denied for the following reasons:

Your credit report reflects judgments or delinquent accounts

Too few accounts currently paid as agreed

Length of time accounts have been established

Lack of recent revolving account information

She's only had 2 credit cards that were in her name.  One was a Barclay's card that she closed after 3 months and one was a Credit One card that wound up being a charge off.  These were from about 2010.  Since then, she's had nothing other than AU on both my Amex accounts and my CSP.

She applied for a and was approved for a Capital One Quicksilver One card with a $2000 initial CL.  Are there any other "starter" cards like this that she should apply for?  I think she should have 2 active and used ones, but I don't want her to have to get a secured card.

Thanks for the input.

[Mzbutterfly86]

From reading through the forum. I would recommend the Bank Of America Secured Card. Limits $300- $5000 if im not mistaken. It can get Unsecured as early as 9 months and you can get your money back. PIF every month or carry less then 10% utilization helps as well. There is a forum post that gives you the exact requirement but I cant find it right now to post it here for you but it floating around here somewhere.

I have it myself and cant wait for it to get unsecured.

[JoshuaHolySpirit]

Oh, why did she close her Barclays Card? I was thinkin' the cards other than Quicksilver One (Cap One) are a Barclays for fair credit or their co-branded ones. Not much starter cards out there since she also dissed the Credit One. BOA seems to be the secured route and you don't want that right? Anyways, try again with Barclays or let accounts age and see if she can get in with AMEX, Citi...etc since she is already AU on the Amex and it may show some positive history granted that she is using it wisely. I don't know how it actually works with AMEX but everyone begins somewhere. All the best-!!!!

[Mzbutterfly86]

im sooo sorry to OP I completely didnt see the do not want....

[nmac]

I would try the walmart credit card. It seems to have more lax requirements and they start people with credit limits as low as $150. The card is back by GE so even if she is started with a low limit increases are pretty easy / common with use every month. Also many people are able to switch to the discover version that can be used at many other locations after a short while. 

[SunriseEarth]

I'd recommend she go for a store card, preferably one at a store she frequents and with a good rewards structure.  VS is one she could get through the "shopping card trick" and I've seen people here get that one in the 590s.  As long as she PIF for the store charges, the high APRs aren't really an issue. 

[Kenny]

I agree with some of the suggestions! Wal-Mart or Barclays or any other store card.. She might value the Wal-Mart more because of the monthly score update. What are you guys leaning towards at the moment?

[manwoot]

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@KennyRS wrote:
I agree with some of the suggestions! Wal-Mart or Barclays or any other store card.. She might value the Wal-Mart more because of the monthly score update. What are you guys leaning towards at the moment?

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I wish she liked Wal-Mart, a free credit score to track her progress would be awesome.  But she is a Target fan and refuses to shop at Wal-Mart.  I appreciate the suggestions so far, anyone have any other ideas?  She's still at just the one credit card.

[BluePoodle]

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@manwoot wrote:

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@KennyRS wrote:
I agree with some of the suggestions! Wal-Mart or Barclays or any other store card.. She might value the Wal-Mart more because of the monthly score update. What are you guys leaning towards at the moment?

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I wish she liked Wal-Mart, a free credit score to track her progress would be awesome.  But she is a Target fan and refuses to shop at Wal-Mart.  I appreciate the suggestions so far, anyone have any other ideas?  She's still at just the one credit card.

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Why not have her apply at Target?  I am not sure what scores they look for but if she likes the store than it would be worth the try.

[SunriseEarth]

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@manwoot wrote:

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@KennyRS wrote:
I agree with some of the suggestions! Wal-Mart or Barclays or any other store card.. She might value the Wal-Mart more because of the monthly score update. What are you guys leaning towards at the moment?

---

I wish she liked Wal-Mart, a free credit score to track her progress would be awesome.  But she is a Target fan and refuses to shop at Wal-Mart.  I appreciate the suggestions so far, anyone have any other ideas?  She's still at just the one credit card.

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Has she settled on the CO?   That might be worth addressing.

Until then, I still think store cards could be a good solution.   Are there any other stores she likes, aside from Target?