What i did was this....
i am from another country and so of course all of my perfect 'credit history' from the UK was disregarded and i had to start from the beginning in the USA....
after finally getting my s.s no...in July 07....
the first thing i did was apply for a Walmart store card as i shop there every week....
totally TURNED DOWN....!!!
so i wondered how on earth i was going to build up any credit if no one would give me a chance in the first place...after carefully reading around the internet ...a secured credit card would be the only way to go....
so first i attempted to get a BofA check account on line - TURNED DOWN!!!!!
oh my god !!! if i cant get a bank account, how can i get a cc ??? this was a real catch 22 ....i was so upset that i did not know how to solve this problem that i called the local BofA branch - and the poor girl listened to me sobbing on the phone !!! (LOL i can laugh now but at the time, it was totally frustrating and illogical to me)
so here i am 2 credit hard enquiries (unbeknown to me at the time!) and no Joy....
the girl at the bank told me to come down and bring all my id...
she opened up a joint account from me and my hubby - then immediately applied for a $300 dollar limit Secured card - we gave her the cash and she dealt with it - handed me tissues every now and again and made me laugh!!!
so anyway - after receiveing my card through the post with the wrong middle initial and all my literature in Spanish !!!! - i phoned to find out what i should do now - then i find out my date of birth is also wrong -
so here i am with now 3 hard enquiries, the wrong name and the wrong date of birth being reported to the CRA's (at the time i did not have a clue all this was happening....)
i spoke to some Spanish rep for BofA and eventually we got it sorted out - ta dah !!! - the correct name, in English and the date of birth corrected ... !!!
so i use the card, 1st month pay if off, 2nd month use the card, 3rd month pay it off - (i had started off nearly maxing it out, thinking thats what the CCC wants....not know that my fico score was sitting with one card on it being utilized and maxed out to the limits !!! )....then i make a mistake and pay my 298 bill off twice!!! LOL - so here i am nearly 300 dollars in CREDIT on my CC !!! (ahhhh...twas a great mistake to make though !!! i cant even imagine what my credit utilization must have been for that month, without me having a clue what my fico score must be doing !!! LOL)...BofA could not give the money straight back to me....so i had to wait until the end of the billing cycle and the next statement!!! LOL
so whilst that was happening (Nov 07), i was a little short on cash ...so applied for Target card with my fingers crossed ....well i was immediately accepted - 200 cl - wow! i was happy - so i could still do some shopping for xmas ! hooray!!!
so Dec 07 - i just use up the CREDIT on my credit card and they send me the remainder returned to me in a check for 7.00....
Jan 08 ...i apply for a Walmart card again - APPROVED - 400 limit....
Feb 08 ...i find MY FICO...start reading the boards...gradually understanding Utilization/credit limits/etc...so started to play with the figures...never charging more that 10% - for feb/march...
March 08 - TARGET - INCREASE - 500 !!!! sweet !!!
April 08 ....get my score with EX on this site - 715...!!! nice....im pretty happy !!!!
April 08 ...apply for Cap 1 ....2000 !!! really nice!!!!
April 08 ...apply for Wamu....2500...!!! extra nice!!!!
April 08...apply for Discover....REJECTION LETTER!!!....(ok probably pushed my luck abit far by now!!! LOL)....
So i immediately used my two new credit cards - less than 10% Uz - paid in full - for the first month....(bank of america card - only putting 5 bucks on it once a month and paying it off before it hits the statement date for the last 3 months)
May 08....according to credit karma - when i applied for the cards i took a hit on my score - 687 !...i was a little worried ....but two weeks later ...743 !!! go figure!!!! (although i believe these are TU scores and i didnt know what my original was with them before i applied - just the EX)....also though ...Wamu...gives you their 'credit card score' on the site - said 700 !!!
SO TODAY May 27th .....i have had my secured card with BofA for 10 months....called this morning...asking for have my card looked at early to see if i can upgrade it and get my security money given back...????
they said it will go into credit finace department - and i will have to wait for the decision to come through the post which could take 30-60 days!!! wow! ...
i did ask would it be a hard or soft enquiry and she said she 'believed it would be just a soft enquiry' !!! (hope so!!!!)
will update when i find out what happens....
i am definately interested in hearing others BofA experiences ....and i just wanted you to know that you can still do the secured card with 300 cl and get good scores!!!
good luck ....let us know what happens....personally i would take that 1000 check down to the local BofA and let them deal with it (just hope you dont get the same girl i did !!! LOL)
Starting Score: EQ 546 TU 566
