No credit card required
Browse credit cards from a variety of issuers to see if there's a better card for you.
Has anyone joined as a limited member and were able to get a secured credit card? I have 2 cards (one AU) and I think I could use one more to rebuild my credit. I am non military so I was wondering is it worth it to app with USAA just for a secured cc? What other products can you qualify for as a limited member?
Has anyone with limited membership been able to apply for and recieve a secured cc?
@shalane85 wrote:Has anyone with limited membership been able to apply for and recieve a secured cc?
AFAIK, not since they closed an old loophole in their interface.
For the last six months at least limited members have not been able to obtain a secured card. One of their primary benefits, not reporting as secured, may have disappeared anyway. I do know my secured CD loan with them absolutely reports as secured, and I suspect their cards are now similar.
The ability to easily add money to one's deposit is nice, but one can find that from Cap One and various CU's as well. Not certain there's much else to recommend it other than USAA is a decent lender for those of us in the FICO mid-game for credit cards at least. Not certain what products (outside of the obvious insurance) aren't available to limited members, but their limits still seem to be fairly generous for partial members once they get to typical unsecured levels.
What is AFAIK?
Okay well I found a loophole to become a full member. So is the secured cc worth it? Am I better off waiting until I qualify for a unsecured?
@Revelate wrote:
@shalane85 wrote:Has anyone with limited membership been able to apply for and recieve a secured cc?
AFAIK, not since they closed an old loophole in their interface.
For the last six months at least limited members have not been able to obtain a secured card. One of their primary benefits, not reporting as secured, may have disappeared anyway. I do know my secured CD loan with them absolutely reports as secured, and I suspect their cards are now similar.
The ability to easily add money to one's deposit is nice, but one can find that from Cap One and various CU's as well. Not certain there's much else to recommend it other than USAA is a decent lender for those of us in the FICO mid-game for credit cards at least. Not certain what products (outside of the obvious insurance) aren't available to limited members, but their limits still seem to be fairly generous for partial members once they get to typical unsecured levels.
Secured AmEx added in March. Does not report secured.
Secured MC added in May. Does not report secured.
Not sure about anything added more recently, but for me, these do not report secured.
Their interest rates are pretty great, especially if you're in need of a secured product. I don't carry a balance ever, so it matters little to me, but I still take that into consideration.
Interest rates for partial members are generally a bit higher.
My only gripe with the USAA secured card is that it doesn't unsecure after 2 years. At that point, I'm hoping to qualify for other USAA cards, but I have seen at least one person that was denied after using their secured product for the 2 year time frame.
Otherwise, I think these cards are great. If you can get in as a full member, I'd go for it.
Plus, their car insurance is top-notch. Worth it on its own in many cases.
@apandabear wrote:
@Revelate wrote:
@shalane85 wrote:Has anyone with limited membership been able to apply for and recieve a secured cc?
AFAIK, not since they closed an old loophole in their interface.
For the last six months at least limited members have not been able to obtain a secured card. One of their primary benefits, not reporting as secured, may have disappeared anyway. I do know my secured CD loan with them absolutely reports as secured, and I suspect their cards are now similar.
The ability to easily add money to one's deposit is nice, but one can find that from Cap One and various CU's as well. Not certain there's much else to recommend it other than USAA is a decent lender for those of us in the FICO mid-game for credit cards at least. Not certain what products (outside of the obvious insurance) aren't available to limited members, but their limits still seem to be fairly generous for partial members once they get to typical unsecured levels.
Secured AmEx added in March. Does not report secured.
Secured MC added in May. Does not report secured.
Not sure about anything added more recently, but for me, these do not report secured.
Their interest rates are pretty great, especially if you're in need of a secured product. I don't carry a balance ever, so it matters little to me, but I still take that into consideration.
Interest rates for partial members are generally a bit higher.
My only gripe with the USAA secured card is that it doesn't unsecure after 2 years. At that point, I'm hoping to qualify for other USAA cards, but I have seen at least one person that was denied after using their secured product for the 2 year time frame.
Otherwise, I think these cards are great. If you can get in as a full member, I'd go for it.
Plus, their car insurance is top-notch. Worth it on its own in many cases.
Good to know panda, thank you. I completely agree with you on USAA insurance. I didn't go for one of their secured cards as I was trying to relationship build with a few lenders and picked up a secured CD loan instead from them; I do sort of wonder why the difference in reporting, but it's great they work out well for others. Probably would've been a better route for me than the C1 nee Orchard card I have currently, which other than no forex fee, does absolutely nothing beyond generic tradeline for me.