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What to do with my secured cards?

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DannyC990
Member

What to do with my secured cards?

Greetings--

 

I am currently working to improve my credit score... In order to build my credit, I opened two secured lines of credit (One with PNC and the other with Capital One) back in September of 2013. I started both with an intial $250 deposit, and received an additional $500 line of unsecured credit from Capital One about a year ago. (They automatically gave it to me after I put my income information on my online banking profile).

 

Since I've had the two cards, I've been able to get three other cards (see below). Now that I've built a little history, I would like to eventually (hopefully this summer/fall) apply for a card with travel benefits (would like a Venture card or Disocver IT w/ miles) or one with cashback and finally get rid of the two secured cards.

 

I was wondering how I should go about doing this... Obivously, I don't want to cancel anything before getting the new card, but I was wondering if I should cancel one, then wait a year then cancel the other, or 'rip the bandaid off' and cancel both at the same time?

 

Other info:

 

Cards-

Capital One- $750 ($250 secured, 500 unsecured) (opened September 2012)

PNC Secured- $250 (Opened August 2012)

Target Card- $2,000 (Opened July 2013)

Sears Mastercard - $650 (Opened December 2012)

Synchrony/Ashley Furniture- $1,000 (Opened June 2014)

 

Credit Score-

According to the "credit tracker" from Capital One- 629

7 inquires (6 from a car dealership when I was seeking financing for my car, these will falling off the report in May)

100% clean payment history. No degurotary marks. 

Oldest credit line: 6 years (Student Loan)

 

Other debt-

Auto Loan- $12,500

Student Loan- $57,000 (Currently deffered while I am in grad school, but making monthly payments anyway)

 

 

Current credit cards:
PNC Secured, Capital One Secured, Target, Ashley Funiture/Synchrony, Sears MasterCard
Message 1 of 8
7 REPLIES 7
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: What to do with my secured cards?

How is your score so low if you have no baddies or derogs? There is something you aren't telling us.Smiley Indifferent

 

Message 2 of 8
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: What to do with my secured cards?

If you must dump one, PNC. Capital One is growing with you - hold on to that one.

Message 3 of 8
itgirl74
Frequent Contributor

Re: What to do with my secured cards?


@Anonymous wrote:

How is your score so low if you have no baddies or derogs? There is something you aren't telling us.Smiley Indifferent

 


I agree with the above - your score should be higher based on what you've told us. Is your utilization extremely high?

 

I think your first step should be purchasing your reoprts and real FICO scores from here since the Credit Tracker score is a FAKO. Figure out what is keeping your score down and work on fixing that. Then, check Capital One and maybe Chase prequal sites since they are accurate. You should have no problem getting a Cap One QS and/or Venture if you get your score up a little. After you get a couple of unsecured bank cards, there's no reason to keep the Cap One secured card - it won't grow any more, and it won't graduate. I don't know if your PNC card will graduate to unsecured, but you should find out. They may require a HP to change it, so you'll want your score up a little bit first.

Starting Score: EQ: 478 | EX: 499 | TU: 534 Current Score:EQ: 759 | EX: 805 | TU: 830 Goal Score: 800
Message 4 of 8
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: What to do with my secured cards?


@Anonymous wrote:

If you must dump one, PNC. Capital One is growing with you - hold on to that one.


i wouldnt call that growing with him.  cap 1 will not graduate a secured card, u have to close it or stick with the secured card....

Message 5 of 8
DannyC990
Member

Re: What to do with my secured cards?

Sorry, I thought I mentioned my utilization.

 

I'm currently sitting at $1,741 out of an available credit of $4,650. Balances include 750/1000 on Ashley, 398/750 on Capital One, and 593/650 on Sears. My PNC and Target cards have zero balances on them, and were paid off in late March. Two large payments were just made on the Capital One card within the last 2 weeks. I am currently on track to have all remaining CC Debt paid off by the middle/end of June. 

 

The only other thing I have flagging on the "FAKO" sites is the average credit history. Old account is 6 years, and is an active student loan account. Newest is the Ashley Card

 

I do plan on purchasing a FICO score once I've finished paying off the credit cards. Maybe I'm a little early in seeking advice, but I'm a planner and just wanted to see what options I have Smiley Happy I'm excited about finally getting everything paid off. After I graduted last year, I found a job in another city and had to relocate quickly.... It was my first living on my own and needed to buy EVERYTHING. 

 

 

Current credit cards:
PNC Secured, Capital One Secured, Target, Ashley Funiture/Synchrony, Sears MasterCard
Message 6 of 8
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: What to do with my secured cards?


@DannyC990 wrote:

Sorry, I thought I mentioned my utilization.

 

I'm currently sitting at $1,741 out of an available credit of $4,650. Balances include 750/1000 on Ashley, 398/750 on Capital One, and 593/650 on Sears. My PNC and Target cards have zero balances on them, and were paid off in late March. Two large payments were just made on the Capital One card within the last 2 weeks. I am currently on track to have all remaining CC Debt paid off by the middle/end of June. 

 

The only other thing I have flagging on the "FAKO" sites is the average credit history. Old account is 6 years, and is an active student loan account. Newest is the Ashley Card

 

I do plan on purchasing a FICO score once I've finished paying off the credit cards. Maybe I'm a little early in seeking advice, but I'm a planner and just wanted to see what options I have Smiley Happy I'm excited about finally getting everything paid off. After I graduted last year, I found a job in another city and had to relocate quickly.... It was my first living on my own and needed to buy EVERYTHING. 

 

 


Do your best to pay down the credit cards as quickly as possible. If your student loans are deferred, I would be spending that money on the credit cards rather than the student loans, as the CCs probably have much higher interest rates. 

 

I would wait to close the two secured cards until after you get the new unsecured card. If the new card has a CL greater than $1000, I think I would close the secured cards. I was going to say $2k, but I don't know what will happen if you SD the secured cards and they get closed by the lenders. I think that if you get the chance to make a like for like switch, you should take it. If the CL is under $1000, cancel the $250 card, but leave the other one alone. 

Message 7 of 8
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: What to do with my secured cards?

Close both of them.
Message 8 of 8
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