best cards to get

[bcdudley]

I am considering getting a couple of new credit cards to help increase my score in the long term. I currently have a secured Wells Fargo for $1300 that is a year and a half old. I keep a balance of $0 to $300 on it and pay it off every 2 weeks.

My credit score is currently:

Equifax:619

Experian:618

TU: 569

If I decide to get the cards, which ones should I be looking at? I really do not want any more, but I have been told by several lenders that I need more lines of current credit. I have looked at some gas cards and some retail store cards and I am not crazy about what I have read about them. Most gas cards seem to have big annual fees and big interst rates. Retail stores seem to be clamping down on what they will allow. I do not want to apply for something unless I am sure I will be approved since I don't want the inquiries on my credit.

I do have a number of old collections on my credit, but all of them are older than 2006 with the exception of a couple that I paid off and a truck payment that was paid in 2008 and had quite a few 30 and 60 day lates.

[Anonymous]

---

@bcdudley wrote:

I am considering getting a couple of new credit cards to help increase my score in the long term. I currently have a secured Wells Fargo for $1300 that is a year and a half old. I keep a balance of $0 to $300 on it and pay it off every 2 weeks.

My credit score is currently:

Equifax:619

Experian:618

TU: 569

If I decide to get the cards, which ones should I be looking at? I really do not want any more, but I have been told by several lenders that I need more lines of current credit. I have looked at some gas cards and some retail store cards and I am not crazy about what I have read about them. Most gas cards seem to have big annual fees and big interst rates. Retail stores seem to be clamping down on what they will allow. I do not want to apply for something unless I am sure I will be approved since I don't want the inquiries on my credit.

I do have a number of old collections on my credit, but all of them are older than 2006 with the exception of a couple that I paid off and a truck payment that was paid in 2008 and had quite a few 30 and 60 day lates.

---

You are controlling this cc very well.  GOOD!   

This mean is you still have inq on your CR.  But, 6 months later it will be gone. 

So, you can have another one around same time if you need.

Well, you really don't want any more ... why don't you stick with it?

Who are they?

How many ccs do you have now?   IMO ... It is good to have three ccs.

It is better to stay away from AF.   But APR ... nothing you can do.

How old is it?

How about this ... you can start shopping around, like you just post your question here, and apply in may be August or September 2010.  

About  "If I decide to get the cards, which ones should I be looking at?"   ...  I let other member to help you in this question.

[Wolf3]

Three cards seems optimum for FICO score.   I suggest another secured card from major bank or credit union.   And get a store card from a store that you frequent. Use all 3 cards every month.

[bcdudley]

This mean is you still have inq on your CR.  But, 6 months later it will be gone. 

So, you can have another one around same time if you need.

    The inq is gone from my CR. It dropped off after 6 months. I currently have 5 inq's on my credit. 2 are from Jan31,2010 when I applied to get a motorcycle loan. The other 3 are from the last 3 days. I was trying to purchase a home and I was shopping for a mortgage lender

Well, you really don't want any more ... why don't you stick with it?

   I am keeping the one I have. It is paid and I have no reason to get rid of it

Who are they?

   Mortgage bankers and brokers

How many ccs do you have now?   IMO ... It is good to have three ccs.

   I currently only have the Wells Fargo card that is active. I have one from 2005 that was charged off in 2006 and is no longer active.

How old is it?

  The truck payment was originally taken out in 2001. It was last active in Jan 2008. The truck is a 2002 model.

[quote]Three cards seems optimum for FICO score.   I suggest another secured card from major bank or credit union.   And get a store card from a store that you frequent. Use all 3 cards every month.[/quote]

Would another card from Wells Fargo be a good idea, or should I go with a different bank? I don't really go to any stores or shop on a regular basis, not even Wal-Mart.

[armymom]

---

@Wolf3 wrote:

Three cards seems optimum for FICO score.   I suggest another secured card from major bank or credit union.   And get a store card from a store that you frequent. Use all 3 cards every month.

---

I agree.  BofA and CitiBank , I believe, offer secured cc's.  As far as store cards I would suggest Macy's or Penney's.  I would make a small purchase every month and PIF.  You are definitely on the right track.  Good luck!

[ALP]

Could also try Capital One's pre-qualifier  site, they're a good builder and offer CLI's every 3 statements if you call the backdoor.  But if you DO get pre-qualified for one of their cards they pull a hard with all 3 CRA's once you actually apply.  

Here's the link if you like. 

https://cardfinder.capitalone.com/CapOne/findMyOffer.do?ex=R&pr=&id=&tg=57&pnt=ZZZZ00ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ&...

*edit*  Sorry forgot to add that is an option if you prefer not to cough up more money for another secured card right now.  

[Anonymous]

I think three cards are ideal as well.  That being said, one card is fine.  DH was over 800 with only one card - a bank card (Orchard) with a $500 CL.

FICO looks at your mix, and you only need to have one revolving account to make the FICO gods happy.  There is no advantage to having a merchant (store or gas) card - and unfortunately many of them (on my and DH's reports) report as Consumer Finance Accounts - which you'll wnat to stay away from.  Stick with well-behaving banks (yep, there are a few) and friendly CU's.  (I do like my Macy's card - store cards do serve a purpose i.e. high credit limits - but they do not add to your FICO mix).

When you say, "I am considering getting a couple of new credit cards to help increase my score in the long term", remember that getting new cards may lower your scoes in the short term.  They will definitely lower your  AAofA.  Pull out a calculator and do the math and figure out the impact of each new account you are wanting to open.  AAofA can take a long time to recover.

Also, it looks like you are mortgage hunting.  You'll really want to be careful about apping with a new mortgage in the works.  I'm guessing that it was your mortgage lenders who recommended you open new lines of credit.  Unfortunately, most mortgage lenders are NOT very FICO savvy.  If they're trying to get your score up to 620, they're forgetting that you may take a FICO hit for inquiry, new account, and AAofA.  It may or may not bring your score up in the short term.

On the other hand, if you decide you'd like to open another line of credit, one I recommend is Orchard or another HSBC card.  I think they are a great rebuilder card.  They qualify as a bank card, which FICO likes, and they are very easy to manage online.  And HSBC has a prequal site.  I have a tendency to stay away from Cap One because they pull all 3 CRA's, but they've worked well for some folks.

We like CU's but have found that they are sometimes more conservative and you may be able to find earlier acceptance with some banks.  We use and like both banks and CU's.

Lastly, I don't know how your secured card is reporting.  (Someone else who is secured card savvy will chime in here, I'm sure).  If it  reports as secured somehow, opening your first bank credit card will yield you a good score boost.

Best luck to you!

[bcdudley]

It is the Mortgage lenders recommending I get the new lines of credit. They are telling me after looking at my current credit report that the only way I can get my score up higher is to either wait 2 years or get more lines of credit.

I also plan on purchasing a used Harley this summer. I will have enough cash to buy one outright, but I would rather take out a small loan for around 3k-4k for two reasons, First, I would like to use the oppurtunity to help increase my credit score. Second, I would like to use the extra money to get something a little better than what I oringinally intended to get.

I would have liked to purchase the house before I got the bike, but it does not look like that will happen. What affect will gettign the cards have on my chances for getting the bike?

[Wolf3]

Getting new cards should not have much effect on getting bike loan , assuming you don't run up a big balance.  Borrowing for the bank and paying it off will be good for credit history too.    

HSBC might be good one to try.   You may qualify for unsecured, but easily qualify for another secured.   You can prequalify online to see.

US Bank has a co-branded Harley Davidson Visa card, you might like.

[poet]

I would not recommend HSBC right now. Applied for and got unsecured small $300 line in December; just got off the phone inquiring about the three-month CLI. According to the agent, HSBC has a "new policy" (as of Feb. 22) of no longer offering ANY CLIs whatsoever. If they reneged on an existing account-holder, I can't imagine what terms they'd offer to a new customer.

My scores took two hits recently: a late pay *by one day* due to an online banking mistake (I thought I'd sent the payments the day before, but saw they hadn't gone through; upshot: one day off while out of town = 30-day late pay) and a medical collection which I'm trying to figure out how to PFD. Even so, GEMB (who screwed me over on the 30-day designation) last week offered me a $100 increase on a different GEMB merchant card, raising that line from $600 to $700 (I'll never use that much of it!). All are stepping stones to what I really want: one good card with a fair rate and a $5K limit so that I can manage my professional travel expenses without having to ask the folks to front them for me.

I would try for something like Macy's, as suggested, or maybe a GEMB card, but avoid HSBC like the plague.

Good luck on the house! I managed. You can, too.