best cards to get

[bcdudley]

I am interested in the HD card from US Bank. Do you know what kind of score I would need to qualify? Looking around on the internet says they want excellent or good credit. I am thinking I am a little further down the scoring chart than what they require.

I don't think HSBC would be a good idea. My wife has two or three cards with them that she recently acquired (Nov09) maxed out and never paid on. While we do keep our finances completely seperate and I try to stay as far away from her stuff as I can, even with different last names, we do have the same address and I would not want that to be used to associate with my credit.

[Itsmeagain]

US Bank is going to be a tough sell.  They don't like derogs at all. 

I have seen it mentioned but would like to recommend a credit union. 

CU's such as Addison Avenue and Alliant are easy to join, have much better loan and deposit rates; secured cards (Addison for sure, not sure about Alliant) and with one credit pull you can join, apply for your credit card, finance your motorcycle and open free checking, savings and CD's.  They offer both secured and unsecured CC's and loans. 

I have found CU's much more reliable than ANY bank in this economic climate.

Good Luck . . .

[Anonymous]

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@bcdudley wrote:

I am interested in the HD card from US Bank. Do you know what kind of score I would need to qualify? Looking around on the internet says they want excellent or good credit. I am thinking I am a little further down the scoring chart than what they require.

I don't think HSBC would be a good idea. My wife has two or three cards with them that she recently acquired (Nov09) maxed out and never paid on. While we do keep our finances completely seperate and I try to stay as far away from her stuff as I can, even with different last names, we do have the same address and I would not want that to be used to associate with my credit.

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Then, you need to look for different card.

Wowww ...   So, it will be just your income and CR to apply for mortgage and loan for your bike? 

[bcdudley]

That is what I figured about the card. I can certainly wait on that one and check around elsewhere. Yes, it will be just my income for both the mortgage and bike loan. Fortunately, the bike loan I am looking for will only be a few thousand dollars and I will pay it off within three years. I will pay cash for the rest and I am buying used.

I was told by Wells Fargo that I was pre-approved with my income alone for a 225k house so I do not think the income level will be a problem. I just need to get my score up higher. My wife does not work and is on disability income so her income would not make much difference anyway. That is why it is important for me to have good credit

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[Wolf3]

From what you have said , I am assuming you have very limit history but no bad history.   If so, I think it is worth trying for HD card.   As backup, US Bank has a very good secured card that you should qualify for.   You have to live in an area where they have branches or be a customer.  It would be a good path to HD card.

I would also stay away from HSBC or anyone your wife has burned.    

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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!

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Who are these banks, in your experience?

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

Stick with well-behaving banks (yep, there are a few)

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Who are these banks, in your experience?  Thanks!

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Well, we're big fans of USBank.  They seem to keep most people pretty happy.

And I like Zion's Bank - which has branches in only a few states.  I think a lot of these "smaller" banks are consumer friendly, and there are a surprising number of them nationwide.  If you check out the most recent list at www.federalreserve.gov/releases/lbr/ you'll find over 1700 U.S. chartered banks.

I also like our Cabela's and Kroger cards - although it surprises some that both are bank cards (I know, go figure!)

And I liked HSBC Orchard for rebuilding.  They served their purpose well enough.  And they were willing to give us cards while we were rebuilding, when our local CU wanted us to wait 12 months.  We actually opened several good bank cards during the time our CU wanted us to wait.  Others have the opposite experience, so it always pays to check things out.  But FICO really does like at least one bank/national cc/revolving account so it pays to find one that you like.

I'll bet you'll hear from a few others.   And we still are fans of our CU's - we use Alliant and a local one (or two).

Hope that's helpful in some way.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

Stick with well-behaving banks (yep, there are a few)

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Who are these banks, in your experience?  Thanks!

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Well, we're big fans of USBank.  They seem to keep most people pretty happy.

And I like Zion's Bank - which has branches in only a few states.  I think a lot of these "smaller" banks are consumer friendly, and there are a surprising number of them nationwide.  If you check out the most recent list at www.federalreserve.gov/releases/lbr/ you'll find over 1700 U.S. chartered banks.

I also like our Cabela's and Kroger cards - although it surprises some that both are bank cards (I know, go figure!)

And I liked HSBC Orchard for rebuilding.  They served their purpose well enough.  And they were willing to give us cards while we were rebuilding, when our local CU wanted us to wait 12 months.  We actually opened several good bank cards during the time our CU wanted us to wait.  Others have the opposite experience, so it always pays to check things out.  But FICO really does like at least one bank/national cc/revolving account so it pays to find one that you like.

I'll bet you'll hear from a few others.   And we still are fans of our CU's - we use Alliant and a local one (or two).

Hope that's helpful in some way.

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That was very helpful! Thank you! I've heard good things about Citibank and BoA. Do you have any experience or knowledge of these two? I have 2 cards with NFCU and another with a local CU. I also have Macy"s, Target, and Zales. I would just really like to have a NATIONAL bank's credit card. Then I'll be done. I'll be applying for a mortgage next month, so I am going to wait until after closing to app. I just wanted a head's up.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

That was very helpful! Thank you! I've heard good things about Citibank and BoA. Do you have any experience or knowledge of these two? I have 2 cards with NFCU and another with a local CU. I also have Macy"s, Target, and Zales. I would just really like to have a NATIONAL bank's credit card. Then I'll be done. I'll be applying for a mortgage next month, so I am going to wait until after closing to app. I just wanted a head's up.

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What kind of ccs do you have with them?

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

That was very helpful! Thank you! I've heard good things about Citibank and BoA. Do you have any experience or knowledge of these two? I have 2 cards with NFCU and another with a local CU. I also have Macy"s, Target, and Zales. I would just really like to have a NATIONAL bank's credit card. Then I'll be done. I'll be applying for a mortgage next month, so I am going to wait until after closing to app. I just wanted a head's up.

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What kind of ccs do you have with them?

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I have an nRewards MC and a cashRewards VISA.