credit card from a major/ national bank vs. a credit card for people with bad credit?

[Anonymous]

When getting a secured credit card to rebuild credit......would it look better on my credit report getting a credit card from a large, major or national bank or does it not matter.  Does anyone think it would better benefit me to get one from U.S. Bank vs. Applied bank (which gives credit cards to people with bad credit)?  Your input would be greatly appreciated, just ready to make a move but wanna make the right one.

[Anonymous]

The difference is you want to get a secured credit card that might possibly get unsecured and grow with you.

I have had my applied bank card for almost two years and although I am so glad that I opened it up to start building good credit, I am also pissed that it only reports to 2/3 cras and has a 50 dollar annual fee.

Try to go with Boa or US Bank or Capitol one secured cards

[Anonymous]

I have an Applied Bank Visa, and I am happy with them. 9.99% interest rate is better than most. $50 annual fee is normal for secured card. My only complaint is that I have had the card for over a year and no CLI - also it is still secured. US Bank will usually convert your card to unsecured after a year of on-time payments. Oh, and they do not report on my EQ report.

[haulingthescoreup]

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@Anonymous wrote:

When getting a secured credit card to rebuild credit......would it look better on my credit report getting a credit card from a large, major or national bank or does it not matter.  Does anyone think it would better benefit me to get one from U.S. Bank vs. Applied bank (which gives credit cards to people with bad credit)?  Your input would be greatly appreciated, just ready to make a move but wanna make the right one.

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There are a lot of reports from members that they had a hard time getting a card from a major bank with a decent CL when all they had were rebuilder cards with low limits. No telling if the problem, if there was one, was the bank name or the low CL's. Lenders are chicken, and they tend to wait for someone else to first offer better cards and CL's.

If you can qualify for a card from a better bank, I would say go for that, as long as the card eventually unsecures, as mentioned above.

In the future, when you have a better credit profile (any card reporting clean for 12 months, for example), you might find that you will need to get a card from a credit union to get that first higher CL. But if you start with US Bank now (for example), you might be able to skip that step.

lol, lots of "mights" there, I'm afraid. There's a lot of variation in how many hoops you have to jump through.

[Anonymous]

Before I got my Applied Bank card, I tried to get a secured card for BoFA... turned down. Why? I have no idea. My scores were in the upper 600's. I previously had a Cross Country Visa card - which happened to be Applied Bank - which I defaulted on. They still gave me a secured card. I don't get it.

At the time I wasn't trying to get a card to rebuild my credit. I was planning a vacation, and wanted to be able to get a rental car without all the hassle of using a debit card.

[Imhotrodcrazy]

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@Anonymous wrote:

 Oh, and they do not report on my EQ report.

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If I were you, I would call US Bank about this.  Both of my US Bank cc's report to all 3 cb's. 

[Anonymous]

I have an Applied Bank secured card, not US Bank. Probably should have gone that route - but I was a bit discouraged by BoFA turning me down.

Reading my post, I can see my error. I was adding to the complaints on my Applied Bank card, not complaining about USB OOPS!

[Wolf3]

IMO, it is better to go with a bank or CU that you want to develop a long term relationship with.   If you don't want one of their cards, then it is better to skip them completely.  I think that getting unsecured or secured cards with the sub primes who have huge fees is a bad idea.

However,  Not all of the major bank securd cards are easy to get.    Depends on what your credit problems are and if they involved that bank.   US Bank was my first choice for a secured card in my rebuilding, but was declined.  So you should go with the best that you can get.   

I think all the major banks have good secured cards.   BofA, Citi, Wells Fargo, US Bank, Capital One, HSBC(Orchard or Household).  BofA, Citi, Wells Fargo seem to be hard to unsecure according to many post.  US Bank has some co-branded secured cards which might appeal to some.  Currently I like Capital One the best since they are adding unsecured CL to your secured CL along the way.  Orchard is probably the easiest to get, but hard to grow with.  

If you have very bad credit and can't get one of the above.  Public Saving Bank is a good choice to start. 

You should consider the terms and fees as well.

Also, IMO, a bigger limit is always better.

[Anonymous]

Hi, Jana0523! The name of the bank doesn't matter- what matters is whether or not the bank that you choose reports to any or all three of the credit bureaus.

I do agree with Wolf3 about Public Savings Bank. I have that card and when they report to all 3 credit bureaus they don't even report the secured Visa as a secured Credit Card.

Happy choosing!

[Anonymous]

Thanks all for your input!!!