Credit Cards

[katherinescott]

what is a secured card? 

[jd5189]

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katherinescott wrote:

what is a secured card? 

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You would have to put a cash deposit = to the credit line

[OptimasPrime]

You provide a bank with collateral (a cash deposit) in exchange for a line of credit. Say youngive a bank $300, they would then hold that deposit and give you a credit card. If you use the card they give you responsibly, it will eventually convert to an unsecured card and the bank will give you your deposit back. 

[OptimasPrime]

By using the card properly/paying on time your scores will increase and you will be able to obtain better cards with higher limits. 

I realize this is probably not what you wanted to hear, but it would be the fastest way for you to establish credit at this point. 

If you don't want to go the secured route, your could try to apply for a card with orchard bank or cap one, you would have a fair chance of approval for either imo. I'm not sure if orchard has any no annual fee cards but if they do you could look into one of those as well

[jamie123]

Where did you get that score from?

At 596 you are currently in a sub-prime high risk credit category.

With that score it is unlikely anyone will give you an unsecured credit card.

You need to work two avenues to repair your credit. Remove the baddies. Add good credit.

You need to research in how to write GOOD WILL (GW) letters and have those lates removed from your credit reports. There is some awesome information in the rebuilding forum in how to write those letters. It is really not that difficult to do and something that you NEED to do.

You also need to open 2 SECURED credit cards. I would suggest getting your first one at Capital One. You will have to submit a deposit that will be withdrawn directly from your checking account. The deposit then becomes your credit line. I would suggest starting with $300 and just leave it at $300. After you have this card for a few months open a SECURED credit card with Bank of America. Their minimum secured card starts at $500. The BoA card will graduate after you demonstrate 1 year of good credit behavior. They will unsecure the card and send you your deposit back. Good credit behavior = paying off your balances in FUULL several days BEFORE the due date. You cannot carry large balances each month!

You need to work both avenues at once.

Once you have the CC reporting your scores will start to climb.

[jsucool76]

I would also suggest a secured credit card. Cap1 helped me out by giving me my first card but I didn't have any negs at the time. The cap1 secured card is pretty good, you can continually deposit more money to increase your credit limit (up to $3000) and it doesn't report as secured if I remember correctly. The BoA secured is a really great one but some people have had trouble getting approved for it. You can add the 1-2-3 rewards to it, but from what I've read it is a HP any time you want to add more money to your deposit account to increase your limit. 

Good Luck!

[webhopper]

I agree with other posters secured card would be a good place to start!