@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
I don't like the term PREY on .... because it doesn't tell the whole truth.
No Credit One is NOT on my 1st or 2nd list of choices, however it isn't the absolute worst. We must be fair, some of these companies deal with, sorry to say it this way but CRAP prospects....
Ppl that have already shown they are NOT customers that A or B paper firms are fighting to lend to, especially unsecured revolving accounts...just like payday loans...they suck but have there place, if the folks stuck with them use them correctly and to their advantage...and not pretend they have 'real' accounts vs a rebuilding tool.
Use the tool, fix the sink and move on....some ppl should be happy they have access to a tool at all.I do not agree. They are the same type of "tool" as payday loans. They are an expensive band-aid to treat a symptom and not the disease. Just reading through the tens of thousands of consumer complaints is enough to send chills down your spine at the greediness and capitalization of the poor and financially irresponsible.
I got my car loan through a subprime lender. While it pushed me into action of actually doing the work to fix my credit report, now no one will refinance me. Why? Because cars depreciate fast. My interest rate is absurdly high. My payment is absurdly high. I've been paying it down for nearly a year and I've barely dented the original balance (I put down $4,000). Now my loan's payoff amount is twice what the car is worth and it's practically brand new. In a few months I can pay down half of the loan and refinance for the value of the car, but I'm lucky I can do that because of my income.
What are most people in that situation to do with a car with 200% DTV? They just have to keep paying it. Regardless of if they have made all of their payments on time, their only reward is a good payment history. They can't refinance after they've learned to manage their finances properly. They are stuck with a very high interest loan and likely very high payments for nearly the duration of the loan.
If these companies really wanted to help people they would offer graduation from being subprime, like reducing the interest rates on on time payments for 12 months. Or reporting 0 balances when customers are using their cards and paying down the balance to avoid expensive interest.
Subprime lenders are there to make money, not to help people repair their credit or help people learn what a healthy relationship with credit is. Some people are able to use the subprime bucket and get out, many end up in a worse situation than they began in. I wish no one used them so they would stop making so much money off of the peril of others.
Secured cards are wonderful. Setting out to save up a bit of money (as low as $99 with BoA and Cap1), using it as a deposit and essentially loaning oneself money and learning to use it responsibly with the ownership of it being your own savings and the understanding that it is not money you have IN ADDITION to your bank balance, that it is something you should deduct from your bank balance.
And while I agree that Credit One isn't the WORST of the subprime market, it's still got a 1 star rating from its users.
After I started educating myself about credit and the financial industry, I instantly wished I hadn't gotten a subprime loan. I wished I had had parents who didn't destroy my credit and never paid their bills on time if at all. I wished I had been educated about financial responsibility, credit, savings and investing. THOSE are tools. So many people my age had their identities stolen by their parents and were never taught any financial education whatsoever. It should be something you learn about in school.
When I see Credit One teaching classes about financial responsibility to avoid having to pay their outrageous fees in the first place, I'll tip my hat to them.
Yes, especially since the banks aren't paying anything much in terms of interest rates, so money locked up in a secured deposit isn't costing you anything. Unless you have a hot stock tip or something, like you said it's money stashed away for a rainy day. For me that's much preferable to paying a large annual fee and interest on every purchase even if you're paying the card off each month.
