NAVY FEDERAL IS THE WAY TO GO! I am now a believer, first-hand.

[Anonymous]

I honestly can't believe it, but I am sitting here to thank everyone from MyFico for their advice.

I've been reading the boards for about a month, and working on really improving my credit. I'm only 25, but graduated with a new-luxury-car-price-tag amount of student loan debt and a couple of bad financial decisions while in college. Fast forward to now, I'm working 2 jobs and on the road to financial competence. I live below my means, am getting much better at saving and paying off my old debt. 

Thanks to all of the tips on PFD, Goodwill letters and keep utilization low, I've increased my score about 25 points in a month and I'm now at a 583 (and climbing!). I opened a Navy Federal checking and savings account today and was really excited. I called customer service for a simple question on setting up direct deposit and asked about the card options. I saw a flagged open for a Secured card on my account... but of course I wanted something unsecured. I have two Capital One cards ($300 limit QS1 and $750 Secured), but wanted to expand my portfolio.

I mentioned that I was rebuilding and am not happy with my credit score but getting better. I told the CSR that I had a 583 and she reassured me "for someone our age, that's not a terrible place to be." Although I didn't fully agree with her, I was grateful for her reassurance. She told me about the CashRewards card and how she loves it and said "you might want to apply - you could potentially get approved, although of course I can't promise anything." I thanked her for her time and decided to go online and save myself the embarassment for the great potential of being denied.

I decide to log in, put in my information and then wrote a little note on how I was rebuilding, in case I had to recon on the application. It processes and I FIND OUT THAT I'M APPROVED FOR A $6K LIMIT WITH 13.4% APR! I am beyond estatic and am so satisfied with Navy Federal and haven't even been a member for 4 full hours! If you are eligible, I encourage you to bank with them. I am incredibly happy and grateful thusfar!

[Anonymous]

Congrats. Can you join if you have family (cousin) that's in the Miltary? 

[Anonymous]

Congrats! Use it wisely

[seruby]

That's awesome!   I read so much about NFCU, and how they are with cards and auto loans.  

Since I'm looking to buy a car in a few months, I contemplate opening an account with them, but then I don't think I'd use it much after I buy the car because I already have 2 checking accounts. 

Good luck on your rebuilding journey!

[Anonymous]

Yes! It's easier if they are current NFCU members; then, you can just reference their access number.

If not, there's an added step to the process. As long as NFCU can confirm that 1) they are affiliated with an associated military branch and 2) your relation, you should be good.

My Dad is retired Army, but not a current NFCU member... I had him come with me to the branch when I opened my account... he had his military ID and I was able to open my account in about 10 minutes... no questions asked. Might have been more difficult if I had tried to do it over the phone without him, though.

[Anonymous]

I definitely will! I'm still in a state of shock. 

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@Anonymous wrote:

Congrats! Use it wisely

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[Anonymous]

I am looking to buy a car next year this time most likely, so I'll keep them in mind. I, too, heard their rates are really competitive.

I wanted to join a credit union for a while, so I'm happy I stuck it out and found out about these guys. Again, another great find from the forums. This place has been amazing!

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@seruby wrote:

That's awesome!   I read so much about NFCU, and how they are with cards and auto loans.  

Since I'm looking to buy a car in a few months, I contemplate opening an account with them, but then I don't think I'd use it much after I buy the car because I already have 2 checking accounts. 

Good luck on your rebuilding journey!

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[Anonymous]

Anyone with experience for Checking LOC (formerly NavCheck)?

I applied last night (don't need it, but wanted to apply since I was approved for the cc and it would increase my utilization); on others' advice from other threads, I applied for the full $15k. Rec'd a "still processing" message, so I sent them a secure message and received denial... but they wouldn't disclose reason in message.

So I called bc I didn't want to wait for the reason to come in the mail. CSR said it didn't list an outright denial reason, just "credit report was a factor." I'm not going to recon, bc I just joined and don't want to burn any bridges.

I'm in the repair process now, and hopefully by the end of year will have cleaned things up off of my report nicely. Should I try and apply in the future, or just forego the Checking LOC altogether?

[dursty87]

I am sorry to hear about the denial.  Navy's CLOC and CC apps run through two different departments.  If you aren't willing to recon, I would say try again in 6 months or so.  Their underwriting isn't very strict but with your baddies maybe it spooked them a bit.  Once you get those taken care of I would apply for it again.  It's great for utilization and emergencies. 

[Anonymous]

@ssondubs - Thanks for the feedback and encouragement! That's what I will plan on doing.

Also, kudos to your succesful credit rebuilding journey. You've made some great progress in 6 months' time!