New Credit Building?

[Anonymous]

I am 18 years old and have no credit history at all. I applied for two cards, the Capital One Secured Card and got approved with a $49 deposit; I paid $75 to get a slightly higher credit line.

I also applied for one JCP Store Card, which I probably got denied - they told me they will send a decision in 7-10 days..so that's probably it.

I am not planning to keep a balance on the secured card so I want to know what else should I do to build my credit? Should I get another secured card? A student-type card? Thanks!

-SA

[GoodCredBen]

Call the back door number for the JCP card, i believe they are GEMB? 

I wouldnt kick it off to high, you should see anywhere from 5 - 10 pts /mo if you keep the balances super low, but make sure to have like 4 bucks or so on one of them (or whatever % is below 7%)

[namvet]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I am 18 years old and have no credit history at all. I applied for two cards, the Capital One Secured Card and got approved with a $49 deposit; I paid $75 to get a slightly higher credit line.

I also applied for one JCP Store Card, which I probably got denied - they told me they will send a decision in 7-10 days..so that's probably it.

I am not planning to keep a balance on the secured card so I want to know what else should I do to build my credit? Should I get another secured card? A student-type card? Thanks!

-SA

 I would wait 6 months and build some credit history with the Cap One card.   Apply for only one card at a time while you are building your credit report/reputation! 

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[Anonymous]

I will call, yes. I probably got denied because I have nothing. I wanted to know of I should be getting another secured card, or any other process for helping build the file faster. I only plan to use like 10 a month on the capital one card.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:
"...I wanted to know of I should be getting another secured card."

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I'm working with 3 secured cards to build credit.  I have one through Capital One, another through USAA Bank, and, another through US Bank. 

Here are some banks that offer secured credit cards: Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Citibank, and Fifth Third Bank. 

Also, Credit Unions are great for starting a banking/financial relationship and, many of them offer secured credit cards. 

Hope this helps.  I wish you the best! 

[hoping2rebuild]

I am also working with 3 secured cards to build my credit I have:

Cap 1

US Bank Harley Davidson

5/3 Bank

[Anonymous]

Is one too much? I don't want to really spend 1K to just sit for a year unless it truly helps. Does it matter since they're all revolving accouts of the same type?

The % utilization will be the same (IE: $10/300 or 300/1000).

[RobertEG]

You are making the right credit building step by opening revolving lines of credit as soon as you quality.  FICO puts heavy emphasis on evaluating your use of discretionary, revolving credit, and getting them as soon as possible helps build your average age of accounts down the road.

My advice would be to hold off on appying for new CCs until you build up a history on the ones you have, and then get an unsecured major Bank Card.  A Bank Card with one or two other revolving lines is probably all you need to satisfy FICO.  If you keep your balances low, then the additonal credit limits you build up by adding new cards becomes a bit irrelevant, as FICO does not score total credit limit, but rather your percent utilization against those credit limits.

It may be an ego boost to accrue a lot of cards, but in my opinion, three with one Bank Card is enough. 

On a related issue, keep in mind that FICO also scores mix of types of credit being managed, so an installment loan will help.  However, I would not recommend getting an installment loan that you really dont need just for FICO credit mix purposes. 

[Anonymous]

Just an update. I applied for a secured loan & secured card from my local credit union and was approved. They will report to the bureaus. Is this a good plan (2 secured cards and a loan) for credit building? What do you think the FICO will be after a year of good spending?

[huck1081]

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@Anonymous wrote:
Just an update. I applied for a secured loan & secured card from my local credit union and was approved. They will report to the bureaus. Is this a good plan (2 secured cards and a loan) for credit building? What do you think the FICO will be after a year of good spending?

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Great! You are getting the start I wish I would have done 12 years ago. Keep it up! 

I am sure that others will be able to give you a better estimate of your score. What are your scores now?