The initial report of the card may help or hurt you, depending on the inquires and the average age of your accounts as well as your overall utilization including any debts. In my case, paying 2 secured credit cards on time for 6 months gave me almost 120 points..but I was completely in the dumps at 388 FICO so the 2 cards along with the aging of negative items and the fact that those were the only 2 things reporting positively definitely caused a major increase.

 

The real question is, how many accounts do you currently have reporting in good standing? How many revolving credit accounts do you have? Three is apparently the magic number, I personally have 4 secured cards and will let them grow in the garden while I focus on removing some baddies on my reports. I am no professional, but I think people like Shogun are going to need a little more information to give you an accurate answer, and even then it really is just a guess. So in a nutshell, what is your TOTAL utility, how many revolving accounts do you have and any other pertinent information should give us the ability to give you some better information.

Thank you for your help. I currently have one unsecured credit card, 2,000 limit with 100 dollar balance. One personal loan with a 1200 dollar balance. And my car loan which has 3400 to go. I have 3 previously paid off loans through my credit union in good standing. I have no late payments on anything. I have 3 collections total, 2 old and one 6 months old. The new secured card would have an initial 500 dollar limit. Thanks

Slicker .. Glad you asked, I am in the same circumstances
I found the secured card to boost my scores in about 2 cycles but remember after applying you may lose some points but I am sure you will gain them back..
Another option: a credit builder account ( research online)
I have gained 34 points since May from my credit builder account, this was the best move I made.
Good luck
..

Additionally:
I gained 30 points overnight by becoming an Authorized user (AU) on a friends Amex

Ok, great! I will do some research on that. Thank you very much for your feedback on this. This process has been pretty grueling to get my few points up but hopefully with some patience I will get where I need to be! Thanks again

Rebuilding......Just added 2 secured cards, one is a Matrix and the other is a Cap1.The Matrix just posted last week and added 44pts..WOW! IM hoping when the Cap1 reports it helps me that much.