topic Re: Credit One Question in Credit Card Applications

Credit One Question

daveg38 — Thu, 09 Apr 2015 12:27:20 GMT

So I went online to their prequalification link, put information through for the soft pull, and they returned a prequalification for their standard platinum. However, when I finished the application, they said they "couldn't finalize it" and said I'd get a mailer.

What specifically does this mean?

Re: Credit One Question

IllinoisNative — Thu, 09 Apr 2015 14:53:08 GMT

What does it mean? The Gods have smiled upon you and you have been saved.

Re: Credit One Question

Anonymous — Thu, 09 Apr 2015 15:20:25 GMT

@IllinoisNative wrote:
What does it mean? The Gods have smiled upon you and you have been saved.

Whenever a CreditOne flyer gets shredded, an angel gets it's wings.

Re: Credit One Question

Anonymous — Thu, 09 Apr 2015 15:23:53 GMT

@IllinoisNative wrote:
What does it mean? The Gods have smiled upon you and you have been saved.

Lol. I was going to post something simliar, that OP lucked out.

OP, see if you can get a secured card through BofA or your local credit union. I would go with either of those before I worked with CreditOne.

Re: Credit One Question

Anonymous — Thu, 09 Apr 2015 16:01:40 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@IllinoisNative wrote:
What does it mean? The Gods have smiled upon you and you have been saved.
+1

Whenever a CreditOne flyer gets shredded, an angel gets it's wings.

JHAHAHAHAH

What happens when a customer closes a CreditOne account, do we get wings?

Re: Credit One Question

biglista88 — Thu, 09 Apr 2015 16:02:24 GMT

Lol @ the responses ,but they're accurate. I recently closed my account with them after paying tons of fees to both them and first premier. Fortunately I used them responsibly and quickly out grew them with superior lenders. I now keep my two first premier cards open simply to taunt them ever so often with closing my accounts lol (They're my oldest CC accounts and as long as they continue to waive all fees ,I'll continue to let it age in the SD until the end of time)

Re: Credit One Question

TRC_WA — Thu, 09 Apr 2015 16:30:59 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@IllinoisNative wrote:
What does it mean? The Gods have smiled upon you and you have been saved.
+1

Whenever a CreditOne flyer gets shredded, an angel gets it's wings.

I shredded a First Premier mailer last night...

It was very tempting to take their $700 CL offer for the boost it will give my credit profile but in the end I decided it wasn't worth it.

Re: Credit One Question

ds3 — Thu, 09 Apr 2015 18:09:45 GMT

The greatest day in a rebuilder's life is the day you get to shred a CreditOne card and close that account. Did mine last night...not only shredded it, but tortured it by using scissors, ever so slowly cutting one little piece off at a time. I think I heard it scream as the $8.32 I get billed every month for the honor of having it in my possession finally bled out of it.

OP...count your blessings.

Re: Credit One Question

black_citi — Thu, 09 Apr 2015 18:25:08 GMT

Lol love these responses. I never got a mailer from credit one interestingly. I didn't hear about them until I started coming to myfico. That's a good thing lol. I did, however, get mailers from FP. They all had a date with the shredder, scissors or bbq pit.

Re: Credit One Question

absoluttiger — Sat, 11 Apr 2015 02:18:34 GMT

I closed mine tonight before those charges start on the next cycle. I couldn't be happier.

Re: Credit One Question

Anonymous — Sat, 11 Apr 2015 03:01:29 GMT

Closing mine tomorrow, had to wait until I was done refinancing my house and car.

Re: Credit One Question

Anonymous — Sat, 11 Apr 2015 14:16:34 GMT

Could be a glich - maybe the suggested pre-qualified card wasn't the appropriate one for your credit profile. Another possibilty is the information you entered couldn't be fully verified (name variant, address match issue, wrong / old phone number, have moved in past 2 years, etc). I wouldn't interpret the message as a denial, but rather a try again with the mailer.

As for all the disparaging (think that's spelled right; why doesn't this forum have spell-check?) comments about Credit One. It's not a bad card for what it is - a rebuilder for those with poor to bad credit.

The annual fee is pricey, but not totally out of sight, considering the risk they're taking. The max interest rate is currently 23.99%, which while high, isn't that far out of what other better cards also charge. More to the point, Credit One is far better than First Premier, which charges an application fee of up to $95 before one can even get the card, and then up to another $75 on top of that and up to 36% interest. Credit One has no application fee and max rate is currently around 23.99%.

While there are many credit card choices, there are virtually no unsecured cards options for someone with FICO scores of 507-513 at all three bureaus...

Credit One is working fine for me; no problems, and doing the job along with Fingerhut (regular acct, not a Freshstart; surprised the heck of out of me) - my scores are steadily rising, though still a long way to go before I can get much else other than a secured card, which I likely will soon. SCT isn't working for me - I try frequently at HSN and Overstock, but know it's likely just a waste of time until more baddies fall off and new cc history builds.

If you already have any unsecured revolving cards and/or FICOs above say 580-600, skip Credit One. Try for something better - visit Capital One pre-approval page and give that a go, if you haven't already.

Re: Credit One Question

Anonymous — Sat, 11 Apr 2015 19:57:32 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Could be a glich - maybe the suggested pre-qualified card wasn't the appropriate one for your credit profile. Another possibilty is the information you entered couldn't be fully verified (name variant, address match issue, wrong / old phone number, have moved in past 2 years, etc). I wouldn't interpret the message as a denial, but rather a try again with the mailer.

As for all the disparaging (think that's spelled right; why doesn't this forum have spell-check?) comments about Credit One. It's not a bad card for what it is - a rebuilder for those with poor to bad credit.

The annual fee is pricey, but not totally out of sight, considering the risk they're taking. The max interest rate is currently 23.99%, which while high, isn't that far out of what other better cards also charge. More to the point, Credit One is far better than First Premier, which charges an application fee of up to $95 before one can even get the card, and then up to another $75 on top of that and up to 36% interest. Credit One has no application fee and max rate is currently around 23.99%.

While there are many credit card choices, there are virtually no unsecured cards options for someone with FICO scores of 507-513 at all three bureaus...

Credit One is working fine for me; no problems, and doing the job along with Fingerhut (regular acct, not a Freshstart; surprised the heck of out of me) - my scores are steadily rising, though still a long way to go before I can get much else other than a secured card, which I likely will soon. SCT isn't working for me - I try frequently at HSN and Overstock, but know it's likely just a waste of time until more baddies fall off and new cc history builds.

If you already have any unsecured revolving cards and/or FICOs above say 580-600, skip Credit One. Try for something better - visit Capital One pre-approval page and give that a go, if you haven't already.

You are right in the sense that it is a card geared to those with lower scores, allowing people who might not otherwise qualify to obtain unsecured credit. It can be a manageable card, as long as you know what you're getting into, and have the time/patience to babysit the card.

The biggest marks against it are the annual fees/high APR, and the inability to pay on it more than 4 times in a time period (I can't recall if it's a rolling 30 days, or in a billing cycle.) That second item makes it a particularly bad card because it impedes your ability to run a lot of spend through it and pay in full multiple times before the statement cuts, and thus grow it (justifying CLI requests, which, IIRC, you have to PAY for, though I admit I might be confusing it with FP.)

The other reason the limit on number of payments you can make is bad is that Credit One offers NO grace period - interest begins accruing the second you make the purchase. I know of no other card that does that; the only time I've heard of that happening on a major CC is when you take out a cash advance. The only way to mitigate the interest is to pay early and often. Limiting how often you can pay ensures they will squeeze every possible cent from you.

The good feeling of an unsecured approval may sound alluring, but, is the cost worth it? That's a decision each consumer must make for themselves, but for me personally, I don't think I'd find it worthwhile.

There are still products out there that are smarter choices for rebuilders. Secured cards, while not as "prestigious," get the job done, and Capital One's secured card offers only a partial deposit in some cases (I paid $50 for my $200 limit.) And, with responsible use, they will also offer unsecured increases (my card is now at $600.) It's slow, and not much, but it did open other doors for me, qualifying me for other Capital One cards in less than a year. (The downside is their secured cards don't graduate, and although you'll quickly qualify for their unsecured cards, you'll have to apply and spend the triple pull.)

Other secured offerings (Wells Fargo, BoA) do require full funding, but these products I do know offer a chance for graduation, in about a year for both I believe. If funding the deposit on a secured card is a struggle, then it might just yet be a little soon in the building journey to go for a card (I do not mean that judgementally, I speak with some modicum of experience on this point - if $300 - $500 is going to throw your finances so out of whack, then it's going to be very easy to rely on that card as float, and not use it as responsibly as you should, and caring a balance. This is what I did at first, and luckily, nothing major happened to me that prevented me from quickly paying it down when I finally learned and started thinking critically about credit. But, if that deposit is a struggle, you're really better served building an ER fund to cover contingencies, and then getting a secured card.)

Re: Credit One Question

Anonymous — Sat, 11 Apr 2015 20:30:05 GMT

It means RUN,Do not stop. Credit One is a bottom feeder that will FEE you to death. Better solution would be a secured card with Cap 1.

Re: Credit One Question

Anonymous — Sat, 11 Apr 2015 21:32:52 GMT

I appreciate your comments, and you're right about a secured card being the better avenue. Money is tight, but have a few hundred I could spare. My credit is very bad, so getting a credit card wasn't even on my radar. Well, until I received the mailer. I already had an idea what my scores were (which later I learned was even worse than I'd thought at 507-513), and knew better cards weren't a viable option...

I tried the various pre-approval sites and all were a no go. Then tried Fingerhut, figuring on Freshstart, which I woudn't even bother with, but was approved for their regular card instantly. Made me curious whether Credit One would approve me, so I gave it a go. No instant approval; needed more processing, but a couple of weeks later the card arrived.

In short, Credit One for me was a challenge; curious whether I'd really be approved and would the card really work. Unlike First Premier and a few others, which charges fees up front just to apply, Credit One doesn't - they are taking more of a financial risk from the getgo. It's doing what I need.

As for running lots of money through. Even in my best credit days, I don't recall paying more than twice in a month, so the 4x limit is no problem for me. Interest rate / no grace period is lousy, but in regards to actual dollars, on a low limit with usage, doesn't add up to much. Sure, a secured card is more economical, and will be the next card I get; likely go with OpenSky.

Re: Credit One Question

Anonymous — Sat, 11 Apr 2015 21:49:10 GMT

lmao, you guys are terrible. Credit one is okay for your first card. If I told you I could restart your credit history for only $49 would you do it? Well I did, best $49 I ever spent. Well besides for Cindy in 1999. Use them like Cindy did me then get rid of it.

Re: Credit One Question

Anonymous — Sat, 11 Apr 2015 22:42:38 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
lmao, you guys are terrible. Credit one is okay for your first card. If I told you I could restart your credit history for only $49 would you do it? Well I did, best $49 I ever spent. Well besides for Cindy in 1999. Use them like Cindy did me then get rid of it.

We're not terrible; we're offering viable information so OP can make an informed decision.

Re: Credit One Question

Ladybugz — Mon, 13 Apr 2015 00:57:36 GMT

Well said, IllinoisNative. I'm only a couple days new to the site and know to steer clear of that

@IllinoisNative wrote:
What does it mean? The Gods have smiled upon you and you have been saved.

scourge. Thanks myFico community!

Re: Credit One Question

Anonymous — Mon, 13 Apr 2015 00:52:14 GMT

With the money you will spend on fees, You can pony up the dough for a DECENT secured card instead.

Re: Credit One Question

TheConstant — Mon, 13 Apr 2015 01:15:31 GMT

And to be honest, I think a secured card from a lender like CapOne looks better than an unsecured from CreditOne.

A little over a year ago, I had a FAKO of 513. I now have a FICO of 650. I wish I knew about this site when I was in the 5's... Seriously listen to everyone here and you'll turn your financial life around for the better.

Go with a secured card, seriously. Pay on time, in full, every month. Never charge the card so much as a dime more than you could afford to pay in full.

You will turn around for the better.