topic Discover Card Question in Credit Cards

Discover Card Question

Anonymous — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 23:26:50 GMT

I noticed that according to MyFICO Discover is a prime card for those with good or great scores... has anyone with a crappy score received a Discover card? Does Discover recon?

Please share... I'd like to know how low they go.

Re: Discover Card Question

Anonymous — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 00:56:58 GMT

I don't know what my actual credit scores are (will be checking next month when my 2nd card ages to 6 months!) - but after having had NO luck getting any sort of credit card all through college (how does everyone else find it so easy to get credit cards in college??), I found myself done with college and still with absolutely no credit history.

I'm not sure why exactly I tried, but I applied for the Discover Open Road card and was approved. Since then I've also gotten a Capital One card, and I'll finally be able to check my scores next month when they both age past 6 months.

So I didn't have "bad" credit when I applied for the Discover card, but I had absolutely no credit at all, so honestly I'm not sure how I was able to get the card (before then I'd tried applying for store cards / gas cards / student cards from time to time and was always turned down). Only a $1000 limit but I'm hoping that will start me on the path to building history!

Re: Discover Card Question

Anonymous — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 01:26:56 GMT

I got mine when I was mid/upper 600s and about 5 years after 'settling' an acct with them for less than the balance. My limit is only 1.1k, but they did give me a chance.

Re: Discover Card Question

Anonymous — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 01:28:02 GMT

Discover is generally considered a tough approval more so than Amex. If you fail to meet their criteria but meet some unknown lesser criteria they may counter offer with a HSBC Discover.

Re: Discover Card Question

Anonymous — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 02:25:41 GMT

Discover usually only offers credit to those with good or great credit. If you're a full-time student however, and it asks you this on the application, Discover assumes that you have little or no credit history, as opposed to a bad credit history, and they're more willing to give you a shot. The only caveat is that they typically start you out with a very low credit limit and a high APR. Kind of reminds me of Capital One credit steps.

I think Discover's catching on to the fact that if you snag someone in college, they're likely to stick with you for a long time. I can only really support this with anecdotal evidence from friends, family and personal experience. All they do is make sure your credit limit and interest rate is commensurate with the risk involved in lending to someone with no credit history, but of course there's that relationship they develop with you because they're your "first".

Re: Discover Card Question

jmbfl — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 04:29:02 GMT

I have a thread or two on here regarding my Discover experiences. They are good!

Re: Discover Card Question

Anonymous — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 05:27:21 GMT

They gave me a 6.8K CL with an EX around 700.

Re: Discover Card Question

fused — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 05:31:07 GMT

Discover has tighter underwriting than most issuers, but it seems folks now with FICO scores above 680 can get approved. As for recon, don't count on it with them. Sometimes if you don't qualify for one of their prime cards, they will offer you a co-branded card.

Re: Discover Card Question

haulingthescoreup — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 05:34:37 GMT

@fused wrote:

....Sometimes if you don't qualify for one of their prime cards, they will offer you a co-branded card.

and you so don't want to go there with them, so decide ahead of time what you will do if they counter with the co-branded card.

Re: Discover Card Question

niecey89 — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 12:42:35 GMT

Discover is very tough to get. I was denied twice in the past and then on the third try got one with i think 1k limit. Then never used it again. Then years later applied again got a platinum Discover with a 10k limit. Mess that one up royally. Just paid off the judgment last year. Believe me they do not play if you mess that card up.

Re: Discover Card Question

Anonymous — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 13:47:53 GMT

Discover has great rewards but they are tough to get...they check Experian generally and make sure you have a score above 680, preferably 700 when you apply.

Re: Discover Card Question

cantretire — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 13:59:50 GMT

I just got a great BT deal from them. My scores 2 months ago were 726 - 733

Re: Discover Card Question

Anonymous — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 17:05:05 GMT

I got a my Discover card a few months ago with a score in the lower 700's. They are not as widley accepted as the other cards.

Re: Discover Card Question

Anonymous — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 18:15:05 GMT

I got my Discover when I was a student in college 10 years ago (first credit card). It had a low limit to start with, but it has grown with me over the years. I didn't pay any attention to the interest rate back then since I always PIF'd. The only thing I had on my credit report back then was a student loan that was 10 months old. From my experience, if you treat Discover right, they will treat you right. It is my favorite card.

Re: Discover Card Question

Anonymous — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 18:40:24 GMT

Discover was my first CC. I got it, (along with a T-shirt and Waterbottle) during my Freshman year of College, in 1991. I had no credit hx to speak of, but times have changed.

I do find Discover to be much more conervative than most lenders. I started out with an initial credit line of 1500. At present, my CL is 13,500. It has not grown as rapidly as many of the other cards that were issued to me during the same year/timeperiod, despite heavy PIF usage. They also soft me on a monthly basis.

I'm not complaining, as I don't need any more credit than what I have. I like the cashback feature, and the customer service is better than most.