topic Re: Good first card for average credit? in Credit Cards

Good first card for average credit?

Anonymous — Mon, 29 Aug 2016 21:51:03 GMT

Looking for advice on a good first unsecured card.

Credit profile: My current fico scores are: EQ 610, EX 657, TU 666

About 8 unpaid items in collection, all 3-5 years old. 1 current car payment, 1 current secured American Express credit card for $500, 0-2% usage, last late paymet on anything was 24 months ago. $85k annual income.

I would like to try for an unsecured card now. I don't care about the APR because I plan to pay in full each month. OK with a reasonable annual fee. I would like a cash back or reward option since I can put large purchases on it every month (car payment, tuition, etc) and then pay in full each month which should help add up reward points quickly. A higher starting limit or easy/quick CLI would be nice if possible to help with overall utilization of credit.

We just closed on our mortgage last week. Now that we have a car and a house I am not too concerned about hard pulls or inquiries lowering my credit a few points, as I don't need to apply for any financing/loans for the forseeable future, however I don't want to overdo it and lower my credit too much.

Any recommendations for a good credit card in my credit range? Most credit card recommendations I see are for people with scores over 700 and I'm not there yet. Should I try for ones I'm not likely to be approved for like an American Express card just to see what happens? I've been in good standing my entire time with my secured card with them so I'm not sure if that helps or not. Or should I stick with something safe like Capital One Quicksilver which seems to have lower credit requirements? I have lurked here a bit but I'm not super knowledgable about credit cards yet and it's a bit overwhelming to think of getting rejected a few times and still taking a credit hit just to see what I can get.

My main reason for the card would be to gather rewards points/cashback and gain extra "available credit" with low utilization to continue to help my credit scores long term.

Thanks!!

Re: Good first card for average credit?

Anonymous — Mon, 29 Aug 2016 21:56:33 GMT

Hi there! I would start off with apping for something like Discover It Chrome, Capital One Quicksilver One, maybe even a platinum? I would stay away from Amex at the moment, at least until the late payments/ collections fall off of your report. No need to rack up inquiries for nothing!

Re: Good first card for average credit?

Anonymous — Mon, 29 Aug 2016 22:01:56 GMT

Id say 1st start at YOUR bank and see if they have any cards that fit your needs. Reason being is its easier for them to start you out higher since they know how much you have coming in and going out almost every month.

Re: Good first card for average credit?

Anonymous — Mon, 29 Aug 2016 22:02:34 GMT

Agree, but the unsecured Discover might be a little out of range. I'm thinking most likely the secured version.

You could also try Capital ones card finder, you might get a pre-approval. GL

Re: Good first card for average credit?

Blackbeauty212 — Mon, 29 Aug 2016 22:03:59 GMT

Cap One Plat is probably going to be the best in your situation. If they can't qualify you for an Unsecured then you'll pretty much need to look at Secured cards..

At that point I would stick to Reputable banks ... Cap One, Citi, Discover, BofA all 4 have fair Secure Cards. I know Cap One will give CLI after 6 months.

Stay Aways from Con Jobs Cards, First Premier, Credit One, any Random named banks/Cards. They have high BS fees, CLs dont grow, Outragous APRs, and Hideous outsourced CS.

Re: Good first card for average credit?

Callandra — Mon, 29 Aug 2016 23:09:55 GMT

If you have inquiries to burn, you could try applying for cards to see what happens. But with all those unpaid collections, I'd recommend Capital One QS One or another secured card. You're borderline (score wise) for Barclays Rewards but they tend to prefer paid collections. I'd personally focus on getting those collections removed or at least paid as that looks better on manual review.

Re: Good first card for average credit?

Gmood1 — Mon, 29 Aug 2016 23:19:36 GMT

I'd say become a member of Navy Federal and app through them. Reason being they are extremely lenient and forgiving of baddies. With your TU score and income, I wager you'll get a $15k to $20k starting limit.

Re: Good first card for average credit?

darwin_wins — Mon, 29 Aug 2016 23:22:56 GMT

Does this even work ( of course not every time). I am with Citi and I don't think they pre-qualify me for anything

Re: Good first card for average credit?

Anonymous — Mon, 29 Aug 2016 23:33:52 GMT

I agree worth the OP.... start off with Capital One and see if you pre-qualify for any of their cards. The QS would be a great card for you to start with. Beware of BoA... their pre-qualifications don't mean much. Not saying you shouldn't apply.... just don't be disappointed if they show you pre-qualify and then your app is denied.

Capital One pre-qualifications are pretty solid.

Re: Good first card for average credit?

BirchBarlow — Tue, 30 Aug 2016 00:45:42 GMT

With your profile I don't think you'd qualify for any worthwhile reward cards. I would probably app for a basic no-frills card with one of the majors (Cap1, Citi, BoA) as neither Amex nor Discover are universally accepted. Even if you only qualify for a secure card, I would still pick one of the major lenders because it's good to build a relationship with them, and if you pay in full religiously, a secured card may one day be upgraded to a reward card.

Re: Good first card for average credit?

Anonymous — Tue, 30 Aug 2016 00:53:44 GMT

Creditors don't just look at scored. You have 8 unpaid collections.

I would say DiscoverIt or Capital One secured. DiscoverIt would be my recommendation between the two.

Re: Good first card for average credit?

Anonymous — Tue, 30 Aug 2016 00:55:02 GMT

I should add BoA secured card too, but with the collections they could deny you. I'd say it's still worth 1 hard pull because I've heard that card usually grows well.

Re: Good first card for average credit?

Anonymous — Tue, 30 Aug 2016 02:11:47 GMT

Interesting, I'm already a member of NFCU as my husband is a veteran. Since it's not a local bank we mostly forget it exists as we just keep a small saving pool with them and do our daily banking at a local bank. I will check them out and see what kind of credit cards they can offer us, thanks!

I know I have a lot of things in collection, but I'm hesitant to pay them because they are all so old.. half of them will fall off in the next year. I just want to start building credit card credit with a card that allows actual increases.. my secured card is set, it doesn't allow for any CLI increases or additional deposits.

Re: Good first card for average credit?

bourgogne — Tue, 30 Aug 2016 03:19:06 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Interesting, I'm already a member of NFCU as my husband is a veteran. Since it's not a local bank we mostly forget it exists as we just keep a small saving pool with them and do our daily banking at a local bank. I will check them out and see what kind of credit cards they can offer us, thanks!

I know I have a lot of things in collection, but I'm hesitant to pay them because they are all so old.. half of them will fall off in the next year. I just want to start building credit card credit with a card that allows actual increases.. my secured card is set, it doesn't allow for any CLI increases or additional deposits.

let's get to this, do you see a pre-qual at cap1 site? a splash page that says your name? if yes get the plat, it will have a 300-500 limit and you will go through steps for 5-6 months. do some searches. if not I would app for a nfcu whatever, they seem to look the other way at almost everything - I know firsthand lol. you got this, report back!

Re: Good first card for average credit?

grillandwinemaster — Tue, 30 Aug 2016 15:00:31 GMT

@Callandra wrote:
If you have inquiries to burn, you could try applying for cards to see what happens. But with all those unpaid collections, I'd recommend Capital One QS One or another secured card. You're borderline (score wise) for Barclays Rewards but they tend to prefer paid collections. I'd personally focus on getting those collections removed or at least paid as that looks better on manual review.

My thoughts are exactly as poster above. Cap1 is probably your best bet, with Barclays Rewards a 2nd possibility.

How were you able to qualify for a mortgage with 8 unpaid collections? I thought that was unheard of??

Re: Good first card for average credit?

Anonymous — Wed, 31 Aug 2016 01:41:34 GMT

I agree with others here... C1 is probably your only reasonable bet. Your scores are fair, borderline for unsecured approval, but most creditors look at the substance of the report, not just the score itself. With 8 unpaid collections, it's unlikely you'll get approved. If four will fall off within the year, wait for that. As for the others, have you tried disputing? Pay-for-delete? It's difficult, but not impossible to get collections off the report based on the provisions of the FCBA & FCRA. There's tons of great advice on here to do that, or feel free to PM me. Don't burn INQ's now... especially if you're potentially going to see improvements to your report, you'll kick yourself down the road.

Re: Good first card for average credit?

Anonymous — Thu, 01 Sep 2016 17:51:41 GMT

Well, just thought I'd report back my end results:

American Express Blue Cash Everyday: Denied (I figured as much)

Discover IT: Approved for $2,000 at 24% APR

Amazon Rewards Visa: Approved for $500 at 22.9%

Barclays Rewards Mastercard: Approved $500

It's more cards than I wanted, but I'm happy to have unsecured credit cards now and was pleasantly surprised at Discover. I use Amazon enough each month that hopefully the card from them will be worth it and I can work on slowly increasing my limits every 6 months.

Re: Good first card for average credit?

Anonymous — Thu, 01 Sep 2016 19:05:05 GMT

Great those are all good cards. Just make darn sure you dont carry a balance because those are some HIGH rates.
If i was you id call each one up like a week before thanksgiving and say that you are needing the higher limit for holiday gifts.

Re: Good first card for average credit?

Anonymous — Thu, 01 Sep 2016 22:11:21 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Well, just thought I'd report back my end results:

American Express Blue Cash Everyday: Denied (I figured as much)

Discover IT: Approved for $2,000 at 24% APR

Amazon Rewards Visa: Approved for $500 at 22.9%

Barclays Rewards Mastercard: Approved $500

It's more cards than I wanted, but I'm happy to have unsecured credit cards now and was pleasantly surprised at Discover. I use Amazon enough each month that hopefully the card from them will be worth it and I can work on slowly increasing my limits every 6 months.

Discover IT is great. I love that card and it'll be a long term keeper in my wallet. They also aren't too shy about SP/Luv button CLIs for a lot of people. Take advantage of their rotating 5%, the double cash back at the end of the 1st year (so it is more like a 2% CB the first year), Discover Deals / shopping portal, and withdrawing cash back as discounted gift cards. Then press that luv button after 60-90 days and every 31-60 days after that.

Re: Good first card for average credit?

Anonymous — Sat, 03 Sep 2016 01:27:14 GMT

You will love the DiscoverIT card. The approved my for $500 when I had less than perfect credit. Definitely request increases once your score starts going up!