topic Re: Discover it (Secured) in Credit Cards

Discover it (Secured)

Anonymous — Thu, 01 Sep 2016 15:53:21 GMT

Ok, I was doing my daily stalking of the boards (lol) yesterday and kept seeing all these people being approved for the Discover it card that I've been wanting for forever. I had applied for the card a couple of months back but they basically told me to kick rocks and denied me. I didn't have much credit card history under my belt (probably around 3 months and less than 9% utility each month) but I've heard of people new to credit getting approved so I thought I maybe had a shot. I called to ask them to reconsider but they told me to let my accounts age and to try back again in a few months. Ugh. I'm the world's most impatient person so I waited a grand total of 2 months before the itch to apply crept up. I ended up apping for the secured version yesterday (in hopes that it will graduate sooner than the year mark) and I got approved. My problem is that I only put a measly $200 on the card which I immediately regreted and wanted to put more. I called the customer service number and they basically said there was nothing they could do and I just had to use the $200 responsibly and maybe in a few months they would let me add more money to the account. My question is, does this mean I'm going to have to call each time I want to make a deposit and that it will be a hp each time? I misunderstood and thought I could add money onto the card whenever I wanted to. I've also heard that once it graduates they usually double your amount. Is this true? And if so do they double your starting amount (in my case it would be $200) or the amount you have at the time it graduates? I would be pretty bummed with a $400 limit. What's my best course of action in this situation? Should I wait a few months and throw another $1000 on the card and use it like crazy but pay it off every month or should I add another $2/300 on it and use it for smaller purchases? I really want to show them I can be responsible with a higher limit so that once it graduates I'm not stuck with a toy limit forever. Help!!

Re: Discover it (Secured)

creditguy — Thu, 01 Sep 2016 16:52:55 GMT

I am not sure it's a HP every time you add money. When it graduates there is no guarantee if they will give you a CLI but if they do it can vary, I know a person who put a $200 deposit and it turned to $2500 at graduation, they simply spent heavily and PIF several times a month, it was inconvenient at times but it paid off in the end. The card did not graduate early and I haven't seen a thread yet where it has, doesn't mean it's impossible I just wouldn't count on it. If you want to add more money down the road then by all means do so, but I wouldn't sweat it too much, use the card heavily to show responsibility and to demonstrate the need for a CLI when it graduates. Best of luck to you.

Re: Discover it (Secured)

joltdude — Thu, 01 Sep 2016 16:56:51 GMT

There are pros/cons to putting a larger deposit or upgrading the deposit on a secured card...

If you can afford to tie up the additional funds.. when it unsecures. you will probably get a larger CLI.. because you have more experience with higher limits..

But. this is not guarenteed... But you will at least have the limit you have deposited when it graduates.....

My spin on it, if you can afford to do it, I would.. but if not.. just put some more on it, and rinse and repeat a few times a month..

Use it up... and then pay it off entirely... during the month..

Re: Discover it (Secured)

Anonymous — Fri, 02 Sep 2016 18:59:43 GMT

Congrats on your new card.

They may only be willing to trust you with $200 right now(even secured), if you had wanted to deposit more than $200 an they did not like it I am assuming they could have declined the app.

On another note my secured card is 6 months old; Discover emailed me the other day inviting me to call in and deposit more money. From that I gather that they will let you add more when they are ready; and they will let you know when they are ready for it. ( I don't mind the $200 limit; forces me to pay off every purchase as soon as it posts instead of waiting for the statement to cut; letting my balances report is making my credit score jump down/up a little, which scares me, so this month im trying to keep every balance that reports under $10)

Re: Discover it (Secured)

Revelate — Sat, 03 Sep 2016 10:30:18 GMT

TBH I see little to no value on increasing one's security deposit in the current market.

Get some payment history, and when your file/score supports it get non-secured tradelines with presumably better CL's. Can always pick a CLI favorable lender for your next unsecured card.

Re: Discover it (Secured)

Anonymous — Sat, 03 Sep 2016 22:59:19 GMT

Hey there.

I don't know where the posters above me got their information, but a lot of it is incorrect. As a person who was in a very similar boat as yours, this is what I found during my tried and tested research.

1. It is NOT a HP when you add more money to your Discover secured card.

2. There is no "limit" that Discover sets on you for how much money you can pot down for your secured card (other than the $200 minimum, $2,500 maximum). Once you are approved for the card, you have free roam on what you want the credit limit to be. In other words, even if you have the worst FICO score possible, assuming that you are approved for the secured card, you can go for the maximum $2,500 limit.

3. You can increase your credit limit any time after the first statement cuts. In other words, use your $200-limit card for this month, pay it off, and then give them a call to increase it. They may email you saying that you can add an increased deposit, as one poster mentioned, but that is in no way an indication of your ability to increase your limit--call them and ask for it.

4. There is no guarantee on a CLI after graduation. Discover is very hush-hush about what is required to graduate in the first place, but as long as you spend on that card (which you should, given that you have the double cash back right now) and pay in full (whilst also keeping all your other lines in good standing), you should be able to graduate without issue with the potential for a CLI. Once you graduate, you can request a soft CLI every month, so don't worry too much about what your limit is when you graduate.

Re: Discover it (Secured)

Bug101 — Mon, 19 Sep 2016 20:10:27 GMT

Discover IT is not a great card. We have had a Discover It for over 2.5 years with a 5k CL. Last year we applied for an increase, they gave us $500 stinking dollars. We actually used it quite a bit the first year then paid it off. So I just applied for another one for the interest free and they requested we call. We did and they said they would allow us to have 2 cards but the best they would do is divide our current CL into 2 cards. So the $5500 would be divided between 2 cards.

We said NO THANKS and it made ZERO sense to do that. But also know that in the last 2.5 years of a PERFECT payment history, zero balance 99% of the time, they have offered us NOTHING. No CL increases etc. The only increase was at our request and they only gave $500.

ALL of our other cards have given auto CLs and approved every request in the THOUSANDS (3k +) and have had them for pretty much the same amount of time.

With Discover, you are ONLY an account number on a screen to them. Not a person, not an actual custoemr, just an account number.

I am not saying any of the cc companies "love" any of us but the others at least offer "rewards" in the way of CLS for being a good customer, discover does NOTHING and even when you ask, they do SOOOO LITTLE it is laughable.

Discover is going on our DO NOT USE list.

So, those of you hoping to get an unsecured card with Discover, I am sorry to tell you that there is NOTHING to look forward to with them.

I have found Citi and Boa the most REWARDING in the last 2.5+ years. Citi also offers one of the longest interest free periods of any of them, usually 18-21 months.

My scores are Fico8: 737 EQ, Trans, 752, EX 798 and the actual cc scoring for all 3 are actually higher.

Re: Discover it (Secured)

Anonymous — Mon, 19 Sep 2016 23:34:39 GMT

@Bug101 wrote:
Discover IT is not a great card. We have had a Discover It for over 2.5 years with a 5k CL. Last year we applied for an increase, they gave us $500 stinking dollars. We actually used it quite a bit the first year then paid it off. So I just applied for another one for the interest free and they requested we call. We did and they said they would allow us to have 2 cards but the best they would do is divide our current CL into 2 cards. So the $5500 would be divided between 2 cards.

We said NO THANKS and it made ZERO sense to do that. But also know that in the last 2.5 years of a PERFECT payment history, zero balance 99% of the time, they have offered us NOTHING. No CL increases etc. The only increase was at our request and they only gave $500.

ALL of our other cards have given auto CLs and approved every request in the THOUSANDS (3k +) and have had them for pretty much the same amount of time.

With Discover, you are ONLY an account number on a screen to them. Not a person, not an actual custoemr, just an account number.

I am not saying any of the cc companies "love" any of us but the others at least offer "rewards" in the way of CLS for being a good customer, discover does NOTHING and even when you ask, they do SOOOO LITTLE it is laughable.

Discover is going on our DO NOT USE list.

So, those of you hoping to get an unsecured card with Discover, I am sorry to tell you that there is NOTHING to look forward to with them.

I have found Citi and Boa the most REWARDING in the last 2.5+ years. Citi also offers one of the longest interest free periods of any of them, usually 18-21 months.

My scores are Fico8: 737 EQ, Trans, 752, EX 798 and the actual cc scoring for all 3 are actually higher.

You're one of the few I've ever seen to say anything bad about Discover. Personally, I can't say enough about how wonderful their customer service has been and the continued growth of so many member's CLs with them would make it seem that they are pretty consistent with the CLIs.

Re: Discover it (Secured)

Bug101 — Tue, 20 Sep 2016 00:04:36 GMT

We have had no "issues" with Discover CS or any charges etc. My point is that it does NOTHING for us except help UT. Yes they run the 5% thing which changes every 3 months but everyone gets that so it is not like they are doing anything special for us for being great customers. Never late, always pay off or far more than the min etc over the last 2.5 years.

If they were monitoring our credit they would see that we had zero balances on $52,100 in CLS (until like 2 weeks ago) been doing a HUGE remode on our house for the last 6 month so just put like 1,800 on our Home Depot card.

In fact we have 2 Boa cards $6,000 and $5,500 and applied today for a different Boa and got $16K. Have a $8K citi and applied today for another and got 11K. And both are ALWAYS sending us zero% offers for tranfers, which we never take. This is what I mean.

Re: Discover it (Secured)

gibeon — Tue, 20 Sep 2016 01:25:41 GMT

For the data point...

I opened a Discover It Chrome Secured April 2015 with $200 deposit. Added $800 (for $1000cl) shortly after, and also converted it to the Discover It Secured too.

It graduated right at 1 year, still at $1000, and I haven't received a CLI since, but I have opened over $70k in Credit limits (over a couple dozen cards) since I opened the Discover... so that may have something to do with it.

Re: Discover it (Secured)

Anonymous — Tue, 20 Sep 2016 02:41:33 GMT

If yiir credit score goes up and down then remember the golden rule. Don't use more than 30% of your available credit. If you have multiple cards/accounts those are calculated too.

Example:
Discover 500 limit
Capital One 600 limit
Total credit limit is 1100

So dont use more than 330 dollars when tge ststements come out.

Doesn't matter whether its 300 one one card and 30 on another. What matters is the total available credit percentage. If you stay below that on the reported cycle amount your credit score will never drop due to credit card usage

Re: Discover it (Secured)

Anonymous — Tue, 20 Sep 2016 02:54:50 GMT

I want a Discover card also and impatient just like you but going to wait until my score goes up for unsecured card. In my opinion, Capital One secure is the best in that dept with (in my case) just a $49 deposit my CL is $500 just after 5 months. Anyways since you just have little credit history and don't have any negatives on report like I do, you will likely get your unsecured Discover card before me so just be patient

Re: Discover it (Secured)

Anonymous — Tue, 20 Sep 2016 22:37:25 GMT

If you have the money, I'd recommend upping the credit limit as high as you can so you can start out with a decent limit once it graduates. They don't graduate before the first year of holding it, so you can call them shortly before your 12th statement cuts and up it if you want -- I have been told by 3 different reps that the clock doesn't reset, and I've been told specifically that even if you send in the money to up the limit and you get unsecured a week later they'll just mail you your money back and your card will have the higher limit.

I say this because sometimes it takes some time to get the floodgates to open with Discover's CLIs, especially if your history or score is kind of borderline. So you don't want to end up with the low limit for a couple years.

Re: Discover it (Secured)

Anonymous — Tue, 20 Sep 2016 22:54:28 GMT

Bug101,

I think many of us have experienced a lender that hasn't matched our other limits. I have one now so far off its crazy. Some my say that Chase or Citi gave them a lower limit than the others. For me it's barclaycard. I've seen many many posts lately about good Discover approvals and increases. Maybe your next good one is around the corner.

Re: Discover it (Secured)

joltdude — Tue, 20 Sep 2016 23:34:39 GMT

@Bug101 wrote:
We have had no "issues" with Discover CS or any charges etc. My point is that it does NOTHING for us except help UT. Yes they run the 5% thing which changes every 3 months but everyone gets that so it is not like they are doing anything special for us for being great customers. Never late, always pay off or far more than the min etc over the last 2.5 years.

If they were monitoring our credit they would see that we had zero balances on $52,100 in CLS (until like 2 weeks ago) been doing a HUGE remode on our house for the last 6 month so just put like 1,800 on our Home Depot card.

In fact we have 2 Boa cards $6,000 and $5,500 and applied today for a different Boa and got $16K. Have a $8K citi and applied today for another and got 11K. And both are ALWAYS sending us zero% offers for tranfers, which we never take. This is what I mean.

My question is.. Have you offered to take an HP or called and asked for a CLI with HP?

Have you chatted with their CSR folks online and asked whats up?

Discover isnt known for handing out hefty CLI's out of the gate... Yes you have experience... But have you actually tried to see why?

Do you pay off BEFORE or after statement generates?

Also they are a bit bipolar and tend to get a bit envious if they arent your primary card...

-J

Re: Discover it (Secured)

Anonymous — Wed, 21 Sep 2016 05:48:33 GMT

If a person applies for a discover it card unsecured and has scores in the 650 range, and is denied, with no offer of a secured version, does calling in change that at all? or do you basically just wait until your scores improve and apply for the secured? (obviously the regular if scores improved significantly)

I ask because I was helping a colleagues son that had some medical collections. It was pretty easy getting him a cap1 qs1 and platinum back to back, then in 6 months combined for a total limit of 3500, and then by 9 months the af was removed. And yes, as 50/50 as I am with capital one, they came through on this one. Even BOA secured wasnt approved last january.

Re: Discover it (Secured)

Anonymous — Thu, 29 Sep 2016 16:29:27 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
If a person applies for a discover it card unsecured and has scores in the 650 range, and is denied, with no offer of a secured version, does calling in change that at all? or do you basically just wait until your scores improve and apply for the secured? (obviously the regular if scores improved significantly)

I ask because I was helping a colleagues son that had some medical collections. It was pretty easy getting him a cap1 qs1 and platinum back to back, then in 6 months combined for a total limit of 3500, and then by 9 months the af was removed. And yes, as 50/50 as I am with capital one, they came through on this one. Even BOA secured wasnt approved last january.

Things may have changed, but a while back Discover was saying the offer was only made by the computer and if it wasn't made then there wasn't anything they could do about it. But this was before the secured card could be directly applied for so I don't know if that has made any sort of difference about it.

Re: Discover it (Secured)

Geordi — Thu, 10 Nov 2016 05:24:05 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Ok, I was doing my daily stalking of the boards (lol) yesterday and kept seeing all these people being approved for the Discover it card that I've been wanting for forever. I had applied for the card a couple of months back but they basically told me to kick rocks and denied me. I didn't have much credit card history under my belt (probably around 3 months and less than 9% utility each month) but I've heard of people new to credit getting approved so I thought I maybe had a shot. I called to ask them to reconsider but they told me to let my accounts age and to try back again in a few months. Ugh. I'm the world's most impatient person so I waited a grand total of 2 months before the itch to apply crept up. I ended up apping for the secured version yesterday (in hopes that it will graduate sooner than the year mark) and I got approved.

Could you tell me what were your FICO scores when you apped fort he non-secured and also for the secured?

Did you have any derogs?

Re: Discover it (Secured)

Anonymous — Thu, 10 Nov 2016 11:26:25 GMT

My insight to the discover secured card is treat it well and they will treat you well in return. As far as deposit amount I have noticed a small trend which may or may not be relevant.

I had a secured version which I put $1000 down. They graduated at month 7 and I got my money back with no CLI. There were several others that all graduated at the 7 month mark as well with $200 - $400 deposits they graduated and got a CLI.

Again that may or may not be relevant due to history of each individual.
Personally I ran my card up to the max a couple of times, but my average monthly spend was $422. I only paid in full 1 or 2 times, however I always paid it down under 30%

I am going to pay it in full this month and see if a CLI comes, if it doesn't I'm going to put very little spend on it next month and PIG again to see if that makes a difference

Re: Discover it (Secured)

Anonymous — Thu, 10 Nov 2016 11:42:26 GMT

Also I forgot to add, discover has changed their review schedule for graduation. You used to have to wait until month 12 to begin reviews, they have changed that and now they begin to review your account at month 7 to see if you are eligible for graduation