topic Re: Opinions, insight on First Progress Card in Credit Cards

Opinions, insight on First Progress Card

Anonymous — Thu, 06 Oct 2016 03:47:35 GMT

So my friend is starting his rebuild (scores about 460) he has no open accounts.

He app'd and was approved in July for the secured CapOne card but didn't send the deposit in time he was told to reapply when he did he got a 7-10 message compared to the first app with the same scores he got instant approval.

He also app'd for the Discover secured and got a flat out denial.

So looking at secured cards he went with the First Progess card it only had a $29 AF and under 20% apr all the other cards had higher AF's and/or apr so he went with First Progress. Just put in the $200 security deposit today. Hopefully in 11 months he'lol qualify at least for Discover secured with no AF.

Just waned to see people's thoughts on this card.

Re: Opinions, insight on First Progress Card

Anonymous — Thu, 06 Oct 2016 14:19:46 GMT

Bump

Re: Opinions, insight on First Progress Card

Anonymous — Fri, 07 Oct 2016 04:26:30 GMT

Bump

Re: Opinions, insight on First Progress Card

AverageJoesCredit — Sat, 08 Oct 2016 01:51:35 GMT

Bump in the night

I dont know much on the card but if its what he got, it will have to do. He just wants to build positive history so just use it as intended i guess. Just always pay on time. Im no expert but we all got to start somewhere and i know Discover may be sexier but they didnt wsnt him, NEXT UP . Build some history and eventuslly hell get a better secured or better card and then he can make Second Progress and msybe move on. A little advice from an Average Joe, maybe next bump will be from the gurus haha lol!

Re: Opinions, insight on First Progress Card

Anonymous — Sat, 08 Oct 2016 02:10:15 GMT

I can relate to where your friend is, I was there 8 months ago.
I recommend the Wells Fargo secured card. My scores increased as soon as the card reported and this card stands a chance at graduating.
Now 8 months later my scores are on the mend and I have much better options.

Re: Opinions, insight on First Progress Card

Anonymous — Sat, 08 Oct 2016 02:42:46 GMT

It doesn't sound terrible, nor is it the best. At the end of the day open accounts with good history will help your score especially if you have gone from 0 open accounts to 2. FICO doesn't care about the bank or the fess.

However that should be enough with the meh cards. Work on cleaning up the credit reports and only applying for things that will grow with your credit report. How long are you keeping those secured cards that will never graduate? Ideally the next application, even if it's secured, should be something that grows with you: if secured converts to unsecured and has a decent possiblity for credit line increases and product changes. Something you can keep open for the next 10+ years and not have to wonder "should I close it?"

Re: Opinions, insight on First Progress Card

Anonymous — Sat, 08 Oct 2016 11:28:37 GMT

I have that card....only with a $404 SCL. I have only used it sparingly, but I don't plan on cashing it out. It still reports to thre CRA as an account in good standing. So....I do recommend if there is no history. Anything like this helps - in a good way!

Re: Opinions, insight on First Progress Card

Anonymous — Sat, 08 Oct 2016 12:31:30 GMT

OP- one thing to keep in mind is that tradelines will not magically compensate for factors that caused your friend's score to become 460.

A good rebuild plan not only includes having revolving credit but also fixing the factors that caused the problems in the first place. Even truly ugly CR's can be improved if your friend starts to address the causes of his low score.

Re: Opinions, insight on First Progress Card

Anonymous — Sat, 08 Oct 2016 15:49:47 GMT

I'd say adding revolving trade lines is better than nothing wouldn't you?

If he can't afford to do PFD's, because paying off collections still keeps them on your report, then it's all he can do for now.

Re: Opinions, insight on First Progress Card

Anonymous — Sat, 08 Oct 2016 16:02:42 GMT

Adding trade lines will be some help, but IMHO doing something to repair the underlying causes of the low scores was a better option for me.

Not long ago I had 50k in collections, charge offs and late payments due to a medical issue. I can tell you that I was able to overcome a lot of this for less than 10% on the dollar in some cases and using the tools in the rebuilding section of MyFico I was able to eliminate 22 of 25 baddies in less than a year.

Re: Opinions, insight on First Progress Card

creditguy — Sat, 08 Oct 2016 16:17:54 GMT

Your friend may not be able to deal with his baddies at the moment, but in the meantime adding a positive trade line now will help in the future, especially when those baddies start falling off. While the near term help is unknown, adding a positive pay history now and building it long term will pay dividends. He can't go wrong getting the card at this point.

Re: Opinions, insight on First Progress Card

805orbust — Sat, 08 Oct 2016 17:26:29 GMT

+1. Starter cards take a hell of a beating here, however First progress is a good one. The limit will NEVER grow, and they'll never transition it either. It is what it is. A rebuilder. Their online interface is easy to use and there's no fuss. It was the first card I got a few years ago upon starting to rebuild and I'll probably keep paying the $39 annual fee for another 2 years or so to feed the AAOA. Never had a problem. In a matter of months I was able to start branching out to others.