topic Re: BOA Secured.... 1 year later, $39 fee and no CLI. in Credit Cards

BOA Secured.... 1 year later, $39 fee and no CLI.

Anonymous — Fri, 02 Jun 2017 04:28:20 GMT

1 year later, perfect history with them and still no automatic CLI. I didn't care to push it because a few months ago I got in good with Discover. If BOA pulled my reports they'd notice my BOA usage sure has dropped since the Disco approval. My scores keep going up every few months across different websites. CreditWise right now is showing 720.

I was JUST charged my annual fee of $39 with BOA. Is there a way out of this if I call and request graduation? Any chance they will refund the fee if unsecured is approved?

Re: BOA Secured.... 1 year later, $39 fee and no CLI.

Anonymous — Fri, 02 Jun 2017 05:00:23 GMT

You have to get the right rep who can permanently remove the fee. Most will say it's not possible but it is. It just may take multiple calls. Best of luck!

Re: BOA Secured.... 1 year later, $39 fee and no CLI.

rmduhon — Fri, 02 Jun 2017 11:18:55 GMT

What is your actual Fico scores? Creditwise is Vantage, which very few lenders use.

Re: BOA Secured.... 1 year later, $39 fee and no CLI.

Anonymous — Fri, 02 Jun 2017 16:11:36 GMT

Find the Back Door Number on here for BOA and make your case to a credit analyst they are fairly resonable. I have seen significant increases with my credit line in the last couple years by Bank of America and they have very generious promotional offers. I started with a secured $500 BOA Rewards Visa.

Re: BOA Secured.... 1 year later, $39 fee and no CLI.

happypill — Fri, 02 Jun 2017 16:36:46 GMT

You should definitely give them a call. Look up the backdoor numbers thread and try to talk to an analyst rather than a front line CSR.

If your scores have been trending up with no recent derogs and your history with them has been clean, I think there's a very good shot that they will unsecure the card for you and waive the AF, and perhaps even refund you the AF that was already charged. A lot of people have had their cards unsecured between 6-12 months, so I think you've got a good chance.

Re: BOA Secured.... 1 year later, $39 fee and no CLI.

Glen_M — Fri, 02 Jun 2017 21:44:20 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
1 year later, perfect history with them and still no automatic CLI. I didn't care to push it because a few months ago I got in good with Discover. If BOA pulled my reports they'd notice my BOA usage sure has dropped since the Disco approval. My scores keep going up every few months across different websites. CreditWise right now is showing 720.

I was JUST charged my annual fee of $39 with BOA. Is there a way out of this if I call and request graduation? Any chance they will refund the fee if unsecured is approved?

I don't imagine that as soon as you hit a year an alarm goes off and someone is in a hurry to rush over and unsecure your funds. Mine took ~15 months. Unceremonious upgrade -- still the same card but with new terms.

I wasn't going to push it, because ~7 months before they approved me for the secured card, they had denied me for something else and that's when I realized my score had been pummeled down to ~550. I wish I still had that rejection letter, but I probably shredded it.

If I had called after the 12th statement they may have done it then, and perhaps waived the fee upon request too. I wasn't as actively/agressively managing the repair then.

Re: BOA Secured.... 1 year later, $39 fee and no CLI.

DaveInAZ — Fri, 02 Jun 2017 23:55:17 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Find the Back Door Number on here for BOA and make your case to a credit analyst they are fairly resonable. I have seen significant increases with my credit line in the last couple years by Bank of America and they have very generious promotional offers. I started with a secured $500 BOA Rewards Visa.

Yes, call the Back door number listed here in the CC Applications for "secured & partially secured cards". Rep told me it's actually the # for priority card services and I've always had very good experience calling it. I got my $300 card unsecured & fee removed at 8 months calling that #. Then they gave me an auto CLI from the $300 unsecured limit to $1800. So I called that # again and the rep told me I qualified for an upgrade to the Cash Rewards Visa with no credit pull.

Re: BOA Secured.... 1 year later, $39 fee and no CLI.

Anonymous — Sat, 03 Jun 2017 00:09:56 GMT

I actually called after a year of opening date. Asked was my card was eligible for graduation...put on hold...came back and said yes....graduated the card along with a 1k increase.....give it a shot...good luck!

Re: BOA Secured.... 1 year later, $39 fee and no CLI.

Subexistence — Sun, 04 Jun 2017 02:29:52 GMT

If you don't mind me asking, why did you decide to apply for BOA secured in the first place? I'm curious what benefits it provides over other secured like citi secured,boa secured, and Cap1 secure.

Re: BOA Secured.... 1 year later, $39 fee and no CLI.

Anonymous — Sun, 04 Jun 2017 22:54:20 GMT

Mine wasn't secured card but with an annual fee account. I called in after 5 months last week to change the account and waive the annual fees and 1 week later they approved. I'm happy with no AF and I also put in a request for credit line increase too so hope they'd approve that as well.

Re: BOA Secured.... 1 year later, $39 fee and no CLI.

Anonymous — Wed, 07 Jun 2017 15:44:56 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I actually called after a year of opening date. Asked was my card was eligible for graduation...put on hold...came back and said yes....graduated the card along with a 1k increase.....give it a shot...good luck!

Very similar case here, I was at 7 months secured ($1,000 limit) called to ask about graduating, the analyst graduated me and gave an $1,800 increase up to $2,800 total..

In two days I will be at 1 year and 2 months and im thinking about going for an increase (after collection is removed from TU, it just got removed from Ex this morning) and after we close on the house. Im going to ask about removing the AF as well.

Re: BOA Secured.... 1 year later, $39 fee and no CLI.

Anonymous — Sun, 02 Jul 2017 17:57:38 GMT

Would it have to be a recent charge? Still no luck a month later.

Re: BOA Secured.... 1 year later, $39 fee and no CLI.

Anonymous — Sun, 02 Jul 2017 18:02:11 GMT

Did you get your secured fee back and/or yearly fee?

I had to pay $99 for this card and then twice I got hit with the $39 annual fee.

Re: BOA Secured.... 1 year later, $39 fee and no CLI.

Anonymous — Sun, 02 Jul 2017 18:15:20 GMT

No credit cards. Bankruptcy a few years back. Only thing since was a paid off auto loan.

I already had a BOA checking account..never overdrawn, no baddies with the checking account for a little over a year. In online banking, they kept giving me a pre-approval for the cash rewards card which I thought was maybe because I was already in good with them because of the checking account. I took the chance and applied. Instant denial but was offered the secured card instead and it made it seem like a guaranteed approval so I took it. $99 down and a $500 limit. A few months later, Discover started sending me pre-approval offers and after a few months of ignoring the snail-mail, I bit the bullet and applied online. They gave me a 1250 Limit, unsecured.

I also googled the BOA card and saw a few posts and blogs across the interent saying many people were unsecured shortly after or got real credit card offers later so I thought it was a win either way. My mistake was being under the impression it went into review exactly a year later.

My friend went with the Cap1 secured. Not many people seem as happy with that one here. I think more people end up closing Cap1 because it doesn't budge. Some who put way more down for their deposit then the min of $50 or 100 and nothing for years. But the $99 BOA offer as low as I got it seems non-existant now unless it's just for people who already had checking accounts with them.

Re: BOA Secured.... 1 year later, $39 fee and no CLI.

Anonymous — Sun, 02 Jul 2017 18:17:00 GMT

And sorry guys Ihave no idea why my messages didn't quot what I was replying to.

Re: BOA Secured.... 1 year later, $39 fee and no CLI.

UncleB — Sun, 02 Jul 2017 23:53:44 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
And sorry guys Ihave no idea why my messages didn't quot what I was replying to.

It looks like you might be having problems with quotes... check here:

How to quote a post: http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Community-Feature-FAQ-s/How-to-Quote-a-Post/td-p/2603189

Re: BOA Secured.... 1 year later, $39 fee and no CLI.

zerofire — Mon, 03 Jul 2017 17:38:25 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
No credit cards. Bankruptcy a few years back. Only thing since was a paid off auto loan.

I already had a BOA checking account..never overdrawn, no baddies with the checking account for a little over a year. In online banking, they kept giving me a pre-approval for the cash rewards card which I thought was maybe because I was already in good with them because of the checking account. I took the chance and applied. Instant denial but was offered the secured card instead and it made it seem like a guaranteed approval so I took it. $99 down and a $500 limit. A few months later, Discover started sending me pre-approval offers and after a few months of ignoring the snail-mail, I bit the bullet and applied online. They gave me a 1250 Limit, unsecured.

I also googled the BOA card and saw a few posts and blogs across the interent saying many people were unsecured shortly after or got real credit card offers later so I thought it was a win either way. My mistake was being under the impression it went into review exactly a year later.

My friend went with the Cap1 secured. Not many people seem as happy with that one here. I think more people end up closing Cap1 because it doesn't budge. Some who put way more down for their deposit then the min of $50 or 100 and nothing for years. But the $99 BOA offer as low as I got it seems non-existant now unless it's just for people who already had checking accounts with them.

BOA and Discover are some of the nicer lenders for builder's after a BK. BOA is obviously concerned if you burned them in the past but obviously you didn't or you would not even have gotten the 500/99 offer. That offer is what you get if you do not qualify for the regular card and you have to attempt to qualify to get the offer. Considering that the $99 is refundable if you don't burn BOA before graduating and the limit is decent for the deposit it is a great card to have. You also get the rewards on that card like everyone else. When Discover saw BOA pick you up as a client they wanted in on the fun too since you probably did not hurt them either. Having a checking account with BOA is their way to get you into the system and they don't make money on it so they have no benefit to play favorites. Remember to ask for CLI's with Discover online every 30-90 days at random since you have nothing to lose with a SP with them.

Re: BOA Secured.... 1 year later, $39 fee and no CLI.

Anonymous — Wed, 26 Jul 2017 19:04:38 GMT

Thank you all for the replies. This secured card is just useless at this point. Clearly I have proven worthieness by now if Discover let me in 5 months ago with more than double the starting limit and is not secured.

I will be calling BOA soon through the backdoor number mentioned. I was waiting until this last statement cut with a $23 balance that I paid within a few days so the account is currently at a 0 balance in a new cycle. This card is otherwise not used other than my recurring gym membership that I set up with one of their virtual card numbers.

Does anyone had any last words of wisdom to get them to give me back my security deposit, a CLI and possibly at least ONE of the yearly fees refunded? I also want to request graduation or upgrade (which term do they like better?) to the Cash Awards.

Re: BOA Secured.... 1 year later, $39 fee and no CLI.

Anonymous — Wed, 26 Jul 2017 19:16:21 GMT

@zerofire wrote:

BOA and Discover are some of the nicer lenders for builder's after a BK. BOA is obviously concerned if you burned them in the past but obviously you didn't or you would not even have gotten the 500/99 offer. That offer is what you get if you do not qualify for the regular card and you have to attempt to qualify to get the offer. Considering that the $99 is refundable if you don't burn BOA before graduating and the limit is decent for the deposit it is a great card to have. You also get the rewards on that card like everyone else. When Discover saw BOA pick you up as a client they wanted in on the fun too since you probably did not hurt them either. Having a checking account with BOA is their way to get you into the system and they don't make money on it so they have no benefit to play favorites. Remember to ask for CLI's with Discover online every 30-90 days at random since you have nothing to lose with a SP with them.

Thanks Zero. Wow, I am overdue for this. I was under the impression the first CLI was automatic. I think my head is spinning with too much info and didfferent banks and I need to start keeping notes somewhere on all these tricks. I will update how that goes after I pay off my Discover balance next. All that matters though is I am keeping my utilization low by multiple monthly payments.

Right, BOA was never on my burned list. They kept spamming my online banking inbox every month with the offer for the regular card. I was declined and instantly offered that deal that was too good to pass up since I am rebuilding.

Re: BOA Secured.... 1 year later, $39 fee and no CLI.

Anonymous — Wed, 26 Jul 2017 23:30:14 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@zerofire wrote:

BOA and Discover are some of the nicer lenders for builder's after a BK. BOA is obviously concerned if you burned them in the past but obviously you didn't or you would not even have gotten the 500/99 offer. That offer is what you get if you do not qualify for the regular card and you have to attempt to qualify to get the offer. Considering that the $99 is refundable if you don't burn BOA before graduating and the limit is decent for the deposit it is a great card to have. You also get the rewards on that card like everyone else. When Discover saw BOA pick you up as a client they wanted in on the fun too since you probably did not hurt them either. Having a checking account with BOA is their way to get you into the system and they don't make money on it so they have no benefit to play favorites. Remember to ask for CLI's with Discover online every 30-90 days at random since you have nothing to lose with a SP with them.
Thanks Zero. Wow, I am overdue for this. I was under the impression the first CLI was automatic. I think my head is spinning with too much info and didfferent banks and I need to start keeping notes somewhere on all these tricks. I will update how that goes after I pay off my Discover balance next. All that matters though is I am keeping my utilization low by multiple monthly payments.

Right, BOA was never on my burned list. They kept spamming my online banking inbox every month with the offer for the regular card. I was declined and instantly offered that deal that was too good to pass up since I am rebuilding.

At 5 months a request credit line increase button appeared. When viewing account online. Clicked it and requested 4000. Got message that it went to review. Later that day I had a 1000 dollar limit and the 99 dollars was back in my account. Bank of America allsp provides free Trans Union FICO 8 online so I am not sure why you don't use that for your real score. Also Discover provides free Experian FICO 8 to everyone.