Opened Up a USAA Secured 1.5k CC

creditreformer — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 17:37:44 GMT

I fired orchard last week even though I didn’t have another cc lined up to replace the 800 cl I’d lose…which made me worry a bit b/c even though orchard’s less than stellar, I can’t really afford to lose cls b/c I don’t have a ton of credit available. But I was tired of orchard and their high AF ($79), no rewards, and only 1 cli in 3 years, so…it was time to break up even if I wasn’t entirely sure how/if I’d be able to replace that cl anytime soon.

About 2 weeks ago, I read about USAA’s secured cc. After getting conflicting messages about whether USAA’s secured cc was open to partial members, I finally got someone @ USAA to email me saying that while it was a pilot program, as a commitment to their service (I’ve been a USAA member for 3-5 years now), they’d mail me an app.

Well, I never got the app in the mail (maybe it’s on its way/they’re backlogged?), so I asked some kind message board members to email me a copy of the app. I worried a little bit b/c I read on CB that a partial USAA member mailed the app in but USAA still denied them b/c they said the cc wasn’t open to partial members + that USAA said they mailed the person the app in error. I also worried that even though USAA says they don’t check credit for the secured cc, I’d get turned down b/c of an old tax lien b/c I’ve been denied secured ccs b/c of the tax lien before.

Yesterday afternoon, I decided to wire $1.5k to USAA (max CL allowed on the secured cc) + then fax in the secured app. I included a copy of the email that USAA sent me saying they’d mail me the secure app b/c I figured if they saw that email, I’d have a better shot @ getting the cc.

This a.m., I logged into USAA + bam, my 1.5k cd is set up + bam, my USAA secured 1.5k secured cc is set up online! Dang, that was FAST + yet another reason why I love USAA. It's my highest CL to date + while it's nothing to brag about compared to some of the high rollers here, it's a big deal for me + I hope it unsecures in a year.

Next goal: Join NFCU + get a 5k secured loan + 5k secured cc (NFCU "1-2 punch").

Message Edited by creditreformer on 03-04-2010 09:37 AM

Re: Opened Up a USAA Secured 1.5k CC

MsKiwi — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 20:11:10 GMT

Congrats!

Re: Opened Up a USAA Secured 1.5k CC

creditreformer — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 20:15:19 GMT

Thanks; I’m excited b/c it’s my highest cl + it seems like a good way to get my foot in the door w/USAA credit wise. Plus, the $’s locked in a cd, so will earn interest/forces me to save, which is always nice. Lastly, USAA has been absolutely fantastic w/all my accounts I’ve had w/them- such nice, responsive CS reps. I can’t praise them highly enough.

I’m not quite ready for top/mega prime ccs like chase, discover, citi (my ficos are only in the mid-high 600s; still have some old baddies), so USAA secured (+ hopefully nfcu soon) should help me ‘get to that next step’ credit wise + maybe some ccs w/decent cls will come my way someday.

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Opened Up a USAA Secured 1.5k CC

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Re: Opened Up a USAA Secured 1.5k CC