topic Re: Closing Cap1 secured? in Credit Cards

Closing Cap1 secured?

Anonymous — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 21:24:31 GMT

Has anyone here closed their Capital One secured card? Shortly after getting it I ended up increasing deposit all the way to the $3k limit. But now that means that they cannot issue any CLIs, since it's a 3k max line. And they won't do anything about the APR. And I've now spoken with 3 different people over the past 2-ish weeks, who have all confirmed that the card will not be unsecuring. They also won't let me decrease the security deposit (to leave room for an unsecured CLI) - I'd have to close the whole card.

So basically I can let them sit on $2849 (since the intial deposit was $49 for a $200 line) of my money indefinitely, or close the card. Once my next paycheck comes in, I'm thinking about paying the balance off and closing the card. Is there any reason why I wouldn't want to do that? I have two other low limit cards, but they're both unsecured. The secured card was opened last December, so it doesn't really do much for my AAOA anyway. Is there really any reason to keep it open?

My gut instinct tells me to just close the account, since I can always open a new secured account with another bank (Citi/BofA) that actually graduates the card after 12/18 months. I'm just feeling nervous since it's my highest limit card and I've never closed a credit card account before! But right now it seems like a dead end card since it won't get a CLI and it won't unsecure.

Any opinions would be appreciated!

Re: Closing Cap1 secured?

trumpet-205 — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 21:35:16 GMT

Depending on your credit report, you may or may not need Capital One as a starter card.

Keep in mind that Citi and BofA are very conservative about their secured card. Secured CC does not mean 100% approval rate.

Wells Fargo (you need a deposit account from them), and local credit union offer better secure cards than Citi/BofA.

Re: Closing Cap1 secured?

Anonymous — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 21:45:48 GMT

Well really I have two other starer cards - one from Orchard and one from Cap One. They're both unsecured. I don't have anything negative like COs or a BK on my credit report, just a thin credit file. But I realize they could still deny me for a secured card for some other reason.

In addition to not liking the idea of them sitting on my money indefinitely, I'd also like to be able to apply for one of their cash back (No Hassles) cards , but I can't due to the 2 cards limit. So if I cancel the secured card, it'll also give me the additional benefit of being able to apply for that in a few months.

The credit union suggestion is a good one though! Just hard to figure out which one to go to - too bad USAA doesn't have a secured card.

Re: Closing Cap1 secured?

Anonymous — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 21:46:05 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Has anyone here closed their Capital One secured card? Shortly after getting it I ended up increasing deposit all the way to the $3k limit. But now that means that they cannot issue any CLIs, since it's a 3k max line. And they won't do anything about the APR. And I've now spoken with 3 different people over the past 2-ish weeks, who have all confirmed that the card will not be unsecuring. They also won't let me decrease the security deposit (to leave room for an unsecured CLI) - I'd have to close the whole card.

So basically I can let them sit on $2849 (since the intial deposit was $49 for a $200 line) of my money indefinitely, or close the card. Once my next paycheck comes in, I'm thinking about paying the balance off and closing the card. Is there any reason why I wouldn't want to do that? I have two other low limit cards, but they're both unsecured. The secured card was opened last December, so it doesn't really do much for my AAOA anyway. Is there really any reason to keep it open?

My gut instinct tells me to just close the account, since I can always open a new secured account with another bank (Citi/BofA) that actually graduates the card after 12/18 months. I'm just feeling nervous since it's my highest limit card and I've never closed a credit card account before! But right now it seems like a dead end card since it won't get a CLI and it won't unsecure.

Any opinions would be appreciated!

A high limit card allows much more flexibility in spending and utilization and many believe (including me) that it helps get higher limits in the future.

Both Capital One (and HSBC) do not graduate, they have you apply and open a new card with them, it is not ideal but it works in the end.

I would not close it untill you have another high limit card to replace it. I think i would wait until you got a unsecured card you liked, rather than start a new secured account.

Re: Closing Cap1 secured?

Anonymous — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 21:52:49 GMT

That's part of what I was thinking - that having a higher limit card might help get further offers for higher limit cards. But since I haven't heard anything definitive about it, I don't know if that's actually the case or just speculation. I just don't like the idea that the card has no way of growing.

That's why I asked if it was possible to get a partial refund of my security deposit (and lower the credit line) so that it would leave balance available for unsecured CLIs, but they told me I'd have to close the account and get my deposit back, and then re-open a new account and just deposit less. And of course, get 3 inquires out of it in the process.

Re: Closing Cap1 secured?

Datx — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 21:55:24 GMT

I closed my Cap One secured recently. It hit the one year mark and I heard stories that they are not planning to unsecure it, so it was closed. If I was in your situation, I would be a bit worried on closing my highest limit card. One thing I learned in my credit rebuilding journey, is to try and avoid toy limit hell. If you close this secured card that has a limit of 3K, you are left with two lower limit cards. And when you decide you want to possibly apply for a credit card (unsecured one) its possible that creditor will approve you for a card that closely matches your other two lower limit cards.

Just something to think of. BTW, USAA is not an actual CU, and they do have a secured card, but they don't offer it to all of their customers, just select ones. But joining a CU, maybe even a local one is always a good idea. Good luck!

Re: Closing Cap1 secured?

Datx — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 21:56:57 GMT

Looks like Wolf beat me to it.

Re: Closing Cap1 secured?

Anonymous — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 22:07:09 GMT

That's a good point, I just don't like the idea of it being such a dead-end card now.

I have a USAA membership but haven't bothered doing anything with it. I just kept reading good things about them here, and since my wife has an account (through her parents being in the Army), so I figured I might as well join. But my credit history is too limited to try to apply for their unsecured credit yet. I might take a look at a local CU, there's just so many and they all seem small. But if they can offer me a secured card that WILL graduate, they'd already be one step better than Cap One. I could just move the money over from the Cap One account to the credit union.

Re: Closing Cap1 secured?

Datx — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 22:18:53 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
That's a good point, I just don't like the idea of it being such a dead-end card now.

I have a USAA membership but haven't bothered doing anything with it. I just kept reading good things about them here, and since my wife has an account (through her parents being in the Army), so I figured I might as well join. But my credit history is too limited to try to apply for their unsecured credit yet. I might take a look at a local CU, there's just so many and they all seem small. But if they can offer me a secured card that WILL graduate, they'd already be one step better than Cap One. I could just move the money over from the Cap One account to the credit union.

Hmm...has your wife looked into joining NFCU? If your wife qualifies for membership (seeing that you mentioned her parents being in the army) then you could join after she joins.

Re: Closing Cap1 secured?

Anonymous — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 22:28:40 GMT

I hadn't thought of that. Her mom is retired Army, her step-dad is still in (although he's a reservist). I doubt they'd want to join another bank/CU, but if I she can join without them joining first, that could work. To be honest, I'm probably enlisting in the Navy in around Q4 2011/Q1 2012 so the point will be moot in half a year anyway.

In the short-term, I don't think they offer secured cards to the public either? Last I checked my scores were hovering around 660-ish (was higher but dropped some due to higher utilization on the cards in the past few months, I presume), and I don't expect to get a prime card from NFCU until I'm at 700 again+.

I know with a thin credit file I'm not going to get approved for great cards yet, but I'd rather have something that at least has the potential to grow over time.

Re: Closing Cap1 secured?

Datx — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 22:35:32 GMT

From other stories I have read so far, your wife's parents would not have to join. But your wife would. It would be best for her to call NFCU and let them know that her mom is retired army and I would even let them know her dad is currently a reservist. Once she joins, then you would be able to join afterwards. NFCU offers secured cards to all of their members. My younger bro has fugly credit and has a secured with them. I was approved for a unsecured card of 5K instantly with them with an EQ of around 664, so you don't need a 700+ score for a high limit card with them. NFCU is known for being a generous lender, and are known to work with ppl with bumps in their credit, so I think it will be well worth it if you can convince your wife to call them and join.

Re: Closing Cap1 secured?

Anonymous — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 22:45:09 GMT

That's good to know! She's flying back from visiting family tonight, so I'll give her a few days before pestering her about it.

And I don't know how I missed that secured card, but there it is - nRewards Secured. Looks like it's got a pretty low APR too, so I'll definitely give it a try! Any idea if their secured cards graduate?

Re: Closing Cap1 secured?

Datx — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 22:56:12 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
That's good to know! She's flying back from visiting family tonight, so I'll give her a few days before pestering her about it.

And I don't know how I missed that secured card, but there it is - nRewards Secured. Looks like it's got a pretty low APR too, so I'll definitely give it a try! Any idea if their secured cards graduate?

There has been mixed reviews where some say yes it does unsecure and some say no, it does not. I have seen more reviews where it does unsecure though. Also, when he received his secured card, the expiration date on the card was for one year. Which leads me to believe that they will review his account probably around the 11th month and either unsecure him or renew his secured card after a year. I'm hoping they unsecure the card for him. Good luck and keep us updated!

EDIT: Forgot to say, $0 AF on their secured card AND you get rewards points? Some awesomeness right there.

Re: Closing Cap1 secured?

Anonymous — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 23:13:40 GMT

I just called them to ask about eligibility, and they said that my wife's mother and/or step-dad would have to become members first before she could join. Kind of a bummer, since I can almost guarantee they have no interest in joining yet another bank/CU. On the website it says they'd have to be a member or "eligible for membership", but I don't know if that eligibility means they'd have to join first before my wife could join. So I'm not sure which one's right.

Re: Closing Cap1 secured?

Datx — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 00:15:13 GMT

Hmm, I would try back again or have your wife call. I have read a good number of NFCU threads where a person's grandfather was retired military and has past away and that person was still able to join. There is some sort of form NFCU may ask for you to prove all of this though, and even if they dont ask for it right away, they do review accounts and may ask for it later on. I know you might have to jump through hoops to get in, but I think you will be very happy with NFCU if you are able to join. I would also say that if your wife calls in and gets a different CSR, she may get a different answer.

Re: Closing Cap1 secured?

Anonymous — Sat, 18 Jun 2011 12:07:46 GMT

I called again Thursday and the second rep I spoke to said it wasn't a problem. So my wife called a few hours later and joined, and they didn't really didn't make a big deal out of it, they immediately gave her her access code and all that. So I called about an hour later to ask when I can join, and they told me I could join immediately. So I did, but I got stuck in the 3-5 business day verification process. The CSR said there shouldn't be a problem since I'm eligible to join now, they might just need me to send in some proof of identity/address, so I should her back around Tue-Thu next week.

So, thanks for the advice! Except for the initial rather clueless-sounding customer service rep I had to deal with, the other 3 people have been outstandingly helpful and easy to work with. And NFCU's cards look really good as far as terms/lack of AF/etc go.

One thing I'm wondering, if you apply for an unsecured card from them and they deny you, do they let you apply for a secured card with the same app? I'd rather not take too many hits for inquiries. And I do have two unsecured cards so I'd almost rather apply for an unsecured one first and try my luck, but I don't feel like racking up a masive amount of inquiries all of a sudden if I get denied for the unsecured and then take another inquiry or inquiries for the secured card.

Edit: Too early to be posting, typos everywhere.