topic Re: Should I get a USAA Secured Card now? in Credit Cards

Should I get a USAA Secured Card now?

Anonymous — Sun, 11 Mar 2012 13:12:14 GMT

I just recently decided it was time to get my finances organized and am considering getting a USAA Secured Card (Mastercard or Amex??). Background information is as follows:

Starting USAA FAKO Score 02/15/2012: EQ585/EX585/TU585
Current USAA FAKO Score 03/10/2012: EQ636/EX678/TU636

I can't pull my free credit reports online at annualcreditreport.com for some reason. I need to send them a letter before I get my legit scores.

I've gotten a collections taken off my account and am currently working with Chase to get the CO and subsequent late payments fixed. They are working quite well with me so far. Unfortunately, they are trying to pull back the account from EAF (excepted I already paid it off....dunno how that will affect the situation). My AAoA is 5.5 years right now with just 2 credit cards that are open (Best Buy Reward Zone $300 limit opened 05/2008 & Household Bank $750 limit opened 07/2008. All other accounts are closed (I foolishly closed a bunch of accounts a couple of years ago...just starting to understand credit scores now). I have NO inquiries on my USAA CMS either. I am stationed overseas right now and will probably be coming back to the States Oct 2013 and will be wanting to get a car loan with a good APR. With everything that I've been reading, it sounds like inquiries only count against you for a year and only stay on your report for two years.

I have a closed USAA Mastercard account that has a balance of $9700 on it (not counting towards my utilization). I will have this paid off by September/October this year ideally. I am considering opening a Secured USAA Mastercard ($1,000 credit line) next week as it will begin reporting to all 3 bureaus, it will have 18 months to age and report good history before I apply for a car loan, and the inquiry won't be affecting my score by the that time either.

Does my plan sound solid? or should I not even worry about opening the account? I don't need the credit line...just trying to build more positive trade lines and set myself up for a better future.

Re: Should I get a USAA Secured Card now?

LS2982 — Sun, 11 Mar 2012 15:01:43 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I just recently decided it was time to get my finances organized and am considering getting a USAA Secured Card (Mastercard or Amex??). Background information is as follows:

Starting USAA FAKO Score 02/15/2012: EQ585/EX585/TU585
Current USAA FAKO Score 03/10/2012: EQ636/EX678/TU636

I can't pull my free credit reports online at annualcreditreport.com for some reason. I need to send them a letter before I get my legit scores.

I've gotten a collections taken off my account and am currently working with Chase to get the CO and subsequent late payments fixed. They are working quite well with me so far. Unfortunately, they are trying to pull back the account from EAF (excepted I already paid it off....dunno how that will affect the situation). My AAoA is 5.5 years right now with just 2 credit cards that are open (Best Buy Reward Zone $300 limit opened 05/2008 & Household Bank $750 limit opened 07/2008. All other accounts are closed (I foolishly closed a bunch of accounts a couple of years ago...just starting to understand credit scores now). I have NO inquiries on my USAA CMS either. I am stationed overseas right now and will probably be coming back to the States Oct 2013 and will be wanting to get a car loan with a good APR. With everything that I've been reading, it sounds like inquiries only count against you for a year and only stay on your report for two years.

I have a closed USAA Mastercard account that has a balance of $9700 on it (not counting towards my utilization). I will have this paid off by September/October this year ideally. I am considering opening a Secured USAA Mastercard ($1,000 credit line) next week as it will begin reporting to all 3 bureaus, it will have 18 months to age and report good history before I apply for a car loan, and the inquiry won't be affecting my score by the that time either.

Does my plan sound solid? or should I not even worry about opening the account? I don't need the credit line...just trying to build more positive trade lines and set myself up for a better future.

AFAIK, you don't get FICO scores or any scores with annualcreditreport.com just the reports.

As for the secured card, I would pay your old balance with USAA first then go for it!

Re: Should I get a USAA Secured Card now?

Repo-ed — Sun, 11 Mar 2012 15:01:48 GMT

They offer a secured card?

Re: Should I get a USAA Secured Card now?

Repo-ed — Sun, 11 Mar 2012 15:06:53 GMT

Wow, right there!

If I were to app this and select the amex, is it possible to get it backdated to my first amex account?