topic Re: First round of Apps. in Credit Cards

First round of Apps.

Anonymous — Thu, 10 May 2012 07:07:12 GMT

After being told I need a co-signer for the first BofA platinum plus card. I went to the branch to apply for a secure card...but the person helping me didn't seem to know what they where doing and went ahead and applied me for the cash rewards card...also I went to best buy. anywho, here's my summary.

BofA Platinum Plus: Not enough History for approval, co-signer needed.

BofA Cash Rewards?/Secure?: Still waiting 10 days...

BestBuy card: Denied.

Now I feel I should stop there but I want to try at least one more. Don't really want to end up empty handed.

Re: First round of Apps.

Anonymous — Thu, 10 May 2012 07:10:36 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
After being told I need a co-signer for the first BofA platinum plus card. I went to the branch to apply for a secure card...but the person helping me didn't seem to know what they where doing and went ahead and applied me for the cash rewards card...also I went to best buy. anywho, here's my summary.

BofA Platinum Plus: Not enough History for approval, co-signer needed.
BofA Cash Rewards?/Secure?: Still waiting 10 days...
BestBuy card: Denied.

Now I feel I should stop there but I want to try at least one more. Don't really want to end up empty handed.

I would most definitely stop. You should look at your options, you were denied one, and possibly another. I would try the secured Capital One Route. With BofA, I started with a Student Platinum Plus, then 5 months later, had them PC is to the Cash Rewards.

What does your current portfolio look like? And open cards?

Re: First round of Apps.

frogfan12 — Thu, 10 May 2012 07:14:14 GMT

Were you rejected for the BOA Student Platinum Plus for not having enough history? That's fairly odd.

You should be approved for at least one student card. I would be cautious about continuing to apply simply because you "don't want to come up empty handed". From a creditor's perspective, it just makes you look desperate for credit and you don't want that.

Re: First round of Apps.

Anonymous — Thu, 10 May 2012 07:20:56 GMT

Logan, I'm not sure what you mean by portfolio? I have no credit cards currently, and no history. Just a debit card with BofA + Checking/Savings with them.

Frogfan, Yeah I applied for the student Platinum Plus and they sent me a letter with forms to be filled out by a co-signer.

And it's not really that I'm desperate. I was just hoping I would at least get one after all the researching I did to find the right card lol

Re: First round of Apps.

Anonymous — Thu, 10 May 2012 07:21:09 GMT

Don't think the OP said he applied for student card.

Student cards require you to be a student and have documented income given the Card Act.

Assuming you have income, your best bet if you aren't a student is to go for secured card or the capital one newcomer card.

Re: First round of Apps.

Anonymous — Thu, 10 May 2012 07:26:50 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Don't think the OP said he applied for student card.

Student cards require you to be a student and have documented income given the Card Act.

Assuming you have income, your best bet if you aren't a student is to go for secured card or the capital one newcomer card.

Like I said, I apped for the student platinum plus, then I received a message saying to call, which I did. All the credit analyst asked me were questions about school, what I plan on doing, etc. At no point was I told to fax over any documentation showing income, or student status.

Re: First round of Apps.

Anonymous — Thu, 10 May 2012 07:29:04 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Logan, I'm not sure what you mean by portfolio? I have no credit cards currently, and no history. Just a debit card with BofA + Checking/Savings with them.

Frogfan, Yeah I applied for the student Platinum Plus and they sent me a letter with forms to be filled out by a co-signer.
And it's not really that I'm desperate. I was just hoping I would at least get one after all the researching I did to find the right card lol

My very first card was the Capital One Journey, I was approved with a few prior inquiries, and absolutely no FICO score, as it was my first card. I also had the same mindset, I just wanted a gas card, like from Royal Dutch Shell, but was denied because I had no credit history. Just remember the triple pull Capital One does when you apply. I think though at this point, they would be a good match.

Re: First round of Apps.

Revelate — Thu, 10 May 2012 07:32:23 GMT

I hate to say this, but ignore anyone who says to stop in this instance. When you're building tradelines for the first time, you want to get as many as you need established right then and there, and let all the inquiries age together. This will put you in a much better place in a year or two when it comes to moving on to real cards (or at graduation, or whatever your plan winds up being).

You absolutely want more than one card for FICO purposes, and that's about as close to fact as we can get with our anecdotal information here on this forum. Get another secured card if necessary or find a student card that will actually approve you. BOFA is harder to get on pretty much all of their products than comparable products from other lenders.

Re: First round of Apps.

Anonymous — Thu, 10 May 2012 07:34:35 GMT

@Revelate wrote:
I hate to say this, but ignore anyone who says to stop in this instance. When you're building tradelines for the first time, you want to get as many as you need established right then and there, and let all the inquiries age together. This will put you in a much better place in a year or two when it comes to moving on to real cards (or at graduation, or whatever your plan winds up being).

You absolutely want more than one card for FICO purposes, and that's about as close to fact as we can get with our anecdotal information here on this forum. Get another secured card if necessary or find a student card that will actually approve you. BOFA is harder to get on pretty much all of their products than comparable products from other lenders.

For the record, all I said was to stop and look at his options But I agree with you on applying for what he needs, now. Letting the inquiries age together would really help you out in the long run.

Re: First round of Apps.

Anonymous — Thu, 10 May 2012 07:41:04 GMT

The inquiries aging together makes sense, but how many is TOO many?, before I start getting denied for having too many inquires or something?

and so now the question is what to apply for?....again lol

Re: First round of Apps.

Anonymous — Thu, 10 May 2012 07:43:20 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
The inquiries aging together makes sense, but how many is TOO many?, before I start getting denied for having too many inquires or something?

and so now the question is what to apply for?....again lol

It all depends on the lender, some are more strict than others. Chase, Citi, and Barclay are very inquiry sensitive. I was able to snag an Ameex Zync as well as another Capital One card with "quite a few" inquiries back in January. So Capital one is definitely more in the leniant side.

Have you tried your CU where your auto loan is financed?

Re: First round of Apps.

Anonymous — Thu, 10 May 2012 07:51:49 GMT

So Amex or Capitol One...I've heard Amex is a **bleep** to new guys. Maybe Capitol One Journey

I don't have an auto loan...? I don't have any loans of any type

Re: First round of Apps.

Revelate — Thu, 10 May 2012 07:55:28 GMT

Think he got confused with a different poster on a different thread who is in a similar situation but with an auto loan .

Maybe I did too come to think of it, too late, going to bed. Any secured card you should be able to qualify for, and the BOFA 10 day thing on a secured card is typical: secured cards take longer to obtain than unsecured. The one I would've tried would've been the Orchard card as they used to have a system where they'd approve you for what they could: good unsecured, if not that, medium unsecured, down to low unsecured (go me!), and finally secured if you weren't qualifed for anything else. Not certain if that's still available post Cap One acquistion but it was a very nice feature.

Unsecured, YMMV but I'd specifically look to student cards especially if you have a co-signer available.

Re: First round of Apps.

Anonymous — Thu, 10 May 2012 08:12:38 GMT

Wait a minute. Scratch this whole thread, as of 5 minutes ago I now hold a credit card account with BofA by a BankAmericard Cash card...LOL whuuutt..

Someone call the pointer sisters. I'm so excited! I just danced a little bit.

ummmmmm...yeah. So we'll see how this goes. Time to be a grown up with plastic in wallet. (soon as the plastic comes in the mail that is.)

Re: First round of Apps.

improvingmycredit — Thu, 10 May 2012 08:15:21 GMT

Outstanding!!!! Congrats! Do you know your CL yet?

Re: First round of Apps.

Anonymous — Thu, 10 May 2012 08:17:30 GMT

Thanks! It states $700 on my online account

Re: First round of Apps.

improvingmycredit — Thu, 10 May 2012 08:20:53 GMT

Sweet! That's a great starting CL! You should be proud. Not many start out like that with no credit and a non-student card. Take good care of it!

Re: First round of Apps.

Anonymous — Thu, 10 May 2012 08:23:12 GMT

I will do my best, sir. Thanks =]

Re: First round of Apps.

improvingmycredit — Thu, 10 May 2012 08:32:47 GMT

LOL... No need to call me sir but I appreciate the honor. We are all here working toward the same goal > build our credit. I look forward to seeing your progress and wish you the very best in your credit journey!

Re: First round of Apps.

Anonymous — Thu, 10 May 2012 12:03:57 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Don't think the OP said he applied for student card.

Student cards require you to be a student and have documented income given the Card Act.

Assuming you have income, your best bet if you aren't a student is to go for secured card or the capital one newcomer card.

I'm not suggesting taking another inquiry, but if you do, this is the card that opened the doorway for me. You might get a ridiculously low limit such as mine ($300) which makes your utiliaization easy to max out, but it also makes it easy to pay off. If they don't let you in, call them and find out why and see if you can talk your way in as a second chance (and in a sense a "free" fourth app attempt). I'd recommend a secured card to build some history if that route doesn't work out.

I should reload the thread before responding to something I had open since last night!! Congrats on the card, and now that you have that, stay the heck away from the CapiOne for Newcomers card! It'll just sit there annoying you with it's low limit.