topic Re: I need another secured card... suggestions? in Credit Cards

I need another secured card... suggestions?

cwwatts1202 — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 12:53:48 GMT

I am trying to rebuild my husbands credit, almost all his baddies are gone, he was approved for a cap one secured $99 deposit, $200 CL, we are joining a credit union that offers a secured cc we plan to apply for, but i've heard having 3-4 cc's is the best way to build scores fast. I plan to only use 1 of the cc's at 1-9% and leave the other 2 alone. Can anyone reccomend another secured card besides cap one and a secured card through the bank? I've heard BoA secured was actually kind of hard to get, so I'm not gonna waste apping for that either. Thanks in advance!!

Re: I need another secured card... suggestions?

Anonymous — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 12:55:04 GMT

what is the approximate ballpark of your scores? just asking so i know what to recommend

Re: I need another secured card... suggestions?

cwwatts1202 — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 13:12:02 GMT

EQ FICO is 558. Up from 511 on 3/10. Paid off a FP cc and it updated to a $96 balance instead of $0 and settled, so when it reports as $0 and settled next month i'm hoping for another increase, even it's a small one!

Re: I need another secured card... suggestions?

Anonymous — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 13:30:23 GMT

You don't have to leave the other two cards alone, and in fact, that may hurt you. I would use all three and PIF two every month and carry a low balance on the other. You have to use the credit extended to you to build good history. If you open the other two cards and SD them immediately, I'm not seeing that will help your score very much.

Re: I need another secured card... suggestions?

cwwatts1202 — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 14:04:02 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
You don't have to leave the other two cards alone, and in fact, that may hurt you. I would use all three and PIF two every month and carry a low balance on the other. You have to use the credit extended to you to build good history. If you open the other two cards and SD them immediately, I'm not seeing that will help your score very much.

But if we let one carry a balance we'll be charged interest. I don't mind using them all and PIF every month, but I don't want to have to pay any of the riculously high interest rates that come with secured cards!

Re: I need another secured card... suggestions?

Anonymous — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 14:41:16 GMT

You only carry like 9%, which on a low limit card would be $20-$40. The other two you PIF before the statement cuts so it isn't on your credit reports.

Re: I need another secured card... suggestions?

madmann26 — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 14:42:46 GMT

Any prior military service? NFCU is awesome.

Outside of that, do you bank with WF, BoA or a CU?

Re: I need another secured card... suggestions?

cwwatts1202 — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 14:54:03 GMT

@madmann26 wrote:
Any prior military service? NFCU is awesome.

Outside of that, do you bank with WF, BoA or a CU?

No military, we just opened an acct with GTE federal credit union. We plan to apply for their secured card once the account is opened. We applied for the account online but I guess it takes 48 hours to process which I found odd, normally when open an account online it's instant. But we've never had a CU before so maybe its different.

Re: I need another secured card... suggestions?

angelcred10 — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 14:56:31 GMT

I don't follow the logic of carrying interest balances at all you are suggesting.

Why not just PIF?

I am awaiting response of my secured app from BoA however I was pre-approved when I went into a branch, I loved the idea that it would become an "unsecured" card after a year. So it may be possible to call a number to see about pre-approval for you all if you do go that route.

Basically sounded like a savings account honestly.

I've also heard you may be able to add rewards program to it? (or maybe that was the student card version)

Re: I need another secured card... suggestions?

twall06 — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 15:07:06 GMT

You let one report a balance pay it before the due date and no interest will be charged.

Re: I need another secured card... suggestions?

cwwatts1202 — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 15:16:06 GMT

@twall06 wrote:
You let one report a balance pay it before the due date and no interest will be charged.

I guess i'm not quite understanding how it can report a balance at all if you're paying it before the due date?

Re: I need another secured card... suggestions?

Anonymous — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 15:23:04 GMT

@cwwatts1202 wrote:
I am trying to rebuild my husbands credit, almost all his baddies are gone, he was approved for a cap one secured $99 deposit, $200 CL, we are joining a credit union that offers a secured cc we plan to apply for, but i've heard having 3-4 cc's is the best way to build scores fast. I plan to only use 1 of the cc's at 1-9% and leave the other 2 alone. Can anyone reccomend another secured card besides cap one and a secured card through the bank? I've heard BoA secured was actually kind of hard to get, so I'm not gonna waste apping for that either. Thanks in advance!!

I don't think 3 to 4 is better than 2 CC. I suggest you stop at 2 secured cards and put that extra money as additional deposit on those 2. IMO, 2 higher limit cards is superiour to 4 lower limit cards. You might want a 3rd card but only if you want to build a long term relationship with that bank/CU.

I suggest you use CC for your normal purchases and Pay if Full by the due date, don't pay any interest. You want to be a profitable customer so there is more reason to offer you unsecured credit. You can save the utilization trick for later when it is time to apply for more unsecured credit, it does not help at this point.

Re: I need another secured card... suggestions?

Anonymous — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 15:27:29 GMT

@cwwatts1202 wrote:
@twall06 wrote:
You let one report a balance pay it before the due date and no interest will be charged.
I guess i'm not quite understanding how it can report a balance at all if you're paying it before the due date?

PIF by the due date means the amount due which is the closing balance. The current month charges will show up at the next closing and be reported.

Re: I need another secured card... suggestions?

cwwatts1202 — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 15:34:54 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@cwwatts1202 wrote:
I am trying to rebuild my husbands credit, almost all his baddies are gone, he was approved for a cap one secured $99 deposit, $200 CL, we are joining a credit union that offers a secured cc we plan to apply for, but i've heard having 3-4 cc's is the best way to build scores fast. I plan to only use 1 of the cc's at 1-9% and leave the other 2 alone. Can anyone reccomend another secured card besides cap one and a secured card through the bank? I've heard BoA secured was actually kind of hard to get, so I'm not gonna waste apping for that either. Thanks in advance!!
I don't think 3 to 4 is better than 2 CC. I suggest you stop at 2 secured cards and put that extra money as additional deposit on those 2. IMO, 2 higher limit cards is superiour to 4 lower limit cards. You might want a 3rd card but only if you want to build a long term relationship with that bank/CU.

I suggest you use CC for your normal purchases and Pay if Full by the due date, don't pay any interest. You want to be a profitable customer so there is more reason to offer you unsecured credit. You can save the utilization trick for later when it is time to apply for more unsecured credit, it does not help at this point.

The sole purpose we have for getting cc's is to build his score up at a slightly fast speed over the next 8 months as we are app'ing for a mortgage in December. I don't care about unsecured cards, I just care right now about building the score up over the next few months to be able to qualify for a home loan. I've been told by several members in these forums they had large score increases in a 6 month time frame by having 3-4 cc's and letting one report a balance, keeping the others at 1-9% util etc. so that is what I am trying to do. I guess 2 cc's will have to cut it though cause no one has any suggestions of what 3rd secured card we should app for.

Re: I need another secured card... suggestions?

jobber123rd — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 15:59:22 GMT

Try USAA Secured Amex or MC. IIRC, you don't have to be a full member to get it (no military connection needed). You secure the CL with a deposit of $250-$5000 in a 2-year CD.

Re: I need another secured card... suggestions?

vish1 — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 16:08:14 GMT

@cwwatts1202 wrote:
@twall06 wrote:
You let one report a balance pay it before the due date and no interest will be charged.
I guess i'm not quite understanding how it can report a balance at all if you're paying it before the due date?

Most cards report the balance from the monthly statement so you can have a balance in statment but still pay in full before due date.

So this is what you should do:

1. Use only 1 card, no need to use others. Make sure that you pay most of the current balance on your card 2-3 days before statement date (this way your card statement will show a due of 5-9% of your CL for that card)
2. Pay your card dues before the due date (so that you are NOT charged interest).

3. You don't need 4 cards, 2 are good (no reason to pile up too much AF)

Hope this makes it easy.

Re: I need another secured card... suggestions?

cwwatts1202 — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 16:19:52 GMT

@vish1 wrote:
@cwwatts1202 wrote:
@twall06 wrote:
You let one report a balance pay it before the due date and no interest will be charged.
I guess i'm not quite understanding how it can report a balance at all if you're paying it before the due date?
Most cards report the balance from the monthly statement so you can have a balance in statment but still pay in full before due date.

So this is what you should do:
1. Use only 1 card, no need to use others. Make sure that you pay most of the current balance on your card 2-3 days before statement date (this way your card statement will show a due of 5-9% of your CL for that card)
2. Pay your card dues before the due date (so that you are NOT charged interest).
3. You don't need 4 cards, 2 are good (no reason to pile up too much AF)

Hope this makes it easy.

Thank you!!! Should I only use one of the cards period? Or maybe alternate each month between which ones we use?

Re: I need another secured card... suggestions?

twall06 — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 16:52:42 GMT

I use all of mine and pif except one which ill leave 5% on. Rotating them works too each person has their own way they like to do things . Just figure out what works for you.

Re: I need another secured card... suggestions?

vish1 — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 17:00:35 GMT

@twall06 wrote:
I use all of mine and pif except one which ill leave 5% on. Rotating them works too each person has their own way they like to do things . Just figure out what works for you.

No CB knows, what you did with the card in the month. All they know is the balances reported.

No scoring model takes into account any kind of card rotation. They only count number of cards with balances etc not which card had balance last month.

I have never heard of rotating the cards having any impact (either negative or positive) on any person's credit. I use my cards based on which ones get me best rewards on particular purchases. For example when Chase / Discover have 5%, I use them and payoff as soon as transaction posts and the credit report won't even know.

Re: I need another secured card... suggestions?

cwwatts1202 — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 17:01:45 GMT

what works for me is whatever builds the score up the quickest! lol Gotta get my husbands score to a 640, or damn close to it, by end of November/early Dec and he's at a 558 right now, with a 30 day late that got deleted today, and a FP card that should report a $0 balance and settled next month, so we should see slight increases from those 2 things.