topic Re: Strategy for BOA Secured Graduation-Adivce needed. in Credit Cards

Strategy for BOA Secured Graduation-Adivce needed.

texasman07 — Tue, 03 Dec 2013 18:56:45 GMT

Hello Everyone, I have a BOA secured card with 500$ CL. I tried for early graduation and they pulled TU my score was 678. The CSR told me I was doing a good job at keeping up with my Credit (i.e. making payments ontime) and to keep doing what I am doing. I have always carried a balance on my BOA card. This time I paid in full. It is sitting at a Zero balance. I make a few charges a month on the card. Well my question is, on December 12th is my 9 month mark. I have read about others getting graduated in 9 months. Has anyone had a strategy to this ?

Re: Strategy for BOA Secured Graduation-Adivce needed.

Creditaddict — Tue, 03 Dec 2013 19:17:37 GMT

you just call in and they do what they did last time.

then wait for it to process over to unsecured and upgrade to some sort of reward card and most likely get a $500 CLI and then call in to regular backdoor and ask for the big wammy CLI now that the account is unsecured.

Re: Strategy for BOA Secured Graduation-Adivce needed.

MACFRME — Tue, 03 Dec 2013 19:20:27 GMT

You really need to show them you want to use the card and deserve a CLI. You should be using it as heavily as possible. What does your credit file look like? Do you have baddies? Is BofA the only card you have open since the baddies or is it your first card? Do you bank with BofA? I was able to go from a $300 secured card in April 2013 to $10,000 unsecured as of this month, so BofA can definitely move more quickly on these graduations and CLIs than they let on. I just saw the cards in your signature. You should be good to go if you were able to obtain those other cards. Make sure you tell the representative about your other cards with high(er) limits. Ask them to match or exceed those. If they seem hesitant, you might want to say that BofA isn't offering you much incentive to use the card in comparison to your other cards.

Re: Strategy for BOA Secured Graduation-Advice needed.

hubison97 — Tue, 25 Feb 2014 16:25:51 GMT

Hello,

I got a BOA Secured 99/500 deal in Aug. 2013. I called to ask about increasing the CLI or graduating earlier this month and was told it would require HPs for both. How did you jump from a 300 CL to 10k in 9 mos??? Share your secrets, LOL!!! I usually PIF or leave a small balance b/c I read somewhere that can be helpful. Though I now think it's better to always close @ 0 if you can. I have a AmEx BCP & was just granted the 3x CLI to 3k yesterday. My only other card is Neiman's and I have a 2.8k CL on that. I have no baddies...just rebuilding/limited credit history.

FICO - 729, EX - 724, TU 702

Re: Strategy for BOA Secured Graduation-Adivce needed.

baller4life — Tue, 25 Feb 2014 16:42:07 GMT

You're at 6 months now. So I personally think with those scores and other cards you could unsecure now. I've seen it done.

Re: Strategy for BOA Secured Graduation-Advice needed.

HiLine — Tue, 25 Feb 2014 17:42:42 GMT

@hubison97 wrote:
Hello,

@I got a BOA Secured 99/500 deal in Aug. 2013. I called to ask about increasing the CLI or graduating earlier this month and was told it would require HPs for both. How did you jump from a 300 CL to 10k in 9 mos??? Share your secrets, LOL!!! I usually PIF or leave a small balance b/c I read somewhere that can be helpful. Though I now think it's better to always close @ 0 if you can. I have a AmEx BCP & was just granted the 3x CLI to 3k yesterday. My only other card is Neiman's and I have a 2.8k CL on that. I have no baddies...just rebuilding/limited credit history.

FICO - 729, EX - 724, TU 702

The best strategy is charge a lot and always pay in full.

You do know how to expand your purchasing power on the card beyond the credit limit right?

Re: Strategy for BOA Secured Graduation-Adivce needed.

baller4life — Tue, 25 Feb 2014 17:45:07 GMT

Do tell

Re: Strategy for BOA Secured Graduation-Advice needed.

hubison97 — Tue, 25 Feb 2014 17:51:34 GMT

Hmmmm I'm not sure I do. Please share! I'm checking out your link on AmEx right now. Very interesting!

@HiLine wrote:
@hubison97 wrote:
Hello,

@I got a BOA Secured 99/500 deal in Aug. 2013. I called to ask about increasing the CLI or graduating earlier this month and was told it would require HPs for both. How did you jump from a 300 CL to 10k in 9 mos??? Share your secrets, LOL!!! I usually PIF or leave a small balance b/c I read somewhere that can be helpful. Though I now think it's better to always close @ 0 if you can. I have a AmEx BCP & was just granted the 3x CLI to 3k yesterday. My only other card is Neiman's and I have a 2.8k CL on that. I have no baddies...just rebuilding/limited credit history.

FICO - 729, EX - 724, TU 702
The best strategy is charge a lot and always pay in full.

You do know how to expand your purchasing power on the card beyond the credit limit right?

Re: Strategy for BOA Secured Graduation-Adivce needed.

baller4life — Tue, 25 Feb 2014 18:21:54 GMT

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Rebuilding-Your-Credit/BANK-OF-AMERICA-SECURED-CARD-GRADUATING/m-p/2474879

Re: Strategy for BOA Secured Graduation-Advice needed.

HiLine — Tue, 25 Feb 2014 19:24:50 GMT

@hubison97 wrote:
Hmmmm I'm not sure I do. Please share! I'm checking out your link on AmEx right now. Very interesting!
@HiLine wrote:
@hubison97 wrote:
Hello,

@I got a BOA Secured 99/500 deal in Aug. 2013. I called to ask about increasing the CLI or graduating earlier this month and was told it would require HPs for both. How did you jump from a 300 CL to 10k in 9 mos??? Share your secrets, LOL!!! I usually PIF or leave a small balance b/c I read somewhere that can be helpful. Though I now think it's better to always close @ 0 if you can. I have a AmEx BCP & was just granted the 3x CLI to 3k yesterday. My only other card is Neiman's and I have a 2.8k CL on that. I have no baddies...just rebuilding/limited credit history.

FICO - 729, EX - 724, TU 702
The best strategy is charge a lot and always pay in full.

You do know how to expand your purchasing power on the card beyond the credit limit right?

You can set up the BofA account as a bill in your bank's bill pay function. Then manually "pay" to the BofA account and thereby set up a credit balance on that account, effectively raising the purchasing power to the credit balance plus the credit limit. I did this a lot with my own account. My limit was 2k but I constantly fed more money to the card and had months when I purchased more than the limit alone would allow. I have a BofA checking account so I can simply transfer money from the checking account to the credit card for an instant raise in purchasing power. BofA is the only bank I know that allows transfering money from a banking account to a credit card account when the credit card account balance is zero or negative.