topic "Here's the issue...Capital One does not report your... in General Credit Topics

Prime rate Credit Cards

dlm0820 — Thu, 15 Mar 2007 23:04:11 GMT

When will I finally be able to get a prime credit card. I'm at a mid FICO of about 650. I applied to Chase a couple of weeks ago thinking I was close enough to get it. I was wrong. I also applied to Cap One and of course I got that one cause they approve everyone. Dont' know what the limit is on it, but I'm sure it's low. So, does anyone know when I would actually be able to get a prime card? I have a tax lien that is about 3 years old on my report, late payments in the past that are about 2-3 years old and a collection account that I just paid off.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

dml, It depends on the bank - keep working to raise you...

Anonymous — Fri, 16 Mar 2007 00:09:28 GMT

dml,

It depends on the bank - keep working to raise your score.

When the collection account is reporting as paid, try Ame...

Anonymous — Mon, 19 Mar 2007 00:22:52 GMT

When the collection account is reporting as paid, try Amex One.

AMEX is an excellent creditor, but the idea to get the On...

Anonymous — Mon, 19 Mar 2007 01:54:13 GMT

AMEX is an excellent creditor, but the idea to get the One card is a bit dubios. In some ways it's almost a **bleep** child between the credit and the charge products. You can't convert it to anything else, and it's benefits are somewhat lacking compared to other amex products. Granted it's one of the easier amex cards to get, but then again there's the question of why not get a delta (also another one of the easier ones) and convert to something else later.

Message Edited by okrogius on 03-18-2007 06:54 PM

Thanks

dlm0820 — Mon, 19 Mar 2007 02:43:44 GMT

for that info, I appreciate it. I'll try that Delta one when I get the collection account status to paid. Hopefully it should go to paid status with the next reporting update in April. If not, I'll have to try and call them and see what is going on. I got my Cap One card with a lmit of $500. Not bad, but not great either. Hopefully it can work out for me in the short one, and assuming they start reporting credit limits this year, it should be better.

I've had a One card for over a year and never had a probl...

Anonymous — Mon, 19 Mar 2007 07:25:26 GMT

I've had a One card for over a year and never had a problem with it (and I use it a lot). However, treat it like a charge card and pay it off every month -- if you're going to carry a balance, pay off a big chunk and pay the rest off the following month. Amex really seems to prefer people who pay in full over people who revolve.

I'd only get an airline card if you really think you'll get your annual fee back out of it. The One savings benefit paid for my annual fee several times over, plus they effectively waived $25 (of the $35 AF) this year. While I do have other airline cards, Delta's just not on my map. If I lived in one of their hub cities, I'd feel differently.

The entire idea behind my post was essentially that the D...

Anonymous — Mon, 19 Mar 2007 09:07:57 GMT

The entire idea behind my post was essentially that the Delta card is one of the easier amex credit cards to get approved for, as opposed to say blue/clear/etc. While there are some people for whom those cards could be worthwhile, by all means convert to one of the other products as you get the card and before the year without the fee expires.

While there are some exceptions, generally any charge card can be converted into another charge. Similar for credit. The one card, while may be appropriate for some, was thought up as a mix of credit/charge, and in a way is neither. Thus, you won't be able to convert it to anything. If it works for you, great. Although if you're just looking to get a foot in the door but don't like the card (as you can get better than the 1%, and the apr they pay on the savings account), it may not be the best choice.

I read

dlm0820 — Mon, 19 Mar 2007 12:40:48 GMT

the info about the One card and it does sound appealing in a way. The $35 fee doesn't bother me that much as I'm already paying fees on the two other cards I have. I probably won't apply for another card for at least 6 months. Hopefully by then, my credit will be inching up towards 700 and I'll have more choices available.

I appreciate the responses to my post. They were all very helpful and informative.

Thanks

Run!!!

Anonymous — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 04:43:12 GMT

Dude, run from the Capital One card. Here's the issue...Capital One does not report your credit limit to the bureaus. This is extremely bad!! The vast majority of credit scoring systems, including FICO, use your ratio of utilized credit to available credit when figuring your score. So, if you charge $100, and the bureaus don't know your limit, they assume it's $100 and consider your ratio to be 1 or 100% utilization. When you go to apply for new credit that looks like crap. So, you have to go running back to Cap One for another card. They have been the subject of numerous lawsuits due to predatory lending practices. They attempt to force you into the situation of having numerous Cap One cards with low limits thus increasing the chances that you will exceed your credit limit multiple times and end up paying them huge fines as well as ruining your credit score. If I were you I would close that account. Sure, it will ding your credit in the short term to close it, but is it worth all the bull crap for $500 worth of credit? Hardly! I made the mistake of filling that application two years ago and I would not do it again if the opportunity presented itself.

"Here's the issue...Capital One does not report your...

Anonymous — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 06:05:39 GMT

"Here's the issue...Capital One does not report your credit limit to the bureaus. This is extremely bad!!"

Believe they're planning on changing this policy later around september this year. In either case, this is very very easy to fix. Charge/bt the card almost to the limit, wait for it to report, pay in full. Problem solved.

The only real problem with them is that once you're using one of their less than prime cards, they're extremely hesitant to give you the better prime products.

Pay before or after high limit reports

dlm0820 — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 11:14:49 GMT

If I pay the full balance on the Cap One card BEFORE they report to the bureau, will it still show that I had a $400 balance as my high limit, or will it show zero as my high limit cause I paid it down? Wouldn't waiting for them to report and then paying show my util at 100% and hurt my score?

The only reason I have a Cap One card is to establish another TL history of good payments and hopefully raise my score some. Once I can get mid 700's and qualify for other better cards, I'll close my Cap One account and see what I can do with those other prime cards. For now though, this is all that I can work with.

We shall see what happens next month. I have a few inquiries that are going to be over 6 months old next month. Maybe that will raise my score as the model won't take it into consideration that much. Either that or the Simulations on the site are way way off...LOL.

Thanks

Message Edited by dlm0820 on 03-23-2007 04:14 AM

Good question

Anonymous — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 14:09:03 GMT

With my Capital One card, the reported balance was always the one that appeared on my monthly statement for the previous month. I've heard other people suggest this method of fixing the problem, but I was always nervous that if I took out credit up to the limit, an interest charge would put me over the limit at the time of the statement and thus trigger over the limit fees. Possibly someone else can describe the best time to take out the credit so as to get it reported without incurring interest. I would think it would also depend on whether you are paying your balance off in full each month since if you do, you have a grace period before interest accrues. If you don't, interest is incurred on charges from the time that they are made.

ssenesac: Just take out something slightly less than the...

Anonymous — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 18:32:27 GMT

ssenesac: Just take out something slightly less than the credit limit. As far as your utilization, if your report is showing your high credit (and thus limit in the absense of thereof) as 950 and not 1000 for instance, it really is close enough.

"Wouldn't waiting for them to report and then paying...

Anonymous — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 18:35:10 GMT

"Wouldn't waiting for them to report and then paying show my util at 100% and hurt my score?"

Only for a short time. Your score should get back into its normal range after your utilization goes down. No particular experience if you actually need to wait for them to report your almost maxed out balance (although I have a hunch, it will take this). However, if you want, try maxing it out, paying in full before they report, see if your high credit is updated. If not, you know what you need to do.

Cap 1 reports the highest balance during the month. Amex...

Anonymous — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 20:51:55 GMT

Cap 1 reports the highest balance during any month as the "high balance" (used in lieu of credit limit).

Amex One reports the highest statement closing balance as the "high balance."

(Edited to make clearer what I meant.)

Message Edited by Skiffy on 03-23-2007 01:51 PM

When you run your Cap One up whatever the highest balance...

Anonymous — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 21:20:48 GMT

When you run your Cap One up whatever the highest balance is will show as your high balance. Whether or not a score considers this as the 'credit limit' substitute depends on the formula that bureau uses.

Cap One is slow in reporting IMHO I did max mine out and pay it off bu it is still showing the high balance as the current balance though the card has been 0 balance since them. The PP was correct that they are promising to report credit limits by September. Too late for me as I will b closing mine.

The last time I tried I was suckered into to keeping it by them doubling my limit (had the card three months). This time I will not be disuaded.

Thanks

dlm0820 — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 22:26:56 GMT

That's semi good news that Cap One reports the highest balance during the month. I'll probably have it in September, so that's also good news that they will begin reporting.

Thanks for all the good replies. They were very much appreciated.

Brammy, it's too bad that you're going to close it. I tra...

Anonymous — Sat, 24 Mar 2007 00:04:16 GMT

Brammy, it's too bad that you're going to close it. I travel internationally, and I like the fact that Cap1 doesn't charge an exchange fee. Therefore, it's my goto card for travel. Beats most other banks' 3% exchange fee.

My account is currently reporting two months behind on Equifax, but reports quickly on TransUnion and Experian.

I guess I'm just irritated with CapOne it seems that they...

Anonymous — Sat, 24 Mar 2007 02:44:19 GMT

I guess I'm just irritated with CapOne it seems that they do everything they can for any account with them to reflect as negatively as possible on your credit report. Luckily I have other cards but think about those who only have CapOne who try to apply for other credit but looked maxed out on the line they have with them.

That's what I'm afraid of

dlm0820 — Sat, 24 Mar 2007 02:53:30 GMT

I don't want to look maxed out on my CapOne. I also have a Household Card which reports my limit at around $1,200, but if I can get my CapOne up to about $400 and then pay it down I think I should be good. My cutoff is the 9th, so sometime around the middle of next month I should know how it affects me. Luckily I don't have a huge CapOne card. Once they start reporting in September it should be better. I'd try applying for another card, but I don't want to have too many dings on my file plus I don't know which card I could get approved for. I went to the site whogavemecredit.com and plugged in my fico scores, but there's no guarantee i'd get that card, especially with the tax lien on my file.

BTW Brammy, do you have a link or something where you got your info from so I could read up on it?

Thanks

Message Edited by dlm0820 on 03-23-2007 07:53 PM

topic &quot;Here's the issue...Capital One does not report your... in General Credit Topics

Prime rate Credit Cards

dml, It depends on the bank - keep working to raise you...

When the collection account is reporting as paid, try Ame...

AMEX is an excellent creditor, but the idea to get the On...

Thanks

I've had a One card for over a year and never had a probl...

The entire idea behind my post was essentially that the D...

I read

Run!!!

"Here's the issue...Capital One does not report your...

Pay before or after high limit reports

Good question

ssenesac: Just take out something slightly less than the...

"Wouldn't waiting for them to report and then paying...

Cap 1 reports the highest balance during the month. Amex...

When you run your Cap One up whatever the highest balance...

Thanks

Brammy, it's too bad that you're going to close it. I tra...

I guess I'm just irritated with CapOne it seems that they...

That's what I'm afraid of

topic "Here's the issue...Capital One does not report your... in General Credit Topics