topic Re: Who has the best card for a recovering FICO bum? in General Credit Topics

Who has the best card for a recovering FICO bum?

miskiss — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 07:59:38 GMT

On the road to recovery...

Capital One just approved me for a CC, $45/year membership. I received their offer in the mail, first unsecured VISA card I have been approved for in ages! I have no idea yet what the CL offer will be, they said it would arrive in the mail in 7-10 business days. I DO know that since then they have pulled all three of my CRs. Ouch.

Is this the right way to go? Should I call them when I get the card and ask for a better offer (less fee) or should I just consider myself blessed that someone is finally offering me a VISA CC?

OH YES, and I had applied to JC Penney for a CL increase in July, denied. After reading this forum I paid my balance down to zero, 9% overall util. Today I happen to check my account and they have automatically raised my CL from $400 to $550.

IT WORKS IT WORKS THANK YOU!!!

mis

Message Edited by miskiss on 10-26-2007 06:59 PM

Re: Who has the best card for a recovering FICO bum?

Anonymous — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 08:15:38 GMT

In regards to building your credit again, I would say Orchard Bank of course is the first one that would extend you credit. You can also see Wamu which use to be Providian. What are your credit scores because its a thread on here that is very informative as to what cards to apply for based on ya actual credit scores through the 3 major CB's........one last thing, you should never have to pay an annual fee to have a credit card, its already money deducted from ya CL, so you might want to hold off til another one comes in the mail that has no annual fee

Re: Who has the best card for a recovering FICO bum?

miskiss — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 08:50:26 GMT

Thank you for your reply:

Here are my current scores:

10/3/07: EQ FICO: 611~ TrueCred FAKOs: TU 573; EX 613; EQ 612

I already applied online for the Capital One Card. They said I was approved after a minute of waiting. Should I cancel it when I receive it? Will that have a negative impact on my scores to take the inquiry hit but not receive a new TL? Also, should I be nervous that AFTER they approved me online, THEN they checked all three of my credit reports? Do they send you a letter of denial after they approve you online?

Thanks for your advice.

mis

Message Edited by miskiss on 10-26-2007 07:50 PM

Re: Who has the best card for a recovering FICO bum?

Anonymous — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 08:44:36 GMT

Its two ways to look at the account with Capital One. First is, you could just have them deduct the $45 from your TL and in the process maintain the card for a year thereafter ask them to waive the annual fee and see if you can upgrade to a better card....Secondly, cancel outright and take the ding for the inquiry.....

Re: Who has the best card for a recovering FICO bum?

Anonymous — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 08:48:52 GMT

Oh yea, too answer the other questions, they wont check your credit after they already approved you because its a computer generated approval or denial, so your credit was decent enough to qualify online. So that being said, you wont get a letter of denial after they already approved. Does that help you out? Let me know, Im up and wont be sleep anytime soon, lol

Re: Who has the best card for a recovering FICO bum?

miskiss — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 08:58:43 GMT

Ok, so I'll give them a call when I receive the card, before I use it. I'll ask them to take out the fee in the TL and see what they say.

I actually was worried that they were checking my credit again, like, "do we really want to give this bum a CC???" LOL Thanks for the clarification!

Does anyone know what the best major CCs to have are? I hear Amex often enough. Which other cards are the best, all-around? I know I have a ways to go before acceptance, but I've decided that if I can visualize the ultimate goal all of my actions will lead me there.

Thank you everyone!

mis

Message Edited by miskiss on 10-26-2007 07:58 PM

Re: Who has the best card for a recovering FICO bum?

Anonymous — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 10:08:45 GMT

post bk my first card was cap one--small cl and secure deposit and fee. they gave me regular increases but only so high. they returned security after a few years and gave me a new card for 3500. also orchard was helpful and gave me increases regularly but annual fee which i thought was good, i just closed them out because they refused to remove annual fee after 4 years. These are good starter accounts to build credit wamu has been best so far and merrick (even with all bad publicity) has given many increases and is good if you pay in full each month because interest is out of this world!!!!. these accounts need to be paid online banking so there is proof when you paid them and they can't late post you. hope this helps.

Message Edited by casinoannie97 on 10-26-2007 03:08 AM

Re: Who has the best card for a recovering FICO bum?

miskiss — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 10:20:36 GMT

Thanks for the inside scoop! I'll be sure to pay online regularly, although I don't really intend to use it. I'll probably sock drawer it unitl it's nearly time for another annual fee, unless I decide to just cancel outright when I receive it and wait until I can qualify for a card with no annual fee. I guess it's just been so long since I've been considered credit worthy, I jumped at the chance to prove myself.

So far:

Wells Fargo Platinum (Secured) CL: $500 Bal: $0 ~ Since 1/07 Never late

JCPenney: CL: 550 Bal: $74 (Will PIF tomorrow) ~ Since 1/07 Never late

Wells Fargo Student Loan Orig: $13,500, Current $12,300 on auto pymnts. Since 7/06. Never late.

Kevin Jewelers: CL $400 Bal: $0 Since 1/07 PIF in May, closed. Never late.

...and whatever Capital One decides to send me.

I will never, never, NEVER EVER be late!!!

mis

Re: Who has the best card for a recovering FICO bum?

haulingthescoreup — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 11:25:01 GMT

miskiss, while you're doing your re-building, you might want to check out credit unions, both in your area and nationwide. Look for ones that offer CC's that you might like one day --for instance, one might have both a plain old Visa and a Visa Platinum. Start a savings account with them, $50/ month or whatever, and they should be a good source of decent cards in the future --maybe even now. A lot of people on these forums use national ones, like PenFed and CCCU. I'm in USAA, which is sort of a credit union, but our family also belongs to a local one, where they recognize our faces, notarize our stuff, etc.

Since a credit union is run by its members, it tends to be more flexible, as long as it feels that you are trustworthy. Since you're recovering from a rocky time, that's why I suggested opening a savings account for a bit before app'ing for a card. On the other hand, they might offer you one when you join and open your savings acct, or soon after.

When you're looking for a CU, don't be put off by some of their names. Many of them started back when members were narrowly defined, so it might be called the Fred's Bait Shop and Video Store Employees' Credit Union, but it has probably widened its eligibility. The CU's in our area advertise incessantly--once you tune in to their commercials, you'll be amazed how many out there want your business.

Re: Who has the best card for a recovering FICO bum?

Anonymous — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 15:06:13 GMT

misskiss, you are on your way out of what I call a "credit coma". Welcome to the world of credit cards. LOL

Don't you dare cancel that Cap1 card! Even WITH the annual fee. It is a wonderful builder/repair card. One of my first cards after I came out of my credit coma, was a Cap1 card, with those same annual fees and a CL of $300. Now my CL on that card is $3,200 without no annual fee. Just make sure you have your payment to them WELL before the due date. IMO they are strict, but fair. And they will raise you to the default rate to 29.34% in the wink of an eye. Plus the CL just helps your utilization rate a little bit. Every little bit helps when you're trying to rebuild credit.

hauling gave excellent advice. Join a CU, start a savings acct. with them. Establish a rapport with a live person. Apply for a cc after a period of time. Very good advice.

Pretty neat about the Jaques Penoit card, eh? Just give you a cl, and dont even tell you. Love it. I got one exactly a year ago, with $300 cl. Used it for Christmas, and was a lifesaver for us. Today the cl stands at $1,500. Congrats on the cli!

Hope that helps a 'lil bit. Good luck to you

Re: Who has the best card for a recovering FICO bum?

PayYouNever — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 16:51:25 GMT

CapOne from what everyone on the Forum says is a junk card to have because they don't report your CL... so it's suspect how having that card affects your UTL.

I would try for an AMEX Blue or AMEX Delta Skymiles.

Getting companies to waive their annual fee depends on your payment history, I guess. I haven't been able to get First Premier or AMEX to waive.

Re: Who has the best card for a recovering FICO bum?

Anonymous — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 18:37:41 GMT

Not true PYN. They report cl's on all CR's and have been doing so since last month.

Prior to that the high balance WAS the cl.

Re: Who has the best card for a recovering FICO bum?

miskiss — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 21:38:30 GMT

OH MY GOSH!!!

MY EQ FICO SCORE JUST JUMPED FROM 611 TO 633!!!

WOW!

I was so happy I dropped everything I was doing to call my mom and tell her.

THANK YOU SO MUCH EVERYONE!!!

NEXT GOAL: 660!!!

misti

Re: Who has the best card for a recovering FICO bum?

haulingthescoreup — Sat, 27 Oct 2007 01:02:22 GMT

hurray!!!! keep it up!

Re: Who has the best card for a recovering FICO bum?

Anonymous — Sat, 27 Oct 2007 02:24:16 GMT

cap one just started reporting your limits. they have come a long way and have always been decent with me. premier is the worst.

Message Edited by casinoannie97 on 10-26-2007 07:24 PM