topic Re: Secured Credit Card Questions in General Credit Topics

Secured Credit Card Questions

bott6698 — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 20:08:22 GMT

Hello, I have gotten an application for a National City Secured Credit Card.

1. Would I be better off getting $250 on a Nat City Card and $250 on an orchard Card or just getting a Nat City Card for $500?

2. APR is 19.49% If I pay off the balance each month do I have to pay any interest?

3. If I get a $500 card for example should I only buy $150 worth of stuff to keep utilization to 30%?

I heard secured cards are the best way to rebuild credit besides of course taking care of collection accounts to be PFD etc, so I would like to get one but don't know the best strategy of doing it.

Thanks for any assistance you can provide here

Re: Secured Credit Card Questions

Anonymous — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 20:35:04 GMT

1)Some people complain that it is sometimes difficult to turn a secured card to unsecured. I say open one account, let it work for you for awhile then try an get an unsecured card. (I'm not the master on all this though, others might have a different approach.)

2)No. There is usually a grace period of 25-30 days after your billing statement to allow you to pay the balance before interest kicks in.

3)You want your Util between 1-9%. 5% seems to be the magic number though.

Re: Secured Credit Card Questions

bott6698 — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 21:26:34 GMT

Cool thanks for the info. So I am better off just trying a $250 card from Nat City to get things started then and then after I establish a history possible unsecured cards will be available to me. I have no credit cards now and my credit last time I checked was below 500 So I really hope this will help. Cool about the interest not kicking in thanks for your answer there. I didn't know utilization should be that low. So if I get a $250 card I shouldn't use no more than say $12.50 lol. That seems kind of low to keep using the card but hey your the expert so thanks I will try that.

Re: Secured Credit Card Questions

Anonymous — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 23:12:25 GMT

I recently "purchased" 2 secured VISA cards. However, they both new and have not started to report yet. I'm looking to not only be in the 700 Club but to have a minimum score of at least 760!

good luck,

LaSha'

Re: Secured Credit Card Questions

Anonymous — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 00:14:32 GMT

lol@me being an expert

Have fun with that 12 bucks

Re: Secured Credit Card Questions

Anonymous — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 02:44:27 GMT

Tho I have never had one lots of people on here say that the BoA secured card is a good one to go with. I've heard that after a year of good history they will switch you over to unsecured. Go to the BoA website https://preapproved.bankofamerica.com/cc/SelfInquiry.aspx and see what you are pre approved for, it is a soft pull on your CR.

We use BoA and have always had good CS with them. Plus they are good abt giving CLI. Good Luck Vicki

Re: Secured Credit Card Questions

Anonymous — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 02:47:26 GMT

I don't know about National City but I was 100% satisfied with my BOA secured card. They graduated me to unsecured after 1 year however many other posters have been graduated in less time.

Each individual situation is obviously unique but if I had to do it all over again I would definately get the BOA secured card. JMHO.......

Re: Secured Credit Card Questions

DUISlayer — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 02:56:01 GMT

greyhound2007 wrote:
Tho I have never had one lots of people on here say that the BoA secured card is a good one to go with. I've heard that after a year of good history they will switch you over to unsecured. Go to the BoA website https://preapproved.bankofamerica.com/cc/SelfInquiry.aspx and see what you are pre approved for, it is a soft pull on your CR.

We use BoA and have always had good CS with them. Plus they are good abt giving CLI. Good Luck Vicki

I've had my BoA $500/99 secured card since May 06, and have been pretty satisfied with it. I do have a question though. If I change over to an unsecured card, will it turn over to a new account? This is a concern, since my BoA is my longest opened account, and transferring to a new card will destroy my credit length.

Re: Secured Credit Card Questions

Anonymous — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 03:04:16 GMT

I did not have any problems with BOA when they graduated me to unsecured. I changed products to their WorldPoints cc including acct nbr change. The change was seamless and all history transferred.

Of course I was nervous and called them a couple of times to ensure that it didn't report as a new account and that all history was shown.

Re: Secured Credit Card Questions

Geordi — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 03:14:50 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I don't know about National City but I was 100% satisfied with my BOA secured card. They graduated me to unsecured after 1 year however many other posters have been graduated in less time.
Each individual situation is obviously unique but if I had to do it all over again I would definately get the BOA secured card. JMHO.......

If you don't mind me asking, what was your amount of secured credit with the BOA Secured Card.

And what was your CL when you graduated?

I only ask because me one year anniversary will be in May.

Re: Secured Credit Card Questions

Anonymous — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 03:25:51 GMT

mistaritalian I've had my BoA $500/99 secured card since May 06, and have been pretty satisfied with it. I do have a question though. If I change over to an unsecured card, will it turn over to a new account? This is a concern, since my BoA is my longest opened account, and transferring to a new card will destroy my credit length.

Do not apply for a new card, call CSR and ask abt being transferred to an unsecured card, if you've had good account history ( on time payments, no overlimit, late pays) you have a good chance of getting switched over. BoA keeps the account history on all changed over cards (I know we have an Amex and Plat with them) we have changed several times on both accounts and all history remains just you get a new account number that replaces the old one. Good Luck Vicki

Re: Secured Credit Card Questions

Anonymous — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 03:44:46 GMT

My secured CL was $900 and unsecured $1400. I should have probably waited to call until I paid my balance in full as it was $300 when I called. Nonetheless they graduated me.

I wish you all of the best in May !

Re: Secured Credit Card Questions

bott6698 — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 03:50:37 GMT

Well my main goal is to rebuild my credit of course and Nat City does show that they report to all 3 Cra every month so I figured since I bank with them it would be a good one to go with. The annual fee is $36 per year which comes out as $3 per month. I never really thought about graduatiing to an unsecured but that also would be nice. SO BOA offers an unsecured after 1 year even if your credit still hangs around 500? And is it correct on a $250 card I shouldn't spend more than $12.50 since that is 5% utilization?

And bTW thanks for all the help here I appreciate it

Re: Secured Credit Card Questions

Anonymous — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 04:03:58 GMT

bott6698 wrote:
Well my main goal is to rebuild my credit of course and Nat City does show that they report to all 3 Cra every month so I figured since I bank with them it would be a good one to go with. The annual fee is $36 per year which comes out as $3 per month. I never really thought about graduatiing to an unsecured but that also would be nice. SO BOA offers an unsecured after 1 year even if your credit still hangs around 500? And is it correct on a $250 card I shouldn't spend more than $12.50 since that is 5% utilization?

And bTW thanks for all the help here I appreciate it

Just FYI, I doubt BofA will unsecure your card after a year if your scores are around 500 after that time. Hopefully after 12 months of timely payments, your score will have improved.

Also, you want the card to report utilization of 1-9%, which would mean around $22 maximum on a $250 CL. That doesn't mean you can't use more than that amount. It just means that if you use more than that, you will want to make a payment before the card reports its balance to the CRAs, so that it only reports a maximum of 9% utilization.

In order to play this game, you will need to find out at what point in your monthly billing cycle your card reports. 99% of CCs report the statement balance to the CRAs, so for those cards you will need to make sure you never have a balance of more than $22 when the statement cuts. HSBC (Orchard) is a notable exception, however. They report the balance to the CRAs on the last business day of the month. To play the util game with an HSBC card, you need to make sure to pay the balance down to no more than $22 on the 27th-28th or so of each month. Then don't use the card again until after the 1st of the following month. Keep in mind that even when you make these additional payments, you still need to make your required minimum payments before the due date so you won't be counted late.

We hear different numbers thrown around for an "ideal" utilization percentage, but it is generally agreed that 1-9% is best. In most cases, you won't get any more points for letting the card report 1% than you would get for letting it report 9%.

Message Edited by cheddar on 01-28-2008 08:03 PM

Re: Secured Credit Card Questions

Anonymous — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 04:02:58 GMT

Hi Bott,

It makes sense to go with NC as you are currently banking with them. That is one of the reasons I lean toward BOA as I have banked with them for the last 17 years.

I don't know about graduating you with scores in the 500's but would hope that your time/efforts toward rebuilding your credit during the time you have the secured card would afford you the opportunity to increase your scores.

I wish you all of the best with obtaining your new cc.

Re: Secured Credit Card Questions

Geordi — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 04:07:53 GMT

Hi busywoman,

I was hoping that the graduation would be automatic. If I have to call and remind them, I may call in March

Re: Secured Credit Card Questions

Anonymous — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 04:11:15 GMT

Hi Geordi,

They may do it automatically or you may need to call them. I took the "bull by the horns" and called BOA because it didn't happen automatically with them. I'm sure that each individual situation is different but I had it on my calendar just in case I didn't see graduated after 1 year.

Re: Secured Credit Card Questions

bott6698 — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 04:16:26 GMT

if you don't mind busywoman what may I ask was your fico when you started a secure card and how much did it change after one year?

Re: Secured Credit Card Questions

Anonymous — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 04:21:09 GMT

Hi Bott,

It is difficult to say because I was absolutely clueless about my FICO scores in Nov 2006 when I got this card.

I assume that they were worse than when I started monitoring in Jul 2007. My scores are in my siggy below and I was graduated to unsecured in Nov 2007.

I wish I could be more helpful about my previous scores by I have to be truthful in that I really don't have a clue !!!