topic Re: Pick a card..... in General Credit Topics

Pick a card.....

Anonymous — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 22:40:26 GMT

Well, decided that I didn't have much credit, so I thought I would apply for a charge card, so as to see how it would go.

I went to bankrate.com and clicked on a link and called the operator. She takes my application and I get approved for a HSC something card that has a 750 limit.

When I get the card, they tell me to call to activate it. After thinking about it, I don't think I want to activate it, because I was hoping for a bigger limit than 750. Therefore, I have decided to wait and get a card, once I reach the 700 club.

Thus, if I don't ever call and activate the card, is there a chance that it would hurt my credit scores???? If there is, then I will call and activate it.

Thanks

Re: Pick a card.....

Anonymous — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 22:43:52 GMT

The only way it SHOULD be able to hurt your scores is to have an inquiry with no account associated with it. What are your scores like? It may be that you will not get larger Cl's at first and this one would be a good start, especially if it doesn't have a bunch of exorbitant fees. Just my 2 cents.

Re: Pick a card.....

ngerasimatos — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 22:49:03 GMT

How many active accounts do you have currently? Can you please explain a basic "snap shot" of your credit.

Re: Pick a card.....

Anonymous — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 23:09:03 GMT

ws...........what made you decide you don't have much credit? Have you been denied a card previously with the reason being a lack of a credit history?

If so, I would call and activate that card. Many CCC are tightening their limits in the current credit crunch. For someone with little credit history, an HSBC card with an initial CL of 750 is not bad. Those HSBC folks are good with CLI after you show them a couple (or a few) months of responsible card management.

Re: Pick a card.....

Anonymous — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 23:34:25 GMT

My current credit scores are 667, 669 and 679.

Here are my active accounts:

I only have a mortgage
I have one school loan
One second mortgage
One car payment

Now here's the part I don't understand.

70% is in mortage
30% is in installment
Nothing in revolving
Nothing in "other"

I don't have the information handy, but I think it said my DTI was 90%....that seems really high. Maybe it was 70%, but I do know it was high. Just sounded bad.

The fees on the card are like seven above prime, and she said, something like 14%...and then there is an annual fee of 39 dollars. I just don't really know what to do. A 750 credit limit sounds awful.

Message Edited by wordslayer on 02-29-2008 03:34 PM

Re: Pick a card.....

Anonymous — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 23:46:50 GMT

visit you local CU and get a card, or two, or maybe three with them. A 750 CL is not awful......I realize you want more. Again, for someone with a very light revolving history, 750 is nothing to sneeze at.

Re: Pick a card.....

Anonymous — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 23:55:17 GMT

word, you have to start somewhere, I say keep the card, let it report for 6 months (charge little items every month and PIF)...then ask for a cli..You need more cards, it looks like you don't have any....I have a macy's card with a dingy 600 limit, but it reports to cra every month and helps my fico scores!

Re: Pick a card.....

ngerasimatos — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 00:10:32 GMT

How old is your oldest account? I don't see any reason why a CU wouldn't give you at least a 4000.00 card.

If my GF can get a 4000.00 CC through Circuit City with a 620 score and a BK thats 9 years old, I surely think they should be able to offer you the same.

Re: Pick a card.....

Anonymous — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 00:20:07 GMT

My credit union doesn't offer credit cards.

I thought that I would surely get more than a 750 limit, and I am going to refinace my house in approximately two months, and I'm afraid that the lenders will see this sub-prime card and be spooked by it.

Oh, my oldest account is pretty old. I'm not sure how old. I'm no longer a young buck any more.

I don't think anyone on these boards edits posts like I do...LOL.

Message Edited by wordslayer on 02-29-2008 04:20 PM

Re: Pick a card.....

Anonymous — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 06:44:52 GMT

The account is opened when you are "approved". Activating the card doesn't have anything to do with them reporting or not reporting you to the credit bureau.

Your account is already opened, it's just up to you if you make the card "live" or just leave it alone so if someone picked it up and tried to use it, it wouldn't work.

Re: Pick a card.....

Anonymous — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 07:11:15 GMT

Some CC do not do anything until you activate the cards....some will show right away on CR even before you activate it.

Your scores are not that bad....I haven't gotten a new CC in several months BUT IF you do not have a lot of ings I would go direct to each BIG CC online & see what they offer. Junipter discover AMEX.....IMO with those scores (as long as you have no baddies) you have a shot and you shouldn't have a yearly charge.

Have you checked out the CC thread here?

Message Edited by HappyDays on 02-29-2008 11:11 PM

Re: Pick a card.....

Anonymous — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 14:13:21 GMT

thanks for the advice.

I do have "baddies." They are a couple of paid charge offs. I also have a three accounts with 30 days late that happened a little over two years ago.

I don't know about you all, but I'm tired of stressing about the numbers on a credit score. I just wish I had my refinace over with in my house, and had it at a great rate, so that I can move on with my life. It's tiring watching, every day, how the interest rates rise and fall, and you just hope that your score makes it above the 680 line, as you stress it out....day to day.

Re: Pick a card.....

Anonymous — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 15:47:56 GMT

I have given this a lot of thought.......

This whole thing irks me. I need to refinance my house, but to do so, I have to have a high credit score...fine.

To have a higher credit score, according to the experts, then I need to have revolving credit, of which I don't have.

I don't want this damned card...that's the bottom line. However, for me to get my credit scores up, I have to have this card.

They offer me a subprime card, with at LEAST a 14.9% interest rate, that has an annual fee of 39 dollars and only a 750 dollar limit.

My choices.....I could get this card and just pray, if I do use it and activate it, that no payment gets lost in the mail, and every payment arrives early, because if it doesn't, then I will get hammered in every way possible. I have ZERO trust for the people who give out these things.

And you know, it offends me in a way, too. The lady, on the phone, kept saying, "Mr. Slayer, you need to have this card so that you can build up your credit, and so you have to have the card that does have the higher interest rates and the stronger penalities."

It shouldn't matter if I have a credit card or not. The credit agencies should just look at my bills and see if I pay them or not. I shouldn't have to play their stupid subprime game to get my scores up to what they deem as necessary. I understand that it the way it is, but I still don't feel it is right. I have open accounts now. They may not be revolving accounts, but I have open accounts. They could verify my income, see if my debt ratio is fine, and then they can take a calculated risk as to whether or not they want to lend money.

I'm not activating this card I was approved for. If it doesn't hurt my credit to not activate it, then I am just going to cut it up.

In two or three months, I am going to apply for my mortgage and I'll accept whatever interest rate I get at that time. Hopefully, my score will be over 680 by then. I'll do everything else I can do to get my scores up, but I am not going to get their subprime, do a favor for me, credit card. I guess this is where I'm drawing the line.

And yes, I am probably cutting off my nose to spite my face.

Re: Pick a card.....

haulingthescoreup — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 16:03:15 GMT

Mortgages look at a whole lot more than your credit score. Do you still have a relationship with the mortgage broker from your original mortgage? Or are you maybe working with a new one? I would ask them how important it is to have a revolving account. If it really doesn't matter, then it's a moot point, and you don't have to worry about it. If it does, then a $39 annual fee is a pretty cheap way of getting what you really want.

As annoying as the offer might be, look at it this way:

- $39 AF: $39, compared to whatever you're trying to re-fi.
- APR of prime + %7: who cares? You're not planning to carry a balance.
- $750 CL: Consider this your gas card. Use it to fill the tank, and pay it off once a week.

When you have your mortgage, sock-drawer the card until 6 weeks before the AF is due again. Then decide if you want to keep it, negotiate for better terms, or go for a different card. Or get out of revolving altogether.

Sometimes standing on principal doesn't make financial sense. I'd get some quality advice from a mortgage pro first.

Re: Pick a card.....

Anonymous — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 19:26:53 GMT

@haulingthescoreup wrote:
Mortgages look at a whole lot more than your credit score. Do you still have a relationship with the mortgage broker from your original mortgage? Or are you maybe working with a new one? I would ask them how important it is to have a revolving account. If it really doesn't matter, then it's a moot point, and you don't have to worry about it. If it does, then a $39 annual fee is a pretty cheap way of getting what you really want.

As annoying as the offer might be, look at it this way:
- $39 AF: $39, compared to whatever you're trying to re-fi.
- APR of prime + %7: who cares? You're not planning to carry a balance.
- $750 CL: Consider this your gas card. Use it to fill the tank, and pay it off once a week.
When you have your mortgage, sock-drawer the card until 6 weeks before the AF is due again. Then decide if you want to keep it, negotiate for better terms, or go for a different card. Or get out of revolving altogether.

Sometimes standing on principal doesn't make financial sense. I'd get some quality advice from a mortgage pro first.

I guess I'm just frustrated and not thinking clearly. My thoughts have been everywhere about this.

I still have a very good relationship with my mortgage company, HOWEVER, that company has me scared to death, because it is CountryWide, and even though they haven't been bad to me, I have heard a million stories of people telling you to get away from them, if you can.

I don't use charge cards, but there isn't any way I could pay it off once a week, because I don't have a statement, right?

Thanks for your help.

Re: Pick a card.....

haulingthescoreup — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 20:14:18 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:

I still have a very good relationship with my mortgage company, HOWEVER, that company has me scared to death, because it is CountryWide, and even though they haven't been bad to me, I have heard a million stories of people telling you to get away from them, if you can.

I don't use charge cards, but there isn't any way I could pay it off once a week, because I don't have a statement, right?

Thanks for your help.

Sorry if I sounded too mom-ish. I'd just gotten off the phone with one of my kids --can you tell?

We have Countrywide too, but it's one of those nice boring fixed-rate mortgages. I don't know if they're any worse than anybody else on standard fixed-rate mortgages, but I'd stay away from any of their ARM's, assuming they do them any more anyway. This might be a good question for the mortgages board.

Once you get a card, and the account number, you can set up online bill pay. It's generally better to do it from the card company's site, but a lot of times you can't do this until you get the first statement. (I just spent 45 minutes on the phone with Bank of America going round and round on this...) But you can see your balance, once they start posting it, and you can pay from your own checking account website if necessary. I just crammed $740 down BofA's throat, whether they much wanted it or not.

I call paying from the card company's site "pulling" the payment in. It usually gets credited immediately, or at lest a whole lot faster. If you pay from your checking account site, I call it "pushing" the payment in. It usually takes longer to post, so once you're able to set up your online account at the CCC, you'll do better with the pulling method.

Some card companies do restrict the number of times you can pay from their site, but most let you pay at least 4 times a month. If I've been using my cards a lot, I throw money at them every payday.

I could never have improved my credit without monitoring and paying my cards online. When it comes to getting things in the mail in a timely manner, I'm doomed.

Message Edited by haulingthescoreup on 03-02-2008 12:14 PM

Re: Pick a card.....

Anonymous — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 20:31:10 GMT

wordslayer wrote:

I don't use charge cards, but there isn't any way I could pay it off once a week, because I don't have a statement, right?

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Hi Word...You can make statements at any time during the month if you pay online at HSBCs site.

As a previous poster wrote, the card is already yours and, if not already showing up on your credit reports, it will be there within a month. The activation process is simply to keep the card from being used by someone else in the off chance that it falls into someone elses hands between the time they send you the card and you receive it in the mail. The card is yours...activated or not.

Please be careful if you decide to not activate and just cut the card up...in a year you will be receiving a statement with a new AF charge...if you don't pay attention and pay this charge you will soon have late fees associated with the card. So, if you don't want the card you really need to call and CANCEL it before the year is up.

Re: Pick a card.....

Anonymous — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 20:44:20 GMT

Thanks for the advice, everybody.

I did think about cancelling the card, but didn't because I heard that a closed account was worse than an open one, so I thought about not ever activating it and just cutting it up, but then I see some good arguments for activating it.

Gawd....I don't trust these credit card companies and I just know that if I activate it, I will somehow get screwed in the deal. I don't know HOW I will get screwed, but I know my luck, so I have no doubt it would happen...LOL.

Re: Pick a card.....

Anonymous — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 22:51:21 GMT

Just want to make sure you understand that, activated or not, the card is YOURS....unless you call and cancel it your first statement should include the charge for annual fee...DO NOT forget to pay it!

Re: Pick a card.....

Anonymous — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 23:11:02 GMT

HSBC's online site (and make the 'monthly' payment from there) is okay, You are allowed 2 payments per month from their site (pulling from your account) -- you can push as many as you wnat from you bank account. Be careful with dates and make the payment at leat 3 business days (on their site) prior to due date -- they have a lag time in posting.

Their reporting is a bit different - they reprot the balance as of the last business day of the month -- so you can be a statement PIFer and still get Util nailed because of when they report (use the 2nd monthly online available from them to adjust this).

HTH