topic Re: Self lending? in Rebuilding Your Credit

Self lending?

HighGoals — Fri, 10 Jan 2020 23:48:18 GMT

What do u think about self lending accounts? I found one where I could pay $25 a month. I was thinking of having that which is for two years and opening a secured card. I didn’t qualify for Discover it secured card

I have a charge off from last month so I am tired of this mess and changing my habits now.

Re: Self lending?

FireMedic1 — Sat, 11 Jan 2020 08:54:26 GMT

If you have no other loans. It does help. Disco likes to see other credit history with someone else first. Theres Merrick, TD Bank,Citi, without going with a $300 a year fee card with a $500 Cl. It doesnt graduate. But theres always Cap1.

Re: Self lending?

busted2 — Sat, 11 Jan 2020 11:49:30 GMT

I signed up for Self just out of curiosity since my scores were high 700's pre-Self. Self became my only installment loan. If you have no installment loans I recommend them. If you have any other installment loan then Self is redundant and not so useful. If you have no credit (OP?) I highly recommend them. For people with a thick file and excellent credit but no installment loans expect an initial dip and eventual modest bump. Say 15 points +-. The U.I on the Self app is now very clean and user friendly. Some people prefer a relationship with a real bank or CU for an installment loan- not me. Self everything online, direct bank debit of monthly fee, excellent email communications every step of the way- very simple to use. The eventual completed loan now sent to your bank automatically. Important: make sure you set that up in first week of loan initiation to avoid a paper check at the end. Relationship building Bank yes, Self dead-end. All imo generalizations about Self to avoid a very long post.

Re: Self lending?

Anonymous — Mon, 20 Jan 2020 00:51:42 GMT

Discover is a bunch of jerks. They won't rake your money and extend you it back for anything. Typical of them. I just signed up for rental kharma last night. Was told to expect a credit score jump in 15 days. I am working on getting a FREE installment loan similar to the semi-scammy Self "lender" via my credit union. I know of two credit unions that do this (my other two credit unions refuse). One of my credit unions allows you to get a secured card with bad credit and only $115 in your bank acct. There are friendlier and more cost effective methods of accomplishing your goals. Good luck to you.

Re: Self lending?

KJinNC — Sun, 19 Jan 2020 19:10:02 GMT

Self is not "scammy" in any way. They do exactly what they say they will do, and what they do will help you build credit. You may find a cheaper/better option (I know Navy Federal has a better option), but Self is available to anyone in the country and you can sign up within 10 minutes of reading this post. Or, you may look for a better option that you have access to, there may be one.

The two things that other banks could improve upon are 1) the interest rate you pay for the Self "loan" is a lot higher than the interest rate that your deposit earns, so you end up paying tens or dozens of dollars in interest over the course of the loan, and 2) Self doesn't let you pay very much ahead of schedule, where other banks may let you pay the loan off 90% in the first month and then slowly pay off the last 10%, so your balance looks better on your reports. Neither is a big deal, IMO.

The Self card doesn't really sound like a great option to me, to be honest, but at least they are trying to offer interesting new products.

Discover offers perhaps the best nationally available secured card, but it's slightly harder to qualify for than some secured cards. You can probably qualify for it after 1-2 months of positive credit history with any other account, including Self, unless you have severe derogs or burned Discover in the past. Discover is a good company to deal with.

JMO. Good luck!

Re: Self lending?

Anonymous — Mon, 20 Jan 2020 02:48:21 GMT

No, Navy Federal Credit Union had the best secured card of a national financial institution. They have been awarded that many years in a row. Rewards with it too. [Mod cut: Not tolerated here. - KiB]

Re: Self lending?

KJinNC — Mon, 20 Jan 2020 00:01:39 GMT

By "nationally available," I meant anybody can get it. Though of course, Navy Federal is national - not everybody can join.

In terms of rewards, the Navy Federal secured card is 1% cash back everywhere. The Discover secured card has various options for cash back, all of which are better than 1% everywhere (by default, I think it's 2% on restaurants and gas and 1% everywhere else - you can also switch it to the 5% rotating categories that's still 1% everywhere else), and it doubles cash back at the end of the year. It also can unsecured after 7 statements (mine did). Not sure the schedule by which the Navy Federal secured card unsecures, but I doubt it's less than 7 statements. That said, Navy Federal overall is a great institution for those with access to it, and is well worth building a relationship with.

If you are not aware, the terms of service of this board call for a positive tone.

Re: Self lending?

FireMedic1 — Mon, 20 Jan 2020 02:49:11 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
No, Navy Federal Credit Union had the best secured card of a national financial institution. They have been awarded that many years in a row. Rewards with it too. [Snip]

Newsflash @Anonymous . Not everyone can join NFCU. So it isnt open to everyone. Disco is. NFCU's card is 1 point per dollar. Disco as stated you can change to a cash back 5% rotating catagory and double your cash back. That smokes Navy when it comes to secured cards. This isnt reddit and the language isnt welcomed here.

Re: Self lending?

K-in-Boston — Mon, 20 Jan 2020 02:53:37 GMT

Multiple posts have been removed. Friendly, Supportive, and Respectful is a non-negotiable policy on the myFICO Forums.

Re: Self lending?

KJinNC — Mon, 20 Jan 2020 14:06:49 GMT

I was looking into the Navy secured card, and they say it is considered for graduation after six months, so it may actually beat Discover by that category by about a month, possibly two, depending how they define "six months" and when a statement date falls. Discover considers you after the seventh statement cuts, which may effectively mean at eight months for most people. Also, the Navy card has a lot of good attributes as far as fees (for example, like Discover, it has no foreign transaction fee). It does look like a very good secured card for people who are eligible. I'd still say Discover beats it overall for most people, due to the higher cash back percentages available, but Navy Federal is up there with TD Bank as the best secured cards I'm aware of aside from Discover. Navy would probably beat Discover for international use, due to wider acceptance.

There are probably millions of people who could have all three - Discover, Navy and TD Bank! That would be quite a start to a credit-building journey.