Should I app for a Comenity card?

[CashBackQueen]

When I filed BK7 a few months ago, my score dropped to a 477. I was discharged the beginning of this month and started cleaning my reports, and Experian is showing the discharge and all accounts current & IIB. Experian Fico 8 is now 585. Their score simulator suggests the best things I can do for my score is to get a credit card and pay everything on time. It had no suggestions for installment loans since all of my student loans came right back (bummer lol) ... I can not get any Comenity-backed site to approve me via SCT, should I just risk the HP and apply? Do they still pull strictly Experian? TransUnion and Equifax are way behind

ETA: I DID burn Comenity in my BK, along with Cap1, Sync and Fingerhut. Trying to avoid the secured route, but I will do that before I get a subprime card with an annual fee (CreditOne, First Premier) ... I did NOT burn Discover, but I can't prequal for them either. And no, NFCU is not an option right now.

[Anonymous]

I am in a similar boat but i did not get my discharge yet. I did not prequalify for discover secured and i applied anyway. I was denied initially. 20 days later i checked (nothing has change in my history) and i was preapproved for the card. I applied again and they used the same inquiry from the first time. It was approved

[shadanat]

My suggestion would be to go the secured route. Comenity may give you a card but the limit could be so low that it's not worth it. I can't speak on which bureau they pull from.

I would try Discover's pre-qualification again after 30 days from discharge. Also, if your current bank has a secured card that might be an option.

[Anonymous]

Credit rebuilding is not a sprint, so being in a rush may have poor consequences a year or two out.

I would suggest checking the Discover prequal every 2 weeks until they offer you the secured card.  That's #1.

Capital One seems to forgive anywhere from 6 months to 24 months later.  So check their prequal every month and get their secured when offered.

Third I would do Open Sky.  It has a $35 annual fee and no CLI or graduation, but no credit check I've heard.  Just do it.

Then, practice the AZEO Method (see my 11 rules signature link).  You should never, ever carry a balance again.

Lastly, see my "FICO Score" signature link on what to do next -- you should be focusing on building your emergency fund more than your credit score alone.  Credit score means nothing if you don't have enough saved to cover your debts in the future.

[Anonymous]

Comenty cards can be helpful in picking up FICO points, but I'd suggest only getting cards for stores you'll shop at. Most of mine are useful, but I got one from J. Crew, which I know I'll never use. No idea now why I applied for that one. So now I have an inquiry for a card I have but don't use. At least it will eventually help my AAoA, assuming I try to use it once in a while to keep it active.

OpenSky is a good option for a secured card if you don't mind that it will never graduate to unsecured. They definitely do NOT do a HP, which is probably the only reason anyone applies for one. Also, they do report to all CRAs monthly. And they recently updated their website, so it's not as difficult to use as it used to be. The downside to OpenSky is their $35 annual fee. That's more than 10% for the average card holder that has a $300 CL.

One note.. if you do get an OpenSky card, be sure to go into Account Services and select "paperless statements" when you register your card on their site. They charge a monthly fee (I think around $7) if they have to send you mail.

And if you don't pay your balance in full for the month, you'll be charged at least $1 for 'minimum interest'.

[CashBackQueen]

Thanks everyone. I finally pre-qualified for Discover and received my secured card this week. Next month will be one year post charge-off with Capital One so I will check their prequal then. Late 2018 or early 2019 I might go for Barclay's Carnival, unless that is a difficult one to get. Not familiar with this lender. I really want my Walmart, Amazon and Victoria's Secret cards back, but I burned Comenity and Sync so they might not let me back in. Current scores in sig, Discover has not reported yet (too soon I guess) but I'm expecting an increase with this being my first card since discharge.

[Someoneudontknow]

Hi MyLoFico17,

Comenity will definitely let you back in and so will Synchrony.  

Usually if someone has burn them significantly, it may take up to one year to get back in.  However, Comenity is more forgiving then Synchrony. Synchrony may take one year to get back in with them (sometimes sooner), but Comenity you can just do the shopping cart trick with them and the Pre-Approval Pop will appear.  As someone previously stated, only get the "Store CC" only if you'll shop at that store.

There is life with Comenity and Synchrony after "BK", I burned a lot of their cards and I got back in with Amazon & PayPal Extras within 9-10 months.

Best wishes on your journey!

[CashBackQueen]

I can't get the SCT to work so I'm afraid to cold app lol.. it worked for me before BK, so I'm thinking it's too soon right now, or maybe my scores haven't recovered enough yet to get a pop-up.