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I would highly prefer a non-annual fee card and an actual Visa/MC vs store card. I'm open to secured cards. My current cards are in my signature. I'm planning on applying sometime in April.
I burned a ton including the following:
Discover
USBank (MTG)
AMEX
TDBank (Nordstrom Visa)
Citi (Home Depot store card)
Synchrony (a bunch, including PayPal MC and CareCredit and Amazon)
Commenity (VS and Ulta, but they reported all my closed in 2018 zero accounts as included too, so...)
I know AMEX and Citi are out for at least a decade, if ever.
Discover is YMMV, but I've had no luck on their prequal site, so that's a maybe 2022 card?
I've heard good things about the USBank secured card, but my history with USBank might kill me.
Target's Visa/MC is through TDBank right? I don't want the store RedCard, I would much rather it be an actual card, but not sure how TDBank would feel about me (I would also be open to reapplying for the Nordstrom Visa, but honestly, Target is more desirable)
Synchrony and Commenity never bothered issuing me anything beyond store cards (with the exception of PayPal) prior to BK, so not banking on them issuing me anything beyond a store card now either.
Unless NFCU counts foreign military service for family members, I have no way in with them currently.
Finally, my credit union's policy is 12 months post discharge, so I am planning on applying (and hopefully getting) their Visa in October and cancelling the CreditOne card with the annual fee. This will have me at 3 Visa/MCs, 1 store card, auto loan, and student loans by the end of 2021.
Sorry for the long/rambling post. I'm open to any opinions/advice. I think my best bet is to try prequals first, then probably go for something like Mission Lane or Ollo (I'll have to research more, but I think I've read here that they're zero annual fee cards). But. I really want the MC/Visa RedCard. I just don't want to apply to something that I have no shot of getting. Thanks everyone for reading!
Have you looked at Penfed?
I have read great stuff about them here.
I joined online about a month ago hoping to use them in the rebuild in a few months.
Mission Lane seems to be BK friendly as well, I already got a pre approval for their no AF fee card.
@anniea4001 wrote:Have you looked at Penfed?
I have read great stuff about them here.
I joined online about a month ago hoping to use them in the rebuild in a few months.
Mission Lane seems to be BK friendly as well, I already got a pre approval for their no AF fee card.
I have not looked into Penfed. I'll do some research in the next couple of weeks. Thank you!
Something that I highly recomend is Self Finacial. (Mod cut-this is against the rules here on myFico-Thank you) Why I like them? They increase your account diversity by adding a tradeline. Basically you select a loan option, than you start paying them. This option is a little more costly than using OpenSky or other Fee Harvester cards, but it is a great option. As after 3 months you get to use your saved money (payments) as the security deposit on a credit card. Basically you get to have 2 secured accounts with only 1 security deposit. Plus the credit score the provide monthly is nice, and their paid report is pretty cheap compared to any mainstream competitor (Nav, Experian, MyFico...) Otherwise I would call your local credit unions and inquire about their policies on BK. Local CU's are great, even as good as NFCU, but since they all have different policys, it doesn't great brought up in this forum alot IMO.
@kr43002 wrote:Something that I highly recomend is Self Finacial. (Mod cut-this is against the rules here on myFico-Thank you) Why I like them? They increase your account diversity by adding a tradeline. Basically you select a loan option, than you start paying them. This option is a little more costly than using OpenSky or other Fee Harvester cards, but it is a great option. As after 3 months you get to use your saved money (payments) as the security deposit on a credit card. Basically you get to have 2 secured accounts with only 1 security deposit. Plus the credit score the provide monthly is nice, and their paid report is pretty cheap compared to any mainstream competitor (Nav, Experian, MyFico...) Otherwise I would call your local credit unions and inquire about their policies on BK. Local CU's are great, even as good as NFCU, but since they all have different policys, it doesn't great brought up in this forum alot IMO.
Self is great, I know people who've used them. I just have no need for another installment loan with my student loans (technically 1 consolidated account through a centralized servicer) and my car loan. My want for another credit card to help with rebuild isn't that great to get yet another installment loan, but I really appreciate you mentioning them.
As far as credit unions, I love mine. I'm willing to wait until twelve months post-discharge for them to hopefully be able to use it to replace the CreditOne card prior to getting the next annual fee. I'm still not sure if Penfed will be a good option for me to be approved in April, but I did become a member today to have the membership if I did decide to pursue any future credit relationships with them in the future.
Thank you for your honest feedback!
@angelofmusic86 - you mentioned the Target RedCard on your op. Keep in mind that this particular card is not offered as a MC from the get-go. Everyone typically starts with the retail version and there's no guarantee or timeframe when the MC upgrade would materialze - it's all profile dependent.
That said, it appears you're on track with some of your goals, and hopefully you can obtain a CC through your local CU. PenFed is definitely an option as others have suggested. Barclays or the Mercury card may be other alternatives after you've crossed 12+ months post-discharge.
@FinStar wrote:@angelofmusic86 - you mentioned the Target RedCard on your op. Keep in mind that this particular card is not offered as a MC from the get-go. Everyone typically starts with the retail version and there's no guarantee or timeframe when the MC upgrade would materialze - it's all profile dependent.
That said, it appears you're on track with some of your goals, and hopefully you can obtain a CC through your local CU. PenFed is definitely an option as others have suggested. Barclays or the Mercury card may be other alternatives after you've crossed 12+ months post-discharge.
@FinStar thank you for that clarification. I used to work at Target from 2008-2010 when someone else owned the RedCard, and my brain seems to remember people getting the MC initially. This may or may not have been true because it was a long time ago and memories can get funny. It definitely helps to look at it that way.
Thank you so much for your thoughts and advice!
Hey OP definitely look into Penfed! I won't hit the 1 year post BK7 discharge mark until July. But I was approved for the PCR in December with an initial CL of $2k and few days ago I applied for a second card and was approved for $2500 granted I got a counteroffer for a different card than I originally applied for (which turned out to be the same as my first card). If it helps my FICO scores were at least 650 with both approvals.
@angelofmusic86 wrote:
@FinStar wrote:@angelofmusic86 - you mentioned the Target RedCard on your op. Keep in mind that this particular card is not offered as a MC from the get-go. Everyone typically starts with the retail version and there's no guarantee or timeframe when the MC upgrade would materialze - it's all profile dependent.
That said, it appears you're on track with some of your goals, and hopefully you can obtain a CC through your local CU. PenFed is definitely an option as others have suggested. Barclays or the Mercury card may be other alternatives after you've crossed 12+ months post-discharge.
@FinStar thank you for that clarification. I used to work at Target from 2008-2010 when someone else owned the RedCard, and my brain seems to remember people getting the MC initially. This may or may not have been true because it was a long time ago and memories can get funny. It definitely helps to look at it that way.
Thank you so much for your thoughts and advice!
Sure, anytime.
In the former days, yes. It was available as a Visa version and you could apply for it at the store register, which is how I got mine back in 2001. It eventually converted to MC. But, nowadays it seems you have to work for it 😜. I wish it was available as an option from the get-go so folks have a choice 🤷♂️
Good luck on your rebuild journey and keep us posted!
@pip3man wrote:Hey OP definitely look into Penfed! I won't hit the 1 year post BK7 discharge mark until July. But I was approved for the PCR in December with an initial CL of $2k and few days ago I applied for a second card and was approved for $2500 granted I got a counteroffer for a different card than I originally applied for (which turned out to be the same as my first card). If it helps my FICO scores were at least 650 with both approvals.
This is great to know, thank you! I'm just shy of 650 on EQ, so hopefully, by the time April comes it'll be up there so all three scores are above the 650 mark.