Question About When To Apply For New Credit Card....

[Anonymous]

Hi.... My info on my Credit Report from all three of the Credit Buearus was just my Name, Addesses, and Date Of Birth. No Open or Closed accounts, no Hard Inquiries, and No Collections. Basically I didn't have enough info to even have a FICO score. So two weeks ago I applied for a Secured Credit Card and opened a Self Lender account, this to build my Credit. Four days ago the Secured Credit Card was reported to all three Credit Buearus, but not my Self Lender account. That having been said, now I have a Fico score of 673 across the board. I don't know what going to happen to my FICO score when my Self Lender account is reported. I guess it's wait and see.

My question is, how long should I wait before applying for a Unsecured Credit Card?

Thank You!

[pipeguy]

IMO 6 months with a perfect history, but it would not hurt to open a second secured card now. 

[Anonymous]

@pipeguy - Thank you for your response and advice. I did open a Self Lender account, it should be report to all three Credit Bureaus in a few weeks. Do you thing that will suffice? Or should I open another Secured Cired Card too?

[Anonymous]

 wrote:

IMO 6 months with a perfect history, but it would not hurt to open a second secured card now. 

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@I agree with @pipeguy.  I wouldn't burn inquires (they hurt more with limited AAoA) now on unsecured cards.  At a minimum, I'd wait 3 months and then check for prequals at Amex or Disco or if you bank at a CU.  But ideally, I'd say 6 months and then give an unsecured card a go.  This could help get you better cards with higher SLs right out the gate (knowing nothing about your age, income, or housing expenses).

[Anonymous]

Did you pay down the Self-Lender to a certain percent or going the traditional route of paying it monthly for the full-term?

[Anonymous]

@4theLoveofPoints - The Self Lender account is two months old, and I've paid on it both months. It's in good standing. But I was thinking about paying half of it off too.

[Anonymous]

@MartyBoi

Thanks so much for posting. You're off to a great start!

As other forum members will attest, the key to attracting

other lenders and/or unsecured credit card offerings is

6 months of seasoning. Use your new lines responsibly.

Ideally, try not to let no more than 9% of your secured card

balance report to the 3 CRA's. And if possible, pay down your

Self Lender loan to 50% or more of the original balance.

The more consistently you demostrate responsible money management,

the more attractive you'll become to other lenders. Thanks again

for sharing, and please keep us posted on your progress!!!

[Anonymous]

@AllThingsInTime - Thank you for the warm welcome. And thank you for the advice.

[Anonymous]

Sounds like you're on a good track. Welcome!

[Anonymous]

Welcome, and I agree with the others. Now that you have a secured card, the thing to do is establish a history of responsible use - 3 months at minimum, but 6 months to a year is better. In my own case, I got a Capital 1 secured Platinum at the end of 2015, used it for 11 months, and then cold-apped (and was approved for) the Amazon Store Card at Thanksgiving 2016, and a few months later in February 2017 checked the Cap 1 prequalification site, found I could get the Platinum unsecured, applied and was approved, and things developed from there. With no baddies on your report, you should be able to get decent pre-qualifications and pre-approvals on most of the various issuers' sites, starting with Cap 1 and Discover, with enough of a history of responsible use and the accompanying development in your FICO scores. You might also look into getting an installment loan and establishing a good payment history on that; issuers really like to see good history on a variety of loans and accounts.