i have “bad” score, where might i get approved for unsecured card?

[Anonymous]

my EX score is currently 612, but i would like to find out if i can possibly get approved somewhere to start rebuilding.

I have walmart credit (comeny) and wayfair (idk which bank issued)— but i would like a visa/MC/AMEX that isn’t secured.

thoughts?

[MrDFinance]

With those scores your pretty much limited to trying to get a Capital One Platinum Card..... It's the unsecured Version of the secured card they offer...Link to check Pre Approval
https://www.capitalone.com/credit-cards/prequalify?external_id=WWW_ZR764_ZZZ_ONL-SE_ZZZGO_T_SEM2_ZZZ...

The limit will be low and it won't have any cash back rewards but you can always product change it later with good history... Outside of that I really don't think you have another option...

I DO NOT RECOMMEND siging up for Cards like First Premier or Credit One just to get a credit card and pay a bunch of fees because you believe that's your only option... It's not worth it...

If you don't get approved for the Capital One Platinum I would look into a Self Lender Loan .....

[Anonymous]

First off I would try to work on what is bringing down your score.

After you've addressed that you can start focusing on your current accounts and letting them grow.

I started with a First Progress Secured (I don't really recommend that but they DO report to all 3 bureaus) and Cap 1 Platinum at a $300 SL.

My Cap 1 went up steadily through auto CLI's and me requesting them. It was eventually converted to a Quick Silver with 1.5% cash back and now sits at a $7,500 CL.

A secured installment loan is another good idea to establish some favorable payment history and start aging your accounts etc.

I would say give Cap 1 a shot and get your foot in the door. I now have many cards with good CLs and several with lower than average APR's. It all really started with Cap 1.

[MrDFinance]

Yeah for me Capital One started it all and gave me alot of momentum for my rebuild.....

[Anonymous]

Any reason why you aren't considering just grabbing a couple of secured cards (Capital One, Discover) and then simply unsecuring them after 6 months of responsible credit behavior?

[Anonymous]

secured means i have to put up cash for collateral, right?

if that’s the case, then i don’t want to give CCC’s money just so they will report to the B’s AND charge me interest on any purchases i don’t pay off right away.

the thing that is killing my score is the fact that i have $21K in student loans that have been put into IBR plans with a $0 payment. I had a 638 score, and once the school loans posted $67 of interest, my score DROPPED by 40 points overnight. that drop is even made worse by the fact that i had just decreased overall utilization from 91% to 85%(yeah, blame the ex-hubby for that. awesome)

now what i’m trying to do is build up what credit scores i do have left and make the situation better.

[Anonymous]

  - I think it is important to know a general number for all of your scores. Being that each company is going to pull from a differnt reporting agency, the 612 might not be used for some of the card issuers. If this is all that you know, and assuming that the card issuer that you select pulls this number, there are a few cards that you would be able to get that would most likely approve you. 

Credit One Bank - As others have said, they will provide a low credit limit

Capital One - You could possibly get approved for the Platinum MasterCard or the Quicksilver One card. Each would give you a low balance to start off

Keep in mind that all of the credit cards that are geared towards rebuilding credit are going to have lots of fees and high interest. Make sure to ONLY use them to build your credit, and do not carry a balance. Lastly, not to be negative, but you also want to work on getting the utilization down. The score could be worthy of getting approved, but most banks are not going to extend credit to you if you are almost maxed out. Just something to think about. 

[Anonymous]

If you have IBR that is $0 then you likely have very low income. With the addition of keeping large balances you are likely to have troublegetting approved for much. As other stated the Capital One Platinum might approve you, you could drop to the secured if you have trouble, they might approve you for the $49 deposit and $200 CL. 

The first thing you need to do is eliminate your CC debt, if you are having trouble paying it off then it is either too much for your income and likely killing your D2I or your just plain over extended and need to cut costs. 

[Shooting-For-800]

stay away from store cards you dont need 

stay away from predator cards

check prequal with Cap One, Merrick, and Discover.

solid prequals with solid banks.

make sure you pay every card EARLY.

time will help your score as long as your bad gets older and your good is all that is added.

GL!

[Anonymous]

Thank you! I do have an unsecured personal loan thru my credit union. it started at $3k, and i’ve paid it down to $2,700 in the month i’ve had it. I’m not low income that i know of. I make $30k a yr. i’m in a rebuilding season after a divorce. me and the ex had a $1800 unsecured card that only had $850 balance on it, then right after we separated, he went and maxed it out. Now what is happening is because we can’t close th account until there is a zero balance and he also can’t just release my liability because his credit won’t allow him to, if HE doesn’t make the payments for that account on time, it screws both of us.

Meanwhile, I have very low amounts of bills for living expenses, and refuse to get a car loan or pay crazy prices for cell phone bill or anything else that would help to build positive marks in my reports. I did get approved for a couple of store cards, but i am going to buy very small things once a month and then pay off the entire balance right before they report for that month to the credit bureaus.