Apple Financing

[YoungMoney06]

How about Wells Fargo? I have a bank account with them and they offered me a secured credit card to rebuild my credit history. Do they report to all three credit bureaus?

As for the negative account, it was a unsecured credit card with Capital One from back in 2006. Last activity reported is April 2007, so it won't be another two years before it falls off. I, however, have disputed the account with LNFV Funding because the balance is off quite a bit. We'll see what happens, but again, it was an unsecured CC through Cap1 when I was 18, young and naive and boy did I learn a hard lesson.

The one account that was paid and agreed and closed was an installement loan. I have another installment loan that is paid on time, so would a mixture of installment loans and revolving credit reflect well on my FICO score?

[pizzadude]

Yes, I believe that WF does report to all three CRAs.   I think they aren't the best about graduation to unsecured, though.

Revolving utilization is a very significant component of your FICO score so I would expect to see some FICO gains from adding CCs, assuming that the utilization is kept low.

[YoungMoney06]

How critical are creditors if they do a manual review of my credit report and see, assuming WF does, that it's marked as a "secured" card? I will definitely consider asking my WF rep about the process of graduating to unsecured.

[pizzadude]

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@YoungMoney06 wrote:

How critical are creditors if they do a manual review of my credit report and see, assuming WF does, that it's marked as a "secured" card? I will definitely consider asking my WF rep about the process of graduating to unsecured.

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In some cases secured cards don't actually say "secured" on your credit reports.    This is a YMMV situation ~ even if they do say secured it's not necessarily bad, as long as the accounts are paid as agreed....

[AZHeather]

I applied to Barclay's to get a Mac and was denied.  I have no collections, no bankruptcy, no judgments, and my last late payment was a 60 day in 2009.  I have other credit cards, but only had them for a few months.  I was told that it was becuase of not having at least a year history with my cc.  I went through the back door 3 times...same response.  I applied for a Discover More card and got instant approval for $3,000 cl with 15 months 0%.  Perfect for buying my Mac.

[YoungMoney06]

So ultimately, would getting 2-3 secured credit cards, based on my circumstances I described in the OP, be the best option right now to boost my score? I really want to get my score up, mainly because as a college student, I'm hearing some employers are critical of hiring an individual with a solid credit score... and maybe financing responsibly, assuming it's a necessity.

[pizzadude]

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@YoungMoney06 wrote:

So ultimately, would getting 2-3 secured credit cards, based on my circumstances I described in the OP, be the best option right now to boost my score? I really want to get my score up, mainly because as a college student, I'm hearing some employers are critical of hiring an individual with a solid credit score... and maybe financing responsibly, assuming it's a necessity.

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If you currently have no open credit cards, then yes I think this would be your best step.   I would also recommend sending GW letters to try to clean up your reports.....

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't focus on the quantity as much as your credit: debt (ratio). Your overall utilization is important. It's likely better to have some higher lines that all spread out. For instance, if you had let's say $2000 to put on secured card(s), you'd be better off opening either (1) $2000 card or (2) $1000 cards, not  (4) $500 cards. That way when you're charging expenses you're not quickly reaching higher utilization. A $200 purchase on a $1000 card isn't that big of a deal compared to one on a card with $300 to $500 limit (obvious, I know. Just making a statement).

Best bets for limited history might be something like a Walmart card, Capital One. I opened a GAP card couple years ago and they've been great with CLI. GE cards make great "credit builders."

[Anonymous]

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@Happychap wrote:

Barclays can be very strict with their approvals. If i were you I would apply for Apples student payment plan that is financed through RBS. Just go to the Apple website click education and you will see a link to apply.  Its a new scheme and I beleive their approval criteria is less stringent than Barclays.  Here is the link for further info:

http://store.apple.com/us-hed/education_payment_plan

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I apologize for hijacking the thread, but i was thinking of going this route it fits perfectly for me and i was wondering if this short term loan affects your credit score.i am reluctant to apply for a barclays card because i have enough credti cards for now(4) and worried about utlization.

[injustifiiable]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Happychap wrote:

Barclays can be very strict with their approvals. If i were you I would apply for Apples student payment plan that is financed through RBS. Just go to the Apple website click education and you will see a link to apply.  Its a new scheme and I beleive their approval criteria is less stringent than Barclays.  Here is the link for further info:

http://store.apple.com/us-hed/education_payment_plan

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I apologize for hijacking the thread, but i was thinking of going this route it fits perfectly for me and i was wondering if this short term loan affects your credit score.i am reluctant to apply for a barclays card because i have enough credti cards for now(4) and worried about utlization.

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I would imagine so as it would any other product. I'm tempted to guess that it would report as an installment loan...