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Barely Any Credit, Help?

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Blazesian
New Contributor

Barely Any Credit, Help?

Alright, so I'm beyond frustrated because I am confused on what card is right and all of this inquiry crap. I'm afraid to apply for anything because I just was rejected from Wells Fargo credit card that they automatically put in an application for you since I

 

a) have no revolving accounts

b) lack of credit history

c) too many inquiries

 

I don't really understand "c" because there shouldn't be that many inquiries. I don't apply for anything.

I'm 19, I only have one account on my credit report which is my Credit Union's Loan for my car. I have never been late and I have only had it since October 2011.

 

 

To be honest, I want a Gas Card. Department store cards are okay, but there are no cards where I shop really. I heard Walmart sucks and Target isn't good.

So I'm out of luck with that.

 

 

All suggestions are welcome! I promise. I'm so lost.....

Oh, my Score is 651 from Experian & a "D" from Transunion (last time I checked, but there was also a bad mark from AT&T that was removed since it was not mine).

 


Message 1 of 21
20 REPLIES 20
Datx
Valued Contributor

Re: Barely Any Credit, Help?

Its possible that you racked up inquiries when you applied for your auto loan.  Have you ordered your credit reports to look on what is actually on there? If you don't have any active CCs now, what I would suggest is to talk to your CU about possibly obtaining a CC to build history with. They may be more willing to work with you since you already have a loan with them.

Message 2 of 21
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Barely Any Credit, Help?

Talk to the credit union that financed your auto, you may want to wait until you have been making payments on time for a year first though.  You will not get many perks with a credit union card, but they will offer you the best interest rates and lower fees.

 

As for gas cards, most major oil companies have gas cards.  I have two, BP (which is through Chase) and Phillips 66 (which is through Citi) (or is that the other way around?), decide where you get gas the most at and look at any bonuses they give you. 

 

Target is not bad, with their RedCard you get a 5% discount on all purchases.  Walmart is not a bad store card to get, I started with a 500 CL and within 2 years (or so) it became a 3500 CL Walmart Discover card.  Just remember the nature of the beast you are dealing with, all store cards (and gas cards) have interest rates over 20%.  It is financial suicide to carry a high balance on those cards.  I keep many around, but only to fill my sock drawer and add to the age of all my accounts.  The advantage of store cards is that I have never seen one that comes with an annual fee.

 

I would talk to your credit union first though.  The only downside is that they may not like all your inquiries.  By talking with them they may tell you that six months of on time payments is enough to make them happy or tell you to come back in October.  If they tell you to come back in October, wait patiently and do not apply for anymore cards.

Message 3 of 21
ILBrian
Regular Contributor

Re: Barely Any Credit, Help?

Capital one direct / capital one orchard are always options as well
Wallet: Discover IT, Discover Gas, Citi Professional (6.74% apr), Chase Freedom, Cap1 Quciksilver, Élan Financial Rewards, BOA Amex, Walmart, CareCredit, Paypal Smart Connect, Kohls, HSBC Cash or Fly, Chase Sapphire Preferred, Amex Zync, Amex Blue Cash Preferred, USAA Plat Rewards, Chase Ink, NFCU Plat
Message 4 of 21
steve23111
Frequent Contributor

Re: Barely Any Credit, Help?

+1 on a store card.  Make it something you'll actually use occasionally, or that will benefit you in some way.  As previously suggested, the Target card is a good choice, if for nothing else than the 5% discount on almost everything in the store.  From there, pick from the low-hanging fruit.  Capital One is probably the best choice in the group.  They don't get a lot of love around here because they aren't known to "grow" with you very much, but they are EXCELLENT for building or rebuilding credit without costing yourself an arm and a leg in fees like some of the other easy cards to get.

 

If I were you, I would apply for a store card, give that some use for 6 months, then go for a Capital One.  Remember the Cap One is going to add an inquiry to all three of your reports at once, so waiting 6 months will not only give those existing inquiries some time to age down to less impact, it'll also allow you to show some responsible usage of a credit account.  The Target credit limit will probably be quite small -- I think they give almost everyone $200.  Make sure you leave a little bit reporting every now and then to show you're actually using the card.  That'll probably be a strange concept, and that's fine, that's why we're here! Smiley Happy

 

From there, another 6 months and you might throw your name in the hat for another card, and look for a possible credit limit increase on your existing cards.  Neither Target nor Capital One are famous for giving those out, but you do stand a chance with a starter card from Cap One.  In the long term:

 

1. Apply for credit rarely and conservatively.

2. Use credit responsibly.

3. Seek to grow your existing lines of credit instead of just adding new ones.

4. Throw a charge card into the mix -- after a couple years, something like an AMEX Zync should be an easy approval.

5. Make your cards work for you -- maximize cash back and go for cards with no annual/monthly fees.

6. Never buy on credit what you can't pay cash for today.

 

Welcome to the board and good luck!

Message 5 of 21
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Barely Any Credit, Help?

I have to agree with your logic, but I wonder why you did not suggest the CU that gave the auto loan?  I do have to believe that is the strongest bet.  I got my Target card almost 18 months ago and they gave me a 3k limit.  How in the world can I spend 3k at Target?  I have never got an increase from them, but I also have never sought one.

 

Cap1 is decent for building credit. 

If you have an extra $500 you many want to consider a secured card.  Some banks will give you over 100% on your deposit.

I have to agree with Steve... aim for cash back and try to avoid annual fees.  Cap1 may nail you with fees, but they are 1000% better than Orchard's monthly fees.

Once you get that cash back card, what I do is... Once I get home I immediately add the amount of the purchase to my scheduled payment.

 

I would add one more note to Steve's list...  Any promotional offers, make sure you can pay them off in the appointed time.  If you do not you will get nailed for all the interest that was deferred during that time.

Message 6 of 21
Creditaddict
Legendary Contributor

Re: Barely Any Credit, Help?

1. What's a D from Trans Union?

2. go to like annualcreditreport or something and get your reports and ignore score and see who is pulling your credit, make sure that car is the only open line and if any other negatives after AT&T have come up.

3. Talk to your CU that financed your car, they could probably either offer you low limit credit card to get started or a secured card... might be surprised though if they under write their own credit card, they might give you nice card based on the fact they did approve you for car.

4. Walmart is great because you can get your free TransUnion Fico each month for free just by signing up for paperless statements. ( It is backed by GE who usually is good about Credit Line Increases every 4 or so months, and possible down road to be upgraded to Walmart Discover (still GE).

Gas Card.... Chevron is also with GE and pretty easy to get.

I don't know where you live, but the gas cards that only offer like Visa or MC would be harder to get then just the store type cards.

Target is good, you just won't see much in way of CLI and you can't ask but if you shop, the 5% can add up!

Message 7 of 21
Crashem
Valued Contributor

Re: Barely Any Credit, Help?

Are your scores FICO or FAKO?

 

Are you a student?

 

Talk to your credit union and see what they say.

 

Did you pull your credit report?  Get the annual free ones from annualcreditreport.com.  So you can see the inquiries.  Remember to get from each credit bureau.

 

Do some research and see what cards you can qualify for before applying.

 

Get 3 cards (store/gas/visa/mc/etc) if possible as that will max your FICO score in short run.

 

I recommend Walmart card as it has everything.  More importantly with Walmart card you have access to monthly TU08 FICO score.

 

Gas cards are relatively easy to get.  Which one are you looking for?  I'll look and see what kind of score you need to have to get one.

               LIMITS IN CARD DESCRIPTIONS
Message 8 of 21
Revelate
Moderator Emeritus

Re: Barely Any Credit, Help?

Two cards is fine.  Three might be a marginal improvement but it's debatable and you'd be better off trying to finagle a personal loan as far as FICO goes rather than a third card if the choice is there, which it might be as a segue to my next point:

 

If you have income (or cash laying around), consider opening secured cards rather than necessarily trying for unsecured ones; however, I'd also suggest if you have an auto loan through a CU, that it's worth asking there.  Also if you are a student, there are a number of student cards which you might have better success at obtaining.

 

The too many inquiries bit: ignore it.  They have to give you something like 4 as mandated by federal law, and usually the last couple are sort of spurious.  On the forum we've seen a person who got the "too many credit inquiries" when he only had the one from the application he just made.  Pretty stupid stuff, but since you don't have much of a credit history to ding besides the usual lack of accounts, the last one or two reasons they listed for the denial were probably just picked by Oujia board and you can pretty much ignore them.




        
Message 9 of 21
Blazesian
New Contributor

Re: Barely Any Credit, Help?

Thank you for the replies! I may receive a bit different replies now though since I see it was important to mention that

 

a)My car loan is with my Credit Union, BUT my grandmother had to co-sign due me having no credit at that time.

b) I just re-applied to have my Grandmother taken off and they denied me for the same reason Wells Fargo denied me (in the same day, apparently)

c) They keep saying I will not be able to get a credit card with them because of my age and a secured card would be a far shot (I think she was bs'ing me, honestly)

 

 

 

As far as Gas Cards, I've been looking at Shell's  and QT because I frequently see those. From what I see, QT  is okay but the  5 cents/ga is only for your first  billing cycles and Shells will not give you anything off unless you use 45 gallons/billing cycle. That's definitely not happening. I drive a Honda Accord so $10/day and it lasts me a day and a half considering that I drive A LOT.

 

Capital One sent me some offers last summer and the one card that looked interesting I applied for and they denied me. I've been scared to apply since...

Message 10 of 21
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