ETA: I need my seeing eye children.... I read this as a question about best SECURED cards. I apologize for th3 confusion and not answering the real question you asked!
Good secured cards in order of best to worse in my humble opinion:
- nSecured -- (NFCU). if you have a parent or grandparent who was in the military (even if they are deceased) you qualify. Graduates after 6-7 months.
- Discover -- graduates after 6-7 months
- TD bank ( if you are in the east) graduates in 6-7 months
- SDFCU -- supposed to be good but SLOW approval process
- US Bank -- graduates after 12-18 months with another hard pull
- Citi -- still waiting for graduation after 2 years
@Anonymous wrote:I'm not really looking to add more secured debt. If you think it's better to be patient? I should be around 630-650 in more 1-2 months.
With a clean file, low utilization, and assuming the amount of new credit and inquiries are in check, data points suggest you might be a good candidate for an unsecured Discover or even Amex (co-branded) card.
I would still look into establishing a relationship with Penfed, SDFCU, or Navy if you have an in. Even if not eligible for approval now, starting to build a history will put you in a position to get thei credit products in 3-6 months.
@Anonymous wrote:I currently bank with First Tech but I heard they mainly cater to people with higher p&Ls than me as far as credit goes. What the difference with Penfed?
Penfed is a much larger CU and they have aggressively been trying to grow even more during the pandemic at a time when most lenders were scaling WAAAAY back.
Being larger, Penfed can afford to take more risk than a smaller CU like First Tech. Penfed used to be very conservative. However, over the last year, they have been more welcoming (open membership, generous limits for people with blemishes in their credit history).
I know they like a certain type of profile (sadly, mine isn't their "type").
Perhaps others can chime in. There is also Penfed megathread that you can search for (start from the end -- most recent -- and work back to get a sense of what is being approved.
Good luck.
