@Anonymous wrote:
Look Credit One is a "sub prime card", no doubt about it. But it does have a place. I opened one in February of this year and it has helped my scores, has not cost me more than the 89.00 AF, and I get my EX FICO score every month for free. If you understand the fee's and how they work, you can make this card work for you. Here's the major issue's to remember with this card:
1) AF of $89.00
2) Low CL, usually $300.00 - $400.00
3) Max of 3 free payments each month, after that, you have to wait until the next month OR pay $10.00 to use their "expedited payment".
4) It generally takes 3 - 5 day's for your free payment to post, and thus free up your avail credit. Expedited payments post immediately, but cost $10.00
5) Absolutely NO grace period for purchases. Interest accrues from the date of the charge.
6) Additional charge for adding AU's.
Credit One report's to all 3 CA's. I've never been charged ANY additional fees, other than the original 12 month initial AF. If you use this card right, it can work for you. Where most people get in trouble is, this is their only CC and they want to use it everyday. It's basically impossible, because of the low CL's, very limited free payments, amount of time payments take to post and thus free up avail credit again. These cause all sorts of issues and can lead to major fees. While I certainly do not recommend this card if you can get approved by other decent lender's, you can make it work to help your credit.
Here's strictly how I use it: my Netflix $7.99 auto bill gets paid every month on this card. The day it hits, I immediately make a payment. That's it. That's all I use it for. In the meantime, it reports current to all 3 CA's and it gives me my free EX FICO score every month. They do not advertise this as a "FICO" score, however, I can attest that for the last 4 months, this score has matched EXACTLY my EX FICO score. It hasn't been different by 1 point. It matches every month exactly.
So while I do not plan to keep this card after my first year is up, I really cannot complain about Credit One. It has worked for me, and only cost me $89.00.
Drewg350, I could not agree more. While there are plenty of folks on here who have always had stellar credit and make a hobby out of how many $20K+ credit lines they can accumulate, there are also plenty of us just like you. Eight years ago, my financial life was in ruins, and just to see what would happen I applied for Mastercard from a bank I had never heard of called 'Orchard Bank'. They approved me for an account with a $300 limit, and an $79 annual fee, and I was beyond thrilled. After a couple of years of perfect payments, I requested a CLI and got $20... yes, that's no typo, they gave me a $20 increase making my limit $320 - and I while I was hoping for a little better, I took it. After another year or so they raised my limit to $520... I was finally getting somewhere! Eventually that account was sold to Capital One and became a QuickSilver One with a now $2920 credit line (yep, that '$20' is still there... along with the $79 AF). I've now got cards that are quite a bit better, but I would still be at 'square one' if it weren't for that Orchard Bank account and that lousy $300 CL.
It's easy for some of us to forget that just because we can get great interest rates and impressive credit lines now (or in my case, mediocre APRs and credit lines) that we had to start somewhere, or like myself, had to start over somewhere. It's easy to mock and make jokes about the terms of Credit One and other sub-prime accounts when you have the cream-of-the-crop, but just as your account is working for you now, my trusty old Orchard Bank worked for me back then, and in a twist of irony I actually owe them for helping me to get to where I am now. Sub-prime accounts and lenders certainly aren't for customers who qualify for 'prime' accounts, and ideally with time folks with the Credit One type accounts will be able to do better - like I did. In my opinion, it's a bit dismissive to write-off all sub-prime lenders as being terrible or taking advantage of people, when just as you state, the terms are quite clear to those who take the time to read them.
Note: Nothing but love for you guys with the stellar accounts and high CLs... I've got my sights on getting where you are now, and I appreciate your words of wisdom on these forums. 
@UncleB wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
Look Credit One is a "sub prime card", no doubt about it. But it does have a place. I opened one in February of this year and it has helped my scores, has not cost me more than the 89.00 AF, and I get my EX FICO score every month for free. If you understand the fee's and how they work, you can make this card work for you. Here's the major issue's to remember with this card:
1) AF of $89.00
2) Low CL, usually $300.00 - $400.00
3) Max of 3 free payments each month, after that, you have to wait until the next month OR pay $10.00 to use their "expedited payment".
4) It generally takes 3 - 5 day's for your free payment to post, and thus free up your avail credit. Expedited payments post immediately, but cost $10.00
5) Absolutely NO grace period for purchases. Interest accrues from the date of the charge.
6) Additional charge for adding AU's.
Credit One report's to all 3 CA's. I've never been charged ANY additional fees, other than the original 12 month initial AF. If you use this card right, it can work for you. Where most people get in trouble is, this is their only CC and they want to use it everyday. It's basically impossible, because of the low CL's, very limited free payments, amount of time payments take to post and thus free up avail credit again. These cause all sorts of issues and can lead to major fees. While I certainly do not recommend this card if you can get approved by other decent lender's, you can make it work to help your credit.
Here's strictly how I use it: my Netflix $7.99 auto bill gets paid every month on this card. The day it hits, I immediately make a payment. That's it. That's all I use it for. In the meantime, it reports current to all 3 CA's and it gives me my free EX FICO score every month. They do not advertise this as a "FICO" score, however, I can attest that for the last 4 months, this score has matched EXACTLY my EX FICO score. It hasn't been different by 1 point. It matches every month exactly.
So while I do not plan to keep this card after my first year is up, I really cannot complain about Credit One. It has worked for me, and only cost me $89.00.Drewg350, I could not agree more. While there are plenty of folks on here who have always had stellar credit and make a hobby out of how many $20K+ credit lines they can accumulate, there are also plenty of us just like you. Eight years ago, my financial life was in ruins, and just to see what would happen I applied for Mastercard from a bank I had never heard of called 'Orchard Bank'. They approved me for an account with a $300 limit, and an $79 annual fee, and I was beyond thrilled. After a couple of years of perfect payments, I requested a CLI and got $20... yes, that's no typo, they gave me a $20 increase making my limit $320 - and I while I was hoping for a little better, I took it. After another year or so they raised my limit to $520... I was finally getting somewhere! Eventually that account was sold to Capital One and became a QuickSilver One with a now $2920 credit line (yep, that '$20' is still there... along with the $79 AF). I've now got cards that are quite a bit better, but I would still be at 'square one' if it weren't for that Orchard Bank account and that lousy $300 CL.
It's easy for some of us to forget that just because we can get great interest rates and impressive credit lines now (or in my case, mediocre APRs and credit lines) that we had to start somewhere, or like myself, had to start over somewhere. It's easy to mock and make jokes about the terms of Credit One and other sub-prime accounts when you have the cream-of-the-crop, but just as your account is working for you now, my trusty old Orchard Bank worked for me back then, and in a twist of irony I actually owe them for helping me to get to where I am now. Sub-prime accounts and lenders certainly aren't for customers who qualify for 'prime' accounts, and ideally with time folks with the Credit One type accounts will be able to do better - like I did. In my opinion, it's a bit dismissive to write-off all sub-prime lenders as being terrible or taking advantage of people, when just as you state, the terms are quite clear to those who take the time to read them.
Note: Nothing but love for you guys with the stellar accounts and high CLs... I've got my sights on getting where you are now, and I appreciate your words of wisdom on these forums.
Ditto. I am going to close mine as soon as my newer cards start reporting (if I did it now I'd be -$600 out of $1900 available credit 
) as I don't need Credit One anymore. However, it was worth $75 for me to get an unsecured card when I had 5-7 collections and a credit score of about 600. And now, I'm in a better place because I used that card. It helped me build.
We have to remember that there are higher fees and APRs, and this makes sense because people with Credit One are typically a bigger credit risk. Credit One is a business out to make money and it'd be poor business to offer people with 500-600 scores a $0 AF and 8% APR.
Are the fees for CLIs ridiculous? Yes. But you don't have to get them. And you shouldn't because ideally you're not using this card forever.
Is it ridiculous to add a fee for a faster payment or to add an AU? Yes. But again, you'll be fine without those things.
Now, should you accept them if you have 2-3 other decent cards? Probably not. And I don't think anyone here would advise that. But if you have the cash for the AF, and are desperate and getting denied by Capital One and other creditors... it's an option.
At the end of the day First Premier is way worse anyway. That's one I'd say to trash no matter how desperate you are.
@Anonymous wrote:
Unfortunately, it's the poor and uneducated, where card's like First Premier and Credit One really make a killing, and thus get a terrible reputation. It's just how credit work's: the people with the least means, pay the highest rates and fee's, based mainly on their high risk. With that said, while these sub prime cards cost alot, these same people often times rely on them, and would never give them up. It's similar to these "payday lenders" and "check cashing" agencies. They make a killing off of fee's, but have to, based on the very high default rate.
But without getting too far off topic, Credit One can definitely help build your credit. You just need to understand how they work and use them to get the most out of them at the lowest cost to you. For most of the rebuilders on here, these cards can benefit them in the beginning. Is it ideal ? No. But it's a start. The only alternative in most cases is secured cards, and while Credit One might cost $89.00 AF, you do not tie up $300.00 - $400.00.
Once again I couldn't agree more, especially on the part about how the lack of education can really skew the numbers a bit. When I got my Orchard Bank card in 2007, I was poor but fortunately *not* uneducated, at least about how finances work. When I applied I realized up front that the card was a substantial step-down from what I had previously been issued years earlier, but I knew there was no way back up until I made a start somewhere, high annual fees and all. I also agree that they depend on people being, like you mention, "creatures of habit" and just hanging around for longer than they really must, paying the inflated fees and dealing with a low limit year after year.
I've tried to *not* be that person, and for the last two years I've "fought" with Capital One to lower my own AF, each time getting them to lower it to a more reasonable $39, which I tolerate since this is one of my oldest trade lines. A few days ago I actually started a thread asking for advice on if and how I should go about getting the fee waived this year, or if I should just close the account altogether (I got lots of good advice, and the task is ongoing). I do have to admit, as weird as it sounds, if I end up closing it out I'll be a little sad since I really do give it credit for getting me to where I am now (but not sad enough to justify paying $79... )
The cool thing about these forums is that with the amount of knowledge and experience available here, there is really no excuse for anybody to be 'uneducated' when it comes to credit. I've been silently "lurking" for quite a while now (years) and only recently have I registered and started to share my own experiences. For me, reading these forums even as a visitor/"lurker" has been a treasure chest of knowledge for getting back on my feet credit-wise, and I am genuinely thankful for all the folks who are willing to share their own knowledge and experiences.
