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Hey All! Brand new to the forums. I've been reading through the boards all day and found a ton of great information and am grateful for all the awesome feedback! However, I'm caught up in a dilemma on what my next step should be in applying for a new card. To give some background: I went through a bad string in 2005 (loss of job, no income, bad money management, yada yada) and couldn't keep up with my credit cards so I went through a debt reduction program in 2006. The debts I had with Providan ($6k), BoA ($8k), HSBC ($3k) were all enrolled into the program so they all charged off and eventually negotiated down to settlements. This past year (2012) all of the charge offs and delinquent information eventually fell off my report and I have a clean slate again. I applied for a Capital One secured card and received a $300 limit in January of 2012. Shortly after in April, Capital One pre-approved me for an unsecured card so I submitted my application and was approved for $500. I've been using the cards frequently and paying them down every month for the last 8 months. The Capital One unsecured card bumped me up to $750 automatically so I have a total of $1050 in credit line. I've been monitoring my credit and I have zero delinquencies except for a charged off utility bill from 2009 that I paid off last year. My question now is with my two small tradelines and freshly new credit, what should be the next card I should apply for? I'm currently at 693 according to the Experian website and I have some good history with multiple installments paid (auto loans, etc). Should I aim high and go for an AMEX (Delta, Costco or Hilton) or try a rewards card from my bank (Chase)? I also have multiple business accounts with Chase so will that help their decision? If neither, how about a Barclays card? Any feedback would be much appreciated.
Also, Priovidian was bought out by Chase so I don't know if I have been blacklisted because of the chargeoff in 2005. Has anyone had any experience of reapplying to a bank that they've had some negative account history with?
I would say Northwest FCU. Their credit Card in perfect. $550.00 Min, 7.00% APR no Annual fee. No credit check required. Anyone can join. I have it and love it.
@corymcd88 wrote:I would say Northwest FCU. Their credit Card in perfect. $550.00 Min, 7.00% APR no Annual fee. No credit check required. Anyone can join. I have it and love it.
I'm assuming this is a secured card, which I dont believe the OP is looking for.
OP, Go for AmEx! Maybe Citi as well, although a lot of people on thse forums seem to hate Citi's customer service xD
To OP:
Chase was so nice with my Providian CO (almost ten years ago), that they actually managed to dig up my original app, saying "Yeah, buddy...we're pissed"
I'm so blacklisted that I'll never see any chase product for many many many many years...LOL.
Yes, that's correct, I'm not looking for another ssecured card. I'm pretty sure I can get approved for a 1k-2k unsecured card at this point. I would definitely prefer an Amex but I'm wondering what their underwriting guidelines are. Being that all my current tradelines are roughly a year or under I think that's probably a red flag for them. I've been reading on the forums that the minimum FICO requirement is 700+ for AMEX but I'm sure there are a lot more factors that decide an approval. Is anyone familiar with what they're looking for in terms of depth in the credit profile other than credit score?
Yeah, that's exactly what I'm afraid of. I hear Chase has some nice cards: Freedom, Freedom, Sapphire but I don't want to waste a pull on them if they base their decisions on my history with Providian.
What happened with your Providian account?
@jake619 wrote:
We all want to know Amex's internal scoring looks like. You can get some idea on what cards are approved and declined for others at whogavemecredit.com and also google Credit Pulls Database. You can query the various cards you're interested in and see other applicant experiences.
You're right about it being more than FICO alone. I just got BCE with a 680. I had history with Amex going back 18 years but had no open accounts at app time. I also never burned them. Blacklisting is real. BofA will n e v e r e v e r touch me after I jammed them hard. I thought the same about Wells Fargo, similar jamming I gave them but I deposit payroll with them and my wife does too. So yea, that angle leveraging your existing accounts *may* help.
Good luck.
Awesome, thanks for those websites. I guess I'll just stay away from the creditors I had issue with in the past just to be on the safe side. Probably best bet would be to go with a creditor I've had good history with if that's something that factors into their decision. I had a Citi card about 10 years ago that was paid satisfatory so I'll probably give them a try first since I'm skeptical about my chances with Amex.