Finally recovering from bad credit. Need advice on Navy Federal credit cards

[Anonymous]

Hello, 

Long story short... In 2015 my job and financial situation took a serious hit. During this time I had the following credit cards:

Navy Fed Go Rewards: CL 15k

Navy Fed nRewards CL 12k

Chase Sapphire Preferred CL 7.5k

Capital One CL 2.5

All 4 of these accounts went to collections and charged off. My credit score tanked to 483. 

I decided to "settle" all the accounts and I just completed my payment plan with NFCU ( who were absolutely terrific and helpful every step of the way). 

Currently my TU and Equifax is 644. 

I have 0 hard inquiries, no loans (last auto loan was 2005 with NFCU), no revolving accounts, household income $140k

Should I apply for a secured card or go for an unsecured? I was interested in the Flagship Visa.  I have been with NFCU since 1999.

Also I really loved my Chase Sapphire card. Since I burned them I probably have no shot of getting approved for that card again right?

Thanks for your help!

[Gollum]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Should I apply for a secured card or go for an unsecured? I was interested in the Flagship Visa.  I have been with NFCU since 1999.

Also I really loved my Chase Sapphire card. Since I burned them I probably have no shot of getting approved for that card again right?

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NFCU secured vs. unsecured: call NFCU and ask them.

Chase: Chase is a bank, and banks are for-profit businesses. Dunno about your chances of getting approved again for a Chase credit card, but your instinct/knowledge regarding the difference between banks and credit unions is correct. NFCU is a credit union, and credit unions are non-profit member-owned (with membership restricted to specific geographic areas, etc.) bank-like  alternatives to for-profit banks. Banks have profit as their reason for existence, so everything else being equal, credit unions are generally less expensive for their members and more "forgiving."

[Remedios]

I dont know about NFCU, but Chase is not happening for a while.
If you have no revolving credit, check Discover and Capital One (stay away from QS1). Their prequal pages are fairly reliable.

[Anonymous]

@remedios what is wrong with the capital one qs1?

[HeavenOhio]

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@Anonymous wrote:
@remedios what is wrong with the capital one qs1?

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It's the annual fee, along with the fact that the QuicksilverOne is ridiculously hard to upgrade into a no-fee card. On the other hand, people have found it easy to upgrade a Capital One Platinum into a no-fee Quicksilver when the card is a few months old.

[xaximus]

Depending on how much you burned Chase for, have you thought of repaying them? If not, then I wouldn't app for any Chase product. I think the black list for them goes upto 7-10 years.

[Brian_Earl_Spilner]

Chase will never forget, but you may be able to get back in with them in 10 years. They'll also probably only give you a card or 2 and keep those limits low while reminding you about how you settled rather than paid in full.

I believe NFCU will require you to pay it all off before they give you a card again, if I remember correctly from people posting. And even then, you'll have to wait a bit or write a letter to the board.