First Secured Card

[Anonymous]

So when I was 18 I had some issues with spending and not making payments on 3 cards I was instantly approved for and as a result of dragged my credit way down. Well one of them there was actually fraud because it had charges saying I was in France even though I never had a passport nor left the US. Then the bank said prove it and give documentation and I just repeated I am here and can prove I never left and they never removed the charges so I said screw it. I was dumb and 18 and I just let those cards go down but that's the past. I'm 23 now and have worked my way back up to about 610-620 (I think heavily because I enrolled in college and took out subsidized student loans it shows 300 payments made on them but I haven't made one it's the government but it looks like it helped my credit). Anyways now I just got approved for a Discover secured card with a $400 deposit/limit and would like to know what's the best way to use it and/or rebuild my credit.

[Anonymous]

Short answer
Don't use it to BUY stuff you couldn't have purchased using your debit card (meaning what you could PAY for RIGHT NOW....or at worst your very next paycheck... not 'some' I mean ALL)

When rebuilding with these small CLs it is hard to keep the balances low... that's why I say just treat the card for what it is , which is a TWC (training wheel card) so only use it as such.

If one were to use the best practices method of keeping reported balances below 10%...that would mean not allowing more than a $40 balance report on that card.

Which means bubble gum/ Netflix or something but not SPENDING crazy amounts on a card you are using to AUDITION for bigger better things, too often ppl blow their wad (as you admit, you did in the past) prior to

a) being READY &
B) before they allowed their credit behaviour to manipulate the internal system to give then bug enough CLs to matter.

Manipulate the scoring model by keeping your balances low and payments on time ( you already figure out how the dumb computer model is giving you juice for loans, you aren't even paying) in the same vein the model at this point only cares about

On-time payments and debt % relate to CL
So $40/$400 is the same as $400/$4000

Let time work for you and you'll be shocked in 6-9 months what as happened.

You'll want to add at least one more, two is better, revolving CC to age along with your Disco and the student loans (which adds credit mix, to your profile)

2 ways to add
1) Check out the prequel sites (Cap-1 etc) to see if you can app unsecured
Disco will give you a free TU score monthly + if you sign for their credit scorecard .com site you'll get a free Exp score (both are true Fico) this will give you good info to know where you stand, you don't want to app for denials

2) If you just want another secured card to get it quick look around this board there are several decent CUs that you can app up with as little as $110 for a card just to get a line, if money is tight.

IMO, I'd stay away from the bottom feeder high fee folks because it only takes months to qualify for better suitors, places you wouldn't mine keeping a long term relationship with like Disco

If more ppl treated this project like a science project, like in school vs trying to USE the credit along the way... they'd be better off

This is like taking 50-75% of a year to build a huge cake, you can't actually EAT and enjoy the cake along the way because you'll stunt the growth (and get fat) before it's really time... let the batter set and allow the thing to raise, yeah check the oven, add ingredients build it big...then eat, when it's grown up.

Good Luck

[morgacj2004]

Congrats! Think baby steps u will be back soon 

[Anonymous]

Hi,

Thanks for the info I definitely will try to work on this and not eat my cake!

One question is: One of the main benefits of this card is the doubled cash back in the first year. So to make the most of this I wanted to max the card but PIF same day just for the cash back a few times. I'm not sure if this would be reported because it would literally only be on my card balance for an hour. And after that I would keep balances below 10% when not paying in full immediately. What do you think?

Also maybe unrelated but I was recently checking my CS through Experian and TU and it showed a $6,000 CL opened with Chase bank in May about $800 of which was used. I didn't open this and I even called Chase but they checked my Social Security and couldn't find any cards open. As of now it seems to be severely boosting my credit due to the high limit. What should I do about that?

[bourgogne]

Also maybe unrelated but I was recently checking my CS through Experian and TU and it showed a $6,000 CL opened with Chase bank in May about $800 of which was used. I didn't open this and I even called Chase but they checked my Social Security and couldn't find any cards open. As of now it seems to be severely boosting my credit due to the high limit. What should I do about that?

---

i would see if they can insert your ss# in, take over the 6K account and dispute the 800 in charges -- man you cannot make this stuff up...what is the address they show on file?  get a CCT and post your current scores and take the advice above and check for a pre-qualify on cap1 site and if it says your name snap it up

[Vegas4Play]

Congrats on getting the secured card, when we are rebuilding we have to start somewhere. With time and patience you will rebound nicely.

[Anonymous]

Ok, here we go

1) Yes, in theory slamming spend thru your card and PIF... would be no problem (Sometimes vendors don't like that behavior to be too extreme, right up front I'm the relationship... due to money laundering and other sly ish scammers attempt FYI)
IMO again with $400, just how much would the double match be worth vs the effort and attention placed elsewhere or used towards building yet another account...any hiccup and there's egg on face over what $50? IMO bigger fish to fry, wrong place for focus again IMHO

As to #2
Honestly, this has happened to ME
A as far as I know random Cap-1 account reported me as an AU
And to be honest, when I disputed some other things off my reports I stay Quiet about the ghost account that added needed history and welcomed extra volume to total CLs and it helped ( eventually just recently it fell off and it's not like I can call and tell or ask for it back) In my case, it was some abandon account that didn't report NEW every month but the model included the line and the history in my favor for more than a year before it went ghost on me last month

I called NO ONE to complain because it helped me, it appears to be doing the same for you.

If you were my client I say leave it alone, add your accounts around it before it disappears because once you have X amount and start to build from there all you can do is thank heaven, you got a lucky assist that may or may not be at any moment.

But, I wouldn't call anybody or dispute a darn thing if it's helping, if things change, the utilization goes haywire or a late payment...Now it's time to dispute this B.S. off your profile, until then see and hear nut tin😂

[Anonymous]

Okay so I looked at my CR again and when looking at my student loans it says Individual Account but on the Chase card with 6k limit it shows Authorized Account maybe that's why they couldn't look it up?

As for using the Secured Card I was just using maxing it as an example. But if I want/need to spend $200 but pay it down to just $40 later that day would that be okay?

And yes I agree if the Chase account isn't hurting me and only helping why complain.

[Anonymous]

Oh and it shows:

604 FICO score
621 TU CS
634 Experian CS

This was updated prior to apply/being approved for this Secured Card so expecting it to drop about 6 points. Is this an okay score? I still have 4 Collections scheduled to be taken off between 4/2018 and 06/2020. I read on here about something called early exclusion so about 6 months before the fall off dates I'll try calling in for that. I'm really trying to work on my credit I just graduated with my B.A. And am planning on applying for law school by the time I finish law school I'm hoping I can have vastly improved.

[Anonymous]

To answer your question...
Yes, the score is 'ok' ... nothing special but not horrible, think C or C- letter grade in school terms, enough to pass but no gold stars or a parades

By the time those collections are within that 6 month deal
A) their impact as diminished (as, has the 1st one) so much that it's mostly a cosmetic change by then IMO
B) couple that with the good history choking out their importance and it'll be up to you to gauge the need to go that route especially 3 years from now, with 3 years and many new great paying 2&3 year aged accounts by then.

Your scores are good enough to grab a couple 'instant approval ' cards where there isn't a manual review (SL might not be great but so what you're in with a chance) you don't want manual review because a human UWer like myself would SEE whats on your reports and not be fooled by just the score and numbers.....where some automated '60 second ' decision cards have the screening set so low that if the computer see basic criteria met it may be allowed to approve X amount SL simply based on score and slight age....no humans involved....you get 2 of those and you're good to go.