Good secured credit card

[drsmith]

My GF has an unfortunate credit history, her Equifax score is curently a 609 and she really wants to build up her credit.

Is a secured card a decent route for her to go? Do most of the companies graduate secured cards to unsecured cards at some point and if they do, do you get the deposit back?

Thanks for the help

[Anonymous]

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@drsmith wrote:

My GF has an unfortunate credit history, her Equifax score is curently a 609 and she really wants to build up her credit.

Is a secured card a decent route for her to go? Do most of the companies graduate secured cards to unsecured cards at some point and if they do, do you get the deposit back?

Thanks for the help

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She may qualify for unsecured cards from some lenders Cap One and Orchard come to mind and possibly a CU.

Secured cards are a great way to rebuild credit, while majority of secured cards will graduate unfortunately not all do. Yes when you change from secured to unsecured you will get your deposit back.

[drsmith]

She refuses to do business with Capital One

She hard their consumer protection plan and got burned badly by them when she got hurt at work and they charged her account off

[Datx]

Then it may be best to checkout Orchard Bank or a local CU. Orchard waives the $35 annual fee for the first year. Local CUs may offer no AF for secured cards, just depends on what is out there in you area. Good luck.

[william23]

I would suggest Orchard Bank that's what I got and my Equifax fico was 578 Orchard is pretty good Card its serving its purpose cant complaint.

[Anonymous]

Secured cards are a very good way to go.    You can have a choose the credit limit with the deposit. 

[Anonymous]

I think you should look into a good CU - Many CU's offer secured CC's and they report to all three CRA's.

[Anonymous]

Among the major banks, you might look at the following, ( although Orchard is considered easier to get). 

US Bank - Co-branded cards with rewards

Citi - Backed by Certificate of Deposit

Wells Fargo, low AF.

BofA - have offered 99/500 (not sure if still available)

[Brusilov]

I second going to a local credit union first...there are a number that will offer you both a card that does not charge an annual fee and they are usually good enough to freeze the funds in a savings account so you also gain a bit of interest in the mean time.  The only downside is a lot don't really have the same graduation programs that a lot of banks offer.  But a lot of banks that do offer these programs are a bit unpredictable about graduation, so YMMV.

If you have an existing banking relationship with Citi, WF, or BofA I'd try one of those.

Does she have a recent BK? 

[drsmith]

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@vonmannstein wrote:

If you have an existing banking relationship with Citi, WF, or BofA I'd try one of those.

Does she have a recent BK? 

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We have an account with Wells Fargo so we'll try there first

She has a chargeoff on her account and because of that, it shows she has bad payments history etc. She paid off the account though, and now we're just waiting for it to fall of her credit history