Graduating from BoA Secured Card?

[Anonymous]

Hello everybody. Newcomer here, and I've got a couple questions.

I had no credit history until last year, when I applied for a capital one student card, got denied because of a lack of credit history, and then applied for a BoA secured credit card in September instead, which I was approved for with a security deposit of $99 and a credit limit of $500. Six months after that, I applied for the capital one student card again, and got approved with a credit limit of $2000. Since I got the capital one card I have essentially abandoned the BoA secured card, because the cap one gives 1.25% rewards and the BoA card gives nothing.

I have paid in full every month.

On Friday, I had my security deposit returned to me. There was no automatic credit limit increase or mention of a product change to a card without an annual fee. I would like to have this card changed to an unsecured card without an annual fee. Also, it'd be nice if they could switch it to a 3-2-1 card from BoA. 

However, the card that I really want is the Sallie Mae Mastercard, as it matches my spending habits perfectly - most of my spending is on groceries, gas, and Amazon, all under $250/month per category.

Sorry for the long lead up to my real question, but if I ask for a product change for the BoA card to one without an annual fee, will that require a hard pull? What about changing it to a 3-2-1 card? Would my hard pull be better spent on just applying for the Sallie Mae card instead? I have 2 hard pulls from Capital One. My credit karma score is 715. Capital one also provides what I think is a FAKO, powered by TransUnion, of 716.

[Anonymous]

Love the Barclays Sallie Mae MasterCard. The spend categories and limits work well for me. Don't have to shuffle cards to get the best return. Rewards add up fast. Worth consideration.

[Jaylima91]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Hello everybody. Newcomer here, and I've got a couple questions.

I had no credit history until last year, when I applied for a capital one student card, got denied because of a lack of credit history, and then applied for a BoA secured credit card in September instead, which I was approved for with a security deposit of $99 and a credit limit of $500. Six months after that, I applied for the capital one student card again, and got approved with a credit limit of $2000. Since I got the capital one card I have essentially abandoned the BoA secured card, because the cap one gives 1.25% rewards and the BoA card gives nothing.

I have paid in full every month.

On Friday, I had my security deposit returned to me. There was no automatic credit limit increase or mention of a product change to a card without an annual fee. I would like to have this card changed to an unsecured card without an annual fee. Also, it'd be nice if they could switch it to a 3-2-1 card from BoA. 

However, the card that I really want is the Sallie Mae Mastercard, as it matches my spending habits perfectly - most of my spending is on groceries, gas, and Amazon, all under $250/month per category.

Sorry for the long lead up to my real question, but if I ask for a product change for the BoA card to one without an annual fee, will that require a hard pull? What about changing it to a 3-2-1 card? Would my hard pull be better spent on just applying for the Sallie Mae card instead? I have 2 hard pulls from Capital One. My credit karma score is 715. Capital one also provides what I think is a FAKO, powered by TransUnion, of 716.

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Hey Johnny, here is my experience with BoA. In November of 2013 i started my credit history with a BofA secured CC and put down $1000  for my credit line. Approximately 3 months later i called and asked them if they can make my secured card a 123 cash rewards and they did. In July i called to have my card graduated to unsecured. It hasn't been 12 months since I've had it but they proceeded with graduating my card, returning my deposit immediately and raising my CL to. $2.5k. Call them and explain to them the situation. They can do everything you're requesting and more.

[baller4life]

Yes call and ask for a conversion to the Cash Rewards version. No hp. Asking for a cli would be a hp. But well worth it. Ask for $25k and they will counter. Exactly what I did and got $10k . Also ask them to waive AF. If they won't, ask EO

[newhis]

Too bad BoA do not promote the cash rewards for secured cards. They can do it without problems, by calling or even with secure chat. You missed the 3-2-1 and most of all the use of your card. You say that you haven't used it for a long time, so maybe they will not give you a big CLI.

Everytime I can I tell people they can change the no-rewards secured card to the cash back secured card. For me I already earned more in 4 months than the AF. That's the card I use for all groceries and gas when Discover is not at 5%. Even for anything else because I get 1.1% for having a savings account.

Well, now that is unsecured you can ask for PC to the cash rewards and ask to remove the AF because the regular cash rewards doesn't have an AF. Sometimes you need to call several times to get the AF removed (from posts in this forum, I have no experience). That will not be a HP. If you want a higher limit they will need to HP.

Please report back what you did and what you get. Good luck.

[Anonymous]

Yea I wish I had known abou tthe cash rewards for secured cards earlier. 

I think tomorrow I will call in, ask for a PC to 3-2-1 and a CLI. I'll mention that I abandoned this card because I got a card with better rewards, but the 3-2-1 rewards would trump my current rewards, so I should bring in a lot more activity upon the PC and hopefully they'll give me a big CLI.

I'll let you guys know what happens!

[Anonymous]

So I just called in through their regular customer service number (tried the backdoor number from http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/Need-help-compiling-a-recon-call-number-guide/td-p/2059... bu tthat number is invalid).

I got a PC to the 3-2-1, and it should come in 2-4 business weeks. I asked for a CLI of $5000, they countered and only offered to raise it to $1600 =/. I don't actually spend anywhere near that amount in a month, so it's fine, but I wanted a bigger CLI so I could have a lower utilization without having to pay mid billing cycle. Oh well, better than nothing I suppose, though it did cost me a hard pull.

Anyways, thanks for the advice guys! Before I found this forum I didn't even know it was possible to PC a card. I might try to PC my Capital One Student Journey Rewards card to a Quicksilver =)

[newhis]

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@Anonymous wrote:

So I just called in through their regular customer service number (tried the backdoor number from http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/Need-help-compiling-a-recon-call-number-guide/td-p/2059945/page/3 bu tthat number is invalid).

I got a PC to the 3-2-1, and it should come in 2-4 business weeks. I asked for a CLI of $5000, they countered and only offered to raise it to $1600 =/. I don't actually spend anywhere near that amount in a month, so it's fine, but I wanted a bigger CLI so I could have a lower utilization without having to pay mid billing cycle. Oh well, better than nothing I suppose, though it did cost me a hard pull.

Anyways, thanks for the advice guys! Before I found this forum I didn't even know it was possible to PC a card. I might try to PC my Capital One Student Journey Rewards card to a Quicksilver =)

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You said you abandoned the BoA secured card, maybe that's why they didn't offer any more.

I read that BoA use the same HP for 30 days, so maybe in 3 weeks or so, ask for more and tell them to use the same pull. Maybe you can go to 2000.

[Anonymous]

Oh yea I should have mentioned - I tried explaining that I abandoned the card because I got a card with better rewards, but the 3-2-1 rewards would be better. No dice =/

Thanks for the advice though, I'll try again in a couple weeks.