I need another secured card... suggestions?

[cwwatts1202]

I am trying to rebuild my husbands credit, almost all his baddies are gone, he was approved for a cap one secured $99 deposit, $200 CL, we are joining a credit union that offers a secured cc we plan to apply for, but i've heard having 3-4 cc's is the best way to build scores fast. I plan to only use 1 of the cc's at 1-9% and leave the other 2 alone. Can anyone reccomend another secured card besides cap one and a secured card through the bank? I've heard BoA secured was actually kind of hard to get, so I'm not gonna waste apping for that either. Thanks in advance!!

[enharu]

what is the approximate ballpark of your scores? just asking so i know what to recommend 

[cwwatts1202]

EQ FICO is 558. Up from 511 on 3/10. Paid off a FP cc and it updated to a $96 balance instead of $0 and settled, so when it reports as $0 and settled next month i'm hoping for another increase, even it's a small one!

[Anonymous]

You don't have to leave the other two cards alone, and in fact, that may hurt you. I would use all three and PIF two every month and carry a low balance on the other. You have to use the credit extended to you to build good history. If you open the other two cards and SD them immediately, I'm not seeing that will help your score very much.

[cwwatts1202]

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@Anonymous wrote:
You don't have to leave the other two cards alone, and in fact, that may hurt you. I would use all three and PIF two every month and carry a low balance on the other. You have to use the credit extended to you to build good history. If you open the other two cards and SD them immediately, I'm not seeing that will help your score very much.

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But if we let one carry a balance we'll be charged interest. I don't mind using them all and PIF every month, but I don't want to have to pay any of the riculously high interest rates that come with secured cards! 

[Anonymous]

You only carry like 9%, which on a low limit card would be $20-$40. The other two you PIF before the statement cuts so it isn't on your credit reports.

[madmann26]

Any prior military service? NFCU is awesome.

Outside of that, do you bank with WF, BoA or a CU?

[cwwatts1202]

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@madmann26 wrote:

Any prior military service? NFCU is awesome.

Outside of that, do you bank with WF, BoA or a CU?

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No military, we just opened an acct with GTE federal credit union. We plan to apply for their secured card once the account is opened. We applied for the account online but I guess it takes 48 hours to process which I found odd, normally when open an account online it's instant. But we've never had a CU before so maybe its different.

[angelcred10]

I don't follow the logic of carrying interest balances at all you are suggesting.

Why not just PIF?

I am awaiting response of my secured app from BoA however I was pre-approved when I went into a branch, I loved the idea that it would become an "unsecured" card after a year. So it may be possible to call a number to see about pre-approval for you all if you do go that route.

Basically sounded like a savings account honestly.

I've also heard you may be able to add rewards program to it? (or maybe that was the student card version)

[twall06]

You let one report a balance pay it before the due date and no interest will be charged.