Looking for 2nd credit card...Need opinions

Anonymous · ‎06-22-2016

Hello, I'm a new guy around here and was looking for some opinions! I currently have one credit card through my local credit union (Visa Platinum) that I've had since I turned 18 in Feb.of 2015. Currently 19 and looking to add a 2nd card to the mix for personal reasons (plus more credit building). Current score (depending on bureau) is around 591-610. I do have 1 missed payment on my credit report from Matco tools, nothing over 30 days, Visa Plat. is PIF 90% of the time. Should I look into the secured card route? I was shying away from it since my current card is not, didn't really see a point in getting one. I have looked into Credit One Bank a time or 2, what drew me to them is how willing they are to do a CLI, whereas my current bank refuses to budge off of my original $500 limit that was put in place over a year ago. I have, however, read very mixed reviews about them as well. What route would you all suggest in thie case? Thank you!

Anonymous · ‎06-22-2016

@Anonymous wrote:
Hello, I'm a new guy around here and was looking for some opinions! I currently have one credit card through my local credit union (Visa Platinum) that I've had since I turned 18 in Feb.of 2015. Currently 19 and looking to add a 2nd card to the mix for personal reasons (plus more credit building). Current score (depending on bureau) is around 591-610. I do have 1 missed payment on my credit report from Matco tools, nothing over 30 days, Visa Plat. is PIF 90% of the time. Should I look into the secured card route? I was shying away from it since my current card is not, didn't really see a point in getting one. I have looked into Credit One Bank a time or 2, what drew me to them is how willing they are to do a CLI, whereas my current bank refuses to budge off of my original $500 limit that was put in place over a year ago. I have, however, read very mixed reviews about them as well. What route would you all suggest in thie case? Thank you!

With that score i would suggest you go to capital one and check if you're prequalified for any of their cards. I think you have a better chance with them even if you're not

prequialified as your scores are relatively low and they are more forgiving of lower scores and thinner files. credit one should be your last resort if an option at all.

bourgogne · ‎06-22-2016

@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
Hello, I'm a new guy around here and was looking for some opinions! I currently have one credit card through my local credit union (Visa Platinum) that I've had since I turned 18 in Feb.of 2015. Currently 19 and looking to add a 2nd card to the mix for personal reasons (plus more credit building). Current score (depending on bureau) is around 591-610. I do have 1 missed payment on my credit report from Matco tools, nothing over 30 days, Visa Plat. is PIF 90% of the time. Should I look into the secured card route? I was shying away from it since my current card is not, didn't really see a point in getting one. I have looked into Credit One Bank a time or 2, what drew me to them is how willing they are to do a CLI, whereas my current bank refuses to budge off of my original $500 limit that was put in place over a year ago. I have, however, read very mixed reviews about them as well. What route would you all suggest in thie case? Thank you!

With that score i would suggest you go to capital one and check if you're prequalified for any of their cards. I think you have a better chance with them even if you're not
prequialified as your scores are relatively low and they are more forgiving of lower scores and thinner files. credit one should be your last resort if an option at all.

^^^

This exactly - you do not want or need a secured card. capital one is the goto imo for starting out or rebuilding. even if something does not show up on the pre-qualify you can apply and you might sneak into a platinum card for ~ $ 300 and many times these low limits can grow very fast into something nice. I did 300 > 12,300 in 18 months and my scores were way less than yours. Scores are only part of it. I maxed and pifed the card to death. The neg of cap1 one is they 3x hp you. The upside is cli are only sp’s. many individuals on the boards don’t like them because they lack the luster of chase or amex but trust me for your purpose they are golden. Easy but mostly clueless csr’s and no international fees rounds out my mini-review. Good luck and post here what happens

Anonymous · ‎06-22-2016

+1 on the previous comments on Credit One (or First Premier etc.), secured cards, and Capital One - Credit One etc. should only be a last resort, secured cards should at most be a second-last resort, and Capital One would work great for you, I think.

I'll add that one other alternative is Discover. They're a great company especially with customer service, and they also provide you with a FICO 8 Classic Score (TransUnion). If you are currently a student, you could try for their student cards too.

With more than a year of credit, I think you should have some good options. By the way, how is your utilization like? If it's above 30% or so, you might want to get it down a bit before applying.

Anonymous · ‎06-22-2016

Thank you guys for the comments. I had a similar feeling about credit one but wanted other opinions. Credit Utilization was very high, around 70-80% but as of Monday it is down to about 5%. If I go with Capital One or Discover, what cards specifically should I apply for, that would have the best chance of approval? Also, is there any reason I should choose capital one over discover, or vice versa?

bourgogne · ‎06-22-2016

@Anonymous wrote:
Thank you guys for the comments. I had a similar feeling about credit one but wanted other opinions. Credit Utilization was very high, around 70-80% but as of Monday it is down to about 5%. If I go with Capital One or Discover, what cards specifically should I apply for, that would have the best chance of approval? Also, is there any reason I should choose capital one over discover, or vice versa?

yes there is, because the cap1 pre-qualify is solid and discover is a crap shoot. if you see something come up on the cap1 site do yourself a favor and grab it. just my .02

python0704 · ‎06-22-2016

@Anonymous wrote:
Hello, I'm a new guy around here and was looking for some opinions! I currently have one credit card through my local credit union (Visa Platinum) that I've had since I turned 18 in Feb.of 2015. Currently 19 and looking to add a 2nd card to the mix for personal reasons (plus more credit building). Current score (depending on bureau) is around 591-610. I do have 1 missed payment on my credit report from Matco tools, nothing over 30 days, Visa Plat. is PIF 90% of the time. Should I look into the secured card route? I was shying away from it since my current card is not, didn't really see a point in getting one. I have looked into Credit One Bank a time or 2, what drew me to them is how willing they are to do a CLI, whereas my current bank refuses to budge off of my original $500 limit that was put in place over a year ago. I have, however, read very mixed reviews about them as well. What route would you all suggest in thie case? Thank you!

BOA Cash Reard is what both my wife and I started with. Chase Freedom 5% is also nice for midrange credit scores. These two have fairly nice cash back and no anual fee to get your attention. And yes, skip the secured credit card.

newhis · ‎06-22-2016

@Anonymous wrote:
Thank you guys for the comments. I had a similar feeling about credit one but wanted other opinions. Credit Utilization was very high, around 70-80% but as of Monday it is down to about 5%. If I go with Capital One or Discover, what cards specifically should I apply for, that would have the best chance of approval? Also, is there any reason I should choose capital one over discover, or vice versa?

I will say you better wait so the lower util is reported and you get a higher score. If you can, only report less than 10% to get a higher score.

Anonymous · ‎06-22-2016

@Anonymous wrote:
Hello, I'm a new guy around here and was looking for some opinions! I currently have one credit card through my local credit union (Visa Platinum) that I've had since I turned 18 in Feb.of 2015. Currently 19 and looking to add a 2nd card to the mix for personal reasons (plus more credit building). Current score (depending on bureau) is around 591-610. I do have 1 missed payment on my credit report from Matco tools, nothing over 30 days, Visa Plat. is PIF 90% of the time. Should I look into the secured card route? I was shying away from it since my current card is not, didn't really see a point in getting one. I have looked into Credit One Bank a time or 2, what drew me to them is how willing they are to do a CLI, whereas my current bank refuses to budge off of my original $500 limit that was put in place over a year ago. I have, however, read very mixed reviews about them as well. What route would you all suggest in thie case? Thank you!

591-610 credit score. One missed payment (how recent?)

Instead of the secured card route, try and see if you can get a Discover It Chrome for students, or the regular Discover It Chrome, since they are easier to get.

Since you have a Visa card already, it'll make sense to get a card with one of the networks that does both the processing and customer service-- plus you get that 100% U.S based customer service, double your rewards redemption at the end of your first year, etc.

Anonymous · ‎06-22-2016

@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
Hello, I'm a new guy around here and was looking for some opinions! I currently have one credit card through my local credit union (Visa Platinum) that I've had since I turned 18 in Feb.of 2015. Currently 19 and looking to add a 2nd card to the mix for personal reasons (plus more credit building). Current score (depending on bureau) is around 591-610. I do have 1 missed payment on my credit report from Matco tools, nothing over 30 days, Visa Plat. is PIF 90% of the time. Should I look into the secured card route? I was shying away from it since my current card is not, didn't really see a point in getting one. I have looked into Credit One Bank a time or 2, what drew me to them is how willing they are to do a CLI, whereas my current bank refuses to budge off of my original $500 limit that was put in place over a year ago. I have, however, read very mixed reviews about them as well. What route would you all suggest in thie case? Thank you!

591-610 credit score. One missed payment (how recent?)

Instead of the secured card route, try and see if you can get a Discover It Chrome for students, or the regular Discover It Chrome, since they are easier to get.

Since you have a Visa card already, it'll make sense to get a card with one of the networks that does both the processing and customer service-- plus you get that 100% U.S based customer service, double your rewards redemption at the end of your first year, etc.

+1

One thing that might count against Discover is acceptance, but that's not really an issue if you have a backup card (you might even consider getting a third card with say, Chase, after 6 months to a year of on-time payment history with Discover, and this way you might even have a backup card with rewards). Also, Discover has some unique benefits, many of which mountainviewvoltage has already done a great job stating above. I'll just add that Discover deals are great too and can save you quite a bit.

Discover also seems pretty willing to let you PC between the regular It and the It Chrome, so don't feel like you have to choose one now and stick with it forever.

But newhis is definitely right that you should wait a month or so and try to reduce utilization (and let it report with lower utilization) before applying. This way, you maximize your chances of approval and a higher starting limit.

Good luck with your choices and apps, OP!