I fired orchard last week even though I didn’t have another cc lined up to replace the 800 cl I’d lose…which made me worry a bit b/c even though orchard’s less than stellar, I can’t really afford to lose cls b/c I don’t have a ton of credit available. But I was tired of orchard and their high AF ($79), no rewards, and only 1 cli in 3 years, so…it was time to break up even if I wasn’t entirely sure how/if I’d be able to replace that cl anytime soon.
About 2 weeks ago, I read about USAA’s secured cc. After getting conflicting messages about whether USAA’s secured cc was open to partial members, I finally got someone @ USAA to email me saying that while it was a pilot program, as a commitment to their service (I’ve been a USAA member for 3-5 years now), they’d mail me an app.
Well, I never got the app in the mail (maybe it’s on its way/they’re backlogged?), so I asked some kind message board members to email me a copy of the app. I worried a little bit b/c I read on CB that a partial USAA member mailed the app in but USAA still denied them b/c they said the cc wasn’t open to partial members + that USAA said they mailed the person the app in error. I also worried that even though USAA says they don’t check credit for the secured cc, I’d get turned down b/c of an old tax lien b/c I’ve been denied secured ccs b/c of the tax lien before.
Yesterday afternoon, I decided to wire $1.5k to USAA (max CL allowed on the secured cc) + then fax in the secured app. I included a copy of the email that USAA sent me saying they’d mail me the secure app b/c I figured if they saw that email, I’d have a better shot @ getting the cc.
This a.m., I logged into USAA + bam, my 1.5k cd is set up + bam, my USAA secured 1.5k secured cc is set up online! Dang, that was FAST + yet another reason why I love USAA. It's my highest CL to date + while it's nothing to brag about compared to some of the high rollers here, it's a big deal for me + I hope it unsecures in a year.
Next goal: Join NFCU + get a 5k secured loan + 5k secured cc (NFCU "1-2 punch").
Message Edited by creditreformer on 03-04-2010 09:37 AM
