Orchard Bank proves completely useless

[QAMngrGirl]

I have no reason to keep it open, I already have a relationship with Cap One that supersedes this (crappy) relationship! 

[stormb28]

I had orchard close a card i forgot i had, $300 CL for 6 years. They are nothing more than a stepping stone. CSR's are a bunch of buffoons too.

[bradpitt]

I respectfully have to disagree.

Orchard bank was great for a lot of people.

You should had got the secured card with 9% APR with a lot higher limit so you wouldn't had been stuck with all those low limit cards you have right now.

[QAMngrGirl]

As everyone's credit journey is different, this is my complaint about Orchard. I'm sure everyone has a different experience. As for your comment about being "stuck" with low limit cards, I don't recall complaining about any other than Orchard. I am not obsessed with ridiculously high CLs, just cards that are useful & beneficial to me.

[Sparkz1920]

Hated my 300 CL with Orchard

CreditOne was better than them. At least they gave me auto increases each month...even if at a fee

[Sparkz1920]

Correction, not each month but periodically

[Give_Me_Credit_Please]

It depend on everyones situation, it's all different, Orchard bank is nothing but a stepping stone but I think for myself and most of us, Orchard bank helped me to re-established my credit and build that foundation for growth, I do agree though that once we get to a certain point of creditworthiness, Orchard Bank has done their purpose and we should move on to better credit card and close that one out. The bad thing about Orchard is they never hardly give cli increase and if so, it's only $100 at a time. Very slow process.

[MovingForward_2012]

I have had a Orchard Bank card since 2009 and it started at 300 CL but now it is up to 1100 CL but I received all of my increases through HSBC and I think my first increase was after 6 months. When Cap1 took over, I stopped receiving increases and called them to complain. They said I can apply for the green cash rewards card and I was approved with a 2000 CL with an auto increase to 2500 CL at 7th statement. I truly do not believe Cap1 is providing any increases on the former HSBC cards. I plan to keep my Orchard card because it is my oldest revolving account and I don't want the AAOA score ding from closing it. I am in the approval process for a Chase Freedom and I hope to add that to my wallet soon.

[p-]

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@QAMngrGirl wrote:

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 /end rant

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OB was the first to give me credit, and I was stuck at 300 for almost a year, then got a 270 CLI.  After that, I called them every six months and got a 200 CLI with a soft pull every time.  I am at 1170 now, one of my lowest credit limits, but it's steadily creeping up.

I contacted the Capital One executive office for some help with another card, and also talked to a rep about the Orchard Card.  She told me that the OB cards would be converted over to Capital One products in the next few months, and after that they could do PC, CLI, etc on them.  Until then they had no access to them.  She gave my number to her counterpart over at Orchard who called me the same day.

That rep eliminated my annual fee forever on the Orchard card.  She asked if there was anything else I wanted, and I told her I wouldn't mind a limit increase.  She said that normally they can do soft pull increases, but because they were transitioning over to Capital One, they couldn't do any.  She said that after my card became a Capital One, I should call customer service and ask for a CLI.

I was seriously considering closing that card, as I didn't want to pay an annual fee again.  But now that it's free, I can keep it.  It is my oldest revolver, and I'd rather keep it open.

If your annual fee is coming due in the next month, you should call general customer service and see if they will waive it.  That's what they did for me last year.  That would buy you another year to see what happens with the card.  Who knows, another year or two and that line could be a 10k World Mastercard from Cap1.

[MovingForward_2012]

Yep I agree with -p. I wouldn't close your Orchard card as it is a stepping to a better product with Cap1 once the transition is complete. I asked for a CLI once with HSBC in 2009 and was denied. After that, I just waited for them to increase it themselves.

When did you get the Orchard card? It is odd that you received no increases whatsoever. I am wondering if you got it right before Cap1 took over HSBC. I am going to try to get my AF waived as well.