Questions from a Newcomer

[Anonymous]

hey. so heres my situation. im a 21 year old that just graduated college and am working part time. i just got my first credit card from capital one. it has a credit limit of just $300 and ive had it for about a month now. from what ive heard capital one isnt the best at giving credit increases, and im now realizing i dont like the 39 annual fee haha. i guess i dont have a direct question, but im just looking for some advice.

are there any good cards i can sign up for and get approved for with a very limited history(not good or bad), just a month on this one card?

or should i just stick it out with only this card for 6-12 months until my score increases and i can get a better card?

and if i tried signing up for a student card, would i get denied? i still have the working email address, but im not sure how thoroughly the companies check because i graduated in may and am not technically a student.

just so you guys know im not craving credit to spend over my limit(i pay in full each month), im just looking for good/faster ways to increase my credit score, and earn rewards on a card by using credit instead of cash/debit, and i dont think i want to keep this one for a long time, even though i know longer history is better. thats why im looking for a better card to keep for a long time. maybe a product change to a no annual fee card in a while would work. let me know.

alright. thanks to any FICO wizards that can help me out haha. i really appreciate it.

from george

[tsquad131]

if you dont have any previous credit history besides that capital one card then you dont have a credit score generated yet. Wait at least 6 months before applying for another card because you will then have a score and some history and then once you get a good no annual fee card, close the capital one right before the annual fee is due next year so you can keep building up history since you already paid for the annual fee this year

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

hey. so heres my situation. im a 21 year old that just graduated college and am working part time. i just got my first credit card from capital one. it has a credit limit of just $300 and ive had it for about a month now. from what ive heard capital one isnt the best at giving credit increases, and im now realizing i dont like the 39 annual fee haha. i guess i dont have a direct question, but im just looking for some advice.

are there any good cards i can sign up for and get approved for with a very limited history(not good or bad), just a month on this one card?

or should i just stick it out with only this card for 6-12 months until my score increases and i can get a better card?

Is this card your only thing reporting on your credit report? If not, what else do you have? Once we know that info, we can help you more, however, if it is, I'd wait around 12 months before applying for another card (if you want a good one) or 6 months if you want another creditbuilder card.

and if i tried signing up for a student card, would i get denied? i still have the working email address, but im not sure how thoroughly the companies check because i graduated in may and am not technically a student.

It's never a good idea to lie/stretch the truth on your apps, so if you are no longer a student, I would not do this.

just so you guys know im not craving credit to spend over my limit(i pay in full each month), im just looking for good/faster ways to increase my credit score, and earn rewards on a card by using credit instead of cash/debit, and i dont think i want to keep this one for a long time, even though i know longer history is better. thats why im looking for a better card to keep for a long time. maybe a product change to a no annual fee card in a while would work. let me know.

That's the best way to build your credit...PIF every month and you will be rewarded.

alright. thanks to any FICO wizards that can help me out haha. i really appreciate it.

from george

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[Anonymous]

yea the capital one card is all i have.

seems like the best move for me and what i think ill do is wait for a year, apply for a card with benefits i like/no annual fee then keep the capital one for one more full year and then get another good card and cancel the capital one before i have to pay the fee for the third year. itll take a while to get what i want but it seems like the best option.

[Involus]

I was in a similar situation to yours. When I was 18 (last year) I got a Cap One and realized how much it sucks. I started with a $500 limit and the steps program bumped me up to $750 after my 4th statement cut. I held the Cap One for a year and applied for like a dozen cards in that year (was pretty negligent, didn't know the effect of hard inqs) which pretty much screwed me. After I realised the damage I waited about 6 mos and let my credit cool down a bit and pulled the trigger on Chase, got approved for a Freedom with $500CL - after 6mos going to request a CLI to around $2500 but yeah. Also go approved for a Walmart store card.

So what I would do if I were you is, and I know it will suck, but stick it out with Cap One for the year, let the steps program bump you to $500, use it monthly and PIF every month, then after a year, pull the trigger on a prime card like Chase, Discover, Amex. You could also apply for a Bank of America secured card - deposit $300 and after a year they'll unsecure it, give you a better CL and refund you the deposit. Just my thoughts, and what I would have done if I were better informed back then, learn from others mistakes, not your own. Hope I helped a bit.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

yea the capital one card is all i have.

seems like the best move for me and what i think ill do is wait for a year, apply for a card with benefits i like/no annual fee then keep the capital one for one more full year and then get another good card and cancel the capital one before i have to pay the fee for the third year. itll take a while to get what i want but it seems like the best option.

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Sounds like the perfect plan to me! BTW, welcome to the community! We hope you hang around so we can help you out through your first year and more of building your credit!

[Creditaddict]

I would hold on to the Cap 1 and around month 5 I would pay your Cap 1 card off and let it update to credit report with a very low balance and then apply for Citi Forward and an Amex Charge at 6 months of having Cap 1.  I would skip the student cards now.

[Anonymous]

ok so heres what i decided to do.

i just applied/got approved for a secured BoA card with a $600 limit. i figured it would be better for me to have a card with a little more room for spending, and i like how BoA will upgrade to a real card with a real limit in a year and give me the deposit back. so im going to use this one when i get it soon and the cap1 i have. in a year i think ill apply for the citi forward if my scores seem good enough otherwise i might wait 2 years, then upgrade the BoA card to the cash rewards with no annual fee hopefully. then after 2 years right before my cap1 card will be up for the third annual fee ill cancel it. so in 2-3 years im hoping to have a good credit score/report, and 3 cards. hopefully the BoA, citi forward, and maybe some type on AMEX if i can. 

thanks for the advice to those who posted.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

ok so heres what i decided to do.

i just applied/got approved for a secured BoA card with a $600 limit. i figured it would be better for me to have a card with a little more room for spending, and i like how BoA will upgrade to a real card with a real limit in a year and give me the deposit back. so im going to use this one when i get it soon and the cap1 i have. in a year i think ill apply for the citi forward if my scores seem good enough otherwise i might wait 2 years, then upgrade the BoA card to the cash rewards with no annual fee hopefully. then after 2 years right before my cap1 card will be up for the third annual fee ill cancel it. so in 2-3 years im hoping to have a good credit score/report, and 3 cards. hopefully the BoA, citi forward, and maybe some type on AMEX if i can. 

thanks for the advice to those who posted.

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Sounds like a great plan for getting more credit now! Make sure you use and PIF both cards and I'd make sure your secured BoA card is reporting as an unsecured card before you apply for the Citi Forward (just to show that you did well with it and they converted you). If you do that, you shouldn't have any problem getting the Citi Forward in a year or so (as long as your student loans/cards are looking good).

[Anonymous]

I used to be in the same situation last year. With low limit on your card right now, you will likely get another low limit when apply. I would recommend,if possible, increase credit limit on BOA secured card to $2-3000. It would help you much more to get higher limit for another cards at 6-7 months from now. You will save time and INQs to request credit limit increase later on.

Here is my card portfolio and my several mistake you could avoid.

Time          Creditor                      Limit

Month 0  Public saving bank     $800       I should have started at higher limit for this secured card and that's my first mistake

Month 7      Cap 1                        $500       My second mistake is I applied for what I got in a mail box

                                                                        without any prior knowledge of cap1 giving stingy credit line 

Month 7     Citi forward               denied     Third mistake is non-student version take much more history to get approved for.

                                                                        If you can't get student version now, you should skip this card

                                                                        until having 18 months history. 

Month 8    Amex zync                  no limit     Right move. Get amex to know you and be ready for their credit card next year

Month 9    Fidelity BOA               $1000     The best decision so far. Great reward card. I got approved on manual review

                                                                        with Transunion FICO 741.

Month 9    Amex blue cash        denied    Another mistake. Revolving is much harder to get than charge card.

Month 9    Discover                     denied    Discover is another creditor who required some history for non-student card.

Month 9    Chase freedom       $1000      You can see at this point. I always got low limit card because

                                                                         I don't have higher limit than $1000 so no creditors want to take a lead

                                                                        and give me higher limit than $1000.

Month 9    Barclay apple            $500       I end this app spree with another low limit from barclay.

Month 10  Fidelity BOA               denied   I request credit limit increase from $1000 to $3000 and got denied

                                                                       because they don't want to take a lead on giving me higher limit than $1000

Month 11  PSB bank                  $3000     I step up the game and increase limit on this secured card from 800 to 3000

Month 11  Barclay travelocity    $1000     Another mistake. I should wait until new limit on PSB update on credit report

                                                                       before applied for this card. I told the analyst who approved my card of new limit

                                                                       wait to update on my report but he prefer to give me only $1000 because

                                                                       that's the highest limit showing on credit report.

Month 11 Barclay travelocity    $3000      New limit on PSB already update on credit report so I took a risk

                                                                       and request CLI to match highest limit and got approved. It takes10 days

                                                                        from get approved for card and raise limit from $1000 to $3000

Month 11 Citi forward                denied    My stubbornness didn't help me get the card.

                                                                       Big fat denied for limited credit history

Month 11 Amex blue cash        denied    Limited history

Month 11 Fidelity BOA               $3000     When someone already took a lead, BOA is more than ready to follow.

                                                                       Took 10 minutes to increase from $1000 to $3000.

Month 11 BOA visa reward       denied    Having sufficient credit. BOA aren't willing to give more than $3000

                                                                       because no other creditors give more than $3000. I could ask for them to

                                                                       reduce limit on fidelity to get this card open but I don't want that.  

Month 12 Chase AARP              denied   Chase is not easy and outside of their starter card, slate and freedom,

                                                                       They need history of 2 years and good score.

The lesson is I could have saved time and inquiries to request for credit line increase if I just started with $3000 on PSB.

I could also save inquiries from strict creditors like citi, discover, amex.