Secure card for a noob, US BANK vs. BofA

[Anonymous]

TU 2/2-4/1: 495-554-561<br>EX 2/2-4/8: 539-553-588<br>EQ 2/2-4/7: 528-519-513-526

FAKO's and FICO's can vary pretty greatly, some people have even seen a 100 pt difference between those two scores.

Right now my FAKOs are TU 524 EX 514 EQ 551

Right now my FICOS are TU 561 EX 588 EQ 526

Those are all from this month, but are probably a bit different on the Fico side now since I've had a few new accts post and some balances drop.

I got the regular BofA secured, Orchard secured, and Crown jewelers to rebuild with when my EX score was in the 550ish range.

You can definitely start the repair process going off your reports that came with your Fako, but you probably want to pull your fico's before starting to apply to rebuild.  Crown Jewelers is usually pretty much a shoe in, very few people even have their credit checked by them.  I've only heard of 1 maybe 2 cases of that, but they don't report until you buy something and only report to EX and TU.

[Anonymous]

---

sudofdisk wrote:
OK, I submit. Here are my scores: (these are TrueCredit.com "fako" scores, if that matters)

---

Yes, it does matter.  FAKO scores are useless.  FICO scores are the only ones that matter.

Yes, it is possible to be denied for a secured card.  Many banks, particularly BofA, like to give secured cards only to candidates whom they believe will be able to graduate to an unsecured card in a year or so.  If the bank determines that even after a year of perfect history, you probably still wouldn't qualify to unsecure your card, they will deny the secured card.

Do you have a local credit union you can look into?  CUs are much more lenient regarding their standards for secured cards.

Message Edited by cheddar on 04-11-2008 02:08 PM

[sudofdisk]

Thanks for all the advice here. So what is the least expensive way to check my FICO scores with all three CRAs?

[Anonymous]

---

@sudofdisk wrote:
Thanks for all the advice here. So what is the least expensive way to check my FICO scores with all three CRAs?

---

Right now! As there is a discount for the month of April.

[athensguy]

FICO Credit Complete and the coupon code listed at the top of the products page is the cheapest way to get all three FICOs.

[sudofdisk]

*About FICO® scores and credit reports
FICO® scores are the credit scores most lenders use to determine your credit risk. You have three FICO® scores, one for each of the three credit bureaus - Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax. Each FICO® score is based on the information that each credit bureau keeps on file about you. As the information in each of your credit reports change, your credit scores tend to change as well. When you purchase your FICO® scores and credit reports from myFICO, you are getting a snapshot that is accurate at the time of your purchase.


OK, I know I am getting off topic but if I am reading correctly, I pay 40 something bucks a year, minus 25% to see the same snapshot of my score for a year? In order to see if it has changed I must purchase again?

[Anonymous]

---

sudofdisk wrote:
*About FICO® scores and credit reports
FICO® scores are the credit scores most lenders use to determine your credit risk. You have three FICO® scores, one for each of the three credit bureaus - Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax. Each FICO® score is based on the information that each credit bureau keeps on file about you. As the information in each of your credit reports change, your credit scores tend to change as well. When you purchase your FICO® scores and credit reports from myFICO, you are getting a snapshot that is accurate at the time of your purchase.


OK, I know I am getting off topic but if I am reading correctly, I pay 40 something bucks a year, minus 25% to see the same snapshot of my score for a year? In order to see if it has changed I must purchase again?

---

That's correct, but you don't have to choose the option to auto-renew every year.  You can just purchase a one time pull of all three reports and FICOs.

Keep in mind that, as you said, you are only purchasing a snapshot.  The product will NOT update your scores and reports as they change.

[sudofdisk]

Thanks cheddar, I will have to do that probably next week.

Message Edited by sudofdisk on 04-11-2008 11:33 AM

[Anonymous]

I'll add that most of us also subscribe to some sort of monitoring service (like your TrueCredit) so we can track the small changes and get some instant gratification versus paying for scores all the time.  (Unless you're like me and still pay once a week or so -- I gave up Starbucks so this can be justified!)

[Anonymous]

oh dang, I never thought about giving up my starbucks for fico reports. Ive been trying to find a way to ween myself off of them.....  hmmmm