Secured Credit Cards, Best Card to rebuild?

[Anonymous]

Open Sky? Unity Visa? First Premier? 

[Anonymous]

Welcome to MyFico. Forget First Premier.. CAP 1 secured, BOA Secured etc.. As you rebuild try to avoid cards that have predatory fees.

[sjt]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Open Sky? Unity Visa? First Premier? 

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None of those cards.

here is a link to the secured card list that has much better cards:

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/Updated-for-2015-Secured-Credit-Card-List/m-p/3856240#M1074213

[Anonymous]

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/Secured-cards-my-experience/m-p/3696888

theres my real life use of 5 secured cards.

[sjt]

Here is another good list:

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/Updated-for-2015-Secured-Credit-Card-List/m-p/3856240/h...

[NRB525]

State Department Federal CU.

No HP, no credit check of any kind.

Set up a basic account, a savings account for $250 or more. Apply for the Secured EMV card, no credit check, no credit history needed.

Card will be issued with the secured limit from the savings amount. If you deposit more to the savings account, the available secured limit increases accordingly.

6.99%APR, no annual fee, no foreign transaction fees.

[Anonymous]

How do I join, if I'm not a State Department Employee?

[Anonymous]

You can join the American Consumer Council. If you visit the "Join" page on SDFCU, they have the following text:

"You may join SDFCU if you are an employee of The Department of State or one of the following organizations. Additionally, as a consumer, you may be eligible to join our credit union through the American Consumer Council (ACC), a nonprofit advocacy group. When opening your SDFCU account you will need to choose ACC on your application."

I became a lifetime member for $15 but I think one year membership of $5 should be fine. Some people have even joined for free using "consumer" as the promo code.

I just added the secured card and applied over the phone because the online application could be a hard pull. I received my Docusign the day I called and received the card about 1 week after applying.

Edit: does not unsecure when your credit improves 

[NRB525]

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@Anonymous wrote:
You can join the American Consumer Council. If you visit the "Join" page on SDFCU, they have the following text:

"You may join SDFCU if you are an employee of The Department of State or one of the following organizations. Additionally, as a consumer, you may be eligible to join our credit union through the American Consumer Council (ACC), a nonprofit advocacy group. When opening your SDFCU account you will need to choose ACC on your application."

I became a lifetime member for $15 but I think one year membership of $5 should be fine. Some people have even joined for free using "consumer" as the promo code.

I just added the secured card and applied over the phone because the online application could be a hard pull. I received my Docusign the day I called and received the card about 1 week after applying.

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I got the secured SDFCU card through the on-line app and no HP. I did it not because I really need the card, but just to verify you could get a credit card with no HP

[icloud2525]

I started with BOA secured. They'll even product change to cash rewards 1-2-3 after opening, rewards on secured card is nice. I took hard pull after 9 or 10 months and they unsecured.