Secured Credit Cards.

[ADARPegasus]

Has anyone on here had a secured credit card for 12 months or had a secured credit card?

[jamie123]

I currently have 2 secured CC.

Cap1 @ 1000CL.

Bank of America @ 500CL.

What do you need to know?

[ADARPegasus]

when u get to the 12 months when they review you for unsecured does that mean they close the secured account and start a new tradeline or do they take that 12 month tradeline and make it unsecured so on ur credit it looks like u have a 12 month unsecured card or does it say new unsecured card and close 12 month secured card?

[jamie123]

I apped for the Cap1 first and was approved. I had not used credit for years and was unsure of approval with Bank of America. After 3 months I apped for BoA and was approved.

From reading these forums this is what I understand:

The Cap1 card will stay secured and never graduate to an unsecured card. Cap1 makes you apply for a new card with a TOTALLY new age of that account to get rid of the secured card.

Bank of America will USUALLY always graduate to an unsecured card after a year. BoA will send out a new card with new account numbers but will keep the age of your account the same as the start of your secured card.

Do you have any baddies on your credit report?

You still do need to qualify for a secured card. Bank of America is not the slam dunk that Cap1 seems to be.

What is your credit score?

Why are you considering secured cards?

[jamie123]

Oops! I didn't see your scores at first!

Have you been denied credit?

[ADARPegasus]

no but identity was stolen and am being issued a new social security number so i have to start all over but im getting the following secured cards

USAA-$5000

Wells Fargo-$10000

Bank of America - $4900

US Bank-$5000

Applied Bank-$5000

Capital One-$3000

[jamie123]

Dude!

Your scores should start out really high! If they don't they will surely rocket there in a year!

After you have been using these cards for 6 months, start applying and replacing them with unsecured versions. Perhaps 1 or 2 cards every other month or so.

In a year you will be golden.

How bad was the ID theft? What happened?

[ADARPegasus]

Uncle has been stealing my identity since 2007 over 100k in credit card fraud and loans along with checking account fraud and hopefully after a year the US bank, Bank of America, USAA, and Wells Fargo Cards should be graduated because on the sites for those cards it says they will upgrade after 12 months

[jamie123]

I've heard that BoA almost always unsecures after 1 year.

Wells Fargo is said to be SLOOOOOOOW! Some people are still secured after YEARS!

I don't know about the others. You can always just apply for new credit cards after 6 months age on your secured cards.

[Anonymous]

---

@Jonbuck06 wrote:
"...hopefully after a year the US bank, Bank of America, USAA, and Wells Fargo Cards should be graduated because on the sites for those cards it says they will upgrade after 12 months."

---

The US Bank card "might" graduate depending on your FICO® score in 12 months. Bank of America usually unsecures at 12 months without too much hassle, Wells Fargo will unsecure when they get good and ready -- they are notoriously slow, and -- the money that goes into a USAA secured credit card actually gets deposited into a 2-year CD and the card itself will NEVER graduate. 

If you have any more questions, please feel free to ask.  As you can see from signature below, I have 3 secured credit cards, they will become a year old this coming October and November.  They have served me very well.

I wish you the best on your credit journey!