Should i accept Discover It Secured Offer?

[Anonymous]

I have a paid tax lien on all 3 reports, and 2 paid collections on Experian & Equifax, Transunion only has the tax lien. My fako scores are Ex 654 Eq 578 TU 710. 

I have a Firestone as of Aug 2014 reporting, and 3 authorized user accounts that are just a few months old reporting. I was recently approved for Lane Bryant, Credit one, & Abercrombie that are not repoting yet. I did the prequailfy on Discover & was offered the secured card, should I accept or wait & apply at a later date in hopes of getting the unsecured Discover?

[Anonymous]

Truthfully, thats entirely up to you. Do you feel you need it now?

[coldnmn]

If it was me I would wait. I had 3 lates and a paid tax lien and burned them in bk 15 years before. I had about a year and a half of positive history on my rebuild and they approved me at the time for $1k.

[yfan]

It is never particularly a good idea to put your own money down to get a credit card (except AFs that are actually worth something in extra benefits), unless you absolutely need it. It doesn't sound like you absolutely need it. My advice, therefore, would be to skip it. You don't get a Discover just to get a Discover - that works for any brand, no matter how tempting.

[joltdude]

Here's my spin. Do you have any other prime cards? It's one of the better secured options and that BK will scare BOA from their secured card.  I don't mean AUs  on prime cards,  I mean do you have any prime cards issued to you...  If not I'd take them up on it

[Scott_S]

Yes, Absolutely Accept it, Accept It!!

[joedtx]

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@Scott_S wrote:

Yes, Absolutely Accept it, Accept It!!

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One thing is for sure, the secured option is only offered on a limited basis and it is a good opportunity to establish a relationship with a Prime card.

[CenturyChild]

Im by no means a expert on how Discover or any other CC works but heres my take on it for WIW.

I think the secured offer means your borderline meeting thier criteria.

 I think its something like this:

If your credit profile is no where near what they look for, they flat out decline you. For whatever the reason may be.

If your close, but not close enough from the set criteria, but not in horrible shape either, they offer a 'Joint" account.

Borderline of meeting thier criteria they offer a "Secured" card.

Again, take this with a grain of salt.  just how I think it may work.

At any count, The last time I applied for a Discover I was offered a Secured card and I declined the offer.

I waited another 3 months and got utilization down some.

At that point I was instantly approved for unsecured It card.

YMMV of course, but I would just wait a bit longer. 3-6 moth time frame and apply when everything looks better and ages a bit.

But, if you really want it, take it.  If I recall Discover will unsecure after a period of time. (Please correct me if wrong)  So you could get in the door with them now.

Also, for Discover they look at EQ. So if you want one focus there or take the secured offer.

With 3 new accounts soon to show up, if you wait, I would wait at least 6 months.

[Organiclover1]

Thanks for the advice everyone! I'm thinking I should wait for a few months. My husband applied & they pulled transunion for him,  I was surprised they pulled equifax for me, it takes the secured card 12 months to graduate, & I think I will qaulify for unsecured before that timeframe.

[joltdude]

Joint or Co-app account. discover is one of the few ccc that offer a cosigner cc, Not the same as an AU