Student with a thin file

Anonymous · ‎11-07-2016

Long time reader first time caller so here it goes...

I'm a student. Never had any loans and never been an AU on a card or anything else.

July 2016. Applied at Chase and BofA and instantly declined because "no history". Ok bad start. I did more research. Applied for the Cap1 Journey Student card with reasonable hope... and declined instantly because "no history". That led me to Discover. I applied directly for the secured card and was approved instantly. Did a $600 CL.

Fast forward to today. Obviously FICO won't give me a score with only one 3-month old account. My FAKO (VantageScore) is 665. I've been keeping my Discover card utilization below 20% (Only popped over once and that was still well under 30%). Only three cycles are done: July - Sep are reported as current.

I guess I really have two questions. First, is 665 -- albeit a FAKO -- any good? My only baddies are the 3 hard pulls it lists.

Second, I would like to get an unsecured Visa ASAP but I do not want to risk an unfruitful hard pull. Looking at the WF student card although I don't especially want to deal with them. Are there any better suggestions? (Waiting is a valid suggestion too, of course.)

Thank you!

AverageJoesCredit · ‎11-07-2016

Could try for Navy Federal as it seems they can be good for builders but not sure on short history. Congrats on getting a Discover , secured or not, you got a foot in. Maybe pick up a store card or two just to build some history and then maybe go back to Cap One. Good luck on your journey

garagebandking · ‎11-07-2016

The FAKO scores may or may not be any good. The only thing you can really count on is a FICO score.

You should have one since there's an account reporting...it just might not be showing up in your Discover online profile. Are you in any credit monitoring program that provides a real FICO?

I'd probably rock the Disco for 6 months and start checking Barclays/CapOne/Amex/Chase/Citi for prequal offers and see what fit my needs.

You have the right idea in mind trying to keep hard pulls down.

You can build history and tradelines quickly if you go for store cards etc...but you want to consider what is important to you...it is usually a good idea to only apply for cards that can be useful to your spending patterns. Having 3 credit cards (I'd prefer from visa/mc/disco) will help maximize your score.

Anonymous · ‎11-07-2016

@AverageJoesCredit wrote:
Could try for Navy Federal as it seems they can be good for builders but not sure on short history. Congrats on getting a Discover , secured or not, you got a foot in. Maybe pick up a store card or two just to build some history and then maybe go back to Cap One. Good luck on your journey

I wish I were eligable for them! And thank you I'm looking forward to my graduation letter someday! I was considering the Amazon.com store card but wasn't sure if it's worth the inquiry even if I could be certain of approval. Thanks

Anonymous · ‎11-07-2016

@garagebandking wrote:
The FAKO scores may or may not be any good. The only thing you can really count on is a FICO score.

You should have one since there's an account reporting...it just might not be showing up in your Discover online profile. Are you in any credit monitoring program that provides a real FICO?

I'd probably rock the Disco for 6 months and start checking Barclays/CapOne/Amex/Chase/Citi for prequal offers and see what fit my needs.

You have the right idea in mind trying to keep hard pulls down.

You can build history and tradelines quickly if you go for store cards etc...but you want to consider what is important to you...it is usually a good idea to only apply for cards that can be useful to your spending patterns. Having 3 credit cards (I'd prefer from visa/mc/disco) will help maximize your score.

Gotcha. And I was assuming that I'm being played by the 6 month rule. Discover is my only FICO source at the moment, I believe it's a TU FICO 8. I just checked Chase prequals and they give nada. I'm guessing this is because I have no FICO 8 yet?

Even if I was certain of approval for store cards I'm not sure it'd be worth the hard pull to me so I think I will go for the more useful cards. Thanks!

garagebandking · ‎11-07-2016

@Anonymous wrote:
@AverageJoesCredit wrote:
Could try for Navy Federal as it seems they can be good for builders but not sure on short history. Congrats on getting a Discover , secured or not, you got a foot in. Maybe pick up a store card or two just to build some history and then maybe go back to Cap One. Good luck on your journey
I wish I were eligable for them! And thank you I'm looking forward to my graduation letter someday! I was considering the Amazon.com store card but wasn't sure if it's worth the inquiry even if I could be certain of approval. Thanks

If you want in with Navy Federal...you can use the Navy League San Diego affiliation that's talked about on the forum...pretty easy process (will cost you $25)...but I just went through it and it was very worthwhile.

Anonymous · ‎11-07-2016

Welcome to the site. You wait until your Discover account gives you a FICO score, which will probably come around the 6 month period. Keep utilization low, make payments on time. When 6 months comes, try the SP CLI. At the same time, you can either apply for another card then and get a rather low SL or wait another 6 months until you've had a year of good history, which would get you better approvals. I recommend waiting the full year and just trying to get CLIs on the secured card for now. Discover secured is as good as it gets...you're not really missing out on many benefits besides the credit line. I started out like you, a student with just one lowly $500 CL non-secured card. I spent well and got 3 HP CLIs (didn't know about HP vs. SP then) before I went out to apply for more. Got everything I wanted and more. History don't come quickly obviously!

P.S. An HP is not a "baddie." Baddies are missed payments, bankruptcies, chargeoffs, stuff that is actually really bad for scores. An HP is just an HP.

newhis · ‎11-07-2016

Why you want a Visa card ASAP? Is that because some places do not take Discover?

I know you don't want another secured card but you already app for BofA, maybe you can request to use the same HP and get a secured card.

If you want to max your score, go with the secured loan/pay 91%/keep for 5 years, explained in a thread under 'understanding FICO score' forum.

Wait 6-7 months, maybe you can unsecured both Discover and BofA at that time. Even ask for CLI. Your score should be mid 700s. You will be able to get other cards with good limits. Good luck.

Anonymous · ‎11-07-2016

@garagebandking wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@AverageJoesCredit wrote:
Could try for Navy Federal as it seems they can be good for builders but not sure on short history. Congrats on getting a Discover , secured or not, you got a foot in. Maybe pick up a store card or two just to build some history and then maybe go back to Cap One. Good luck on your journey
I wish I were eligable for them! And thank you I'm looking forward to my graduation letter someday! I was considering the Amazon.com store card but wasn't sure if it's worth the inquiry even if I could be certain of approval. Thanks
If you want in with Navy Federal...you can use the Navy League San Diego affiliation that's talked about on the forum...pretty easy process (will cost you $25)...but I just went through it and it was very worthwhile.

I second this approach! It does not take long and Navy FCU is very much worth it! They are my PFI (primary finincial institution). Beyond that I would try for the Sportsman Guide Visa from Comenity, they are generally pretty flexible on who they will accept. You also mentioned you were a student I would suggest thinking about getting the Amazon Prime Card, it is pretty easy to get through Synchrony, and actually has useful rewards (5% cash back!!!) to us students it is a great option, I do not believe you would have an issue being approved. Good luck on your credit journey.

BirchBarlow · ‎11-07-2016

I wouldn't write off the prime lenders just yet. BoA and Chase are known for being difficult to get into without excellent credit. If you can't get approved for a fair credit card you should still be able to get a secured card. Both Cap1 and Citi offer a secured MasterCard so I would start there since you said you need a card to cover places that don't accept Discover. Assuming you pay on time and in full every month, you should eventually be able to graduate to a rewards card with Citi or Cap1.