What card can I get with a 657?

[Anonymous]

Thank you all for the information.  I r teh smart no!1

Of all the secured cards that I looked at, Bank of America seems the best one as far as fees.  There is no 'maintenance' fee, 'origination' fee, 'start up' fee, 'today is a sunny day' fee etc.  Just a flat annual charge. 

I applied for an 'unsecured' card with BoA but was denied and got an offer for a 'secured' card.  I think I will go with that.

Before I accept the offer, I would like to get more information please. 

The purpose of the card is to build/improve credit so -

a.  Does it matter how much money I start the secured card with?  $300, $500, 1k, 2k?

b.  What is the best way to use the card?  Should I charge everything I buy on the card and pay it off in full monthly to avoid interest, or should I charge $100 on it and take a year to pay it off?  What would look best on the credit report?

Thanks in advance.

[smallfry]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Thank you all for the information.  I r teh smart no!1

Of all the secured cards that I looked at, Bank of America seems the best one as far as fees.  There is no 'maintenance' fee, 'origination' fee, 'start up' fee, 'today is a sunny day' fee etc.  Just a flat annual charge. 

I applied for an 'unsecured' card with BoA but was denied and got an offer for a 'secured' card.  I think I will go with that.

Before I accept the offer, I would like to get more information please. 

The purpose of the card is to build/improve credit so -

a.  Does it matter how much money I start the secured card with?  $300, $500, 1k, 2k?

b.  What is the best way to use the card?  Should I charge everything I buy on the card and pay it off in full monthly to avoid interest, or should I charge $100 on it and take a year to pay it off?  What would look best on the credit report?

Thanks in advance.

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If you have 1K available go with that since it will be more manageable to work. Don't let more than 9% of the credit limit report a balance when the statement cuts. Most have had their secured cards unsecure in 9 months. Don't even try Chase or Citi. You might want to try Cap One as well now. Some HSBC (Orchard) cards come with $6 monthly fees. Cap One might end up starting you out at more than $300 and some have gotten 0% promo rates on purchases for 6 months. Doesn't matter since you want to PIF every month. 

[Anonymous]

Thank you smallfry.

Capital One does not offer any services in my state so I can't apply for the card.  Kinda strange but whatever floats their boat.

I will get BoA and Orchard Bank secured credit cards with 1k and $500 credit limits, respectively.  I will then have my recurring monthly charges (about $30 each) hit both of these cards and set up an automatic bank payment to both. I figure this way it would show a balance of under 10% on each card for better credit building and no financial charges since they will be PIF within the grace period.  I will then put these credit cards in the sock drawer and forget about them for 9 months.  See what hatches then =p

Thank you all again for the wonderful education and advice.

[Anonymous]

mrsmith, if you belong to, or are eligible to join a credit union, you should look into getting a card through them, before you go the Orchard route. The BoA card is a good one. I had a fully secured card a few years back, and now I have an unsecured card with a 7k limit. If you use it, PIF, and keep your credit clean, I think you'll see significant rewards from BoA in 9-12 months when it unsecures.

Be sure to read Tuscani's Credit Scoring 101 thread. It'll give you a lot of insight on you can manage your cards/credit to get the most FICO bang for your buck. You'll want less than half of your accounts to report a balance, and you'll want that balance to be 1-9% of your total available credit.

So, if you have two cards, only let a balance report on one of them, and make sure that the balance is no more than 1-9%.

[Creditaddict]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Thank you smallfry.

Capital One does not offer any services in my state so I can't apply for the card.  Kinda strange but whatever floats their boat.

I will get BoA and Orchard Bank secured credit cards with 1k and $500 credit limits, respectively.  I will then have my recurring monthly charges (about $30 each) hit both of these cards and set up an automatic bank payment to both. I figure this way it would show a balance of under 10% on each card for better credit building and no financial charges since they will be PIF within the grace period.  I will then put these credit cards in the sock drawer and forget about them for 9 months.  See what hatches then =p

Thank you all again for the wonderful education and advice.

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DO NOT get HSBC Secured... it does not ever unsecure, and I would bet money you would be approved for unsecured with them, but if you have 2k I would put all 2k into your BofA, because when it unsecures in 9 months, that will be your credit line, so you my as well make it as high as possible. Then as far as how to use it, I would use it as much as you can afford to pay each month, If you can PIF all 2k every month, that's what I would do to show you need more spending power when it unsecures. Don't carry balances on ANY card if you don't have to.

[kay82]

 Question here, do all BOA secured cards graduate to unsecured after 1 year or only the 99/500

[SCF]

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@kay82 wrote:
 Question here, do all BOA secured cards graduate to unsecured after 1 year or only the 99/500

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The fully secured card graduates as well.

[kay82]

 Aww thats interesting I didnt know that, so when it graduates would I get my money back that I put into initially or does that just contribute to the CL & then would they add to it, providing I treat the card right?

[Anonymous]

your deposit is refunded when it unsecures(9-12 month). CL usually either your secured limit or secured limit+500

[mamalawery]

i agree. go with a credit union. they have better apr's and af's if any.

Message Edited by mamalawery on 01-19-2009 02:40 PM