What to Do With My Orchard Platinum?

laz98 · ‎04-11-2009

hello forum, i am in need of your advice

well, i got the balance on my orchard card paid off, & i was excited that it would read $0 for a balance from now on. but then, i remembered that it had a $6/mo fee....so really i will still be paying about $8/mo (i have that stupid insurance on the account) for nothing, since my goal is to not use the card anymore (other than to keep it active).

i'm tempted to close it, since it has a low CL that will probably never go anywhere. but since i have already closed 3 other (fee) cards in the last 6 months, & gemb just shut down my inactive carecredit account, i'm hesitant to close another account. i'm not sure how that looks on my credit, all these recently closed accounts.

also, from what i have read here on the forums, it's not always a good idea to combine orchard cards, because you might end up with less than what you started with! they're not great CLs, but i don't want to lose them, either, since that's all i've got, until my reports are clean again, & i can apply for the chase card i really want.

what to do? combine with my older, no-fee, higher apr orchard card in order to get rid of the monthly fee?

Anonymous · ‎04-12-2009

what to do? combine with my older, no-fee, higher apr orchard card in order to get rid of the monthly fee?

I think you should look into this option myself. Are both Orchard accounts paid to zero? If yes, then the APR really shouldn't matter. It would just be more incentive to keep the card PIF every month and besides if your Orchard is anything like mine the low limit on the card really negates any real significant interest you would be paying anyway. I would just suggest trying to combine and keeping the Orchard account open until you can get the card you really want, or at least the next step up. IMHO!

Anonymous · ‎04-12-2009

Your Orchard accounts are "place holders" for better credit down the road. You don't want to close all of your accounts, you need some open tradelines. If you can combine the accounts into a single account, keeping the oldest tradeline open, and eliminating one of your AF's while increasing your reported CL (combination of two accounts combined) you will have the best balanced approach.

Get with a credit union asap and begin building there. Open a savings account, make a deposit....add to it over time. Take out a loan against it or get a secured card. Make payments on time for 6 months....request unsecured card, which has a future....whereas Orchard does not.

laz98 · ‎04-13-2009

@Anonymous wrote:

what to do? combine with my older, no-fee, higher apr orchard card in order to get rid of the monthly fee?
I think you should look into this option myself. Are both Orchard accounts paid to zero? If yes, then the APR really shouldn't matter. It would just be more incentive to keep the card PIF every month and besides if your Orchard is anything like mine the low limit on the card really negates any real significant interest you would be paying anyway. I would just suggest trying to combine and keeping the Orchard account open until you can get the card you really want, or at least the next step up. IMHO!

no, both are not paid to zero. i know, i know, everyone says PIF...

i guess i will have to look into combining. hopefully it will come out better on the other end!

laz98 · ‎04-13-2009

@Anonymous wrote:
Your Orchard accounts are "place holders" for better credit down the road. You don't want to close all of your accounts, you need some open tradelines. If you can combine the accounts into a single account, keeping the oldest tradeline open, and eliminating one of your AF's while increasing your reported CL (combination of two accounts combined) you will have the best balanced approach.

Get with a credit union asap and begin building there. Open a savings account, make a deposit....add to it over time. Take out a loan against it or get a secured card. Make payments on time for 6 months....request unsecured card, which has a future....whereas Orchard does not.

i'm sorry you misunderstood........i haven't closed ALL of my accounts, just 3 of them. they all had tons of fees & lame credit limits that i was tired of paying for. now i have 2 orchards, 1 capital one, & a few store cards.

the problem with combining orchard cards, from what i have read & asked about here on the forum, is that you will not necessarily receive an increased credit limit. i have read about people combining an 800 & 400 card & ending up with only 800 or 1000. that's what i am afraid of. from what i've heard, even if you ask them what you will end up with, they will not tell you.

i am with a credit union, but since i am not working, they don't want to lend me 5 cents, even though our household income is pretty good for our area. we have savings & checking with them, & have had them for many years.

Anonymous · ‎04-14-2009

@laz98 wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:

what to do? combine with my older, no-fee, higher apr orchard card in order to get rid of the monthly fee?
I think you should look into this option myself. Are both Orchard accounts paid to zero? If yes, then the APR really shouldn't matter. It would just be more incentive to keep the card PIF every month and besides if your Orchard is anything like mine the low limit on the card really negates any real significant interest you would be paying anyway. I would just suggest trying to combine and keeping the Orchard account open until you can get the card you really want, or at least the next step up. IMHO!
no, both are not paid to zero. i know, i know, everyone says PIF...

i guess i will have to look into combining. hopefully it will come out better on the other end!

Ha! My Orchard is carrying a balance as well. Actually about $600 on a $950 CL. OUCH! I also have two Orchard cards, the other has a $300 CL 0 balance. I am putting as much money as I can towards the Orchard card and when its down to 0 I will ask to combine. If they give me any troubles I will close them instantly. Both have $39 anual fee.

Txjohn is right about the CU thing except it doesn't always work so easily. Mine won't help me right now either.

Anyway, let me know what you decide to do with Orchard, because I'm thinking of doing the same thing.

laz98 · ‎04-14-2009

diz, i'm probably going to wait about a month, & then call to combine just before the next statement (& fee!) cuts.

one less card to worry about (not that i really worry, anyway). one less AF, one less monthly fee. actually, that will leave me with no monthly fee cards! that will be nice. too bad the AF on my remaining orchard card will be the higher of the 2, $59. it also has the higher apr.

hopefully the combined CL will at least be $1k. right now i have a $700 & a $400 card.

Creditaddict · ‎04-14-2009

I would call and cancel the insurance on these credit cards now!

Why pay for insurance that will probably NEVER get used for a card with a CL less than $1k right?

Anonymous · ‎04-14-2009

I had 2 orchard card, one a mastercard and the other a visa. The visa had no annual fees, while the mc had one, so I decided to combine them. To my disappointment, they weren't able to combine the 2 accts because my credit profile had changed..? The only thing I could think of that caused the decline was because I had opened a couple new cc during that time, but it would've been nice if the first person I talked to about combining the accts had told me about the possibilities of not being able to combine the accts. HSBC ended up closing the mc acct, and left the other acct open for me. I wasn't too happy with the outcome, but I decided not to argue with them because it's a waste of time..all this happened almost a year ago, so maybe they've changed the "combining accts" process, I don't know.

However, it's something to think about if you are still thinking about combining..