After my last BK and divorce (both were related, long story) the first offer I receievd was from Orchard. They gave me a $400.00 line with a $39.00 annual fee. My FICO score was probably in the high 5's.
Fast forward 18 months. My FICO scores are 695, 705, and 710. So I called Orchard to see if they'll waive the fee since I now have a Juniper MC with a $10k line and a WaMu card with a $7500 line along with an AMEX gold.
They wouldn't do it. They said the fee allows them to provide superior service. I cancelled the card on the spot. In addition, HSBC also does the finaicing for Yamaha and I had financed my motorcycle through them. I made a phone call to Chase (I have one of their cards too) and they offered to balance transfer the payoff for the bike at 3.9% for life. Chase took care of it and I paid HSBC off.
I know that HSBC does offer credit to people who otherwise may not be able to obtain it which is why i jumped when offered one a while back....but as you situation improves, there are (in my experience) much better creditors that will offer better deals and provide much better service.
As I see it, if I'm going to pay a fee, then i want something in return for it like my AMEX card does. I'm not going to pay a fee just for the sake of paying one. Your mileage may vary.
