Just got approved for my first credit card, after being a debit user my entire life. It's the Discover It card. I've recently got the itch to dive into anything and everything related to building credit and the intricacies (to me) behind it.
I don't have any major things happening in the near-futures (meaning mortgage, etc.) Is there a "holy grail" card that should be a goal of mine or should I just focus on building a solid credit history first?
@BioRadar wrote:Just got approved for my first credit card, after being a debit user my entire life. It's the Discover It card. I've recently got the itch to dive into anything and everything related to building credit and the intricacies (to me) behind it.
I don't have any major things happening in the near-futures (meaning mortgage, etc.) Is there a "holy grail" card that should be a goal of mine or should I just focus on building a solid credit history first?
1. Welcome to the forum.
2. Congratulations on your Discover card approval.
3. If by "dive in" you mean learn anything you can learn, I'm all for that. And you came to the right place, IMHO.
4. No there is no "holy grail" card. Everyone has different needs and wants, and they can change over time, and the cards themselves can change over time. So the holy grail is the one that's right for you at a particular time in your life.
Among the types of cards:
-Cash back cards
-General travel rewards cards
-Specific co-branded travel cards
-Credit union platinum cards with low interest, and no balance transfer or cash advance fees
I would suggest going at it very slowly and deliberately.
And I would suggest that you give us an idea of what you would be looking for in a card, and we can give you lots of recommendations.
@JoeRockhead wrote:Welcome to the forum and congratulations on your approval.
To some, the holy grail might be the Amex Centurion card but is an unrealistic achievement for most. Different people have different views as to what is their ultimate goal cards are. The best thing would be to focus on building a solid credit history and scores so you can attain the cards that most appeal to you and your needs.
Thank you!
Yeah I figured I was getting a little ahead of myself, making sure I have a solid credit history will be my main goal for the foreseeable future.
@Anonymalous wrote:
@BioRadar wrote:Just got approved for my first credit card, after being a debit user my entire life. It's the Discover It card. I've recently got the itch to dive into anything and everything related to building credit and the intricacies (to me) behind it.
I don't have any major things happening in the near-futures (meaning mortgage, etc.) Is there a "holy grail" card that should be a goal of mine or should I just focus on building a solid credit history first?
I was in the same boat, two years ago, though I started with Cap1 instead of Discover.
The first thing you might want to consider is pulling your 3 credit reports from annualcreditreport.com. That's the official, government-mandated website, where you can get the credit reports directly from the source (the 3 primary credit bureaus), instead of via a third party who is trying to monetize your information. Look over the reports, and see if you're really a new file. When I first pulled my reports, two of them only had a single address in the top section that contains personal information (that section isn't scoreable), and nothing at all in the 4 sections belows (which contain the credit information used to generate a score). The 3rd bureau didn't even know who I was.
Secondly, if you're interested in knowing your credit scores (not the same as a credit report), you have one available through Discover. The two services that make official FICO scores available to anyone for free are MyFICO (their free plan provides Equifax FICO 8), and Experian (Experian FICO 8). Just make sure you sign up for their free plans, because they do try to upsell. The other free scores floating around either require you have a credit product from them (a lot of banks/CUs), or are Vantage Scores, which aren't used for many credit decisions, at least at the moment.
Thirdly, you won't qualify for any holy grail credit cards. As a new file, you're going to have a hard time qualifying for anything except a few starter cards. In fact, if you really are a new file, you won't have a FICO score. It takes 6 months of credit history before they'll generate a score. (Vantage score can generate one sooner, but again that's rarely used.) And it takes about 2 years of personal credit history before you'll qualify for most cards.
Discover is an excellent choice for a first card. A good strategy would be to wait six months until you're scorable, and then apply for another card from another lender. I'd avoid secured cards -- those are more for people who screwed up their credit, rather than new files -- but I would target lenders known to be friendly to new files, or lenders you already have a (banking) relationship with. After that, space out your applications. At least 3 months apart, or even better, 6 months apart. Some new files are more aggressive, applying for many cards at once. That tends to lead to baby credit limits, and more rejections, though there is an argument for getting a bunch of new cards right away and letting them age. I had 5 cards after 18 months, and a TCL over $55K. Those who go faster will tend to have more cards, but lower limits.
In the meantime, become familiar with your new credit card. Set up autopay, look over your monthly statement. Learn the difference between due date and statement close date, and when your card reports to the credit bureaus. Play with utilization and see how that affects your scores. Become familiar with the interface, how to redeem rewards, and check that the retailers you use get coded the way you expect. And then, as you add new cards, learn to manage them all at once. Building good credit is about establishing good habits, and this is the time to do that.
I appreciate the plethora of information and directive you've given!
I'll have to pull my 3 credit reports to see what actual "history" I currently have/don't have. Discover seemed like a good starting point and hoping it works out. Going to have to learn the ins and out of the card I'm working with.
@SouthJamaica wrote:
@BioRadar wrote:Just got approved for my first credit card, after being a debit user my entire life. It's the Discover It card. I've recently got the itch to dive into anything and everything related to building credit and the intricacies (to me) behind it.
I don't have any major things happening in the near-futures (meaning mortgage, etc.) Is there a "holy grail" card that should be a goal of mine or should I just focus on building a solid credit history first?
1. Welcome to the forum.
2. Congratulations on your Discover card approval.
3. If by "dive in" you mean learn anything you can learn, I'm all for that. And you came to the right place, IMHO.
4. No there is no "holy grail" card. Everyone has different needs and wants, and they can change over time, and the cards themselves can change over time. So the holy grail is the one that's right for you at a particular time in your life.
Among the types of cards:
-Cash back cards
-General travel rewards cards
-Specific co-branded travel cards
-Credit union platinum cards with low interest, and no balance transfer or cash advance fees
I would suggest going at it very slowly and deliberately.
And I would suggest that you give us an idea of what you would be looking for in a card, and we can give you lots of recommendations.
Thank you for the warm welcome!
From what I've seen, this will be an excellent resource for any questions and concerns I have. I guess the first thing I have to do is really figure out what I want out of any cards.
@NoMoreE46 wrote:Welcome @BioRadar.
Keep in mind we have all kinds of experts, enthusiasts, hobbyists in addition to those just getting started here.
There isn't a need for one to compare oneself to another. We do share DPs to help gauge how an issuer might treat another application with such DP.
That said, please feel free to let us know your Disco SL, FICO scores (if you have any) and what you want (rewards, etc.) out of a future credit card.
Thank you for all of the information!
I'll have to pull all of my scores and really figure out what I'm looking for out of a card.
@NoMoreE46 wrote:Welcome @BioRadar.
Keep in mind we have all kinds of experts, enthusiasts, hobbyists in addition to those just getting started here.
There isn't a need for one to compare oneself to another. We do share DPs to help gauge how an issuer might treat another application with such DP.
That said, please feel free to let us know your Disco SL, FICO scores (if you have any) and what you want (rewards, etc.) out of a future credit card.
Started to look into the types of future cards that would best suit me, and I would say I would lean more towards cashback, revolving or stagnant.
As for the free FICO8 Scores I pulled:
EQUI - 699
EXP - 693
Looks like my short stint of student loans and car loans helped give me some kind of baseline.