Building my credit

[Anonymous]

Hey guys, i currently have a 553 credit score. I was at 410 in January. I got a vehicle loan threw one of those really high interest rate banks. And have made all payments on time and it brought me up to 553. My question do you guys know of any credit cards or store cards i would qualify for with this score? I dont wana get a secured card. I got a pre approval in the mail for credit one bank and applied and got approved for 300$. So basically does anyone know of anywhere else i would qualify with my current score. Thanks.

[Anonymous]

Being approved for an unsecured card with this score sounds quite challenging to me.
Discover or Petal *could* be one of the easiest lenders to qualify with, assuming you did not burn them too recently.

I would still wait a few months for your score to get in better shape, in order to have access to better products than what you can have now. I’m not sure applying only for the sake of it would do you any good for now.

[nax]

Hello F150guy and welcome to the forums

You are on a great path so far, with one instalment loan and one credit card. It's said that for optimal fico score you want one installment and 3 revolving cards. Credit One can be a great starter card but they have left a bad taste in the mouths of many people as they are a bit predatory as far as rebuilders go. I would say you have to look at the long term and what your long term goals are. Cards like Credit One and others that may approve you with current scores are generaly not good long term cards. I know you said you don't want to go the route of secured but I can say that secured cards from Major lendors like Discover are long term cards that don't charge fees for pretty much everything (Credit One will even charge you a fee to increase your limit) whereas Discover will give you cashbak rewards and much more. A $200 deposit can turn into several thousands in unsecured credit in a short time. I too used Credit One in the past and have closed the accounts I had with them as it was costing me more to do just about anything, but it did what it was intended to do. It helped me rebuild and gain access to more long term cards. 

Time to pull your reports and get a true sence of what is holding your score back and poke around the forum here, you will find a lot of help in improving your credit pretty quickly. Good Luck

[Brian_Earl_Spilner]

With a 512, I got a secured discover that unsecured into a normal card. I obviously wouldn't have qualified for a regular one. But the discover was good enough because I changed it to the 5% rotating IT after the first statement and was getting the first year cash back match making it a 2-10% cash back card. Everything except the security deposit and credit limit increases was the same as the regular card. You also speak to the normal customer service unless it's specifically about the secured card.

Credit One is gonna give you 1% cash back and a bunch of fees which will probably erode that to nothing. Doesn't matter if the card is secured or unsecured, they help your credit the same. And as you won't be applying for a home loan anytime soon, there's no need to worry about an underwriter seeing your secured card.

[pinkandgrey]

Honestly I think you’ll either have to wait until your scores come up or go with a secured. I know you said you don’t want one, but a Discover Secured could graduate pretty quickly and up your limit nicely. Plus, having a card will speed up your credit-building. 

[Anonymous]

I agree with the advice given by most of the previous posters. A Discover secured card may be the way to go. Many seem to have good success with it and it's possible to earn rewards. Whether secured or regular card, it still builds your credit. 

[Anonymous]

Check with Capital One pre qualified. A friend of mine just got approved for Capital One Platinum with $300 SL today with a 549 FICO score.  

[gdale6]

My suggestion would be a local CU who deals in rebuild help or one of the nationals that does. (DCU, NFCU, SDFCU) welcome to the board OP