Credit Card suggestions for bad credit

Anonymous · ‎09-25-2010

Hi,

I would like to seek some suggestion regarding applying credit cards and rebuilding credit score. I tried to search and couldn't find a post which is smiliar to my situation.

My credit profile is as below.

TU - 708

EX-621

EF-708

I have 3 collections from agencies for almost 20k(2yrs old). Currently I have 1 credit card with 1.5k limit never missed a payment in the last three years and recently got approved for capone no hassle rewards card with 500 limit.

Hence can anyone suggest me some store cards or unsecured cards I stand good chance with? I would like to build my credit slowly. BTW I have been rejected by these stores Macys, Bestbuy, Amazon , Paypal.

Thanks in advance.

laz98 · ‎09-25-2010

your scores are not that bad, if they are accurate, but if you are getting more than a couple denials, you should probably stop applying. sometimes sevearl inquiries will keep you from getting approved. but where did you get your scores from? no one really has access to their Experian score anymore. did you get the other 2 here? that way people can give you more accurate advice.

Anonymous · ‎09-25-2010

I have subscribed for free trial for $1 at experian site in July. The score was 581 according to the report I printed in july.

The I also subscribed for one more free trial from truecredit.com in august. My experian score was 621.

The main problem seems I just have only 2 revolving accounts with just 2k limit and avg account age 1.5yrs.

laz98 · ‎09-25-2010

@Anonymous wrote:
I have subscribed for free trial for $1 at experian site in July. The score was 581 according to the report I printed in july.

The I also subscribed for one more free trial from truecredit.com in august. My experian score was 621.

The main problem seems I just have only 2 revolving accounts with just 2k limit and avg account age 1.5yrs.

okay, unfortunately those scores are what we call FAKOs (fake scores). they are not accurate, & cannot be converted into accurate FICO scores.

your negatives are not too recent, but probably recent enough, & for high enough amounts, that they are scaring new creditors away. are they paid off?

it used to be that macy's accepted just about everyone, but that may have changed. if it really hasn't, then your scores might be worse than you think.

Anonymous · ‎09-25-2010

Fake scores ? really ? Even from experian.com and transunion ? I'm confused but they are the reporting agencies right ? So in that case how can I see my real scores ?

Nope they are not paid off and I don't think I can So does it means there is nothing I can do ? Actually I thought the same and haven't applied for any in last 2 years then I started applying for few and got approved for capone. Then I started thinking may be I have a chance to rebuild.

I don't have any car loans or student loans.

laz98 · ‎09-25-2010

@Anonymous wrote:
Fake scores ? really ? Even from experian.com and transunion ? I'm confused but they are the reporting agencies right ? So in that case how can I see my real scores ?

Nope they are not paid off and I don't think I can So does it means there is nothing I can do ? Actually I thought the same and haven't applied for any in last 2 years then I started applying for few and got approved for capone. Then I started thinking may be I have a chance to rebuild.

I don't have any car loans or student loans.

yep, really. it's super false advertising that takes advantage of consumers who don't know the difference. you can get your transunion score from www.transunion.CS.com (doesn't have to be capitalized, just emphasizing the difference), & you CAN get your score from equifax.com, but they have made it really difficult to find, so you have to find all the fine print & read it carefully.

you are better off just killing 2 birds with 1 stone & buying your TU & EQ scores here. you virtually cannot get your EX score, unless you are mortgage shopping or you belong to some specific credit union in pennsylvania

amounts that large, yes, are probably scaring away creditors, who are worried you will bail on them too. i can understand how that one approval can lead to hope that you will be able to get others, so don't feel bad for following that line of thought. you don't need car loans or student loans to rebuild, so don't worry. installment loans only count for 10% or so of your score. it's not worth taking out a loan you don't need

my advice would be to perhaps wait a year, so your capital one card shows a year of positive history, & maybe you will even get a credit limit increase out of them. then you will have a little more positive stuff to try & squash the negative stuff, even though it will still be hurting you quite a bit.

MarineVietVet · ‎09-25-2010

To add a little to what laz98 said no one has been able to buy their own Experian FICO score since February of 2009. Creditors can pull Experian and also there is a CU in Pennsylvania that supplies that information to it's members only. You can only buy true FICO scores at a few places. One place is here at myFICO. I suggest you do an internet search for "myfico discount codes" to save a little money.

As laz also said you can purchase your Transunion score at www.transunioncs.com. At www.equifax.com EQ will still sell you an Equifax FICO score but they make it difficult. Do not buy their new "Equifax Complete" product.

From a BK years ago to:
EX - 9/09 pulled by lender 802
EQ - 7/06-663, 3/10-800
TU - 8/10-772
You can do the same thing with hard work

credit_questons · ‎09-25-2010

Your scores are better than mine. I filed bankruptcy in 2006. I think it is much harder to get credit now, but I had good luck with Merrick and Capital One (annual fees and high interest rates), but helped me rebuild my credit. Maybe that helps.

Anonymous · ‎09-25-2010

Thanks to everyone who replied. I would just like to confirm whether this is the right product I need to check my real credit scores -Scorewatch from myFICO ?They do have 10 day free trial.

RobertEG · ‎09-25-2010

Painkiller, credit scoring basically works like this.

All major credit scoring is done based on data held in the databases of the national credit creporting agencies, namely EX, EQ, and TU.

They are the holders of the data. That is their main business.

Thus, anyone who wants to produce and sell credit scores must contract with one or more of the CRAs for access to their data.

Fair Issac was the first company to nationally produce their own credit scoring system. So, of course, they must have a contract with each CRA to use their data.

But since the CRAs are the holders of the data, it is simpler for the scores to be generated at the CRA, rather than permitting Fair Isaac full access to their credit files.

What happens is that Fair Isaac licenses to each CRA a copy of a scoring algorithm, and the actual FICO scores are then produced at the CRA, and not at Fair Isaac.

But the second half of their business relationship is how, to whom, and at what profit to whom, the produced scores can then be sold. That brings the users of the scores into the picture.

Up until last year, each CRA had an additional agreement with Fair Isaac to provide the scores generated using the FI model back to FI for sale to the general consumer market on this, the myFICO consumer web site. Thus, all scores you get on myFICO are true FICO scores.

However, EX, for their own business reasons, decided not to continue that agrrement with Fair Isaac. So consumers lost the ability to obtain their own FICO scores based upon their EX credit data. EX-based FICO scores are still there, but are now purchasable only by creditors, and not consumers.

The second type of credit scores are those that are derisively referred to as "FAKO" scores.

Take, for example, the CRAs. Yes,for years they relied on only Fair Isaac to provide the scoring algorithms, and because of that, FICO scores are the undisputed industry standard for credit scoring that most creditors rely on. But the CRAs decided that they wanted a piece of this posstible scoring revenue $$ without having to pay for licensed FI scores.

So they developed their own, indepedent algotithms, called Vantage scores, that they began to market independent of FICO scores. FICO is a registered tradmark of Fair Isaac, so no score not licensed through contract with Fair Isaac can legally be called a FICO score.

Others have also developed their own scoring algorithms, and market their scores.

If you order a score through the CRAs, or any of a myriad of other commerical companies who offer credit scores, they will sell you their own scoring, and it wont be a FICO score.

It does not mean that non-FICO scores are in any way fake. It means they are not as competitive. But the simple fact is that a VAST majority of creditors use FICO scores in their decision making, and that is the bottom line for the consumer.