Indigo Mastercard

[Anonymous]

Hey Guys!

I got a pre qualification in the mail for the indigo card, applies and was approved for $300.00. Is this card worth it for rebuilding?

Currently my fico scores are:

Equifax 587
Transunion 622
Experian 594

My starting scores in August before I decided to get my credit together were

Equifax: 538
Experian 519
Transunion 535

I have one charge off with a balance reporting for PenFed. However I have been dealing with loss mitigation and they agreed I will make 3 trial payments of 200 (already made one trial payment) and at the end of the last one (December) the charge off will be pulled out of CO status and “rolled” into a consumer loan for 24 months.

I want to bring my scores up as much as possible.

I am AU on my brothers Amex which I heavily utilize and make payments (current spend YTD on the AMEX is 40k and I pay all payments from my checking account. My brother added me on a commenity capital card with a 5600 CL and a Wells Fargo Card 2k credit limit.

Any suggestions on how to move forward? Keep the indigo? Let me accounts age? Wait until the PenFed charge off is updated (I hope this yields a nice bump)

Thanks everyone!

[Anonymous]

Any positive reporting tradeline is good for rebuilding or building credit.
Will you want this card after you get better cards? Probably not. And that's ok! For now, let it help you rebuild. 
As for moving forward....I didn't see your current scores, only the ones for August. Let your Indigo age a bit, and keep the reporting utility under 9.8%. In about 3 months, see where your scores are and test Capital Ones pre-qual. 
You'll be fine, but I wouldn't get another rebuilder card right now bc you don't need it. 

[TattnallTrio]

I’ve had an Indigo Mastercard for 2 years now. I only accepted it because it had $0 annual fee. I wouldn’t pay an annual fee for it but I’d take Indigo before I went to First Premier or any of the deeper subprime cards.
From my experience, the card is ok. It doesn’t have a chip on it and the online interface is “ok”. The don’t offer CLIs and they often put payments on hold for 4 business days.
Their customer service seems to be outsourced to the Middle East but I haven’t had any problems with them.
I’d suggest a FNBO/First Bankcard or Discover secured card that’ll graduate first. If you aren’t concerned with inquiries and have the extra money then go for FNBO and Citi first, then BOA and Discover. If there’s no luck or you don’t want to go secured then the Indigo card might be the best route.

[Anonymous]

Thanks so much everyone! I think I’ll keep it for now to have some positive unsecured reporting. Honestly thou I do not think I’ll carry it in my wallet—sock drawer it.

[Startingover_17]

This card is complete predatory lending type nonsense. I’m currently trying to pay mine off and they aren’t working with me at all. They also tacked on lots of fees when I fell on hard times. Not a good card.

[FireMedic1]

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@Startingover_17 wrote:
This card is complete predatory lending type nonsense. I’m currently trying to pay mine off and they aren’t working with me at all. They also tacked on lots of fees when I fell on hard times. Not a good card.

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Thats how these companies make money. But in their defense. It wasnt their fault you fell on hard times. Sorry that happened whatever it was. But thats the world of secured vulture cards. Hope you get it paid off soon and welcome to the Forums!

[Startingover_17]

I FINALLY got to a Supervisor that wasn’t offshore and was able to make heads or tails of it. They won’t offer a settlement and that sucks, but I’ll just pay it and be done with them. Sure it wasn’t their fault I fell on hard times due to an accident but I should have gotten the account protection service when I opened it. It was like talking to a brick wall!! Ask for a US supervisor or you’ll be really ticked off.

[Anonymous]

I got the card as part of my rebuild a couple years back. It's a no-frills card. Zero perks, points, or benefits. High interest rate. High minimum payments. No app, just a basic website.

It's exactly what I would expect of a subprime rebuilder card.

That being said, it offered me no bad experiences. I used it, I paid it. Payments posted next day unless on a weekend. No hidden fees- all were clearly spelled out. Didn't get jerked around, had zero issues with payments. I closed it after less than a year, as it had served its purpose and I had since gotten in with Amex and Disco among quite a few others. I have no ill will toward them and had no bad experiences. It was expensive on APR and AF, but when your credit sucks you can't be picky. I took it, got better cards, and closed it. It did what I needed it to do.

[Azuieldrago]

I have the indigo card. It is definitely one that you want to use for rebuilding and then ditch. Or keep it as a daily user. Payments go through pretty quick, a day or two. Available credit changes within a day after payment posts. I use it as my daily, that way, no matter what, I can only get $300 in the hole. Then I PIF either every other on pay day or before the statement cuts. Stay on top of payments, it would never really bother you. 

[Anonymous]

^^^ yep, although I’d say keep it only if you have the no-AF version, which I wasn’t offered and which I was unaware of until this thread. I see a lot of hate toward it for high fees and such, but no one is going to offer a no-AF, low APR, 2% cash back card with no FTF and bonus earning categories to the 550-FICO section of the market. There’s nothing inherently wrong with it and it was very easy to use and manage provided one uses it for the purpose of boosting scores until better cards are attainable. If I had to rebuild again, I’d likely have tried to get a Disco or Citi secured card (didn’t know such a thing existed at the time) but if I couldn’t get those, I’d take this one again. They held up their end of the deal just fine for me.