Secured Credit Cards

[AA2015]

As of today:

Equifax: 567

TransUnion: 576

Experian: 565

I'm in the process of rebuilding my credit. I currently have one secuered credit card with an credit union. I"m interested in getting another secuered card to improve the payment history on my credit reports.  What are some of the best secured credit cards? How many secured credit cards should I have?  Any other advice or suggestions to improve my fico scores fast? 

Golden 1 CU

Secured Credit Card

Opened in March 2005

APR: 17.00%

Limit: 625

Payment Status: Current

[joeyoey]

When I was starting out I had one secured card with a credit union & nothing else.  I then got a secured card with Capital One.  They won't let you "graduate" to an unsecured card (there seems to be some confusion about this) but after you've had the secured card for a while you can apply for a non-secured card.  If you get into the credit steps program they'll probably start you out with a modest limit but if you use it well they will increase it after 6 months & depending on your starting limit, sometimes 6-7X the starting amount (I started out with $500 & on the 6th month they increased it to $3500).

[Anonymous]

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@AA2015 wrote:

As of today:

Equifax: 567

TransUnion: 576

Experian: 565

I'm in the process of rebuilding my credit. I currently have one secuered credit card with an credit union. I"m interested in getting another secuered card to improve the payment history on my credit reports.  What are some of the best secured credit cards? How many secured credit cards should I have?  Any other advice or suggestions to improve my fico scores fast? 

Golden 1 CU

Secured Credit Card

Opened in March 2005

APR: 17.00%

Limit: 625

Payment Status: Current

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i always recommend BOA secured card.  I started with a $300 secured card, it graduted after the 12th statement.  I asked for a PC to a cash reward after it went unsecure, i went online ask for CLI after new card arrived.  Requested 5000 with a hp, and the computer countered me with 1600.  I then call recon next morning and after the rep reviewed my CR, he gave me an additional 5000 and i got a total of 6600. 

$300 to $1600 to $6600 all within 2 years. 

[crrredit]

I got the Capital One secured card. I have had it for about 7 months and just applied and received the Quicksilver One card from them. I also got an FNBO secured card, which may graduate, and a First Progress card, which won't. I wouldn't recommend the First Progress since you already got your first card. If you can get a Bank of America secured card, they can graduate. Getting one from your credit union is a great idea, so that's a good start for sure.

[Anonymous]

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@crrredit wrote:

I got the Capital One secured card. I have had it for about 7 months and just applied and received the Quicksilver One card from them. I also got an FNBO secured card, which may graduate, and a First Progress card, which won't. I wouldn't recommend the First Progress since you already got your first card. If you can get a Bank of America secured card, they can graduate. Getting one from your credit union is a great idea, so that's a good start for sure.

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my cap 1 got 1 CLI from 300 to 651, and it's still secured......

[doc101]

I started with Cap1 and still have and use today. Have 2 other cards thru them and very very satified

[crrredit]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@crrredit wrote:

I got the Capital One secured card. I have had it for about 7 months and just applied and received the Quicksilver One card from them. I also got an FNBO secured card, which may graduate, and a First Progress card, which won't. I wouldn't recommend the First Progress since you already got your first card. If you can get a Bank of America secured card, they can graduate. Getting one from your credit union is a great idea, so that's a good start for sure.

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my cap 1 got 1 CLI from 300 to 651, and it's still secured......

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I put $700 on my secured card and got a CLI to $1K after 6 statements.

[AA2015]

I bank with BOA. Lately, I have been receiving emails about credit card offers. I checked and BOA recommends BankAmericard® Visa® Card: 0% Introductory APR on purchases and qualifying balance transfers for 15 billing cycles; after that 10.99-20.99% variable APR. I want to apply. But, I don't want to get denied. Two or three years ago, I applied for an secured card with BOA and was denied. 

[crrredit]

if you have a charge off with BOA, they won't let you get even the secured card. I know that from experience. Not sure what other factors disqualify you for the secured. It's not the easiest to get, but it's a good one. If you happen to still have your rejection letter from when you applied a couple years ago, see what reasons they give for the rejections and see if those items are still on your report. 

[Anonymous]

The SDFCU Secured Visa Platinum Rewards is my favorite secured card. Platinum benefits(extended warranties, car rental insurance, etc...), rewards program, no annual fee, 6.99APR(just in case, shouldn't carry a balance). It doesn't graduate, but by every other metric it's one of the best secured cards you can get. You can qualify for SDFCU's Field of Membership by joining American Consumer Council($5 for 1 year membership), which will also qualify you for an assortment of other credit unions as well. If/when you setup the secured card account with them, do it over the phone as I've read reports that people who set it up online had their credit report pulled.

If you don't have any installment loans in the mix right now, I'd recommend looking into shared secured loans. Those can be had for as little as 2 or 3 percent interest and they're pretty safe loans if you follow the strategy of deposit the security deposit in savings, take the loan against it and deposit it into savings and leave it there(do not take it out), try to make the payments out of monthly income but if you can't one month, take it out of the savings. At the end of the term, if you're able to make the monthly payments out of pocket and you don't touch the savings, you'll have twice the cash on hand as before the loan and a positive installment loan tradeline.