@Anonymous wrote:
What do u mean reward? Like do u get that money back?
You better believe you get your dough back
But I'm happy you asked the question b/c too many mistakes are made b/c folks are working on 'some' information vs ALL the information.
There are some B.S. companies out there that charge FEES rather than an actual 'secured card'
Just to quickly explain for others...
Your 'security' deposit is just like one you'd put down for DAMAGES at an apartment or at a hotel for incidentals,
so basically it's a 'forced savings' account...
(You are 'securing' say a $500 CL by placing $500 in a savings account (or CD) ...just 'in case' you break a lamp and eff' up so bad the creditor already has an account of money to attack.)
You DO NOT want to let that happen, I've seen toommany ppl think 'well they have my money to pay'...do not think of it that way.
You must think of it has just a savings account, to make the lender feel comfortable extending you credit ...but it IS CREDIT and must be treated as such.
Never even consider that money towards paying your bill...if that happens you've totally eff'd up.
Think apt. ...you pay your rent and after the year your FULL deposit comes back and since the % rates earned on savings is ish anyway you haven't really 'lost' much by that money sitting there in a FDIC insured savings account
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All that being said to answer your 1st question at this point, meaning re-building...the 'real' thing that matters for the scoring model is
1) on-time payments ...i'm sure you got that down pat
2) The place where you can make hay is keeping the % of debt looking PRETTY
So it doesn't matter a $200 CL does the same as a $2000CL ....6 payments, is 6 payments the REAL difference maker is
What is the debt/ratio to CL ...that's ALL the model is calculating.....so $10/$200 is as good as $100/$2000
Too many ppl 'think' that adding $2000 in an account to secure a $2000 secured line CHANGES the fact that it's still a weak, thin, young file
it does not......stroke the score with on-time payments, great debt/ratios and in 6-8 months you're in the same place in line.
Don't forget about the secured loan...my preferred method of adding extra TL's
Use the 'deposit' funds to secure a small PL
then use the 'loan money' to secure CC #2 ( in your case)
make the loan payment by charrging the card
then make one payment, paying the CC
At the end you've got credit mix b/c on the CC's AND the PL
+ you've still got your original money (remember it was 'secured' in an account)
total 'cost' $20-$30 towards the secured loan
Upside freaking fantastic, as all the lines mature together ( the loan stays on file as 'credit juice' for 10 years) and your file is thicker than just ONE line
Read my and others past post on how to use a secured PL along with 1-3 secured CC's to build a nice profile all at once..by Spring you can be 'da man/woman
I used three secured cards to start my rebuilding efforts. I did put a larger deposit on one of the cards because I wanted enough credit to be able to rent a car and stay at hotels. Kept the other balances low and made sure they were paid in full right before the statement cut. No FICO score benefits to having higher limits.
@crrredit wrote:I used three secured cards to start my rebuilding efforts. I did put a larger deposit on one of the cards because I wanted enough credit to be able to rent a car and stay at hotels. Kept the other balances low and made sure they were paid in full right before the statement cut. No FICO score benefits to having higher limits.
As a new business traveler, this is about the only time, at least to me, it would make sense to put more "down" than the minimum.
For me, I started rebuilding before I started traveling more, and my limit on my QS has increased enough to be able to handle both airfare and hotels (and food expenses), thankfully 
And as per usual, Gemini nails it.
@Anonymous wrote:
@crrredit wrote:I used three secured cards to start my rebuilding efforts. I did put a larger deposit on one of the cards because I wanted enough credit to be able to rent a car and stay at hotels. Kept the other balances low and made sure they were paid in full right before the statement cut. No FICO score benefits to having higher limits.
As a new business traveler, this is about the only time, at least to me, it would make sense to put more "down" than the minimum.
For me, I started rebuilding before I started traveling more, and my limit on my QS has increased enough to be able to handle both airfare and hotels (and food expenses), thankfully
And as per usual, Gemini nails it.
1) Thanks for the kind word jjking
2) Totally agree with the exception...normally, I look at rebuilding as pushing the right buttons on the video games just to get to the high score and look pretty along the way.
But, as you and crrredit point out if the builder actually has a NEED , where card usage other than for building purposes only.....
by all means a larger deposit is certainly NP
I'm absolutely on board with this line of thinking .....and to remind ppl that in addition to hotels and car rentals, don't forget at the pump many cards will auth
an amount that may stay unavailable for a few days , so careful.
Today many places auth $100, so even if you only get $30 bucks worth of gas that $100 is held till the auth falls off......
Learned, this way back when I worked in my 1st CU ...ppl would be pissed that their debit/fancy ATM's (in my book) and/or credit card avaibility was out of whack.
The issue was, when you pull up to the pump it's just an auth, they don't know if you are filling up a double tank SUV or a motorcycle so to be safe most cards will auth
an arbitrary amount based upon gas prices of the day....I'm old it used to be $40 then $60 now for many it's $100...(I think my USAA AmEx does $100)
Anyway the work around is to go INSIDE and purchase an exact amount and you're good ( this is very important for those times when folks are a 'lil light in the pocket...we've all been there ....I know I have 
very happy I don't have to play 'swipe and hope' any more but I know the deal
just FYI, for those that didn't know and may be able t use that tidbit when gas and funds are low...go inside and get your $10, if that's all ya got.....