Unsecured Cards for Rebuilders

Anonymous · ‎06-08-2018

I'm a long time lurker, but first time poster

I started my rebuild in November of 2017. I paid off 2 accounts (auto repo, mail order account) and successfully disputed an errant account from T-Mobile. My scores over the last six months (6 month checkup in May '18), have improved greatly, and while they still are not where I want them to be, but I am happy for the improvement so far.

I would love to help myself out with successful management and payments on a credit card. The Fingerhut account I have is at 51% utilization, but that is all I have reporting to my credit reports. I would like to get an approval on a low limit unsecured card, but was turned down for the Capital One Platinum card a few days ago. What cards are out there that have higher approval percentages for rebuilding folks?

Rebuild started on 11/2/2017 |Equifax| 515 |Experian| 531 |Transunion| 518

6 Month Checkup, May 2, 2018 |Equifax| 598 |Experian| 654 |Transunion| 570

Rebuilding Accounts: Fingerhut/Webbank: $2750/$1397 | SelfLender - Opened April 20, $48/mo plan

Baddies: Auto Repo, [PIF] Prestige Financial from 7/2012- $2478 | Mail Order, [PIF] Swiss Colony from 9/2014- $610 | No Public Records, No Collections

Goals: Buy a home in Spring 2019! • Join the 750+ club by Fall 2019 • Credit Peace of mind

Anonymous · ‎06-08-2018

Is the fingerhut account figure ($2750/$1397) listed in your signature formatted like:
$ credit limit / $ amount owed?

Mostly, it's listed in opposite order- something to consider that will help eliminate confusion! :-)
My suggestion is to think about your savings. You need to save in order to buy a house, no? Start an online savings account with discover. As a rebuilder I was turned down twice with discover, until I started a savings account with them. I fed it weekly for 2 months, got a nice little egg in that, and when I app'd a 3rd time, got a card approval with no hard pull and a limit triple any other card-- a number almost identical to what I had in my savings account at the time.

Did you burn capitol one?

Do the prequalify pages before apping cold!

Open Sky does a secured card with no credit check.
Secured isn't ideal, but the sooner you start padding your credit report with history and positive payment history, the better. Particularly in wanting to buy a house, you'll need to note that you want some history, and won't want new cards in the last six months.
I hope this is helpful info- if you act on it, it will prove fruitful!

austingal · ‎06-08-2018

Honestly you may need to start with secured cards that will unsecure in the future. Navy Federal Credit Union, Cap One, and Discover may be good secured cards for this.

I started with a Navy Federal Credit Union secured card at $500. A year later it graduated to unsecured and they gave me my $500 deposit back. They have given me CLI's (without my asking) to where my limit is now $3000. I have had this card a little less than 2 years.

I think I heard that the Discover secured card graduates and unsecures after 7 months.

The Open Sky one that was already mentioned might be an option as well. Not sure if that one unsecures or not but it will get your foot in the door as far as having a credit card.

You need to prove some history before someone will give you an unsecured card. I mean your only account is Fingerhut and it's widely known that they will extend credit to anyone who can fog a mirror. Not only that but you have it at 51% utilization which is not good. You should work on paying it down some.

jayjayhawaii · ‎06-08-2018

@Anonymous wrote:
I'm a long time lurker, but first time poster

I started my rebuild in November of 2017. I paid off 2 accounts (auto repo, mail order account) and successfully disputed an errant account from T-Mobile. My scores over the last six months (6 month checkup in May '18), have improved greatly, and while they still are not where I want them to be, but I am happy for the improvement so far.

I would love to help myself out with successful management and payments on a credit card. The Fingerhut account I have is at 51% utilization, but that is all I have reporting to my credit reports. I would like to get an approval on a low limit unsecured card, but was turned down for the Capital One Platinum card a few days ago. What cards are out there that have higher approval percentages for rebuilding folks?

Rebuild started on 11/2/2017 |Equifax| 515 |Experian| 531 |Transunion| 518
6 Month Checkup, May 2, 2018 |Equifax| 598 |Experian| 654 |Transunion| 570
Rebuilding Accounts: Fingerhut/Webbank: $2750/$1397 | SelfLender - Opened April 20, $48/mo plan
Baddies: Auto Repo, [PIF] Prestige Financial from 7/2012- $2478 | Mail Order, [PIF] Swiss Colony from 9/2014- $610 | No Public Records, No Collections
Goals: Buy a home in Spring 2019! • Join the 750+ club by Fall 2019 • Credit Peace of mind

I would honestly start with a secured card. Discover has been amazing to me. I started off with a $200 deposit for a $200 limit when my credit scores were in the gutter. Added $300 for a $500 limit, and later added an extra $1,900 for a $2,400 limit. They graduated me last week and I now have an unsecured credit card with a $2,400 limit. (Their customer service is amazing, and their secured card even gives you 1% cash back, which is unheard of for a secured card).

Capital One secured was my second secured card. Started with a $99 deposit for a $200 limit. They raised the limit to $500 after 5 months with no additional deposit. I'm hoping they will graduate and CLI soon as I'm approaching a year with them.

If you really want to go unsecured it'll be expensive. I added some (very) subprime cards after the secured ones. Milestone Gold, First Premier, First Access and Credit One are not difficult to get as long as your scores are in the high 500s/low 600s. However, expect a credit limit of no more than $300 with limited options for higher limits. Annual fees of $75 and APRs close to 30%. It felt good to have unsecured credit cards, but expect terrible customer service, really complicated websites and no apps.

A third option would be to go to your local credit union (if you have one). Credit unions, especially smaller, local ones, are more likely to take the entirety of your situation into account, rather than just flat out deny you based on your credit score alone. Even if they deny you for an unsecured card, many still have secured card options, which may or may not be on par with Discover/Capital One.

They may require an initial security deposit, but Discover and Capital One will grow with you. Credit Unions will help if they can. Expensive subprime cards will not grow with you, and they'll milk you for money for as long as they can.

Current FICO8:

2017: $200 secured card | 2023: $200,000+ total credit line

Anonymous · ‎06-09-2018

Surprisingly you got turned down by Capital One. I filed for BK7 on June 2017 and burned Capital One for roughly $7,000. Last week (12 months after charged off/BK filing) I was approved for their unsecured Platnium Card with $300 limit; however, I was black listed for before though, and they auto declined without pulling. Additionally my scores are worse than yours. Did you recon with them? If they approve me, it seems like they should approve you.

I also have CreditOne. I know a lot of people hate them, but I haven't had bad experience YET since I have the card for the past three months. The only fee that I paid to them was the $39.00 annual fee. Initially they gave me $500 limit and increased to $650 after first statement. It's a better option than other subprime cards such as Inidigo, First Premier, etc; I received several offers for these cards with $300 limit and $75-$95 annual fee plus monthly fee...how about NO?!!! So you can see CreditOne seems like a better option.

Lastly, I was recently approved for Arrow Card; it's a new subprime credit card that has been receiving rather good review. https://www.creditkarma.com/reviews/credit-card/single/id/LendUp04 Now that I think about it, the reviews may be fake? I haven't received the card yet, but they gave me $750 limit with $39.00 annual fee. It seems like they are liberal with credit increases though. So I'm looking forward to it.

Good Luck.