I'm interested in obtaining a secured credit card to help rebuild my credit. My FICO is 583- I'm not sure that that qualifies me for exactly but I'm mainly looking for the "best of the worst." Score Match on FinanceGlobe.com looks useful for finding unsecured creditors but I could not find anything with a FICO score less than 650... I have a ways to go. I read warnings about some secured card issuers charging outrageous fees and I'd like to avoid them. I understand there will likely be some fees and the interest rates will be high. If you have any to recommend to try (or those to avoid) please let me know. Thanks!
a newbie knows this one i am going through this right now. i got a bank of america card that is the best one out there right now all the fees are very low. its the closest to a real card that there is. after one year it turns into a regular unsecured card provided you make regular payments of course and they return your initial deposit. i also got an orchard bank card which is not a secured card but i was able to get it anyway. the trick is when you are trying to rebuild credit, and ive heard different percentages on this but you need to keep very low balances on your revolving accounts. ive heard less than 50% ive heard less than 30% ive heard less than 10%. so be very careful. you could actually be doing yourself more harm than good. what i do know is that bank of america is the best one and orchard is very good and they both help my credit score jump. i keep low balances and pay more than the minimum balances every month if anyone knows that correct percentage for sure let me know thanks.
You're looking at a very slow and long process rebuilding your score through a secured credit card (or any new account for that matter). You'd be better served by asking a friend or relative to add you to one or more older credit cards as an authorized user. In about 30 to 45 days, they should transpose over to your reports. You will reap the benefit of the age and avaliable credit thereby. The increase is immediate and can be substantial. There are also some corporations, such as ours, that sell these tradelines for a fee. Just be careful who you choose if you decide to go this route. That said, if I had to pick a secured card provider it would be National City.
Didn't I say ask a friend or relative first. Didn't I suggest a secured card if their adamant about it. Point out one thing in my post that isn't true. That said, what are you offering the OP of value. Just another troll that slings out attacks for no reason. If you don't like it, leave because we're not going anywhere.
The charge-offs, collection accounts, BK, judgements, and other negatives that may be on your record are going to weigh a lot more than a single secured $500 credit card. If you do, don't get sucked into a card with high fees and charges. I've seen where a $200 card would be just about maxed up just from the initial fees. I was able to open 4-5 store and gas cards and VISA and it had not noticable effect on my credit. I recently tried to get a car loan from my credit union and was turned down due to the charge offs. Same deal on a home equity line that I tried to open. Less than two years to go though and it all falls off and I'll have perfect credit again.
Oh please! You want to talk about integrity? Let's talk about 28% interest rates. How about the predatory lending practices that got so many of is in this position in the first place? How about the whole subprime mortgage business that was driven by fraud? APEX is doing nothing illegal or deceptive unlike the credit reporting bureus and collection agencies.
No, some people just find it unethical yet, advocate credit repair. Seems ironic in that you can't have it both ways insofar as tradeline additions are a part of credit restoration (done properly). This is just another troll with an axe to grind. New poster but, I guarantee someone we've heard from before.
Shawnee, Thanks for not only NOT contributing to answering my question but also introducing so much emotion into this thread that it has almost completely derailed. A reply from someone who plugged his own company along with a disclaimer saying "be careful who you choose if" you do this compared with a reply from someone who completely derails the thread. Let's not forget that he did actually give me the name of a credit provider in his post too. Apex, Thank you. I am not exactly clear what "buying a tradeline" involves but I did not realize there was a third option here. Friends and family are not one, unfortunately. There are few other items on my credit report right now so I was hoping something like a secured card would help boost my credit score a bit. All, Is it possible to obtain either a non-secured credit card or a secured loan with a FICO score of 583? I haven't tried yet since my score is so low but maybe this is yet another option?
VHD, The goal is to add a few of our lines as a platform to raise your scores. Thereafter, you may be able to obtain some unsecured process, let the age, and get back on the right track. Without some history and avaliable credit, you just face a slower timeframe.
Oh and old friend no doubt. The one who many years ago responded to my desperate pleas for help, teetering on the brink of suicide, by posting "PAY YOUR BILLS DEADBEAT"
I never applied for a secure card but I was pretty much turned down for everything else when my charge=offs were still only a couple of years old and credit scores were under 600. Go ahead and get one if you need it. But don't spend a lot of money on fees in the hope that it will bump your scores up a couple of points. You're a long way from any kind of major credit.
Yes and then hide behind a fake name and email name.I use my real name if they want me.Bring it on they can find me.I'd love to go to court any day with them.Or out back.
WAMU now Chase gave me a no secured credit card and credit line of 3K and my scores were mid 550's then. This was a few years back, but why not try. Also I was at Walmart recently and they have a credit card where you put money on it and use it like a credit card and I Have *heard* that in about 6 months they give you a credit card with no money to back it up. Another thing is to apply for a regular Walmart store card, I did when my scores were low and they gave me a 700 credit line, and Old Navy was an easy card to get as well. I started applying for five cards and got them all as I figured I might as well do them at the same time as they would not see all the inquiries, and it worked. Not one turned me down and got a 4K credit line with Williams Sonoma.. I nkow you were asking for a credit card not a tore card, but then all of sudden I got a Sears Master Card invite with a 5K credit limit, so you just never know. Good luck! Woofer
