Now that my credit is straight, house is refinanced and things are going well...who wouldda thunk it but I'm getting a credit card offer daily. I had a Capital One secured when I started the rebuilding process but I now have an unsecured with them. I got an offer from Discover for a Matrix card and it says it's either unsecured or secured, based on credit. But, I had no idea that Discover offered such a thing as a secured card. Is this new or have I just been in the dark ages?
Vanmower, I looked up secure credit cards on Discover's website. I didn't see one on there. I am always looking for new credit card options for my clients. I only saw information about a secure account number for online purchases. That would be great if we had another option for secured cards besides Capital One but I don't really see anything. I would love to have someone else prove me wrong here. Thanks! Heather with BoostMyScore.NET
Hi Heather, The Discover Matrix Card is available both secured and unsecured; there's even a partially secured version in which your deposit covers a small portion of your credit limit. The limit on this card is also extremely low to start - $300. Hope this helps!
Jason, Thanks for letting me know. I am glad I have another option for a secured card to suggest to my clients besides Capital One. Have a wonderful weekend! Thanks! Heather with BoostMyScore.NET
Besides Capital One and Discover for secured cards, do you know any more companies with secured cards that are worth checking out? Thanks! Heather with BoostMyScore.NET
Hi Heather, We just started gathering info about the new (to us, anyways) National Express Secured Visa Credit Card. The minimum secured deposit on this card is $200 and the max is $5000, there's a guaranteed approval and the opening APR is 9.99%. It's a Visa so it's approved just about anywhere, but there IS an annual fee of $500.
So what is the advantage of a secured card vs a debit/credit card? Is it because bank credit/debit cards don't report to CA's? I'm probably missing something. Just curious.
You pretty much hit the nail on the head - the biggest advantage of a secured credit card vs. a debit is that they report to major CRA's. Some prepaid debit cards claim they report to credit bureaus, but odds are they are smaller, minor CB's. The other advantage of a secured credit card is that they are actually providing you with a credit line (albeit secured), which is why they're able to label themselves as "credit cards". Plus, you may be granted credit line increases w/o having to secure your line further - basically your standard credit line. With prepaid debit cards, you're really just putting your money on a card and using it (more or less) like cash. That leads to another question: why would anyone use a debit card that isn't attached directly to their bank account? (i.e. the debit card you're issued by your bank) Well, the answer is pretty simple - prepaid debit cards like the AmEx Prepaid Card extend their cardholder benefits to prepaid cards. This includes fraud and purchase protection, their global assistance service and the discounts they have w/ partnered retailers. So, reporting to CRA's isn't really a reason to set up a prepaid debit card, but taking advantage of their cardholder benefits is. But to sum up your first question, the advantage of a secured credit card to a prepaid debit is that you can BUILD CREDIT w/ a secured credit card.
