Can I get a gas card with my ficos? I sorely need to add another card but afraid to apply due to inquiries. A friend suggested I try a gas card, said anyone can get them. Is this true?
doodyhead, I think Diamond Shamrock Gas Card should be easy and I think you cannot have any negative on your credit report. They pulled credit from Equifax on me. By the way, they report your account to credit bureaus monthly. Here is the link : https://secure.udscorp.com/marketing/consumercredit/consumercreditapp.asp Ron.
Do you have Chevron in your area? If you aren't approved for the regular card, they may approve you for their creditbuilders card which has a lower limit and a small annual fee. Good luck!
I applied for Citgo when my score was about 580 (Creditexpert). Now that my score is about 620, I received a pre approval for Citgo and BP. I mean all I had to do is respond by 1/17. I didn't respond to either offer.
doodyhead, Why don't you try to apply for dept.store card like Target or JCpenney? They are easy to get approve. Ron.
Target or JC Penney? Probably not unless your score is above 600. I got several gas cards and then got turned down by both Target (8/00) and JC Penney (12/00). Then I finally got approved by Target about 3 months ago. In fact, I used the card for the first time tonight. About Citgo, one notable advantage is their generous and even aggressive policy in offering limit increases. I started out at 500 purchases, 250 cash, for a total of 750. That itself is unusual for a gas card; my Chevron card came with a $300 limit for purchases only. Anyway, Citgo gave me an unsolicited $100 increase for purchases after about 6 months, for a total limit of $850.
The Chevron card is probably one of the best cards if your motivation is raising your credit scores in the long term. Scorewise, most beleive it is better to have a card with a larger limit, because a low limit card, even a gas card, will lower your average c/l per card,thereby lowering your credit scores. I applied for a Chevron card because the highest credit limit available is maxed out at $2000, vs the average gas card max of about $750-$850. I applied for Chevron card even though there were no Chevron stations within about 500 miles of my residents and received a $300 limit.That was raised to $1000 after a year and now, after 3 years, sits at $2000 Honorable mention should also go to BP/Amoco cards. My BP/Amoco credit limit is $1500 after being open 3 plus years.This is a Associates card(owed by Citi).They base your c/l increase requests on your credit risk scores they receive from Equifax.This is a soft inquiry and if you are declined a increase they still send you a letter stating you can receive your free report from Equifax within 60 days.I sort of beleive this may be SOP with all Associates gas cards.I'd like to think $1500 is the max on any BP card because I apply for an increase just so I can get a free Eq report in the mail every once in a while. Crevron reports to all three cras,my BP only reports to Tu, although they swear they report to all three. VJ
Doody, I agree with VJ but I don't think you would be approved for Chevron (even Credit Builders) with your scores. I know people who had slightly better scores than yours and were denied flat out. I myself got the Credit Builders card and my Equifax score was around 607.
