Can someone tell me how Household Bank stacks up against the other "sub prime" CCs? I got a "pre-approval" offer today of $300 to $1000 with a $19 fee...I know I shouldn't have to pay a fee to apply for a card, but I did sign up for Providian's $300 for $49 card. Just looking at the terms, it looks like Household has a better offer... Household --> 18.9%, 25 day grace period, $59 annual fee Providian --> 23.99%, no grace period, $59 annual fee I don't plan on using either card much, I just want to build up the positive tradelines on my CRs... any thoughts? Thanks in advance!
There are two divisions of HHB cards. I had the mastercard from the sub-prime division aka "Bankcard Services" aka "Orchard". It had an annual fee of $59, a credit limit of $300 and an apr of 19.4%. It did have a grace period, which is the best thing I could say about it. In short: the customer service was AWFUL. Even though I was perfect on my account, they made major mistakes re fees (even the supervisors and one unit manager did this). They were condescending even when I pointed out their mistakes and went through the math with them. the phone number (for the sub-prime division) was a toll call. The toll free number (for their premier holders) is 1-800-216-1013, many thanks to Kelly who posted it here some months ago. I've also posted the retention number a while back if you do a search for me and household bank. the banking day ends at 6AM, so even if your payment is processed on the due date, it will probably be late. To circumvent this, pay online at www.householdcard.com (again - this is the sub-prime division - not the prime division). you have to pay for every cl increase. I paid $25 for a $100 increase, and the amountI had to pay was based on my income. Free cl increases supposedly come once a year, though I closed my account on my 1st anniversary. retention does little to nothing to keep a customer. They refused to refund my annual fee - even when a unit manager asked them to. But --- if it is the best you can get, and you don't go OL or late - then it can work for the only purpose of rebuiliding credit and moving on to another CC company at the earliest opportunity. Btw, I think Orchard bought this division out recently.
As far as pre-approved goes, be careful-I wasted an inquiry on Household AND Orchard after pre-approvals. The first notice that I received asked for just SS# and Signature-Declined. Then, they sent me one for orchard-was very convincing-could apply online or mail in. Again, declined. Two hard inquiries on Experian for nothing. My scores were not great, but I was really surprised not to get something from Orchard, particularly after what I had read here.
I have both Household and Orchard cards. They are stingy with limit increases but I was able to get my APR down to 15.9% on both cards by calling retention. Their regular service people wouldn't even talk about account terms. They give me $100-$200 automatic increases every three months or so if I show activity each and every month. I did an experiment these last few months. I used my Household card each month and paid it off. I got an increase in the third month. I skipped a month of activity on the Orchard card and I didn't get an increase. I just maxed the card out on purpose this week and I will call to see if I can get a limit increase. The first year you have the cards, the customer service number on the back is a toll call. On your one year anniversary you will be given the 800 number. They change the cards out and send you a newsletter telling you how you've earned the right to call them toll-free. They offer online payment and online account access on www.householdcard.com and www.orchardbank.com. The account access is the same on both sites, but the automatic payment process is better on the orchardbank.com site. The other site prints a check for you and takes several days to post and the orchard site uses checkfree and posts in two days. If you can do better, I'd skip these cards but if not I can tell you I've had no problems.
DaveL thanks for the info. Don't have any of these cards but WAS thinking about it. At this point I will stick with my Cap 1 and two Providian cc. Best regards, Sam
Thanks for the info guys! I looked over the offer again and it did ask for SS#, salary info, etc. -- so this one goes in the circular file..I NEVER fill any of these "applications for pre-approval" out! Thanks for saving me an inquiry!
My Orchard account is one year old and I was told by a supervisor my account had a chance to go prime with the upgrades to Orchard's system coming in the fall, around October to December. At that time their prime upgrades will be 2 to 9 percent apr's., no annual fees, and higher limits. I would tell you the name of the people I confirmed this with but I won't because you can call retention and ask anyone who answers. I don't know the criteria to go prime because retention doesn't know or wouldn't say, but they did say that my account would qualify, because I have paid off my account every month in full - except two - and my internal behavior score was very high. So anyone who is in good standing most likely qualify for the upgrades. BTW, I was told NOT to take the lower apr retention offered to me last week, which was 15.9 - but take the $500 increase and wait a few months because I would be an excellent candidate for what retention could offer to me in the way of upgrades, including retroactive fee waivers, an apr under 10 percent, and higher limits.
