Like many of you, I received the pre-approved offer from Household for a MasterCard with "No Security Deposit, up to $1,500 limit..." etc. It's essentially an Orchard Bank card without the Orchard logo. In fact, you have the option to "accept your card faster" (translation: apply for the card just like everybody else) at www.hbaccept.com, but this just redirects you to an Orchard Bank site. After entering your acceptance code, your name & address are pre-filled in the app. But...I've found that if you go to Household's Credit Card site and use your acceptance code on the online app there, then your name & address are still pre-filled, but you now get (supposedly) an instant decision, plus the opportunity to add an authorized user. I doubt that this will change anything as far as what card or terms you get, but the extra options are, well, nice. wajaba P.S. Sorry if somebody already pointed this out. It's not really a "trick" as such, but if I decide to be the guinea pig, I'll keep you all updated.
I received the same offer in January. I applied online at hbaccept.com and got an instant approval. 24 hours later, I received an email stating that I had been approved for $300. I don't like the fact that the cl is so low but I need additional positive tl's so I accepted the card. I have paid the card off every month since I received it so that I haven't had to pay any interest and when they report to the cra's it shows a $0 balance. paw67
I responded to a pre-aproved HH card offer in April and got the full $1500 CL. Since I applied on the hbaccept.com website, approval was instantaneous, but I had to wait I think five days for the email telling what my cl was and the card itself arrived a few days later.
Ah, so the replies are instantaneous, regardless. So much for my lame trick. Did they check EQ for you guys? And what were/are your scores, if you don't mind my asking? wajaba
I also JUST received this card. Even though its a low CL and not a great deal, I jumped at the chance due to a bankruptcy from last year. I wanted to get some more positives TL. A question though - when it comes to TL balances and paying in full each month. Does your fico score differently if there was a balance a month or two, and then a 0 balance. Or does paying off each month, where it may always show a 0 balance, reflect your usage and payment history. My scores roughly when i received the card Eq - 604 Ex - 601 TU - 584
Good question. I don't presume to have any inside knowledge or anything, but I think that carrying a small balance at least some of the time (as opposed to having PAID notations for every single one of your revolving accounts, all the time) makes FICO happy, not to mention the folks at the credit card company. wajaba
Yeah, Household Mortgage Co holds my second mortgage and they have a great Customer Service so I had no hesitation about applying when I received my offer. I was surprised to receive the max credit line. BTW, my EQ FICO was 582 when I received my card. Had HH and new Target Hard Inquiries on it, but my relatively new Providian (came in late Feb) had just started reporting.
Re: Re: Household MC offer So far I've used my three new cards during this month: Providian- paid in full, HH [not reporting yet] - paid in full, and Target Guest [not reporting yet] - going to pay in full because bill so small.However, I also used my "prime" BOA card in late April and I think I'll leave a small balance on this card. This the only prime card I "saved" since I declared bk in late Aug. 2002. BOA has pulled at least three A/R's on me since then. If they jack my rate to the default APR of 23.9% (from 9.9%), I'll pay in full. Then I plan on rotating the new cards after they start reporting at least two or three times. It stinks to have to use credit to prove you can "use credit responsibly" but it's it's a necessary "evil" when you will be house hunting in a couple of years.
For me they checked both EQ & EXP. My EQ was 599 and my EXP was 609 at the time. I try to pay the bill so that I do not pay interest. I don't necessarily pay in full each month, I just pay what I need to be sure that I don't pay interest. I let it show a small balance, just be sure to pay online before they can charge interest. I have heard others say that some companies will close an account eventually if they can't make any money off of you so I may wait to pay next time so that they can charge a little interest. paw67
I know that they checked EQF but don't if they checked EXP - tried to pull it online twice early last week but kept "flunking" the online "quiz". I'm past due on the email EXP would send with a password and still waiting a few more days to get the password in the mail - EXP said they would send both snail mail and email within five days. The five days has passed. Yuck - don't want to be charged twice so I am going to be patient a few more days.
Got an email from Household Bank today: "Welcome! Congratulations! Hello there! Great to have ya! Hi! Here's your $400 card." Actually, it should be arriving within 10 business days. According to their email, I am allowed, nay, I am strongly urged to use my new $400 MasterCard to make travel reservations, go grocery shopping, pay for auto repairs, dine out, buy gas, and shop online. They didn't say anything specifically about Van Gogh originals, but I'm guessing they'd be okay with that, too. In theory, at least. wajaba
Re: Re: Household MC offer THE DAY YOU GET IT...go to TARGET, K-MART, WAL*MART, SEARS, JC PENNEYS, MERVYNS, HOME DEPOT, BEST BUY...WHAT EVER THE STORE YOU WILL MOST USE...and buy a $400 gift card...when the charge hits your account...24-72 hours...call them up and say..."THAT WAS FUN...NOW WHAT DO I USE FOR THE OTHER 25 DAYS THIS MONTH"??? PAY IT IN FULL AND SOCK DRAWER IT!!! (Since you took a "HIT" for it anyway) I guess it was still better than the TARGET store card that is ALWAYS $200!!!
Re: Re: Re: Household MC offer I'm tempted just to call Household and ask them not to activate the card. The hit for a new account on my CRs (not to mention the years I'll have to wait to get a decent limit, if I get one at all) will probably outweigh any benefit from having it. Honestly, I don't know what I was thinking when I applied for this... wajaba
Re: Re: Re: Re: Household MC offer You may want to consider calling them with a request to raise your CL instead. I got the happy congratulatory e-mail 10 days ago, with $500 as the limit. Grinded my teeth and waited for the card to arrive. It promptly did a week later. Called customer service immediately, before activating the card, asking to raise the CL to $1,000. The rep said, "Okay, let's see if we can... may I activate your card for you before I do anything else?" - I said, "Sure" - then she asked the following four questions: - what is the name of your employer? - how long have you been with them? - what is your gross monthly income? - do you have any other income? She then put me on hold, and brought someone from another department in on the call. That person only said ten words: "I was able to raise your limit to $1,000." I then immediately logged in at householdbank.com, and smiled at the $1,000 posted as my credit limit. I suppose it's all about the small victories. Never hurts to try, anyway. They didn't pull any additional inquiries from any of my reports, besides the original soft on EXP and hard on EFX.
Re: Re: Re: Re: Household MC offer F.Y.I.~~The account WILL go on your credit report(s)...ACTIVATED or NOT...
Re: Re: Re: Re: Household MC offer Nightlifer: A 100% increase right off the bat...not too shabby. I'll give it a shot... George: Thanks for the heads-up. Now it looks like I'll have to wait that much longer (May-June of next year, as opposed to Jan-Feb) before applying for anything decent, like Citi. wajaba
