Oh! Boy! You have started something! You are about to witness ten zillion posts about how terrible this card is. This is an expensive debit card that reports to the CRA's. It's as simple as that but people don't understand. They are going to say many inaccurate things about things about this card. THIS CARD IS NOT FOR SOMEONE WHO CAN OBTAIN A BETTER DEAL! THIS CARD IS FOR PEOPLE WHO GET TURNED DOWN BY CAP1, PROV, DMB, or ORCHARD! If you can obtain one of these then skip NET 1ST. Otherwise Net 1st can help you establish better credit history. You must an upfront one-time fee of $89 and pay $8 per month. In exchange you get a monthly report to all CRA's. If you want to charge on the card you must send in any amount you wish to charge. That's all to it. If you can do better then don't get this card. If you can wait to start establishing a positive trade line, then don't get this card. But if you have no choice then this card can help. My repo was too fresh and I was being turned down by creditors. I got this card and a few months later I was able to do better. I still have the card because I have only 3 months left until my annual. I want the 12 month history then I will cancel.
I pay my account off monthly. I charge a full $500 a month on the card. It's an expensive debit card but at least I get credit bureau reporting and that is all that matters to me. I know it will cost me money to re-establish my credit. My credit was HORRIBLE. I am on the road to good credit. I have: Net 1st $500 11/00 Providian $300 11/00 Aria $500 12/00 DMB $200 11/00 First National $200 11/00 First Premier $200 11/00 Meriwest CU $10K 11/00 Capatial One $200 11/00 First Nat Marin $260 12/00 I know I have a lot of accounts but I will close most after a year. My goal is to have 1) Orchard Secured with $15K on Deposit, 2) American Pacific Secured with $15K on Deposit, 3) First Union Secured with $15K on deposit. That point I wont need any small cards and I will have built up a strong credit history. This time next year I will be on my road to awesome credit.
Since you have that kind of cash at your disposal,why settle for one of those low-grade debit cards? Instead, do some research in Micheals post above and invest in Fidility and get Amex GOLD. Consider FCNB ,but with the cash you have,why even bother with credit cards,pay cash and save.
