Who is the CRA for orchard bank? Do they report to the bureaus? Those of you who have an account with them, what do you think of this bank?
Orchard has appeared on my credit report as an inquiry on Experian. It does not appear on the other two CRAs. Orchard is an excellent bank. If your credit is not so good, you may be granted only a modest initial credit line, but Orchard does reward good performance. 1. After you are established, you can expect automatic credit line increases at least every 6 months. Lately, I've noticed that I'm getting increases every three months. I have never not gotten one. Currently, my credit lines on two cards total 6,000+. 2. Customer service is excellent. 3. Unlike many banks, Orchard does not charge a late fee if payment is not received on the due date printed on the statement. It allows an extra week. So you are less likely to incur a late charge because of slow mail or if you are late sending the payment. Also, Orchard is set up for on-line payment which is what I now use. 4. Orchard is reasonable about requests for waiver of annual fees and reduction of interest rates (but absolutely will not go below 15.9), but wait until you have established a good track record before asking. 5. Orchard like every other bank is interested in profitability so carrying a balance from time to time helps to get waivers and lower interest rates. Hope this helps.
Thank You very much Dave that was very helpful. Unfortunetly I hate Experian too, because of their lack of response to my request. I still have 8 bad things on that one. The other two look much better than that 1 bad - equifax, 2 bad tu. I am currently signed up with junum waiting for the replies from the credit bureaus. Hopefully they will be worth my money. So I guess I will wait till my credit is clear until I apply for anything else. One of my final goals is a Platinum Citibank card and probaly AMEX.
Orchard reports to Equifax. They donot report to Experian. They are slow to increase credit limits-very slow. I was told yesterday that they review after 8 months of having the account. I am trying to be patient. I have had the card for 4 months.
roni--- any bank would take 6-12 months to review a new account for a credit increase. after that you will be reviewed more frequently. orchard's credit increases are good--not as much as Providian--but better than CapOne. Also Orchard reports my acct. to all 3 bureaus. If yours is not getting reported, you should bring it to Orchard's attention. I'm sure they'll take care of it.
Both of my daughter's Orchard accounts are reported to all three CRAs. Very few banks, if any, would consider four months sufficient credit history. When it comes to establishing or re-establishing a good credit history, patience is one of the most important tools. Be prepared to work on it diligently for at least two years. Thereafter, you'll still need to keep a good eye on things to maintain that good history. The process includes much more than getting a few credit increases here and there. Hang in there, and most importantly, be patient and responsible.
Credit Limit Increases Roni, If you need more credit, you may find that at first you get more new credit from new accounts than from credit limit increases on existing accounts. After you make all your payments on time for a year or so, you develop a good business relationship. It's much more profitable for banks to throw credit at existing customers than to hunt for new ones. I'm amazed at how they seem to reward you for staying under your limit and paying on time. After you do that for a while, you either get limit increases automatically or find it easy to ask for them.
RE: Credit Limit Increases I have four accounts with household/orchard and have had no problems. Customer service is excellent, line increases occur every four to six months, and I like their website in regards to the setup and ability to monitor all four accounts. Other companies like Capital One(which I have two accounts with) make it more difficlt to access online info because you need seperate logins and passwords. Anyway, my point is Orchard/household has been good to me.
RE: Credit Limit Increases Four Accounts, I thought this bank only allowed two cards. Perhaps not all your cards are major credit cards, are any of them department store types ?
RE: Credit Limit Increases SEAN- with that CAp One access issue - with 2 accounts - I used the same password for both: EX. MarySmith xxxxxx MSmith xxxxxx Hope this simplifies the log on. I use Win 98 and it remembers the password.
Orhard does report to all 3 major credit bureaus. If you are not seeing them listed with any of them and you have been a customer for more than a month, dispute this with the credit bureau. Did anyone ever think that maybe it is the Bureau that is not up to speed instead of the credit card company? Just a suggestion.
