Which Credit Card ??

I believe it depends as far as which CB is more widely used on what region on the country you're in. There are sites like Who Gave Me Credit that you can use as a guide. Consumers write in about who they applied for, what their scores were, what state they are in, and the outcome. But again, only use it as a guide.

If you don't mind sharing the state you're in, maybe any of us who are nearby can share some personal experience.

One option though would be secured cards from your bank, CU, or ones like the C1 secured card. Or if you want a department store type card, I hear Fingerhut is very easy to get and that they report to all 3, however their prices are inflated so you'd only want to use the card very sparingly throughout the year just to keep it active and continue positive reporting. You may qualify for the Walmart store card too.

 

You're welcome.

EQ is headquartered in Georgia, so creditors might go heavy on pulling from them where you are. Your FAKO scores are miles apart....I'm guessing EX is the only report that those collections are showing up? Where is your 640 FICO from?

 

Hi Vettecor. This sounds like the perfect situation for a secured credit card since they're easy to obtain, report to all three credit bureaus (you'll actually want to report to EXP the most since that's the report with the most work that needs to be done). One route is a secured credit card w/ your local bank, just make sure that the card you apply for through them reports to all 3 CRA's.

That said, you could also apply for a secured card from a national bank. The Capital One Secured MasterCard is a great option because the minimum deposit is low, the annual fee is under $30 and they report to the three biggie CRA's. It's also got a pretty handy credit monitoring tool that allows you to track your credit score monthly.

Another solid option is the First Progress Platinum Card. The deposit required is a little steeper ($300) and the annual fee a little higher ($44), but it's also a proven credit-building card with a really low interest rate (starting at 11.99%). These are two options available if you want to be sure that your new card reports to all three credit bureaus.

 

Benefits are not a strong suit of the secured cards. They're not reward cards, they're usually meant for those with credit that cannot otherwise obtain a credit card.

What you want to look for is no setup fee, low annual membership fee (AMF), no monthly maintenance fees, reporting to all 3 CRA's, online access (including ability to pay online too), and a decent APR if you carry a balance (if you don't, it doesn't matter then).

Try your bank/CU. A number of them do this, and with a solid payment history of 12 months, they could turn unsecured, but this is a bank by bank and a customer by customer base I would suspect. Even if it did not happen, you could always apply at that future-point for an unsecured CC with your good payment history from the secured one.

 

I've not heard of FICO or any other CRA's taking this into account, negatively or positively, though I understand the concern. I also understand that it would be really convenient for your secured card to turn unsecured. Unfortunately, there just aren't that many cards that are willing to grant consumers this opportunity. That said, closing the account in good standing won't have a significant negative impact on your score since the credit line is so limited AND you'll receive your deposit back.

The only downside is that applying for a new, unsecured offer will dock your score a few points because of the hard pull. In the long run, though, I don't think it would be very detrimental to your score to simply move on from secured to unsecured after a year or so of responsible usage. So while there aren't very many good solutions to your problem, none of them are really that bad, either. Hope this helps!