Just wanted to spread the word about a secured card that may go under the radar!!! I have a secured card with Pentagon Federal Credit Union http://www.penfed.org Max Credit Limit? $1000 APR? 12.9% Balance Transfer Rate? 6.9% Annual Fee? None Application Fee? None Report as Secured? No, based on my TU report When can it become unsecured? 12 months You also get visa checks as well at the 12.9% rate. Card is limited to members only. But if you contribute $20 to the NMFA (Nat'l Military Families of America) you can join. The link to NMFA is directly on the site at http://www.penfed.org/join/eligible.html They have excellent customer service. They were willing to approve for a car loan with a $20,000 chargeoff reporting at the time on Equifax if I had 12 months of repayment history with them.
What kind of score on TU is needed for an unsecured when you open an account? Do they pull a hard for the savings?
They only use Equifax. Here is the post of a score for an auto refinance...I will venture a guess to say 660 for an installment product... http://consumers.creditnet.com/stra...read.php?s=&threadid=45550&highlight=pentagon Not sure about the unsecured minimum. However, you may just want to call and ask. They didn't pull a hard for the savings account. They DO pull a hard for the checking account.
Looks like I'm eligible since I'm a member of the US Coast Guard Auxiliary. I'll be signing up next week. Thanks for the info.