Secure credit card options?

[wiggybrain]

Chapter 7 discharged in January and I want to start rebuilding my credit.

Thus far, have been denied: Discover Secured; Capital One Secured; American Express secured

CreditKarma's suggested cards have not worked for me.

I also tried to open a savings account with DCU credit union so I could apply for their secured credit card but my application was denied (not sure why but will check when I get letter from bank - happened today).

Any other secured credit card options anyone can suggest I try?

My last resort is Open Sky secured credit card which doesn't check credit but that I hear awful things about - again, I just want to start rebuilding my credit.

Thank you as always for your help.

[justbroke]

If you are already in a credit union, then I suggest their secured card. If you are already banking at a particular bank, ask them about their secured card program. Credit Unions are usually the easiest. Most major banks will actually check your credit for a secured card.

Personally, I'd go with a local credit union.

[wiggybrain]

If you are already in a credit union, then I suggest their secured card. If you are already banking at a particular bank, ask them about their secured card program. Credit Unions are usually the easiest. Most major banks will actually check your credit for a secured card.

Personally, I'd go with a local credit union.

The only credit union I found ( where I could qualify to become a member) denied my application to open a savings account. And can't apply for their secured credit card if you're not a member of the credit union.

Currently, I'm banking with Ally which is an online bank that does not have a secured card program.

[shipo]

wiggybrain, I'm thinking part of your problem is multiple applications in a short period of time. After Capitol One denied me earlier this year following the discharge of my Chapter 13, I waited something like 6 weeks and applied again; they approved me that time around.

While on the subject of Capitol One, their secured card is maybe a tad atypical as they do in fact grant you credit above the security deposit; specifically, they grant you $151 above your deposit. Say you put down a $49 security deposit, you get a credit line of $200. In my case, I gave them $849 and got a credit limit of an even $1,000; unfortunately, that limit is annoyingly low for me. I find I am needing to pay off my credit card literally weekly; case in point; last Friday I sent them a payment of about $322, it was posted on Monday, and today I sent them another check for something like $520. It sure will be nice when I can qualify for say, a $5,000 limit and then only need to pay once per month.

[justbroke]

The only credit union I found ( where I could qualify to become a member) denied my application to open a savings account. And can't apply for their secured credit card if you're not a member of the credit union.

This may actually be an issue in ChexSystems causing you to not be able to open a simple bank account. I would go to the ChexSystems website and order your free report (tell them you were denied credit/account). Then, if there is negative information in there, file a dispute and use bankruptcy as the reason they should remove the negative information.