Orchard Bank - $19 upfront fee before approving me

[jetset]

I applied for an orchard bank card. I put in all my information and then it asked me for a $19 processing fee before they gave me an answer. I chose to mail them the processing fee so they mailed me out a request for it.

Is this typical for them? I thought Orchard gives you an instant decision?

jetset

[CindyLou]

yep. did this for hubby's, but have been very satisfied. Just got credit increase to 400.00

[jetset]

yep. did this for hubby's, but have been very satisfied. Just got credit increase to 400.00

I JUST GOT APPROVED! $300.00 I'm so excited!

How long did it take before they increased your limit?

[HHM]

I JUST GOT APPROVED! $300.00 I'm so excited!

How long did it take before they increased your limit?

But you don't really need an increased limit.

[CindyLou]

took about 6 monthsfor the increase and HHM, must we do this again? ;) Everyone needs cc's with different limits for different reasons. Business travel, family emergencies...yadda yadda yadda. (you know I'm messin with ya, right??)

[miss puff]

So, the Orchard costs $19 up front to give you an answer? Do they then approve you immediately or do you have to wait for the answer in the mail? I am in the process of cleaning credit reports and I believe in Feburary, this will be my rebuilding card. Thanks

[BK'd-Betty]

I applied for the Orchard Card about a week ago. I was approved instantly online, and was immediately given access to my account online - so I created a log in and could see that my credit line was $1500 - $29 AF - 12.4% interest rate, and had the account number - all in less than 5 minutes.

I didn't have to pay anything upfront.

[kar]

I applied for the Orchard Card about a week ago. I was approved instantly online, and was immediately given access to my account online - so I created a log in and could see that my credit line was $1500 - $29 AF - 12.4% interest rate, and had the account number - all in less than 5 minutes.

I didn't have to pay anything upfront.

How long since your discharged did you apply and got your Orchard Card? Also, did you wait until your credit scores were at a certain level and that all of the information on your reports were reporting accurately? We are just trying to gauge when we should start applying for a credit card.

[BK'd-Betty]

I was discharged in February 06 and yes, I've done a bunch on credit clean up. I've raised both my and DH's FICO's by 100 pts each.

We are still showing a big fat ugly FORECLOSURE on our reports

ETA: My FICO's are in the low 600's - DH's are in the high 600's.

[kar]

I was discharged in February 06 and yes, I've done a bunch on credit clean up. I've raised both my and DH's FICO's by 100 pts each.

We are still showing a big fat ugly FORECLOSURE on our reports

ETA: My FICO's are in the low 600's - DH's are in the high 600's.

One other question. We already pulled our free annual credit reports through all of the three CRA and they don't look that bad. We have already started to clean up what little problems there were. After you pulled your initial reports, did you use a credit monitoring service and if so which one? We want to make sure that all of the corrections are done to our satisfaction.

[BK'd-Betty]

Yes, I'm using Truecredit.com and I used the walmart link I found on this site (use the search feature). It's like $13.70 for the first month, then $11.21 after that. I only used mine for one month, then cancelled - I cleaned up some stuff on mine, but it was too overwhelming - so I kept DH's going and I'm still working on his - his scores are higher and he is the higher wager earner in our family at the moment - so I figured I'd finish with his, then do mine in about 2 months - no sense in paying for both reports. After I finish his, I'll cancel his service and re-start mine.

YMMV!

One other question. We already pulled our free annual credit reports through all of the three CRA and they don't look that bad. We have already started to clean up what little problems there were. After you pulled your initial reports, did you use a credit monitoring service and if so which one? We want to make sure that all of the corrections are done to our satisfaction.

[miss puff]

I used the link to Truecredit.com as well and have been very happy with their service. They let you update all three credit reports and scores every 24 hours if you want. Shows alerts and also gives graphs and charts and stuff. I pay 11.21 per month too.