Secured Credit Card

[mvanz9999]

Can someone either point to an existing thread, or give me some good places to look for a GOOD secured credit card? 2 years after my Chpt. 7 was discharged and I'd like to start rebuilding my credit. I think a secured card is a good start, but I really don't know where to go and find a GOOD card from a REPUTABLE bank. (I've already found the ones that charge you $90.00 to setup the account and another $50.00 processing fee...etc).

I refuse to pay a bank any money to send them a deposit and borrow against my own money.

[Boscoe]

You should obtain your credit reports and scores to see where you are. If there are errors on your credit reports, clean them up and then request your score. Since you are 2 years removed from the bk, I would think you would qualify for some type of decent credit card without going the secured route.

[BassBoy]

Boscoe is right. You should able to get a decent CC.

Go here: http://www.bkforum.com/showthread.php?t=329

There are plenty of decent cards for you to research and apply for. One thing though, try to stay away from the cards with fees. There are plenty of others that don't have fees and fairly decent interest rates and possibly 0% interest for the first 6 months or longer.

[mvanz9999]

I did that previously and decided that Juniper might be my best bet.

So I applied and was denied:

"We regret that we're unable to approve you for a credit card account due to the following reason(s):

* Too few accounts with sufficient satisfactory performance"

I basically have only a few accounts. Two installment loans (auto and student). Never paid late on those. Everything else is basically IIB.

I had SOME utilities in my name, but those were closed in November when I moved in with my S.O. (and those utilities are all in her name). Juniper used TransUnion, and I don't see ANY utilities (past or present) on their credit report. I have many other accounts that were sold and bought, companies closed, etc, etc, etc. They're all good, but closed.

So, I don't want to keep applying for unsecured cards and then have 25 inquiries on my credit reports. So I think the only other way to do this is to apply for a secured card.

By the way, how many satisfactory accounts must one have on their report?

[HeatherB]

um ... unsecured

I got one from credit one bank. Unsecured with 79 dollare startup fee and a annual fee (broken into monthy payments) of like.. 6 bucks.

Interest rate is what I consider extremely high (so I plan on paying it off every month).

They also have secured cards there, too. But I just got it and am not sure about the customer service.

Also, FTR, my credit score is 550 and I have 2 public recorts with about 10 accounts with previous past due balances. I should tell you that I haven't had a credit card since 2004, though - so all my past due are from then.

[Boscoe]

Bass Boy - With all due respect, I think we need another secured card thread. The link you provided is of limited use at best. And no where does it mention any no-fee secured cards.

Now, who has some names of lenders with no-fee secured cards that you can get within 6 months of discharge?

I really don't understand why anyone would care. They have the money. If you don't pay, they are covered. No "where is my payment" calls, no collection agencies, just take the deposit, close the account, have a nice day.

[lrprn]

who has some names of lenders with no-fee secured cards that you can get within 6 months of discharge?

Try using this credit card search to find cards with the most generous terms - http://www.bankrate.com/brm/rate/brm_ccsearch.asp

Whether you can qualify for any of them within six months of bankruptcy, who knows? It's going to depend on your pre- and post-bk credit record, if a previous card from the company was included in your bk and the company is one that doesn't forgive and forget....you get the idea.

[BassBoy]

More specific

Bass Boy - With all due respect, I think we need another secured card thread. The link you provided is of limited use at best. And no where does it mention any no-fee secured cards.

I should have been more specific. Because mvanz9999 stated in the first post, it is 2 years post BK, my point should have been more clear......that it could be possibe to be approved for an unsecured CC.

Neverthelss, mvanz9999 was declined for a Juniper because of "Too few accounts with sufficient satisfactory performance" so a secured card may be mvanz's only option.

[Boscoe]

So what is the general consensus....how long after the discharge should we be able to get a secured card? I know it is somewhat dependent on the individual lender, but generally speaking, 6 months? Or is it mostly credit score driven?

[mvanz9999]

I don't know how everyone else feels, but I do not feel I should have to pay an annual fee to obtain a secured credit card which I use to borrow MY OWN MONEY.

These annual fee cards seem like a racket and not a wise choice. There ARE secured cards that do not have annual fees but require hefty deposits ($5,000-$25,000). If I had that kind of money, a BK would not have been necessary in the first place!

I am very, very, very leery of paying an annual fee for a secured card. Some people say it's the cost of rebuilding credit. I cannot convince myself of that -- I think it's a racket to make banks a lot of money.

I'll have to think about this.......

Seems to me that the banks I'm currently repaying to (auto loan, student loans) ought to be willing to help me out, but that's not the case!

[emoney]

Last year just after filing BK 7 I opened a securied card account with First National Bank of Omaha. They require at least a $500 deposit, but the annual charge is only $20. They report monthly to the three CRAs.
regards,
emoney

[magyar123]

Can someone either point to an existing thread, or give me some good places to look for a GOOD secured credit card? 2 years after my Chpt. 7 was discharged and I'd like to start rebuilding my credit. I think a secured card is a good start, but I really don't know where to go and find a GOOD card from a REPUTABLE bank. (I've already found the ones that charge you $90.00 to setup the account and another $50.00 processing fee...etc).

I refuse to pay a bank any money to send them a deposit and borrow against my own money.

First of all what do you consider a GOOD secured credit card?
From a REPUTABLE bank?
Hello, this is earth, not Mars or Venus. Reputable is NOT a term that can be applied to any bank.

[CindyLou]

What about Ochard? I had great luck with them and you can do the app to see which ones you qualify for before they do a hard pull. Go to the website complete the app and then they tell you. Once you choose the card you want then that is when they do the hard pull. The unsecured cards are legit even if they hae a small fee to pay. Good luck.

[mvanz9999]

Thank you cindylynnsmith! I'm going to try doing this right now and see what happens. I post the results.

[mvanz9999]

I decided against Orchard. I will not deal with HSBC or its affiliates.

I'm looking at secured cards from Bank of America and First National Bank of Omaha.

I do not know if BoA reports as secured or unsecured, because I called twice and got TWO different answers. Anyone know?

In fact, does anyone have a recommendation on these two cards?