Hapa DC5

Did you end up getting the BofA card?

I paid off all of my CC debt from our wedding last year (paid down 18k in 10 months). I checked my TU score in July and it jumped up 18 points as a result.

Then the credit card offers started showing up more than usual. Discover was on my ass like crazy trying to get me to apply for that Discover More card you posted. They've never reached out to me before.

I was reluctant at first because I only have one HP from almost two years ago that will disappear soon and no CC balances to transfer. My Chase Freedom card is at 14.9% my Cap One is 15.9% and my USAA AMEX is at 12.9% IIRC. Basically no need for another line of credit.

Ehhh screw it, after getting four of these mailers from Discover I applied received the 0% offer on purchases and transfers for 15 months plus a fixed 10.99% after the term is up with no annual fee and cash back benefits. They also gave me a 10K CL right off the bat. Second highest behind my Amex which I've had since 2004 and is my oldest open line of credit too.

The card came in three business days to boot.

I haven't made any purchases, but this seems like a great card especially given the APR and 0% offers.

Abe_Froman

iTrader: (5)

Bringing this back thread back from the dead.

I got a secured card from Bank of America over a year ago with a $500 limit, and a few months ago they made it into a normal unsecured credit card. The day after it became unsecured I requested a credit line increase to $1,000 and got it.

In December of 2012 I also opened GAP and Macys store credit cards. So I have three lines of credit you could say.

Last night I checked my credit report and I am at a 726. It said what was hurting me was that the average length of my accounts was not that long (under 1 year), and that my average credit available on each card was less than $2,000.

Even though I am only 20 I figure that I should try to build the highest score possible for myself. I went ahead and requested a credit increase to $2,000 on my Bank of America card today.

What else should I do to keep building my credit? Would carrying a small balance help me? I have always paid off each card in full so that I wouldn't be charged interest. Should I also look into opening another credit card? American Express, Discover, Chase, etc?

svtmike

Don't carry a balance. There is absolutely nothing wrong with a credit rating of 726.

Credit is a tool, not a goal. Work on building your income and your wealth using credit judiciously.

doopstr

You goal should be to never do this.

As your report said, your best friend is time. 726 is really damn good for age 20. You won't have much issue at this point getting additional credit as long as you have the income to back up your request.

v6cord2k5

iTrader: (1)

I got my first credit card when I was a student at 18 years old. It was a BofA Power Rewards card and carried 0% for 12 months. I still use it, have never redeemed the rewards points.

I got my second card when I was looking to get a car loan without a consigner. Chase wouldn't approve my car loan since I didn't have enough credit sources.. Although my history with BofA was flawless. I applied for a Chase credit card and got approved with ridiculously high credit limit. I used it a few months, applied for a car loan with a credit union and got approved for a very low interest rate to boot.

Stay on top of your payments! That plastic card can be dangerous haha

aznboi2424

iTrader: (10)

Opening another credit card will just lower your average length of accounts even further. I have have 3 cards already have was contemplating another but I wouldn't use the 4th one very much, only for the rewards.

Rapture

So.... yeah. I'm 26 years old and I keep getting rejected for credit cards (even from my own bank) because my only piece of credit history is the auto loan I took out almost 6 years ago for my CL. Funny how applications ask how long you've been working at your employer, how long you've been living at your residence (I guess checking to see if I pay my rent on time?) and yet I STILL get rejected for having only one piece of credit--nothing else matters, apparently. Something doesn't add up here btw I made all payments on my auto loan. Paid it off early, as a matter of fact.

I'm thinking of going with a secured card, however since it has an annual fee (best one is $29) I'd hate to keep it longer than one year. I was thinking after that time I could ditch it for a better offer with no annual fee..... but would that negatively impact my credit score? Seems kinda counter-intuitive if building SOME credit is my goal.

Is there a better way?

Anachostic

Have you actually seen your full credit report? www.annualcreditreport.com will give you a free copy from each company. Also, start tracking your credit on www.creditkarma.com.

If you've been applying a lot lately, you need to back off for quite a while. Applications put "hard inquires" on your record (which CK will show you), and those hurt your credit until they fall off after so many months.

If you go the secured card route, make sure it's one that auto-converts to a non-secured card after some time. To make sure you use it consistently, set up a monthly bill to use it using billpay.

doopstr

Assuming there is nothing wrong with your credit report, get a store card. They will give those to anyone that doesn't have horrible credit. 6-12 months later get a visa/mc.

maharajamd

iTrader: (1)

I was older when I first jumped into credit too. Funny how in this society you have to have borrowed to be able to borrow. 26 years old and you've done just fine without being up to your ears in credit, why should that restrict you? Well it's all about your history.

So what I did was get a Bestbuy card. I think I started off with like a small 1600 limit. I used it, paid it off. Not too early, not too soon, just right. Rinse and repeat. This enabled me, eventually, to get a regular card. Use, pay off, rinse and repeat.

Devil Dog 21

I agree with everyone else, get a store card.

If you think there's even the slightest chance you'd rack up debt on it then get a card to a store that won't tempt you to spend.

350

iTrader: (4)

I like my Chase Amazon Rewards Visa, no clue what the APR is but it varies on your credit rating, I always pay in full. 3 points for amazon, 2 for gas, 1 for everything else, I always just select statement credit and get cash off the bill. I also have a Citizens Bank Greensense MC, 25 cents every time the card is swiped back into my checking account. I almost never have cash cause I get paid to use the card.

If you have no credit history, 1st Financial Bank USA gave me a card with a $200 limit at 18, no fees. I'm sure the APR sucks but just spend a few bucks a month and pay it off to build up your rating.

Rapture

No. I was going to, actually, until recently when I applied for a card, was rejected, and was told over the phone "We looked at your credit history and you only have one showing of credit -- that's it! You don't even have a credit score!" Of course the one instance of credit was the car loan.

So I figured there aren't any cases of fraud on it or anything I should worry about. Wouldn't hurt to get it anyways, though.


That's pretty much the reason I stayed away from credit; it just seems pretty backwards to me. Someone with 3 credit cards and a car loan, who pays out loads of cash in interest, is seen as less of a risk than someone more frugal with money.

Anyways, I was able to get a card from a bank. Had to have someone co-sign it...

03silvertypeS

Now that you have one, I'd suggest using it to pay a recurring bill (cell phone for example) every month and then set up an automatic payment to the card from your bank account to pay the statement balance each month. The reason I suggest the automatic payment to the credit card is because you really can't afford any late payments when you're trying to build your credit. Also, from my experience, knowing the statment balance will be paid in full helps with discouraging impulse buys with the credit card.

Rapture

I was planning on setting up auto-pay for my phone and utilities. That way I can charge the card without really doing anything. But I didn't know you can auto-pay with your credit card, too. Good to hear!

ChodTheWacko

Bumping this thread a bit.
It's a bit off topic for the OP, as the type of credit cards you get vary greatly depending on what type of credit rating you already have. I have pretty good credit.

My current card is the chase sapphire preferred. It's $99 a year, but the first year is free. It's sort of a travel card - 2% off restaurants, 2%+ off flights depending on how you use their rewards program. It's also a chip card (NO pin support though, turns out), and has no foreign travel fee.
Not sure I'm sticking with the sapphire - when I signed up, I got 40K ($400!) free signup points and no fee the first year, so signing up was a no brainer.

I just got an application for the Capital one quicksilver visa , and it's quite nice. 1.5% off everything, no annual fee, no foreign xaction fee. Pretty nice all around card.

I also have the chase freedom card, and i'll whip that out whenever the 5% bonus applies. It changes quarter to quarter though so it's annoying. It's currently 5% off gas but that ends sep1.


As far as whether or not to use a credit card, the best thing to do is be financially responsibile and charge everything on the card.
Not only do you get the cash back, it makes tracking spending a hell of a lot easier through mint or whatever. The problem of course, is that
in this age of consumption, 'financially responsible' is an after thought.

350

iTrader: (4)

Yeah I got that Quicksilver card too, they were running a promo for $100 back when you spend $500 in the first 3 months, plus straight 1.5% cash back on everything, I use that now on pretty much everything except Amazon and gas. Bills on autopay = free money instead of just having it come out of checking with the rewards.

doopstr

New card from Citi. Double Cash. Get 1% on all purchase, then another 1% of what you pay of the balance. So if you pay in full every month that's 2% on everything. Not bad!
https://www.citi.com/credit-cards/cr...sh-credit-card

leedogg

I went from Discover @ 1% to Capital One Quicksilver @ 1.5% to just recently the Citi @ 2% cashback.

Rapture

For those who have American Express, how do the rewards points stack up? Considering a card with them and I can't seem to find anything regarding how far the points go towards whatever you want to redeem.

Of course I'm assuming it's the same across all the cards they offer

Abe_Froman

iTrader: (5)

They have their own "Online Store" where you can spend your rewards. It is a complete ripoff though in my opinion. Everything is way pricer than it should be. A PS4 is listed at $666 rewards dollars. I don't see why you wouldn't just redeem the rewards for cash or a gift card of equal value.

5 year update: My credit score is currently at 760 and has been there for roughly a year. I don't see it going up unless I finance a car or home. I have an Amex, Visa, and two retail store cards. I can't see a reason for me to open any more cards in the foreseeable future.

thoiboi

membership rewards is highly lucrative for transfers to hotel and airline partners to be used for award travel and award stays. I wouldn't use them for anything else as this is where their true value lies.

Ultimate rewards from Chase is another highly valuable points earning system for flights and hotels.

stogie1020

I am thinking of getting a CO Spark 2% card for business.

Anyone have one?

I have done some checking and it seems like they really like to stick you with a 5k limit and then never allow you to up it. This would be fine for me for most months, but sometimes I would have to pay the bill two or three times in a month and hope they clear the limit each time to be able to keep using it.

Also, their support is "off shore" meaning I get someone with a pretty thick accent who is less than helpful and named "Stan."

oo7spy

I personally loathe Capital One. They have some very shady business practices. Why not go for the Citi 2%?

stogie1020

was looking for something with the company name on it, and Citi says they only do personal card in the 2%...

Care to elaborate on the shady practices?

Abe_Froman

iTrader: (5)

Anachostic

Also curious about Capital One's shadiness. I have a personal and business card with them, and the GF uses their Capital One 360 checking. We've been nothing but pleased with them and their service.

They reversed a late charge when I missed a payment because I didn't do the final click on the online payment wizard. They did an immediate increase on the GF's overdraft protection to avoid a bounced check when she discovered her payment timing was off. And just today, their free Credit Tracker service alerted me by email of a credit inquiry for a loan I applied for yesterday. That's pretty quick.

Stogie, my business card an older no hassle rewards card, probably 1 mile/dollar. My credit limit on that one is $10k (I spend $480/yr on it for web hosting).

stogie1020

^Thanks.

I think I am going to do the Spark business card, knowing the common complaints.

Really, the main issue is that many people report a significant delay between when they make a mid-month payment (due to low credit limit) and when that payment clears the reset for the spending so they don't exceed the limit and get declined. Seems like it should be within 24 hours if you do it online, but many people reported several days, which makes it tough if monthly spending exceeds 5k.

oo7spy

There was an instance when I made a late payment. I had already asked for my grace waiver, so I took it on the chin, paid the fee, the interest, and the remaining balance the next month. Should have been $0 at the statement due date. They found some way of tacking on more interest the next month. I don't remember all of the specifics since it was nearly 3 years ago, but after spending 30 min on the phone with them I got some BS response about how I was accruing interest for the credits provided prior to the next statement, i.e. interest before 30 days and before the statement for the credits, because of my missed payment. While they were willing to refund that charge, I was done at that point. I moved all autopays off of the card and quit using it immediately in favor of my American Express which gives rewards.

Not a shady business practice, but the Cap 1 didn't give any rewards. Also not necessarily a shady business practice, but when I went online to cancel the card, which they show as an option, I was led to a number I had to call to sit on hold and answer their questions for why I was cancelling. The rule of thumb is don't miss a payment. Ever. Even at 4:30 CST on the due date. That's late.

Honestly, when I wrote that, I had two instances in mind, but the other was Bank of America with my mortgage. I had missed a payment then too. When they sent me a notice, I submitted a payment plus late fee right away. They took my new payment and applied it to the upcoming balance and continued charging me interest on my previous missed payment. I don't trust them either.

I now put everything on my Discover card which give 1% on everything and 5% on specific purchases changing quarterly. You have to "sign up" for the 5% rewards, but if you play their easy little game, you can reap the rewards.

I do my best to follow Buffet's advice that the key to acquiring wealth is avoiding interest. If a business is willing to charge me interest that isn't expected as a standard course of business, then I will take my money elsewhere.

OT: I once encountered a bank with an enrollment fee and annual fee for a checking account. They wanted me to pay them money to hold on to my money. I found a credit union down the street with a free checking account instead.

Yvuru

My experience with Capital One has been pretty good. I have a Capital One Quicksilver card and under-payed on one of my statement balances. They charged interest for the next 3 months even though I cleared the balance. Called them up and they immediately refunded me the interest charges for the 2 months that I was charged interest after I cleared my balance.

With that being said my overall experience with Discover is better than Capital One. That 20% cashback

oo7spy

I am seriously contemplating the Citi 2% card with 15 months of 0% interest. Then today I get an email from Capital One saying they will auto-upgrade my existing card (never cancelled because of hassle) to 1.5% Quicksilver terms. Don't think they are offering the intro APR though.

If they were, the only reason I would go back and be hyper-vigilant would be to keep from opening another credit line. I've heard this can hurt your credit score. Has anyone experienced that?

stogie1020

^Yes, you will get a hard query on your credit, figure about a 50 point drop, although it should go back up within a year, max. Only really an issue if you are planning on applying for a loan in the near term.

Heard back from CO re: the Spark 2% card. Approved and with a sizable credit limit as well. The limit was my only concern and now that that is taken care of, I can start moving all my business bills/autopays to the card and still be able to make large purchases as needed.

stogie1020

Well, a rocky customer service start to the just-received Spark 2% card...

Activation was a painful 45 minute affair because I did not know the name of the realtor company that the seller of the home I purchased 10 years ago had used. I knew the seller's name, just not their realtor firm.

Completely not joking. That was one of the "validate yourself" answers I needed to know to activate the card. Obviously, I had no effing idea.

As a result, I had to scan both sides of my driver's license as well as a business utility bill with my company address on it and send it to CO.

I guess it would have been too complicated for the rep to simply google the name of the company, call the telephone number and speak to me.

So, fast forward to today and I use the card for two purchases. First one is declined for fraud alert, second one goes through.

30 minutes on the telephone with offshore support and they admit there was a fraud alert but no reason for it and removed it.

:sigh:

stogie1020

I thought I would update the thread after my last post.


Thus far I have been very happy with the CO Spark Business card. I got a $500 credit for meeting a certain balance w/i three months and have not had any trouble (as some reported online) with any of my transactions. 2% back is pretty nice, too.

As soon as Costco dumps AMEX I may move my personal card to the citibank 2% card from Amex Blue Cash.

oo7spy

I picked up the Citi 2%. Was kind of surprised they only gave me a $4,900 credit limit. My FICO score didn't budge the month I applied though. I'm interested in if it dips next month or not.

stogie1020

It's MC not Visa, right?

That LOC would be a deal breaker for me. Approved...Cancelled.

I did read a number of reviews of the Spark Business card doing the same thing and I was pretty worried about it. Turns out to be not an issue for me as they gave me a sufficient LOC.

oo7spy

It is MC. It wasn't a deal breaker because it's for personal finances, and my monthly budget is well below that. However, the main purpose was for upfront medical costs to be interest free, and that doesn't leave much margin for other stuff. Again, not a deal breaker, just surprising. Pretty sure Discover gave me $15k LOC out of the gates.

oo7spy

The month that I applied for my new card, my FICO score went down 5 points, but there was no mention of new credit lines causing harm, just revolving debts close to credit limits. Then I paid off almost all of that revolving debt, and my score this month is up 16 points. There is no longer the mention of high revolving debt, but there is a mention of young lines of credit.

So, if nothing else changes, I can see a new card dragging your score down a little, but it doesn't seem to be very significant.

Regarding the line of credit, does MC generally start low? My wife was approved for a Quicksilver to start a new business venture (pretty sure it's Visa), and they gave her $10k LOC. All things considered, that makes the Citi LOC even more confusing.

imj0257

iTrader: (1)

Gonna hijack and ask a quick question regarding credit cards since this looks to be the best thread.

I have had my own individual checking/credit account at bank A for 10+ years. Wife had her own checking credit account at bank B for 10+ years. Both of us have excellent credit.

Recently got married. She added me to her joint checking account at bank B and we opened up a new joint credit account at bank B as well. (What's mine is yours and yours is mine thing).

I no longer have a use for my accounts at bank A but I've read closing an account with lots of good history on it can hurt your score. Should I close it now or close it later or keep it open?

oo7spy

Are there any fees related to keeping account A open?

If yes, I would close it to avoid those. If you both have great credit, then the potential ding won't hurt you that much, and it will go back up. Unless you plan on buying a mortgage in the next 3 months, close it.

If no, then I don't think it matters. (Maybe I'm missing something and it does.) I have 3 cards open that I haven't used in over a year.