Forums
Hello,
I already have three secured credit cards and I have had them for only three months. I wanted to apply for an unsecured credit card like capital one or discover and I was wondering if I should wait at least six months or more before I apply for them?
I would say , wait till your unsecured cards graduate to unsecured.
How long does that usually take?
It depends on issuer, usually 12 mos. BOA graduates secured cards after 9 mos. Some banks do not graduate secued cards at all.
Hi jaineelewis
I think that since you already have 3 credit cards, you should wait for at least one year before applying for an unsecured credit card and in this one year period you should concentrate on building up a good credit history. But if you apply for a new credit card now, there will be a hard inquiry in your credit report which will lower your credit score. In addition to this, you may not also get an unsecured credit card because you do not have a payment history. So why reduce your credit score unnecessarily, when you are not sure that you will be getting a card positively.
In this one year period, you can make regular utility bill payments and other monthly payments with this secured credit cards and pay them back on time. Moreover, you should not spend more than 30% of your available credit limit on your cards. In this way, your credit history will develop and your FICO score will increase. Now after one year, when you apply for a new unsecured credit card, you will not be rejected since you will be having a good FICO score by them. But you should not make any missed payment, because a missed payment on your secured credit card will reflect in your credit report and will lower your credit score.
great advice carol, how does a secure card work, do you have to put down money?
Good question Gn. I think I will await this answer too.
If you want to get a secured credit card, you need to keep a cash collateral with the credit card company as security and so you can get a secured credit card with low credit score and even without a credit score. Your credit limit on your secured credit card will be equivalent to the amount you keep as collateral. You can get a secured credit card at a very low rate of interest if you are a member of a credit union. In addition to this, there are several credit card companies that offer these credit cards.
Hello2
Hi
Nice site!
G'night
Thanks Bite. You can register and join in on our psts. Think you will enjoy it.
So are secured cards for people with bad credit? Mine is pretty good actually but just a few blunders which most have fallen off.