"Denied Then Approved"
Orchard Bank® Gold MasterCard® Review
Written by: wildrage2 on 2008-01-18
Overall Satisfaction
Customer Service
Rewards
Account Management
Delivery Time
wildrage2's review: 
I tried to apply for this card about 4 months ago when I started to begin rebuilding my credit. I have 2 charge off's from college and 2 or 3 collection accounts, but the total amount owed is under 5k.
When I applied back in October, the prescreening application only offered me the secured card. So I decided against it.
Since then I opened up several accounts: Captital One (already got an CLI), First Premier, Continental, Tribute, Acces, and Rewards 660. I know that some of these cards suck, but I wanted to do my best to rebuild.
My credit score on MyFico actually dropped from 577 to 550 yesterday, assuminly becasue the tons of inquiries and new cards the past few months.
I was going to wait about 6 months before applying to some other cards, like Hooters and Carnival... But...
I just got an e-mail from Orchard inviting me to apply again... Not sure why... My FICO dropped, but I guess I do have 4 months of on-time payments on 5 or 6 cards now... Who knows. I did the prescreening thing, and they offered me 3 different cards, each one almost identical, so I chose one, and they required me to pay a $39 fee upfront, and said that I was approved... I guess we'll see..
Here's my take on the cards I have so far, in the order that I got them:
1. Continental Finance - Stay away from this card. I haven't had a problem paying them or with their customer service, but their monthly fee just raised to something like $13, and they only give $35 CLI for a $25 fee (all in an e-mail I received last month). I'm going to keep it for a year to help build, but it will be the first to go.
2. First Premier, Centenial Gold - Has crappy fees, but behaves more like a 'regular' credit card company. Their online services are very good, and it's very simple to make a payment. My payments are credited the next day and the credit is usually available in 2-3 days.
3. Access Visa through Plains Commerce Bank - Another high fee card, but I've had really positive experiences with their customer service, and payments get credited very quickly.
4. Rewards 660 - Eh... I could take it or leave it. More fees, and okay customer services. The jury is still out.
5. Tribute Mastercard - This is my second-to last favorite. I can't login to their online website, so I have no way of paying online or checking my balance. Their fees are high and customer service pretty crappy.
6. Capital One Platinum - By far the best card yet. No annual fee, No APR for the first 6 months. I was actually sort of surprised when I was approved for this one. They started me out at $300, and I'm already up to $750 after about 4 months... No complaints here.
I haven't had any problems with any of these cards, but I also should say that I paid them all on time, and ahead of time... Sometimes 2 payments a month. I'm keeping all balances low, and hope that after 6 months or so I can start weeding the bad ones out.
In my oppinion, stay away from Tribute and Continental Finance. Their fees are the highest and service not great. Tribute only started reporting on my credit TODAY, nearly 4 months after getting the card.
I tried to apply for this card about 4 months ago when I started to begin rebuilding my credit. I have 2 charge off's from college and 2 or 3 collection accounts, but the total amount owed is under 5k.When I applied back in October, the prescreening application only offered me the secured card. So I decided against it.
Since then I opened up several accounts: Captital One (already got an CLI), First Premier, Continental, Tribute, Acces, and Rewards 660. I know that some of these cards suck, but I wanted to do my best to rebuild.
My credit score on MyFico actually dropped from 577 to 550 yesterday, assuminly becasue the tons of inquiries and new cards the past few months.
I was going to wait about 6 months before applying to some other cards, like Hooters and Carnival... But...
I just got an e-mail from Orchard inviting me to apply again... Not sure why... My FICO dropped, but I guess I do have 4 months of on-time payments on 5 or 6 cards now... Who knows. I did the prescreening thing, and they offered me 3 different cards, each one almost identical, so I chose one, and they required me to pay a $39 fee upfront, and said that I was approved... I guess we'll see..
Here's my take on the cards I have so far, in the order that I got them:
1. Continental Finance - Stay away from this card. I haven't had a problem paying them or with their customer service, but their monthly fee just raised to something like $13, and they only give $35 CLI for a $25 fee (all in an e-mail I received last month). I'm going to keep it for a year to help build, but it will be the first to go.
2. First Premier, Centenial Gold - Has crappy fees, but behaves more like a 'regular' credit card company. Their online services are very good, and it's very simple to make a payment. My payments are credited the next day and the credit is usually available in 2-3 days.
3. Access Visa through Plains Commerce Bank - Another high fee card, but I've had really positive experiences with their customer service, and payments get credited very quickly.
4. Rewards 660 - Eh... I could take it or leave it. More fees, and okay customer services. The jury is still out.
5. Tribute Mastercard - This is my second-to last favorite. I can't login to their online website, so I have no way of paying online or checking my balance. Their fees are high and customer service pretty crappy.
6. Capital One Platinum - By far the best card yet. No annual fee, No APR for the first 6 months. I was actually sort of surprised when I was approved for this one. They started me out at $300, and I'm already up to $750 after about 4 months... No complaints here.
I haven't had any problems with any of these cards, but I also should say that I paid them all on time, and ahead of time... Sometimes 2 payments a month. I'm keeping all balances low, and hope that after 6 months or so I can start weeding the bad ones out.
In my oppinion, stay away from Tribute and Continental Finance. Their fees are the highest and service not great. Tribute only started reporting on my credit TODAY, nearly 4 months after getting the card.
3 Comments
Comment 1 by ash
Re: Wildrange2 
on 2008-01-18
Regarding your Fico score, be careful with your debt ratio. The balances your carry on your credit card can have a great impact on your score especially if your over or close to your limit. Don't quote me on the this but I think all of your cards should be under 25% or 30 %. If you are carrying some balances and start paying them down you should start to see an improvement.
Regarding the Tribute Mastercard, its mytributecard.com
you should be able to set your account up for online access and payments. Thats how I paid them. Good luck...
on 2008-01-18 Regarding your Fico score, be careful with your debt ratio. The balances your carry on your credit card can have a great impact on your score especially if your over or close to your limit. Don't quote me on the this but I think all of your cards should be under 25% or 30 %. If you are carrying some balances and start paying them down you should start to see an improvement. Regarding the Tribute Mastercard, its mytributecard.com
you should be able to set your account up for online access and payments. Thats how I paid them. Good luck...
Comment 2 by wildrage2
Took A While.... on 2008-01-30
So I was finally preapproved through that screening thing, but then it told me that it would take 10-14 days to verify information. On about day 5 they took the $39 out of my checking account and now, on day 12, my status says:
Congratulations! Your application has been approved.
You have been approved with a credit limit of $ 300
on 2008-01-30 So I was finally preapproved through that screening thing, but then it told me that it would take 10-14 days to verify information. On about day 5 they took the $39 out of my checking account and now, on day 12, my status says:Congratulations! Your application has been approved.
You have been approved with a credit limit of $ 300
Comment 3 by thomas1
UTILIZATION RATIO on 2008-05-04
The utilization ratio meaning balance to available credit should never exceed 35% on any given account from what I understand from myFICO.com
on 2008-05-04 The utilization ratio meaning balance to available credit should never exceed 35% on any given account from what I understand from myFICO.com
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Disclaimer: This content is not provided by Capital One Bank (USA), N.A.. Any opinions, analyses, reviews or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the author's alone, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by Capital One Bank (USA), N.A.. Review content is powered by Finance Globe.
