Good thing for you hjm331 is you have time and knowledge on your side. Your utilization will come down as time goes by and you pay your cards down, your credit history is one day at a time and your building that correctly.

My scores are struggling right now due to high utilization, too many new accounts, too many inquiries, and short credit history. The reason why my utilization is so high is because I let my dad use my cards for the past 3 months to pay the auto payments, utiliies, etc. He has been paying me back for the past few weeks now and I have cut utilization in half so I'm definitely making progress.

Maybe your right Mousepad. My thought is that you have credit that has been in affect longer than 4 years and your within striking distance of 780, i.e. your within 150 points of 780 and over the next 4 years you will be paying off debt that will increase your score over that window of time that will elevate your score to that level.

The people I know at that level have had credit longer than 4 years, paid off numerous cars on time, on the verge of paying off their mortgage, combined credit limits nearing $100K and utilization as low as 5%. Then again, at 780 BOA will be approaching you, you will not have to seek them out.

Have been with BOA since 2003, have two cards with them with good limits, have no Credit Card debt and it will probably be another two years before I hit that score. But like you said its not that it can't be done though

you can
i came from 505 to 690 in a 1yr 1/2
yes it can be done

I'm a BOA customer Mousepad and have to ask this question based on your last post. I don't think you can have a 780 score without at least 4 years of credit history.

bump!

Help
i did an app online for chase and was given the 7 - 10 day message so i called and spoke with a credit rep and he told me i was denied but after asking me a few things about what was on my report about why i had so many accounts and why i did not have much history, so he told me to hold for a sec after asking me how much to i pay on the cards i have and i told him if they are less than 100 then they get paid off for the month and anything over gets 100 or more so he told me that he was going to see if the system was going to let him give me 1500cl and came back and told me it was 1500cl but they will send out a letter asking for some info.
does this mean i will get the card? does anyone know what they will be asking for in this letter?
dammm i want in with chase so bad.
if i get in then all i will have to do is work on citi and boa and theres nothing i can do about them at this time cause they want history and they mean it. you can have a 780 score but if you dont have 4 or more years they wont touch you.

Cool, thanks everybody. I will visit all of those links to see what my options are. My scores are so low, I'm just trying to dig myself out of this credit hole.

Hi zippi, check your mailbox when you get a chance. Thanks!

OK, before you start applying, use the score match to find cards that are within your range. This will eliminate the frustration of denials and applying for cards that require better credit.
https://www.financeglobe.com/ScoreMatch/

Here is a link for those with poor credit https://www.financeglobe.com/Finance/Poor+Credit-Needed-Cards.php

We highly recommend that you start with:

1. Orchard
2. Capital One
3. Hooter's
4. Travelocity (Juniper)
5. Kay's Jewelry....please walk in the store if you are within range

I know for a fact that Travelocity (juniper) is bk friendly here is another thread that gives you updates on which creditor is bk friendly. https://www.financeglobe.com/SocialNet/forum/showthread.php?t=538&highlight=friendly

Also, members shared experience in this thread on which cards are nice to apply for:
https://www.financeglobe.com/SocialNet/forum/showthread.php?t=361&highlight=nice+cards

Keep us updated in any related thread about your approval or denial and make sure that you add it to the credit card reviews https://www.financeglobe.com/Finance/credit-card-reviews.shtml
And also keep it logged for your reference in application statuses. That is where members (such as yourself) can see who was approved, who was not, what scores did they have at the time, income range...etc.. https://www.financeglobe.com/Finance/credit-card-status.shtml

Hope this helps!

Overe here on FG, the Bank of America secured card is the most popular secured card here. Not only do you get a secured card, you also get your foot into the door with them. If you make your payments on-time and use your card responsibly, they will unsecure your card, return your deposit, and give you an increase on your new card. I don't know if you can make direct deposits to the card but you can open a free checking account with them and make your payments with that.

Hi all, I'm new around these parts. I found FN during my search for a prepaid card. My credit scores are in the dumper (due to some medical bills, a BK and all sorts of boneheadedness on my part). I've given up on banks. Honestly, I probably wouldn't be able to get an account, anyway.

My question is, what are the best unsecured or prepaid cards to look at applying for? I need one that will allow direct deposit and can be used for hotels, online shopping, bill paying, etc.

I know that there are tons of prepaid cards available, but they all seem to have outrageous fees and do not report to the 3 credit agencys. Even with all of those deficiencies, I'm willing to consider one if it fits my needs.

Any help will be very much appreciated.

I find it interesting also. I have to call the bank tommorow and ask. If its possible, I would put as much as i could before the unsecure time and get a higher cl without all the waiting. They say you can put 300-10000 down for a secured so I dont think if you put a good bit down they will just bring your card back to the minimum which would be 300. Surprised no one on this forum havent asked this question or maybe i missed it.

I have another question. I have a bofa secured right now that has a cl of 300. They say that it takes about 9 months to get my deposit back if everything goes well. I could increase my cl by depositing more money. Lets say about 2 months before the card is suppose to get unsecured I deposit maybe a thousand or 2. and my credit limit turns into whatever it adds up to. Would they give me that amount of 1300 or 2300cl since i deposited that much?

That is a good question, since i do not have a secured card, I am just going to assume that they are going to let your deposit stay, and then offer you an additional limit. Then again, you would figure that if it is no longer secured, that they will send you all of your secured money back and then offer you a limit. I guess hjm331 will be here on this one, he is a bofa freak....lol. Or someone else will beat him to the punch, I find this one interesting.:

I have a question. I have more on my credit card as a credit then i owe. Its only a few bucks. Do you think I can just leave the credit on there and not use the card? Do you think that it will close due to inactivity even though theres a credit on it? Just wondering

Quote me if I am wrong, are you saying that you have more available credit, than actual charges? If so, you are doing great! Or, are you saying that you have some charge back(s) that are on your card (which you already paid the balance on) now it makes you have more available credit than what your initial cl was? If that is the case, they should cut you a check for the amount that are over your initial credit line, or if it is unsecured they should raise your limit by the amount that is over the initial credit line.

Hope I got this right!

I have another question. I have a bofa secured right now that has a cl of 300. They say that it takes about 9 months to get my deposit back if everything goes well. I could increase my cl by depositing more money. Lets say about 2 months before the card is suppose to get unsecured I deposit maybe a thousand or 2. and my credit limit turns into whatever it adds up to. Would they give me that amount of 1300 or 2300cl since i deposited that much?