Secured Credit card

[EvilGenius]

Hello again GTers!

I need to find a reasonable secured credit card to help my girlfriend rehab her credit. Also would love to have other ideas as well.

Apparently her mother has been using her ss# and not paying the bills. [Insert long drawn out story here] Finally got everything worked out and now she can't even get a credit card to start rebuilding!

She has never had a credit card. Her credit got hit with a number of other things. Nothing too serious, just enough that she needs to rebuild and can't get a card to do it.

Thanks for helping us out, I am at a loss!!

eg

PS I told her to take a student loan, put it in the bank and pay it off at the end of the semester w/ the interest as a kind of penalty. She decided not to do that b/c the interest would have cost about 130 bucks for the semester

[PeterJasonMN]

It's simple. You pay a deposit of XXX amount of dollars, and that's your limit. The APR is a LOT higher, but pay it off right away, or as much as you can do. I've done it before, and plan on doing it very soon.

[cgwahl]

Maybe try with her bank. Beyond that I think with secured cards you gotta pay up front the available credit so might not be hard to go with someone other than the bank.

[EvilGenius]

Thanks. Is there any particular company that we should definitely stay away from?

[EvilGenius]

Maybe try with her bank. Beyond that I think with secured cards you gotta pay up front the available credit so might not be hard to go with someone other than the bank.

Good Advice. Bank turned her down cold. Twice in the last year. (Chase) I wonder if they do secured cards

[cgwahl]

I don't like Chase and Capital One.

[PeterJasonMN]

I had one through Wells Fargo.

[cgwahl]

Good Advice. Bank turned her down cold. Twice in the last year. (Chase) I wonder if they do secured cards


Tell her to get a different bank then...preferably a credit union if possible. Citi or BoA will probably give her one before she even finishes filling out the paperwork.

[cgwahl]

http://www.cardoffers.com/Bad-Credit-Credit-Cards/


I don't know about the cards in the above link, but some will offer kickbacks if you sign up through the site. May want to check the cards site as well to see if the kickback is better though (if it exists).

Actually, nevermind, noticed the above charge fees, so I probably wouldn't get them unless she has no other choice (and even then I'd not get them).

http://www.cardoffers.com/Prepaid-Credit-Cards/

Another option are gas cards (although I don't know how well those help with credit).


If she hasn't already she may want to look into disputing the cards and whatnot her mom did on her credit report.

[AnalogKid]

Surprised I'm the first one to suggest this but...check out advice by Dave Ramsey. Your GF doesn't need to "rebuild" her credit unless she's trying to get into debt. Que the Dave Ramsey haters...3...2...1 LOL!

Even if she has bad credit but she's determined to get credit there is always someone out there willing to spot her some. Have her check out stores in a mall somewhere as most chain stores have credit cards that they are heavily promoting and one of them might give her a chance. Have her check out everything from Chicos to Victorias Secret. She might find one that will accept her, although as a Ramsey fan this advice goes against everything I believe in. Still, she's a big girl with her own life so more power to her if it's what she wants.

Read or listen to Dave Ramsey though. Trust me on this one.

[elo]

Surprised I'm the first one to suggest this but...check out advice by Dave Ramsey. Your GF doesn't need to "rebuild" her credit unless she's trying to get into debt. Que the Dave Ramsey haters...3...2...1 LOL!

Even if she has bad credit but she's determined to get credit there is always someone out there willing to spot her some. Have her check out stores in a mall somewhere as most chain stores have credit cards that they are heavily promoting and one of them might give her a chance. Have her check out everything from Chicos to Victorias Secret. She might find one that will accept her, although as a Ramsey fan this advice goes against everything I believe in. Still, she's a big girl with her own life so more power to her if it's what she wants.

Read or listen to Dave Ramsey though. Trust me on this one.
...unless you'd like a house

[mike7465]

Hello again GTers!

I need to find a reasonable secured credit card to help my girlfriend rehab her credit. Also would love to have other ideas as well.

Apparently her mother has been using her ss# and not paying the bills. [Insert long drawn out story here] Finally got everything worked out and now she can't even get a credit card to start rebuilding!

She has never had a credit card. Her credit got hit with a number of other things. Nothing too serious, just enough that she needs to rebuild and can't get a card to do it.

Thanks for helping us out, I am at a loss!!

eg

PS I told her to take a student loan, put it in the bank and pay it off at the end of the semester w/ the interest as a kind of penalty. She decided not to do that b/c the interest would have cost about 130 bucks for the semester

Goto BOA and try for one of their credit cards. If she gets denied she will be given a 99/500 card. This will be a secured credit card with a deposit of $99 dollars with a $500 limit.

[EvilGenius]

Surprised I'm the first one to suggest this but...check out advice by Dave Ramsey. Your GF doesn't need to "rebuild" her credit unless she's trying to get into debt. Que the Dave Ramsey haters...3...2...1 LOL!

Even if she has bad credit but she's determined to get credit there is always someone out there willing to spot her some. Have her check out stores in a mall somewhere as most chain stores have credit cards that they are heavily promoting and one of them might give her a chance. Have her check out everything from Chicos to Victorias Secret. She might find one that will accept her, although as a Ramsey fan this advice goes against everything I believe in. Still, she's a big girl with her own life so more power to her if it's what she wants.

Read or listen to Dave Ramsey though. Trust me on this one.

Funny you mention that, this issue came back up today because she was denied at VS. I'm the one who told her to get a card and pay it off every month, but we can't even get one!

Her credit is already on the bad side, so I figured that a secured card (since she can't get one w/o) is the best way to build it back to zero.

At this point, she heads off to grad school in a year and her credit wouldn't even get her an apartment you know what I mean. Without 1st and last months rent.

[cgwahl]

PS I told her to take a student loan, put it in the bank and pay it off at the end of the semester w/ the interest as a kind of penalty. She decided not to do that b/c the interest would have cost about 130 bucks for the semester


I could be wrong, but I believe I recall reading somewhere that student loans don't help with credit much if at all.

[PeterJasonMN]

I could be wrong, but I believe I recall reading somewhere that student loans don't help with credit much if at all.


Nope. If they did, you'd be calling me Rabbi.