[BG Financial] Good bank to start credit line at?

[Warudo Ecksu]

I got my first credit card at 24 with absolutely 0 credit from capital one, so I imagine you can get one from them as well

[Seshat]

I'm in a similar boat except I'm 18 (almost 19 now) and have been unable to get a credit card. IT took me getting a co-signer to have Best Buy even approve me (and I was told retail was easier to get), but every other company/bank/store has told me pretty much "you have no credit so we won't give you any" which is stupid. And since I have nothing to actually buy AT BestBuy there's no credit for me to even build. It's been about 5-6 months since my last credit application (since I was told don't apply for more than like 4 every 6 months or whatever) so I'm wondering if I should bother going through that process again.

EDIT: Thought I should mention I've been under my father's bank account my whole life, mostly through Wachovia/WF, and about a year ago right after my birthday I transfered the balance to an account completely in my name, along with a savings account. Wachovia happily denied me their credit card.

[Skyylya]

I know it doesn't answer your question, but...

An option to help you start a line of credit would be to use a secured line where you deposit an amount of money to the bank or card company that serves as some or all of your limit. Banks generally offer better interest rates on these types of deals because they have your credit limit in cash already.

My wife had one with BOA with a $500 limit when she was in high school. She used it for a number of years, and when we decided to close the account after we got married, the bank took the balance on the card out of that deposit, and sent us a check for the remainder.

This sort of thing is generally touted as a better alternative for people who like to use their debit cards for every transaction. You still swipe plastic, but using a secured line of credit actually builds your credit, where a debit card does not.

Lack of collateral factors into interest rates along with existing credit history (or lack thereof). Minimizing the card company's risk on the collateral side will help them work with you.

*edit* credit unions are a good idea at times, or sometimes you can get cards through professional or social relationships. I think my dad has a deal on his Visa with his Rotary club or something. I don't know what the deal is, but it's a benefit to him. If you have a steady job or are attending college, etc. etc., check with benefits offered to you to see if there are deals out there.

Just a note on the bolded part. HORRIBLE idea. She basically just removed her credit history.

When you close an account you basically cut whatever that period of time to the next credit account opened off your history.

The only time you should ever close an account is if told to do so by a mortgage loan processor so they can approve you. Otherwise you're better just letting it sit open and unused.

[Caiyuo]

I got my first credit card at 24 with absolutely 0 credit from capital one, so I imagine you can get one from them as well

I did the same, my first was when I was 18 or so and for what reason I don't know I was offered and approved for a Capital One CC. I still have it as I've heard the length of time you hold your first credit card open affects your credit score in some way, but since then I've gotten a much better card from my bank that I use for most things.

[Wulfgang]

My BoA CC started at 2,000 and is now at $15,000 after three years of never missing a payment. Regardless where you start, if you are always consistent in paying on time, you should do fine. Missing one payment sucks ass though, the credit bureaus have memories like elephants. American Express is still my favorite; have a gold card, nothing special, but they are so great at defending against fraud and if you pay it off every month as you should, there is no interest.

[Bunnykillah]

I got my first card from 1st Financial Bank. 0% APR as long as the balance is kept under $250. I doubt the card still has a deal that good, but it was good enough for me to get my WF Platinum. Around the beginning of the year they started an annual fee on it. When I called it up to cancel the card they waived the fee for me.

[Dmitry]

Go to a for-profit school and take out loans you will be paying for the rest of your life. Guaranteed approval and will help you build credit.

[desertigloo]

Never ever carry a balance. It's one of the worst things you can possibly do.

I got a card through capital one and bank of America a few years ago. I didn't have a precious account with either. Capitalone generally works with a lot of people that have little/no credit history, and that would be your best place to go IMO. Don't apply online, go into a branch. Branch managers can push things through.

Keep in mind, getting denied from loans/cards/having your credit run MULTIPLE times WILL hurt your score. So do not overextend in your application (which is why I suggest going to a branch).

Honestly though, you should ideally only have debt on your vehicle and on your home. Pay everything else off in full asap.

[Sonomaa]

if you pay an MMO it makes life easy to put a monthly charge on the card without actually carrying the plastic around.

say 2x MMO accounts pop on your account, 35ish dollars (mules) and then you pay it off every month. I have BOA and my biz debit, personal debit, and CC are all linked on the same login screen and I can transfer money around on them easily. I have a great deal on my card and when they noticed I was working to pay it down further they lowered my interest rate as a show of good faith

I had amsouth and they literally held my paychecks for a week at the branch near me because one of their elderly tellers put a notice on my account that I was "a shady looking fellow", had to drive 45 minutes down the road to the other branch which treated me like an actual person and didnt hold my checks. BOA has kept me solid for 6 years now, Ill stick with them myself

[takethistoyourgrave]

A lot of misinformation in this thread (and some good info).

Two things I want to clear up:

1. You DON'T need to keep a balance. Keeping a 0 Balance does NOT hurt your credit. It might cause your card issuer to cancel your card, though (if you aren't using it at all). This also will not hurt your credit score (other than the fact that you stop establishing credit with that account).

2. Closing an account does NOT automatically "screw you". ALL credit accounts stay on your report for TEN YEARS and factor into your score. If I have a five year old account and close it, it will stay on my credit report for another 5 years as my oldest account. Once it is gone, THEN they take the next newest account as the "oldest" account.

[Olo401]

Just a heads up on something I heard.. Certain credit card issuers has started to charge inactivity fees as a way to get around potential new regulation and drain your pockets when you don't buy anything. If they do this, call the company and CANCEL YOUR ACCOUNT IMMEDIATELY. That kind of shit needs to be killed right away before it becomes an industry-wide thing.

[Skyylya]

A lot of misinformation in this thread (and some good info).

Two things I want to clear up:

1. You DON'T need to keep a balance. Keeping a 0 Balance does NOT hurt your credit. It might cause your card issuer to cancel your card, though (if you aren't using it at all). This also will not hurt your credit score (other than the fact that you stop establishing credit with that account).

2. Closing an account does NOT automatically "screw you". ALL credit accounts stay on your report for TEN YEARS and factor into your score. If I have a five year old account and close it, it will stay on my credit report for another 5 years as my oldest account. Once it is gone, THEN they take the next newest account as the "oldest" account.

And more misinformation in your post.

You don't actually want to carry a 0 balance. The whole point of the credit rating system is to show that you can responsibly manage credit. You don't want to exceed 35% of your available credit on any given card but you also want to leave a small small amount on it from time to time. If you pay your balance off every month then their is no information being tracked on your credit report and you may as well not use the card at all. The creditor's have to actually report a balance for you to have a credit history.

If you are going to cancel a credit card it is going to affect many things.

If you cancel your oldest account, you will shorten your credit history to the next longest opened card. It will stay on your credit report as a closed account but will NOT be taken into consideration when calculating the longevity of your credit history.

If you cancel your most recent or any card in between, it may still lower your credit score but not by as much, since you still have the overall credit history. However, by doing this you will be changing your overall available credit to debt ratio.

I.e. If you have 4 credit cards each with a 5,000 dollar credit limit and you cancel one of those cards you have removed 5,000 dollars of available credit and kept the same amount of debt effectively lowering your debt:credit available ratio. The higher your credit limits, the better as long as you keep your overall balances below 35%.

Creditors are looking to see who can manage debt responsibly, not simply "who pays on time every month". In fact, unless you are 30, 60, 90 or more day's late it won't even show up on your credit report. Almost every credit granting agency will not bother reporting you late unless it is significant. You might get late fee's or your limit lowered, or a higher APR but that would be it.

Credit accounts do not automatically stay on your report for 10 years. The ONLY thing that stays on that long is a bankruptcy. All other accounts are supposed to stay on for 7 years after they have been closed or cancel'd or even gone into collections. However, some creditors might keep a collections on their longer and not just stop reporting it so you might have to work to get that one taken down.


Ultimately the FICO score is only one of the many scores and factor's out there taken into consideration. Banks use the FICO score to assess risk but they are also interested in things such as profitability. So while maintaining balances may cost you money, it will also make you more attractive to a lender as long as your balance is kept reasonable and not used unresponsibly. Most lenders keep their own scoring system as well and use it in conjunction with the major credit bureau's.

I wouldn't settle for BG knowledge if you truly want to learn more about credit, get affiliated with a tracking website for your credit. I use www.truecredit.com and update my credit with all 3 bureau's every 30 days and daily if i wanted with transunion (who runs truecredit). It will help you understand how it works better, and there is also plenty of good info out there on reliable websites that explain more or less how credit works.

One thing for certain is that nobody really knows 100% because Fair Isaac, Corp would never let their proprietary information out completely.

[Atreides]

And more misinformation in your post.

You don't actually want to carry a 0 balance. The whole point of the credit rating system is to show that you can responsibly manage credit. You don't want to exceed 35% of your available credit on any given card but you also want to leave a small small amount on it from time to time. If you pay your balance off every month then their is no information being tracked on your credit report and you may as well not use the card at all. The creditor's have to actually report a balance for you to have a credit history.

Wrong. I knew this was wrong when it was posted the last time but out of curiosity I called my financial advisor, a Senior Vice President for the consulting group at Citi Smith Barney, to confirm it. The idea that you need to leave a small balance on your credit card is most likely a myth perpetuated by the credit card companies-- as long as you're using the card it's going to show activity when it's reported to the credit bureau at the end of every month (and activity is always reported to the credit bureaus regardless of when you pay the bill and how much you pay), but you definitely don't need to leave a balance on there. The only people that benefit from you leaving a balance on your credit card is the credit card company, who gets to make lots of money in fees.

Even old accounts with no balance that you've had for years still establish a credit history, so you shouldn't close those either.