.....



.....
Last edited by BringOnTheMen; 07-28-2012 at 10:50 AM.



Try www.creditcards.com .....Then the first entry is card match. No personal experience with them....no idea how reputable but they are supposed to match you up with offers that you are most likely to qualify for. be careful on over applying for cards as doing so can bring your credit score down.
edit: They also have a list you can choose from such as low interest....poor credit....excellent credit rating....or for you.....little or no credit history
Last edited by Raider; 06-26-2012 at 12:53 PM.





^^^ your success will now depend upon the credit card lender being able to 'verify' your income - as is now required under recently enacted new financial regulations. For self-employed dancers and camgirls, this new 'hurdle' is difficult to jump. For dancers and camgirls, the only 100% effective method of 'verifying' your income when seeking credit approval is to show the lender the past two years worth of tax returns.




If your score is lower then 700 SOMETHING is holding it down somewhere.
If nothing else it could be applying for alot of credit or high balences you have on cards you currently have.
It is better to owe 2k on a 5k(not maxed) card then 2k on a 2k(maxed) card. I would suggest keeping your oldest credit card open. Closing the other two. Give it three months and try again.
Without seeing your credit report I am just guessing about what is holding your score down. But these are usually the issues that arent obvious like a collection.
Nature knows no indecencies; man invents them. ~ Mark Twain





Do you need a cc with a 2k limit because you are in a financial emergency or because you want to build your credit?
Once I know that I may have some ideas.![]()





^^^ in general, it's better to limit credit card balances to less than 30% of the credit limit. It's also better to use the cards, but make regular monthly payments which do NOT pay the balance off in full.



No...you do not want to cancel your cards. That can hurt your score. If they have a zero balance....charge a little each month to them and just pay off the balance if you want to show the ability to pay.
Melonie...why would she want to carry a balance and pay interest charges??? Though the amount of interest may be small....I always pay mine off entirely and have a great credit score.




Long standing credit history is factored into a FICO score and not your credit score. They are different.
Three credit cards are the max number a person should have.
Closing credit cards DOES NOT hurt your credit as long as you keep your oldest card open.
Any more then three credit cards can be seen as more of a liablity.
www.myfico.com has a tutorial page about the fico score and how it is calculated.
Nature knows no indecencies; man invents them. ~ Mark Twain




Carrying a balence does not increase your credit score. On time payments build credit.
As a banker I have told people for years. Buy a pack of gum every month and pay it off. It will build credit.
When you are looking at your raw credit credit score the ONLY thing it calculates is on time payments. A Fico score takes the raw credit score and factors other things like long standing credit, percentage of available credit, etc (details on the link i posted in the message above). Some banks ONLY use FICO scores for everything. That is the basics.
So the more on time payments you make the higher your raw credit score. It doesnt matter the dollar amount.
Paying interest doesnt score you any more points with a bank either. They make money off of you in a million different ways, even if you dont see it.
Nature knows no indecencies; man invents them. ~ Mark Twain





I agree with Vamp. Try to use your credit card every day to build up credit, and pay it off at the end of the month.





carrying a small balance incentivizes the credit card company to increase the card's credit limit ... which was a major concern of the OP.



Did you try looking into a secured credit card? Don't know if those are still around, but if they are, that would probably be you best bet.

I think the best way to start a credit history is either through a student card, a secured card, or being added as an authorized user to someone with an established card. The last method is usually husband/wife & parent/child relationships and requires quite a bit of trust.
Discover has a very well regarded student card. Just go to discover.com and click on Student Credit Cards to look it over. Student Cards are generally easier to get with lower limits.
I don't think applying in person vs online has any impact. I've applied for many cards on-line and they have a reconsideration number you can call if you get denied. It's useful, but it sounds like you discovered what was harming your score.
It also sounds like you applied for a number of cards in a short amount of time while you're utilization was fairly high. Each application is usually a hard pull on your credit history and lowers it a tiny amount. Applying for a lot of credit in a short amount of time is a big red flag. I think you've got the right approach on waiting until January. Let the hard pulls fall off, get that collection off your account and maintain your credit without any late payments or other pulls. It is best to have a lower utilization when you apply.
Good luck, and good to see you take your credit seriously. In a few years, you'll be using it to your advantage and churning rewards and points! As the kids are fond of saying these days, "Good credit is white people's version of swag!"


Evil is always devising more corrosive misery through man's restless need to exact revenge out of his hate. Ralph Steadman





^^^ while I can't speak for Canada, in the US at least the recent enactment of new personal credit card consumer protections have made it far less attractive for underwriting banks to approve new personal credit card accounts. The so-called CARD act limited US banks ability to raise interest rates on delinquent personal cardholders, to impose fees on delinquent personal cardholders etc. These consumer protections increased the underwriting banks' potential loss exposure re delinquent personal credit cards ... which resulted in fewer approvals and lower credit limits for those that were approved.
However, if the credit card account is classified as a 'business' account, then those personal credit card consumer protections do not apply. Thus underwriting banks are still able to impose astronomical interest rates and hefty fees on 'business' credit card holders who become delinquent ... thus limiting the banks' potential loss exposure. Thus there is at least some active interest on the part of underwriting banks to to convince personal credit card account holders to 'upgrade' to a different card that is actually classified as a 'business' credit card.
Bookmarks