What credit card is best for me???

Question

I was stupid when I was younger and got credit cards and didn't pay the bills when times got tough. Now I have paid off all but two and my credit score is 569. What credit card would be best for me to get to help establish some good credit and to use for emergencies as I now have a a wife and two children to care for... Any help would be appreciated.

Answer 1

Before you start applying for credit cards, you should order your reports and look them over for any inaccurate information.

Not only in the trade lines of the cards that you paid off, but also in any other negatives you might(?) have reporting

Right now all you would probably qualify for in major cards is secured cards. If you manage to have "inaccurate" trade lines removed, you scores may rise enough to allow you to be qualified for a regular card with a better lender.

You might start by cleaning up your personal history on your reports.
Dispute addresses that are outdated or not yours, incorrect spelling of your name and/or names that you have never used - for example, on my reports they had a listing of my name but was spelled in a way that I "never" used to apply for credit with (or for anything in general).

You may get lucky and have some of the negative trade lines drop if they remove the incorrect personal info.

Then start working on the trade lines themselves. If the negatives are reporting "anything" inaccurately, dispute it.

You might click on my profile and do some reading in the FCRA, FDCPA, etc., to learn what is considered inaccuracies on your reports.
You might also do some reading in the last link I have listed.

When you are ready to start applying, you should speak with your bank or credit union first, see what they require for either their secured or regular cards.

Orchard Bank and HSBC are pretty good rebuilder cards but they will not grow with you. They will probably have yearly fees attached, but their fees are generally quite a bit lower than the super subprime lenders. Plus, you may be able to have the fees waived or reduced after the first year - super subprimes will never reduce or waive fees.

Bank of America has a pretty good secured card that will grow with you. As long as you keep the account in good standing, it may unsecure around 9 months to a year.

Stay away from super subprime cards like Tribute, Centennial, anything from Bank of Delaware, etc. Any cards that have extremely high fees. Their fees are generally almost the amount of the total credit limit.

You might also try for one or two store cards. Maybe try Walmart, Target or a gas card like Valero or Chevron/Texaco.

Answer 2

Avoid secured cards, because most report the secured status to your credit report and that does not help build your credit score.

Avoid First Premier, Tribute, Rewards 660, Imagine, Tribute, and Continental Finance. These are all high fee / low limit credit cards that amount to nothing more than a scam.

Avoid Capital One. They do not report your credit limit and that damages your credit score. Example, they give you a $500 limit and you use $250, they will report your limit as $250. This will damage your credit score because instead of using 50% of your credit limit, it looks like you are using 100% of your credit limit.

So far the best card I have found for building/rebuilding credit is Orchard Bank. They have a low interest rate (14.90, good for a sub prime card), low annual fee, no hidden fees and if you manage your account properly, they give excellent credit limit increases. You can get more info on Orchard Bank at http://www.creditcardindex.org/orchardbank.html or http://www.unsecuredcreditcardforbadcredit.net

Good luck

Answer 3

I actually have a card from Chase that I got via a website rather than direct. The reward program is very cool in that you get $10 for everyone you refer to the card (and of course gets approved). In the future, (next year or so) they will have a "residual swipe plan". What this means is that you will earn a percentage of everything they charge on their card. This could have huge potential.

Again these aren't some cards you've never heard of. Chase, Orchard, American Express Blue...just to name a few. Email me for the link if interested. I'm not allowed to post it here due to community guidelines.

The cards are for everyone from bad credit to great credit and even small businesses. I highly recommend. I was very happy with my credit line too.

Answer 4

Orchard bank or direct merchants typically lend credit to people with poor credit and low scores. They'll start you out with a very small credit limit, you'll have to show them you can pay on time etc... and then they'll increase your limit.

Try not to depend on credit, build up an emergency cash fund as best you can.

Answer 5

Look to an Orchard Bank card to rebuild your credit -- preferably the one that pays you 2% cash back on your spending.

Once you've rebuilt your credit a bit, then you'll want to use this rewards calculator to see which credit card will pay you the most rewards:
http://www.creditcardtuneup.com/

Answer 6

best Credit card would be AMEX
You might want to go here to compare them http://www.bestcreditrates.net/