So much misinformation in this thread (like creditors magically "knowing" if someone is denied credit -- hard inquiries are visible but the outcome of the underwriting process is private information that isn't revealed on one's credit report). Or that a debit card is reported to credit reporting agencies and helps build one's credit history.
Matt105, I would have to agree that a secured credit card would be the way to go -- at least for the first several months (maybe 9-12), but the question then becomes WHICH secured credit card, because there's a ton of rip-offs out there in this category that can charge ridiculous application fees, initiation fees, and annual fees -- all adding up to hundreds of $$ per year. The good secured cards have just an upfront annual fee (mine was like $35/year and I kept it one year only.)
Step 1: Go to
https://www.annualcreditreport.com and get your free credit reports (and print them) from Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. You can do this for free once a year, and that site is the "official" portal as recognized by the FACT Act. Turn down all the offers for score watching and all the other crap -- just get your free reports.
Take note of how many hard inquiries you have on each report (they will be different) and what dates they occurred.
Step 2: Go to
http://creditboards/com/forums and read the Credit Subforum and do searches for "secured card" and such. There's some ones with good reputations like the BoA 99/500 card and Citi's. And some of Orchard Bank's. And there's also quite a lot to avoid like Aspire, First Premier, etc. I also highly recommend the rest of those forums depending on what interests you. Maybe even start with the FAQs and Beginner's Section too: there's a lot to read on that site and I've spent hundreds of hours there.
Step 3: Once you get good advice on which secured card to apply for, your limit will likely be = your deposit (1:1 ratio) or something pretty close. The math will then be easy on this. If you put down $500 and get a $500 credit limit on your one card, try your very best to not use more than 30% of that limit. Or hell, ideally, keep it as close to 1% if you can, even if that means paying down your balance
before your monthly statement is cut and the balance is reported to the CRAs (Credit Reporting Agencies: TransUnion, Equifax, Experian). This will be in your favor to maximize your FICO scores (read up on how that's computed if you aren't familiar) as quickly as possible and will accelerate your transition to unsecured credit cards. That way you don't keep your secured credit card for more than a year or two and can close it after you've moved to greener pastures.
Step 4: Read up (on those forums) on the current leading cards people move up to after having their secured cards for awhile. After a certain time period (maybe 9 months? Check up on that...) you'll finally have enough data to have a FICO score for each of the 3 CRAs, which you should get at
http://www.myfico.com (see credit boards forums for good discount codes!!!). I highly recommend this step. Once you know what your scores are (maybe in the 600's), you'll be able to look at their
really nice "Credit Pulls Database" and cross-reference what cards have high acceptance rates for people with similar FICO scores to you -- that way you won't have to worry about getting rejected so often. I totally dig that member perk.
Good luck! Lotta reading to do but in hindsight the knowledge is totally worth it!
