I got a secured credit card about 6 months ago and it said it expires around December 2006. My uestion is that I had to give them $500 dollars in a CD to open up a credit line for myself. Do I get this money back and how do I get i back when I’m done with the card? Am I supposed to apply for a new credit card when this secured expires or do I wait for them to send me one. The secured card has a high interest rate and I’d rather have a different card.
AFAIK, you just get a new card, although you can close the account and getyour money back on the expiry date if you wish.
Typically, credit card companies will just send you a new one when the old one expires. Read the fine print to see if there is a penalty for changing to an unsecured card. From what you’ve said, the best thing to do is to keep your current card for at least a year (total), then switch to an unsecured card. Try to switch to a different card issuer if possible. A lender that offers secured cards is called a subprime lender, and they usually have higher fees and interest rates than a prime lender.
A good resource: bankrate.com. They also have a section where you can compare the interest rates and rewards programs for different cards.
Many times a secured card issuer will simply change your account over to unsecured (and return your deposit) if you ask. Probably not in your case now, if you’ve only had the card for six months. But it can’t hurt to ask; the worst the company can do is say no.
If you pay your balance in full each month then the interest rate is irrelevant. It may not be in your best interest to close the account even when you get a different card, as your credit rating is based in part on the length of time you’ve had credit.
I’ve only charged a few things on my credit card and paid on time. but only with a check. Can I pay my credit card bill with a money order?
First of all, you do NOT build a credit record by paying your credit card balance in full every month. This is a common mistake. You build a credit record by maintaining an outstanding balance and paying at least the minimum amount by the due date each billing cycle.
If you charge $100 and pay off $100 within the same billing period, you have accrued no outstanding debt and therefore there is nothing for the credit card company to report to a credit agency. If you charge $100 and pay the minimum, say $10 a month, for 15 months, the credit card company is able to tell a credit agency that over the past 15 months, you have satisfactorily met your obligation to satisfy an outstanding debt . Get it? That’s how your credit record is built. It does NOT help your record to pay more than the minimum or to pay the minimum earlier than necessary, although it most certainly will help you personally to do so as you’ll incur less finance charges.
And yes, you can pay by money order, but it would probably be more expensive than using your personal check.
This is simply not true. I haven’t run balances on my credit cards and I have excelent credit.
Have you ever actually, you know, looked at a credit report?
This issue comes up now and again on the SDMB. We were just discussing it the other day
Essentially, Fair Isaac admits that you might get a small boost in your score by maintaining a small balance on a card. Does that mean you have to in order to build credit? Nope. That’s advice from the age before mathematical scoring models. A better idea would be to get three cards (if you can) and keep them current. But if you can do it, and you want your score to be at its highest, carrying a small balance now and again might boost your score.