Rebuild Credit w/ Low Fee Secured Card.

I've been with Orchard for several years now. They have been good to me and stuck with me even through some financial challenges. The only problem is that when you call them to discuss anything pertaining to your account, you will always get someone from another country and when you ask to speak to someone in the United States, they will refuse you that right. That customer service is very poor.

Orchard Bank is probably the best place to start building credit. They helped me. I started with a secured card with a $200 deposit and a $35 annual fee(and I had a large amount of negative on my credit).

After about a year, their parent company, HSBC sent me a pre-approval for an unsecured card. Which I took.

I've had the secured card for about 2 and a half years, it has recently been upgraded to an unsecured card.

Credit limit increases are few and far between, but it's a great place to start.

Bonus: Orchard Bank pulls a soft pull to qualify you for any of their cards before the formal hard pull. Easy to see what you qualify for.

Newjersey, I had that problem too. The trick is to call HSBC's customer service at 1-800-694-9222 instead of Orchard Bank's line.

They're trained better and most times are based in the United States.

I got approved for an unsecured card with a $750 limit only 6 mths after filing chapter 7. Annual fee is only $5 per month. Great card to help rebuild credit.

The best secured card on the internet. Very good bank to build credit with. Their Parent company HSBC does Auto loans, Home Loans, and credit cards. SO by building credit with Orchard you will be building future credit for all your needs! Much smarter than going with a company like First Premier where you pay hundreds in fee's from the start!

I got an orchard bank card 2 years ago

after a year they unsecured it and raised my limit 100 dollars and refunded my 200 dollars I paid to secure it.

6 months after that they increased my limit to 1000 and lowered my monthly fee from 69.95 (yes a lot) down to 19 a year, and also lowered my interest rate.

After they unsecured my card, I applied for the CaptOne card that was offered on this site and got approved.

Their CS is based in some other country but they tend to be nice and helpful, only problem is they always try to sell you something.

I forgot to mention this in my original post, but this card is so great at rebuilding credit that Chase recomended it to me. Said to start with this card before getting their card.

I have an account with them and they seem to be one of the more reputable credit lenders out there. Unlike some of the others out there, they don't charge you just to pay your bill online. I would recommend them if you are trying to establish, or re-establish credit.

Well, I did an application for $300 unsecured. I am just getting started with Orchard. My cs is lower than any that I've read so far, but I am feeling very optimistic about rebuilding my credit rating after having read these comments.

Sorry, Orchard is a no go for me - even with a 'secured' card. Not quite sure I would consider it worthwhile or valid after that, sadly.

I can go get prepaid visa's/mastercard's at the freaking grocery store, but that won't help my credit. And since the only other offers for 'poor credit qualifiers' are just that - prepaid credit cards - then I guess people like me are just SOL when it comes to options to help us rebuild our credit.

-.-

Thanks for nothing!