dbatl2012

This company is good for going after any type of debt, you may owed someone and they charged it off. Sold it to them for penny on the dollars and they will report this is a new account in addtion to the charged off. Collection companies do this all the time. You have to prove that you don't owe them. They can put whatever they want on you credit without any proof or documentation. If they are wrong it is your job to get all of it removed which can take months and  alot of headaches.

That's good to know I don't expect much from this card, I only use it for my knick knacks like coffee, fast food, lunch, etc. I make 2 payments per month. I don't even care about utilization anymore because it doesn't even matter on a low credit limit like $300, I just make sure I make a payment before teh statement close date so it reflects a low balance other than that it's whatever. It doesn't make sense exhausting yourself trying to get a good record because they no longer reward you for it. So I probably just use the card charge it, pay it off  or make a additional payments but using it towards my needs than using it to impress the credit. $300 limit, it's a good amount for gas, lunch, etc. so during the month I just charge it instead of using my cash, if I get up there to my limit I just make a payment. regardless of the due date

I don't need use this credit card because it only has a $300 credit limit because sometimes it is a lot more work to keep up with how much you used and when you need to pay it down before the statement closes. So lets say if I use my card every once in a while maybe once every 3 months and charged only $20 and then pay it off. How would it affect my score? It's just really confusing when you read these comments, a lot of the articles are based on someone that has a high credit limit like $5000 so 10% would be $1000 where you can use it daily and pay it off in a month but if you only have $300 I can use this up easily and then have 90% utilization. I just want to be able to use this card to maximize my affect on my credit score but if only using the card 1x every six months does the same than let's say use it every month and PIF, I rather put the card up and pull it out just to make it a imprint on my CS. How would someone use a $300 limit credit card to get the most out of it?

Car Insurance is a complete rip off. What does my Credit have ANYTHING to do with my driving record. It is totally absurd and they just use it as a ploy so that they can charge you more for a bogus reason. First off all, Car Insurance is required by law, so if I want to drive I MUST have car insurance. They don't give you any leeway or grace period in paying. You pay up front and if you don't pay within a few days, they report you to the DMV which will result in suspension of your registration and eventually your driver license. So the need to pay your insurance is more important than your cell phone bill otherwise you have to pay lapse fees with your DMV and get reinstated. In addition they state that people with bad credit are more likely to file a claim, which sound very bougs to me and I don't know who conducted that research. We all know that everytime you file a claim your insurance goes up plus you have a deductible so why would anybody just file a claim unless they had a real reason to. Isn't that what insurance is for? Unfortunately, this business turned into "We will insure you but you better not file a claim".  Insurance is suppose to "insure" you for any mishapp that may occur. but just like the article says, there is nothing you can do about it, it is government mandated and you have to have insurance if you want to drive, these insurance companies continue to rip us off because we do not get anything back from our years of payments, insurance companies get to keep all of it and when you need it they will try anything to NOT do what they suppose to. It's legal extortion. point blank

Ok a lot of these statements are confusing. From my understanding if I have a card that has a $300 credit limit, you should not use more than 30% fo your limit which is $100. You can make muliple payments BEFORE the closing date. So if I buy something for $250 but then make a $200 payment before the closing date. It will only show $50 as balance. So if you utilize your card more than the 30%, I suggest to make multiple payments before the closing date so that your utlization will stay below 30%

This just shows you how our country promotes debt! You can have boat loads of cash, own everything but yet you are considered a credit risk simply because the banks are not making money off you. Now wonder we are in so bad shape.

Update: I had this card for almost a month now. When I received it they put the annual fee already on which was $29, their online management seems pretty good. The only issue I have and I would like to have more transparency on this but the first payment I made to pay of the $29 posted within 48 hours. However, I used the card and charged about $200 on it but I made a payment of $200 the next week. However this payment is "on hold". What it does, it shows that your balance is minus your payment but your credit line is not replenished. After I paid it I charged about $70 on it. So currently my balance shows only $70 but I have only $30 credit available even though I made a $200 payment over  week ago. I am not sure what this is about or what constitutes a "Payment HOld" it says in their agreement that it "maybe" subject to a 14 day hold. However, the first payment went through in 48 hours and credit was available but the second for $200 is not. Reading the agreement their possible reason is that you had insufficient funds in the past or insufficient "history". Since I didn't bounce a payment. I am not sure since the second payment was too high or I am not suppose to pay to many times on my balance. But $300 is not much and I use this easy in 2 weeks, so I just send the payments in because I want to be certain that my balance doesn't exceed 30% before the statement closes. Does anybody have any information on these payment holds. I just like to know so I know how to make better use of this card. It is not a big deal because I would use my regular debit card as my only concern is to rebuild my credit but if there are some underlying tactics with this card where you have to be careful. I would just like to know.

I don't see how they are the biggest bank in the world! They are simply a predator, all of their business practices are synonamous to loan sharking. I can't tell you how many times I had to call customer service to have fees reversed. Bank of America plays games with your accounts. I have one that I use for everyday use and I don't keep much money in in case my number gets stolen they can't take any money out. I noticed that BofA has the ability to "see" what charges are coming in. Let's say you pay someone with a check as soon as they scan it, BofA knows that it will come so if you don't have the money in right then, they will run that debit and rearrange charges that maybe 5 days old to go last but that check that was just scanned will go in first. So that they maximize the fees. They have the latest technology and make banking really easy but their shady business antics makes it very hard to deal with them. I would totally use them more if they would have the ING Direct mentality but it's opposite.

I've been banking with SunTrust over a year now, they were pretty decent for a big bank, I signed up to their Solid Choice Banking because they came to my job offering it as a free account. But just received a notice stating that my fee of the account will be $17 and I think they want to charge $5 per month for debit cards. Sorry I don't see paying that kind of money, for a bank to use my money to make investments and loans but keep the profit for themselves but yet charging me. I have yet to go to the branch, I may downgrade the account so it's free and not use the debit card only use ATM transaction. I have an ING Direct account where debit cards are free, I will move majority of my money there and only use SunTrust as a rainy day fund.

Been with ING Direct for over 8 years. Just recently opened the Electric Orange checking. I really love ING seems to be the only consumer oriented bank encouraging you to save your money instead of raping you in fees. I also have Bank of America and SunTrust. Bank of America I had many headaches over and over, the only thing that keeps me with them is their technology. ING Direct so far has been a no frills bank, their mobile app is great and their website. It may not look as fancy as let's say Bank of America but it gets down to the meat and to the bones. Unfortunately the Captial One buy out deal of ING Direct has me very worried because I believe that the ING culture will be lost and eventually it will turn into another major bank that just want your fees and treat your account like prey waiting for any mistakes. I just have to wait and see.

I've been with Amica for about 2 years and left Geico due to customer issues. The rates were a little bit higher but sometimes paying extra can make all the difference. I had an accident within my first year with Amica and I can truly say they handled my claim very professionally, fast and efficient. I was truly impressed. The accident happened during the ice storms in Atlanta, it wasn't my fault as there was a bunch of black ice, a car spun out in front of me as I tried slowing down my car spun out as well and hit the concrete container wall then another car ran into me. The only issue I had was that when I called Amica that they weren't able to get a tow truck because there were about 200 accidents at the same time and another one was right behind me. So all the tow trucks were in use. It took about 3 hours but it was due to the State Trooper making the call (unfortunately he was shot and killed 2 weeks later on duty). However, I called Amica that night which was about 1 am, the rep set up my rental and took all of the info. The next morning at 8 am  Hertz called me with my rental confirmation and at 11am they picked me up to get the rental. That same day I received a call from the adjuster (less than 24 hours) and stated that he looked at my car and he will need to total it. he would call me back after he ran some numbers. The next day he called me and told me what to expect for the car, I was a little disappointed but it was fair. He told me that the claims person would call me to make arrangements. My claims person called me back and I actually received more back than what the adjuster initially told me, in addition they called my car loan folks and overnighted the check to them, so that I could go and get a new car. The entire process from accident to check in hand was about 5 business days, mind you it was during Christmas. I was shopping for another car and Amica had no problems in extending the car rental, they handled everything. I bought a  much better car, the only thing is that my policy went up but I also added Gap insurance and I upgraded my car. So my total may have went up $400. When I think about what Amica paid out my premium was only  a fraction. So I am staying even though I pay more than what I would at Geico, the service was excellent and when it comes to your transportation, I rather pay an extra $500 per year but know that it will be handled without back and forth.

I just received my Card a few days ago. I gave it 3 Stars because I can't really say if doing business with them is bad or good since I haven't had any interaction. As of right now the only issue I had was the confusing "approval" process and the time it took to get the card. Again, if you have BAD credit DO NOT expect to get the same offer as someone with GOOD credit! You are asking a financial institution to extend credit especially if its unsecured from all the companies I research Orchard and Capital One seem to offer the most decent fees. $39 app fee and $29 Intro Annual fee is not bad for a $300 credit that is made available to use. Yes, it is costly but so will be everything else you are trying to buy on credit with bad credit. So please don't fool yourself. Beggars can't be choosey. There are other companies that charge WAY more than Orchard. Also, I made the $29 payment online by adding my bank account and it was posted and credited to my account within 24 hrs, so I am not sure what the other reviews experienced with the 14 days. Did you mail a check in? I am trying to be unbiased, I am a brand new customer, I just got this card a few days ago. I don't plan on using it as a life line but merely to get back on track with my credit and it will take some work. $300 is not much but you can use it pay a bill, get some gas, buy some groceries. Instead using your debit. Charge it on this and then make a payment. I want to point out a few things - if you use a credit card and max it out and only pay the minimum and then use that amount up again. The bank will see you as hard up for cash so you won't see any credit increases. But when they see that you only use this card to rebuild your credit buy making simple purchases and pay it off before the due date. Then they don't see you as a risk and hard up for cash. My advise is to keep your balance at 30% max, if you use more than make an extra payment to keep there then pay it off. Don't use it as supplement income, use instead of the cash you were going to use and then send that cash in to pay that amount off.

Larryaw, that is the whole design of our country - DEBT. They want you to owe because that is how they make money. Right now they don't make money off your wealth, so you are actually a bad prospect because the banks feel that you won't give them an opportunity to take advantage off them. Have you ever noticed whenever you go to a department store (Target, Macy's, etc) everytime you check out, they want to push their credit cards on you by telling you that you could save 20% right now if you get their credit card. This is the problem they want us to be indebted for ever.. The funny thing is that in Asia, "owing" is perceived as shameful and during the recession Asians are able to buy everything because they don't carry any debt. So I would tell you be thankful that you don't have the need for credit and stay that way. Who cares about when the banks deem you if you don't need it. You own your house, you have money put away that's better than any loan or credit a bank could ever give you!

I am just curious to know about the users of this card that stated that it tremendously improved their credit but yet they continue to use this card. I am under the impression (I also just applied for this card) that you use this card to get to a point that you can go somewhere else and get something better. If their business is only to give you $300 and that's it, then I would just go somewhere else as I would think as many said they increased their credit by 100 points, you should be able to qualify at another institution for something else. This is my goal with this card. The fees are steep but when you think that having bad credit doesn't get you anything and you will pay higher for everything else. I rather pay $60 per year and increase my chances to get to a point where I can go and get a lower limit card with less interest and no fee. You can't expect to have bad credit and get the same options as someone with good credit. It doesn't work that way. Not everybody with bad credit is unworthy but as a bank they don't make the distinction from one person to another. They simply look at the criteria which includes your score, income, stability and that's it. They don't care if you have gotten ill, someone died, etc. That is America. YOu just have to deal with it and make it work for you. As I plan on doing. The only thing that was confusing is the approval process and receipt of the card. I applied Sept 8 and was "approved" and the status stated I should get my card within 10 - 14 days. They were still validating my funds. Funds were withdrawn Sept 12. On Sept. 22 I received another email from HSBC stating "Welcome New customer, you have been approved, you card will be mailed to you within 7 - 10 days". So technically I was not approved the first time even though it says I was because my card won't arrive until next month. But seeing that I have an account number I would assume that the fees are already charged and by the time I get this card I will have to make the payment already, I can't set up an online account until I get this card.

Unfortunately, people do think that way and that is just due to their small minded and ignorance. I owned a business and the business faltered during the downturn of the economy. What people forget is that just because you no longer make the money, you still have obligations that do not go way. When you have an overhead for lets say $15,000 per month and you earn $25,000. You don't see a problem, however once the income goes from $25,000 to let's $8,000 that means you are now coming out of the pocket $7000. Many felt they maybe able to recover by adjusting somethings and some never had to deal with something like this. In my case I was trying to hold on, I kept pulling out of my savings every month and trying to change things which again cost money. My business was established I didn't have to spend a whole lot on advertising but when it got bad, I needed to do something and I figured paying for advertising would do it, which it didn't it just put me more in the whole. So after this, you still have credit card payments, equipment payments, etc. Eventually you have to let go. A lot of my creditors didn't budge when I asked for some type of relief, ironically it was only after I was completely tapped out and basically threw in the towel that they were willing to work with me and I told them it's too late now, when I kept calling I was able to make some things work but since you tapped me all the way out I have nothing left. So here I am with bad credit. I don't need the credit as I pay everything cash now and I have recovered severaly in my income, so I got into the habit to just pay cash. I just know I have to rebuild my credit in case of an emergency but I won't use credit like a have in the past. It is evil to me know like poison.