My step-by-step process.
As 2017 started, my credit score was 490. I know...it's a disaster! I ruined my credit at age 18-20. Now I am 25 and I decide to rebuild my credit back up and fix this mess. I currently have about 3 open collections and 7 hard inquiries. I'll work on removing them eventually. In the mean time, I checked the approval odds of Citi Secured MasterCard and CK deemed it "FAIR". I took a chance.
On Jan. 17, I applied online through their website. I set up a $200 deposit from my Wells Fargo checking account for them to withdraw. At the end the system stated that my application needed further review. They'll let me know the result within 1 week. I'm already thinking to myself...ahh that probably means I didn't get approved.
On Jan. 19, Citi withdrew $200 from my Wells Fargo checking account and the status of my application was still pending. I'm getting anxious.
On Jan. 24, I received a surprising email stating that I've been approved and my credit limit is $200! YES, they gave me a chance! But my credit score dropped to 459. I think that's how the system calculates the score when you open a new line of credit.
On Feb. 3, I received my new Citi Secured Mastercard! It took about 8 business days for me to receive it here in California. I activated it right away and stuffed it in my wallet.
Now from experience, I've learned to control my spending and limit myself from utilizing too much credit from this card. I read on CK forums to keep your utilization below 30%. Which means I must not spend over $60 out of my $200 credit limit. So all I did was I allow Apple Music ($14.99/month) to automatically charge my Citi card every month.
Feb. 6, Apple deducted $14.99 from my card. In the next few days a balance of $14.99 appeared on my online account. I paid it off immediately using my checking account.
Feb. 13, my score shot up to 518. Nothing massive, but it was a huge step into building up my credit again. I repeated the same step this month for March.
March 6, My credit score shot up to a whopping 563. My credit utilization is 9% and my payments are 100% on time. 2 of my 7 inquiries dropped this month as well.
SO FAR SO GOOD. I am very satisfied with this card. I will come back within 6-12 months and give it a second review to see how my progress is! Thank you Citi for taking a chance on a peasant like me. LOL!
'Awesome card with Benefits"
I got the CITI Diamond CC last year and after 14 mo I got a letter the other day from CITI telling my I will be graduating to a CITI Diamond Preferred CC with 0% Interest for 21 mo. In the letter CITI states since I keep my account in good standing they will reward me, also they will be returning my Security Deposit. I am one happy customer.
Helps when needed
Watch it
Reported before I got it
Update... on May 10th.. today is May 14. I didnt get the card just yet but thin morning I got Experian notification new account reported..CITI secured card. And 5 points drop FICO score..
All this 60 points increase is just Credit Karma score for people that have no other card. I had 60 points increase when I opened my first card 3 months ago. But anyway.. Ctedit carma or Credit Sesam is not what your real score is. My transunion score 624 on CK and 566 FICO according to Discover it FICO score. so here it is. Dont believe in miracles, but with a little bit of work and responsible use your score will go up. lower your ballance to few % before closing day. Pay of total ballance after closing day and your score will slowly go up. takes some time but you can do it.
FUTURE IS BRIGHT
I applyed on monday 5-01 at 5pm.. they took my money 5-04 i got aproved on may 10th.
Looks like they checking Experian FICO score. My is just 615,, 3 collections 4 years old, not paid yet total of 2,500$. 2 from capital one charge offs and 1 Comcast.. 1 charge off from credit one 450$ from 3 years ago... I have 2 open accounts First progress ( 2 months old account ) and discover it 1 month old..this are secured cards.. so my credit is not that pretty.. I start working on it in february.. thats when I got my first progres card aproved for.. first card in long years. My credit Karma score was 539.. its not fisco.. fisco must of been much lower. right now credit carma score is 624 and experian fico 615. having just few cards helped me already.. at this point I have 6 cards.. DISCOVER IT (SECURED) , FIRST PROGRES (SECURED) TOTAL VISA (UNSECURED) ,CITI ( SECURED) Iin the mail, OpenSky ( secured) in the mail and Capital one (secured) ..Im supprised I got capital one secured , i burned 2 cards I had from them in 2013.. never paid , in collection.. so , Everything is possible, there is hope, My credit going up and Im just about to pay off collections and in less then 3 years I will have clean credit , and this 6 credit cards I have will help me out so much.. just pay it before closing day , leave around 5% ...pay it all after closind day and you good to go.
Call the credit pros credit repair
Decent Card to establish credit.
I applied for this Card November 2016, roughly a week later the $200 deposit was withdrawn from my account and a week later my card arrived.
When i applied i was under the impression i could add more funds to the deposit and increase my limit. This is not accurate, Citi will NOT allow you to add funds. dissapointing.
I have now used this card for a little over 6 months, kept my utilization under 30% and paid in full every month, and am not eligible for an increase.
I would reccomend this card if you simply just want to establish credit, but the Capital One card is a much better option.
They're customer service is pretty terrible. I noticed an increase on my score from having it. Unfortunately it was closed by the bank but I didn't find out the exact reason why it was closed until someone from their social media team called me 3 weeks after being on the phone with 6 different representatives including a manager. They don't fully disclose to their customers about their policies which is pretty in my eyes is unethical.
Secured citi card
Very quick turn around time from application to approval. However, be aware that credit karma says that you can open with the minimum deposit and then increase your security deposit later. This is absolutely not true. It's eady to monitor your Citi card account online and through the app. I'm very pleased with the citi card customer service. Credit score jumped at least 40 pin at when I opened this account.
Is this a credit card that can be used for car rentals
Best card ever
Me and my husband had terrible credit but he decided that we need to do something about our credit so he started paying a few collections that we had then he apply for That card he was approved but my application was denied. So he put my name name on his application Citi send us two cards one for each of us. This morning he check credit karma he was chock my score goes up 105 on TU . He haven't check ÉQ & EP yet wooooooh whooooooo . Oh by the way he's score only go up 2 point on Experian 😂😂 and he's score went down on TU by 12
How long did you have the card for, if you don't mind me asking?
Are you serious? About this. Because a lot of people always check this out.. So, when I or other look at a comment be truly about what you say..
This happened to me and my husband. I added him to my capital one platinum card and his score went up 133 points and mine went down 11. I also have 13 credit cards including store cards, loans and student loans all paid on time. I also have three things in collections from five years ago. He and he didn't have any credit cards in his name, just a small loan from the bank. His score is now 720tu, 714ef and 699exp and mine is 593. Go figure!
Expect ALOT of waiting
I also have the capital one secured card which they increased the limit not too long ago. I applied for this card a long wait to see if you been approved then take your deposit within a week but then take like a month to give you the card. Would've called for a refund but didn't wanna wait another 2 weeks. This banking experience is horrible try something else !!!!!
True! I applied for this card last Feb 3rd but until now I havent received the card. I was approved just last Thursday and it said to wait for another 7-10 days to receive it. Very loooong process. Discover and CapOne are really better to build/rebuild score.
Awesome!
I applied for this along with the Discover secured card right after my 18th birthday. They took a couple days to decide, but the deposit was withdrawn from my account this morning so I guess I'm approved!! I'll update once I use it for a while.
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How's it been so far ??
Great, excellent service. The only downside (which is plainly stated in the agreement): no chance for it unsecuring for at least 18 months. However, it's a great bank to be with and worth the wait.