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!
It's cool
It's cool
Security!
I like it
Secured!
I like it
Secured!
I like it
Easy process got approved with a 575 CS
Easy App process got approved when I was denied but Capt1. Started with a 575 trying to rebuild my credjt. Deposites $200 spent 30% and paid online on time . Looking forward to my score going up. Took about 2 weeks from start to receiving my card.
Awesome for repairing credit!
this card is fantastic immediatley after I recieved it i saw a 71 point increase in my credit score. I got approved with collections and past late payments I am on the road to recoving my credit. I will say this I was getting a little impatient waiting for this card to arrive because I wasnt sure if I had even been approved because I got the normal needs further processing response so I thought I might not have gotten approved than a week later got a letter saying i was approved 5 days after i got the card in the mail! sure it was a long wait to know if you were approved or not most likely you will as long as you dont have any bankruptcies so just be patient. As for increasing your credit limit with with a bigger deposit after you already put your original deposit, I have good news friends as of 8/5/21017 i called the number on the back of my citi debit card and i was able to increase my credit limit from the original 200 I deposited to 1000 and plan to increase it again to the max!
What was your credit score when applying
when you apply for these secured cards, does it show up as a hard inquiry on your report? I have an open chapter 13 on my report right now...is it useless to try and apply?
Great card to build credit
So, I have had this card since Feb 2016. Really a no frills card, but I wanted to get my 525 score up. Deposited $500 with them and had the card a couple weeks later. Never really carried a balance on it (maybe 1 month I did), and I noticed they did a hard pull on my credit May 31 2017. I called right away and asked them why. They said they didn't pull it and it would be removed. What is funny is the card expires on 8-31, so just 3 months away. Well a week or so later I got a letter saying they could not find where they did a pull and another letter the same day saying I would get my deposit back soon and be upgraded to a Preferred Diamond card. The deposit came last week and the new card shipped a couple days ago. Overall I am very happy and just in this time my score has gone up 100 points.
This card is very basic no benefits besides the fact that it will help raise your score. Don't expect anymore than that. Be responsible and pay, or auto pay like I do. The process takes about 10 to 14 days from start to finish depending on your bank. I just use it for a $21 gym membership. I paid my membership directly through my bank account for 2 years knowing it wouldn't help my credit. Now I pay it with my citi card, then auto pay and now I'm building. I just added citi as the middle man. My credit score jumped up 68 points in 2 months.
Poor customer service.
I never received a consistent answer between two representatives
Thats why I went with AMEX, one of my cards from them has a 30K limit, great customer service and the rewards are unbeatable. My scores are 750+ across the board.
I don't like Capital one whatsoever.!! I had Money stolen from my account and it took me at-least 16 hours to try to get my money back. That 16 hours were the daytime hours that were my days off which I coulda spent with my family the card sucks don't ever get It. Get American Express pay your bills on time so much more worth it when you have fraud this happened which I have it only takes 20 minutes to give you money back. Never ever ever go to capital 1.
You are posting about hating Capital One but this review was supposed to be for Citi Secured Mastercard???
Capitol one? I thought this was Citi bank review
BS, It seems there is more to this story. Capital One has very good customer support. I've had fraudulent charges and have had the funds credited quick while they investigate, if credit card companies didn't investigate fraudulent charges they would have be out of business a long time ago.
Source: I have a Quicksilver World Elite and 2 AMEX cards all with well over 10K limits.
Same here! Granted my limits are only 5k but never had a problem with Capital One besides this is a Citi bank card right?!
This is for citibank review buddy