Okay so I see a lot of negative reviews that I think mostly stem from Open Sky not clearly communicating the process/when they report to bureaus etc. Here's the deal. If you want a boost in your score quickly, apply for the card around the 15th-20th of the month. Open Sky reports to the credit bureaus on the last business day of the month (then sometimes it takes a week or so after that for the bureau to reflect the change). It takes 3-4 days for your $200 (or whatever) deposit to go through, and for the card to be shipped, after approval. Your account isn't considered open until the date the card is shipped. The card comes with the $35 annual fee already tacked onto the balance and if you ordered your card mid-late in the month, that $35 won't be due until the end of the next month (but it will count towards utilization when reported to the bureus, which is a good thing, as long as you keep utilization under 30%. $35 out of $200 is 17.5%). Each month, your bill is due on the 28th. So to absolutely optimize the credit boost you can get from this card: order it around the 18th of the month. The card will probably ship out around the 22nd. Don't worry about paying the $35 fee the second you get the card - you can activate it with the $35 fee on there. Let the utilization work for you when they report to the bureus on the last business day of the month, then on like the 5th of the next month, pay the $35 off. Now, set up a monthly small charge, like Netflix or something, to come out mid month, and DONT use your card other than that monthly charge. When you get your bill in the beginning of the month each month, pay off the last month's balance in full. I've had the card for a couple months, and that's all I've learned from research/talking to their customer service. It's worked well for me so far!

I originally applied for a Citi Bank Secured card and was declined, so I had to dramatically lower my expectations and applied for this one. At the time I had about a 560ish Fico score across the board with lots of things in collections. I've had the card for almost a year now, pay my bills on time every time, and they report it to all the credit agencies every month,?albeit?a month behind. Yes there is a 10 Day wait before the credit line becomes available to you, but?I think that is because they're are waiting to see if the payment which has to be made with a bank account returns. Fair enough in my opinion for this kind of card. My credit score has raised considerably since I applied for this card and am now able to get unsecured credit cards. Once I hit my credit score goal I plan on dumping them but for now they do nothing but help. I think if you have bad credit like me and?pay your bill on time, this card is a great starter for people starting over.