My Capital One Secured Card Experience

[ambersun]

June 2010

Received offer, applied and deposited $225.

Had to deposit a minimum of $200.

Received an email and a letter in about two weeks saying that my card was on its way.

Received card, seemed like a month before I received it.

Didn’t enroll in Credit Form at the time.

Card was ready to go when I received it, no problem. Annual fee was taken out automatically of $29.

Reporting

As I recalled they checked all 3 credit bureaus and they report to all 3 also.

June/July 2011

Deposited $235

New Card Limit $460

(Such an odd amount, I don’t know why I didn’t make it so that my new limit would be $500 at that time).

August 2011

Deposited $40

New Card Limit $500

Have moved my due date to the beginning of the month so it would be more convenient to pay in full. We’ll see how it goes. Doing this made me skip a payment – payment wasn’t due until my new due date of the next month.

Have never been late with payment.

I have been close to my limit and when it came time for the bill to cut, it put me over the limit. I’m sure this was a black mark with Capital One internally and more than once.

Have not received a credit limit increase since I had the card.

Have applied (after a year) and received other cards that I didn’t qualify for before getting this card. Limits were from $200-$350. 1 credit card and 3 store cards.

Deposits

When making my additional deposits, it seems that the funds were taken out the next business day and the funds deposited about 5-7 business days give or take. So don’t expect immediate application of your deposit to your account. You’ll get the feeling back of when you were waiting on your card to come….took awhile. I received an email and a letter in the mail confirming that my deposit had been applied to my account.

Unsecuring

I chatted and I called Capital One to see if I was eligible for an increase. Over chat they said that they didn’t see that option on my account. When I called, they said that they would be happy to see if I was eligible, but they would need to pull my credit. I declined. At that time I asked about the card unsecuring. The rep. said that the only way to get my deposit back would be to close the card and I can always apply for an unsecured card. When I close the card, they would mail me a check. I declined. I thought for sure when I signed up for the card, it said that the card would go unsecured and that they would mail me my deposit back after about a year. But I see that the website says, “Deposit is refundable based on your credit”.

Pros

I like the fact that you can add funds to increase your credit limit at any time and that you can start off as low as $200.00 and go to as much as $3000. With other cards, usually the starting limit is $500 and you have to have it all at the time of opening the account and you can’t increase the amount. Also, Capital One is pretty lenient with issuing the secured card, my credit union didn’t look at me twice and I was willing to deposit $500 at that time.

I also like the fact that the card reports as an unsecured card so other creditors can’t tell the difference.

Cons

I don’t like that it doesn’t unsecure and I haven’t seen a credit line increase, but I have read that others have.

Goals

-Pay in full or only use 35% max of card limit.

-Increase card limit to at least $1k within the next 6 months and get to $3k (maximum) eventually by sending in additional deposits if not able to get another card with this amount by then.

-I have read that card issuers like to issue cards to the limits you already have so I want to see higher limits granted.

-Pay down/keep down balances on other cards as well.

-Work on bad marks on my credit report. See if I can get them deleted or settle for less, way less!

-Don’t max out credit cards ever unless paying in full each month before the

[fontanaman]

Great post, thanks for sharing! I actually didn’t know about some of the things you mention, that’s why it would be great to hear from other people here using this card as well. We could all learn a few things

 

I have a few questions for you:

 

Have moved my due date to the beginning of the month so it would be more convenient to pay in full

 

 

I didn’t know this was an option! Did you call Capital One and ask for this, how does it work? It would be a lot more convenient for me to have this, I’m always forgetting when my due date is.

 

At that time I asked about the card unsecuring. The rep. said that the only way to get my deposit back would be to close the card and I can always apply for an unsecured card.

 

 

I suspected this but didn’t know for sure. Thanks for making it official! This is probably one of the only things I don’t like about this card. It would make more sense if after a certain point they graduated you to an unsecured card and refunded your deposit. Considering that closing a credit card looks bad on your credit report, I think that a card that is made for “repairing your credit” should become unsecured once you have proven you can handle credit responsibly.

 

I thought for sure when I signed up for the card, it said that the card would go unsecured and that they would mail me my deposit back after about a year.

 

 

I also thought the same thing! I know you got this card like 6 months before I did, have you checked the documents you originally received when you got your card. I’m curious to know if maybe they changed their policy regarding deposits.

 

I have read that card issuers like to issue cards to the limits you already have so I want to see higher limits granted.

 

 

I didn’t know this either, but it makes sense. Thanks for sharing this info! It gives me new ideas. I hope you get an unsecured increase eventually. I think you deserve it since you’ve always paid on time. Going over the limit might have been the reason for not seeing an increase I think. When was the last time this happened?

 

[ambersun]

The option is online to move your due date. If you try it and can’t find it just let me know. Its gone over by a couple of dollars maybe five at the most but i heard it still matters. Last time was about 3 months ago. I haven’t researched it but I remember the statement drawing me to the card. But I probably overlooked the part about based on your credit bc I was so excited. Maybe your credit has to be squeaky clean to get your deposit back or at a high score. I know maxing it out is a biggie also, but i gotta use it for its purpose: rebuilding and if I need for a hotel or rental I won’t have any crazy holds on my debit card.

[Amy]

Hi, ambersun! Thank you for your informative post. I also agree that the card takes awhile to arrive. My card took almost a full month before it shipped and I just received the notification e-mail today. Waiting for it to arrive. I’m glad the card reports as unsecured. How long did it take for the card to start showing up on your reports? Was it after the 1st statement, 2nd statement, etc.?

[ambersun]

From what I remember it didn’t take long a month if that on all three reports. You can always count on Cap One to pull reports from all 3 and report to all three credit bureaus.

[Author]

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