Having lived in the US for a year now, and working since the green card arrived in February (hurrah!!), I confidently made an online application for a visa credit card. Naturally I assumed that my online application would be smooth sailing and I would be approved for a card with a decent credit limit. Imagine my delight when the credit card approval noted that I was approved for a secured card whereby I have to credit the account with $300 !!! In addition, the card company were only happy to give me a 24% rate of interest !!! Its so frustrating when my visa card had a 25k limit in the UK with regular letters from other card companies offering 0% interest for balance transfers and new purchases. Its so depressing building a whole new credit history. Anyone else suffered, I mean experienced, similar generous offers?

the first credit card I got was a Chase Amazon card, with a 800 dollar limit....

And just recently I applied for and received a Capital One Card with a 600 dollar limit after getting an offer through the mail....

Lenders are interested in your payment history. If you have never had a credit card or taken any loans in the US, then there is nothing they can base their decision on. I would suggest applying for a card at the bank where you have your account - they will at least know that you have regular income.

And yes, it is annoying. I still keep my Irish visa card, just to have a card with a decent credit limit...

I'm relatively young I always had good jobs, kept all my bills paid but I hadn't made any major purchases, or had any loans into my mid 20's. I had zero credit. I was then told having zero credit is worse than having bad credit. My mom told me the best way to build my credit was to get a little card at a retail shop like Fashion Bug or Bonton and then buy something, pay the minimum for a few months, then pay it off totally and to keep doing this, stating they would slowly raise my limit and my credit rating would increase. Another way was to get a loan (I needed a co-signer initially) and then pay it off asap. This helped my credit rating immensely. Two years later and I've gotten every card I've applied for, with fairly decent limits. I know it's frustrating to start over, but unfortunately it's unavoidable.

Does your US spouse have good credit? Have them add you to some of their credit cards as a joint user not just an authorised user. That will help bulid your credit.

A secured card will help you build credit. There's no shame in it.

You've only been working since February and it's now May, so I'm not surprised that you were turned down for an unsecured credit card. Building good credit takes time, whether you're starting from zero or bad credit. It may be another year before you can get an unsecured major credit card, but if you increase the deposit on the secured one then obviously your credit limit goes up. Try applying for a store card or a gas card in a couple of months; they have sky-high interest rates but they do improve your credit. Just don't go nuts and get a dozen cards; that looks bad.

Hang in there; you can't build a credit rating overnight. It takes time. You can get one free credit report a year; snag a copy in about six months and check your credit rating. Also, check for any inaccuracies since those can lower your rating. Just don't check your credit report more than once or twice a year, since those inquiries show up too. They also pull your credit report whenever you apply for credit, so if you make tons of applications those will all show up.

I know it sucks now, but trust me; pay your bills on time and be patient and within a couple of years you'll have awesome credit.

I was able to get my American Express UK card changed for a American Express US card with the same limit..... and within 6 months I had a credit score in the 700's

Kez

One credit report a year from each of the three major credit reporting agencies. So the OP (and everyone else) can really get three a year.

That's true. However, that doesn't change the fact that you shouldn't request your own credit report very frequently and that you shouldn't apply for credit willy-nilly.

My biggest worry is when we go to buy a house - we will not get as good an interest rate as we should. I hhave got a$300 limit on my credit card with hsbc and have many offers through the mail in the last 3 months but all for just $300 limits. I use my card sporadically but pay it off on time.

One of the things that affect credit scores is the debt to credit ratio! I.e. if you have a credit limit of $300 and are $250 into it then this is bad for you but if you have $5000 limit and are only $2000 into it then its ok. Crazy!!!!

we were told by a credit restoration company that if I add Annie (UKC) to one of my accounts and get her a card, by 60 days she will have a score in the 600's.

24% interest You will be a lot better off just paying cash!

Suck it up! Your UK credit cards mean jack sh1t to US companies who look at your credit rating, and your credit rating alone. Get the secured card, it will help you build credit.


Actually requesting your own credit report doesn't hurt your credit rating. Only other people requesting your credit report hurts your credit rating.

Not true. You can get one every day if you want, but you will have to pay for it.

Cheers!
AKDiver

I did the same thing although American Express wouldn't do a straight swap I had to apply for a new card. Not quite the same credit limit but it got me started with a credit account.

My first credit card was exactly like yours - a secured card with a $300 limit and 24% APR But I just started building credit here - I had no credit history in my old country, so there was no reason for me to get offended by an offer like that. But I imagine how hard it must be to start over when you already had something decent.



Actually, they don't show up - it won't hurt you to check your own credit report, nor will it hurt you if the lenders check it to send you pre-approved offers. The only type of inquiry that lowers the score is when you apply for credit yourself.

Thanks everyone for the good advice. I will accept the credit card with the extortionate rate of interest and also ask hubby to be added to his credit card. This will hopefully get my credit started !

Weird; I know a guy in Dallas who is a credit counselor and that's what he tells...everyone!

Maybe you should take advice from people who have made career choices that require more intelligence than a house plant (:

Cheers!
AKDiver

How can seeing your own credit report have negative impact ?

Do you still have the British CC? It helped me to show my Master Card, as well as that BoA worked with my bank in my home country. They agreed to transfer my credit history, I got a visa card right away with a higher limit than I had before. I think it's important that you walk into a branch and actually talk to the bankers! And it's true, my recent credit report states that credit was established before the SSN was issued. And I do receive a ton of CC offers all the time.

I am sure they can work something out!

Don't ask me, I'm a database programmer. That's why I asked a credit counselor. Guess I won't go to him if I ever have credit problems. If you need someone to kick a SQL Server DB's azz, I'm your girl. That is my area of expertise.

SQL Server? That's a Microsoft product. Doesn't it kick its own ###? (:

PostgreSQL, hoo rah!! (:

Cheers!
AKDiver

I haven't found a company yet that actually uses PostgreSQL, so I haven't bothered with it. SQL Server and Oracle seem to be more useful skills to have; I'm not going to get into a DBMS argument because I don't really care what kind of DB I'm programming as long as I get paid. I'm not a techie lifer, I just do this because the money is good.

Really? You need to get out more (:

Sure, Oracle is great - as long as I am not the one paying for the licensing. It's outrageous (:

I completely agree. I'm such a little whore (: I can't wait to escape from IT though. One day, one day soon I hope (:

Cheers!
AKDiver

I live in Yorkshire. A lot of companies still use Access.



*shrug* Not my problem.



I'm going to get another bachelor's degree, this time in accounting; then an MS so I can be a CPA. Or I could get an MBA with a concentration in accounting; the MBA/CPA qualifications together are supposed to be very lucrative. That's the idea of the month, anyway.

If you don't have any interest in the well-being of your organization, I guess not.

I'm currently enrolled in a graduate program in business. I'm not convinced it will allow me to escape IT however. We'll see how it goes.

Cheers!
AKDiver

It is good to have very few credit cards and use them wisely so that one can build a good credit history. Using credit cards unwisely can pile up to thousands of dollars bills which would take many years to pay it off using the minimum payment method. Credit card debt is a big problem for American families. So when one uses it, he/she should pay the balace off as soon as possible withing the grace period.

I'm not in a position to make those decisions.



Well, once you're in I.T. people tend to pigeonhole you as a techie for the rest of your life. It's hard to break out, especially if you're going for a business-related discipline. Hell, I knew a woman in TX who became an RN after 20 years in I.T. and they still tried to stuff her in the I.T. box.

Well, that is an issue - but the issue I was talking about was getting a non-IT job that pays something that is even remotely close to an IT job. I think it will be difficult, I will have to swallow a big pay cut to be sure, I just hope I can find a job that pays enough to live on.

Cheers!
AKDiver

You can probablt qualify for a Capitol One credit card for those with a limited credit history. They don't ask you to secure it, but it does carry a hefty APR of 19%. After about 6 months of using the card responsibly, they'll upgrade it and lower your APR.

It's worth pointing out that college students get credit cards dropped at their feet. Sign up for a class, get a college student card. Or, fill out a college student card application and lie about being a student, and maybe you can get away with that too (:

Cheers!
AKDiver

This whole credit card story in US is a novelty to me. Back home my parents have tons of credit cards, but we use them for the convenience, since we pay the whole balance off every month, so we never had debt in the cards, at all. I've always thought paying the minimum was a desperate measure if something happened (loss of job, etc), and had no idea people actually let the debt build up and pay only the minimum, 'cus the interest rates are absurd! If I were to use a credit card to pay minimum and pay with interest, I'd just save the cash and buy when I could.

Credit cards get a bad rap. People blame them because some people charge them up and pay the minimums. If not for credit cards, these same people would be going to pawn shops, getting payday loans, and other forms of expensive financing. Dumb people will continue to make dumb decisions, no matter how much you try to protect them.

Credit card companies also get a bad rap because they "prey" on dumbasses. While there are some instances of truly illegal practices, such as holding payments beyond the due date, so they can collect late fees, this is the rarity. It's not their fault if people are willing to pay high rates, go over their limits, pay late, or whatever. It is NOT their responsibility to control people's spending habits, or treat them like children, or whatever. It's just a case of people wanting to point fingers at everyone else but themselves.

That said, a little debt is not a bad thing. Some debt is very good, worth doing. I went into debt big time for a house and education, but these things have either appreciated in value, or has allowed ME to appreciate in value, and would not have been possible otherwise. Other debt is not great, but it's not horrible either. It can be perfectly reasonable, esp. if you can clearly pay the debt off, and it is well managed (think car payments). Going into some debt of course is just stupid, if it is over extending your finances. Most consumer debt falls into this category. But not all. Overall, even with a lot of debt, it can be "not bad" as long as you have the CASH FLOW to manage it. Of course, one wants to avoid debt, but doing this religiously, as if going into debt for any reason is some horrible offense against nature is just silly.

Even if you have no desire to go into debt, avoiding credit cards is just silly. Nothing says you can't pay them every month, they help build credit so that if one day, you need credit for some reason, you have it available, and also can provide some other benefits. I don't remember the last time I had to buy an airline ticket. Seems like I can always get free tickets, mostly due to a credit card that gives me miles. This year, I got two tickets, last year, I got four tickets (that I can remember), all with credit card granted airline miles. (:

Some facts (Federal Reserves 2001 Survey of Consumer Finances):

• In reality, most Americans owe nothing to credit card companies.
• Most households that carry balances owe $2,000 or less.
• Only about 1 in 20 American households owes $8,000 or more on credit cards.
• 23.8% of American households have no credit cards at all -- no bank cards, no retail cards, nothing.
• Another 31.2% of the households the Fed surveyed paid off their most recent credit card bills in full.
• So together, the households that owed nothing on credit cards equaled 55% of the total.
  
• Only 29% of households owe $1,000 or more on their cards.
• 21% owe $2,000 or more.
• 6% owe $8,000 or more.
• 4% owe $10,500 or more.
• 1% owe $21,400 or more.

That $8000/household cc debt figure you hear is quite misleading because it is an AVERAGE. What's the average wealth of you, 15 friends, and Bill Gates? $5 billion dollars? Obviously misleading.The MEDIAN is a far more useful value to look at, and for American households, the MEDIAN cc debt is around $1900 according to this research.

Fair Issac reports:

• About 48% of credit card holders owed less than $1,000
• About 10% of card holders had total card balances in excess of $10,000.
• More than half of all people with credit cards use less than 30% of their total credit card limit.
• Just over 1 in 8 people use 80% or more of their credit card limit.

Of course, there are "problems":

• More than a third -- 36% -- of those who owe more than $10,000 on their cards have household incomes under $50,000, according to the VIP Forum analysis.
• 13% who owe that much have household incomes under $30,000.
• The percentage of disposable income used to pay debts is still near record highs.
• The median value of total outstanding debt owed by households rose 9.6% between 1998 and 2001.

So what we're really seeing here is that lower-income people are trying to live beyond their incomes. That's just personal irresponsibility, not the fault of credit card companies. Don't blame them, blame the American worship of consumerism, and the belief that everyone should have everything, without regard to means, income, or merit.

Credit cards, and credit in general, is like anything else - yes, they can be abused, but they can also be used responsibly by millions of people. And some of us have had the fortunate (or unfortunate, depending on how you look at it) experience of doing both (:

Cheers!
AKDiver

Well, think about it this way...when your job is outsourced, your income will be $0/year, so anything else you get will pay more than that.

Well, I own the corporation I work for. It is unlikely I will outsource myself (:

Cheers!
AKDiver

Yes, but you will be competing with companies that will be able to lower their costs in ways you may not be able to. Most businesses fail, after all!

Not really. This corporation was created specifically to meet the needs of a particular client, for the purposes of creating a specific product - and payment was provided up front. So, I already have the money (: Eventually however, I will have to get a day job. By then, I will have a master's in something else, and can get the hell out of IT - I hope. (:

Cheers!
AKDiver

Nice tax dodge.

As do marriages. I want to give your husband either a medal or a hit with a clue by four for putting up with you. Do you really have to be turned on all the damn time? Don't bother responding. I am putting you on ignore.

How do you figure?

Cheers!
AKDiver

Dropped at their feet, maybe. Approved? Maybe not.

When I was in college, I had tons of applications mailed to me. My mother insisted I apply because I. NEEDED. CREDIT. DARNIT! It took me six months to get approved for a card. You get the application in the mail, all, "NO CREDIT? INSTANT APPROVAL!" Then they deny you because you have no credit. No ****, that's why I applied for this card and not the other one!

Well anyway, I quickly proved to them why no credit gets a denial...maxed out every.single.one. I now owe it to being young and stupid, but oh well. Lessons learned.

"Too easy" credit card debt is widely discussed as being a "problem".

"...Banks don't appear to be dissuaded by most students' lack of significant income, steady jobs or credit history..."
"...Banks contend that, even though they grant cards to students without income, jobs or credit history, they have other ways to gauge financial responsibility..."
"...about the need for a nationwide ban on credit card marketing on college campuses..."
"...Nearly a dozen states, including New York and California, have made it harder for card companies to market on public campuses...."
"...These credit card issuers circle the campus like sharks circling a fish..."
"...But consumer groups and parents say that banks make it too easy for college students to get credit and to become mired in debt..."
"...In 2004...three out of four college students had credit cards, and more than 40% had at least four..."
"...Seniors carry an average debt load of $2,864..."
"...a sophomore at NYU, got her first credit card this summer with a $2,000 credit limit, even though she had no steady income..."

http://www.usatoday.com/money/perfi/2006-1...edit-usat_x.htm
http://njaes.rutgers.edu/ru-fit/collegestudents.asp
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14031324/

For example...Sure, some exceptions exist for some people, but it is "out there". Overall, the evidence is pretty clear. If you are a college student, then relative to the rest of the population, it is very easy for you to get a credit card, and without much in the way of income or an existing credit history. For this reason, I still contend that if one is trying to establish a credit history, then this is a good way to go.

Cheers!
AKDiver

I hate credit cards..

It is completely irrational to hate credit cards.

Ignore is a good feature. Lets also just remember to all be friends as this is tough enough when immigration takes such a toll on so many members here.