AAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!! Prepare yourself for rant!

I'm 19 Years old and have had a checking account with a check card since i was 16. I have no credit. I've written out almost 500 checks, none of which have been bad, and used my check card even more. On friday I opened up a new checking account at the bank in the town where i'll be going to college. I put down that i wanted a check card with that account also. I get home today and i have a letter from the bank. My check card was denied for not having any credit. Well lets see here..... To get credit you need a card, but to get a card you need credit. I've had a dang checking card for over three years now, and they wont give me one???? Whats with that. Its not like its a credit card anyway. It comes right out of my checking account. Its a computer generated letter they sent me, so hopefully when i call them they will reconsider, otherwise i know 3 accounts are going to be closed (mine, my roomates, and our joint one we opened to pay bills with).

Whats with this though. I've worked hard for 3 years to maintain good standing with my bank, and i have, and it has amounted to nothing (besides me not having to pay bounced check fee's)

 

Call capital one or providian and see if they'll hook you up with a small limit card. providian will even let you do a secured card. (I know it sucks to have to borrow your own money, but it's a way to get started.)

 

That really stinks,
I do however know the value of exceptional credit it is priceless. I financed the full value of my home with no points or pmi. You might have to start with small amount credit cards and work up the limit. Keeping them paid down but you need to pay some interest on them. If you pay them off every month you are not a good customer to the credit company and it doesn’t help your credit any.

 

There's a LOT of misinformation out there on what affects your credit and how. About 95% of it is wrong. The truth is that your FICO (credit) score is calculated by a complex formula that is not public information. Anyone who claims this or that will impact your credit rating is repeating rumours they've heard. None of it is substantiated.

A good rule of thumb is pay all your bills on time and you'll be fine.

I had to start with a secured card. About six months later, I was getting all the credit I could possibly ever use. Credit card companies WANT to give cards out - they just need a reason to.

 

The fact that it is not public information, but in essence controls the public is garbage of itself.My wife paid off all the debts on her name (her sister did an id theft on her...) and now is faced with the no credit thing... since there is nothing on her credit record that she OWES on, they say she has no credit... Hows that for a bunch of BS!! You have to be in debt to someone to be able to be able to go further into debt, but if you have always paid your bills, and never had a credit debt, you are woerse than those that have judgements and such. Before the flaming starts, I have judgements against me due to the fact I have not had an income for 3 years due to a back injury, and I have better credit than my wife who has no debts and all bills are paid... I am actually in the good credit ratings... all due to use of a credit card, and continued payments on it, with a little bit of debt load on it. I get credit card offers continually that are better than the offers my wife gets. Thing is I don't want more financial responsibility of more cards with higher limits... that's how a lot of people get into credit card problems...
In all reality, the advice for a credit card or car payments to help credit cards is true, based on this experience and seeing how it is making a difference. I don't have the car payments, but do have the credit card that I had before my back issues and extended unemployment.

 

get a secured card, I had a capitol one at 16, I'm 25 now, and just found out 2 days ago I have a 714 credit score (applying for boat loan )

 

Remember, one of these days you will be saying: "damn, where did all these bills come from, I'll never get these *&#$%)#) cards paid off. jim d

 

Peter94 AAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!! Prepare yourself for rant!

I'm 19 Years old and have had a checking account with a check card since i was 16. I have no credit. I've written out almost 500 checks, none of which have been bad, and used my check card even more. On friday I opened up a new checking account at the bank in the town where i'll be going to college. I put down that i wanted a check card with that account also. I get home today and i have a letter from the bank. My check card was denied for not having any credit. Well lets see here..... To get credit you need a card, but to get a card you need credit. I've had a dang checking card for over three years now, and they wont give me one???? Whats with that. Its not like its a credit card anyway. It comes right out of my checking account. Its a computer generated letter they sent me, so hopefully when i call them they will reconsider, otherwise i know 3 accounts are going to be closed (mine, my roomates, and our joint one we opened to pay bills with).

Whats with this though. I've worked hard for 3 years to maintain good standing with my bank, and i have, and it has amounted to nothing (besides me not having to pay bounced check fee's)

This is gonna be a stoopid set of questions, but:
1) Do you have a job? With limited credit, that's the biggest single factor.
2) Why are you closing your current account? At your age, what you need is an established longer-term relationship with a bank. Changing banks only sets you back to ground zero.

Is there a credit union you can use? that's your best bet starting out.

 

Peter94, just like alot of people posted here; get a secure card, and pay on time, all of the time; and soon you'll have a good FICO (Fair Isaac Co.) score.

I wonder if it's worth it to checkout your credit rating anyway? Hmmmm!

I think a (good) FICO score is only good if you're going to apply for a loan, or maybe ask for a credit card increase.

jake00, good score.

 

I doubt he has any score at all- I just went through this with my son on his new pickup purchase. As far as vehicles are concerned, it's easier to get a new rig done than a used one (now there's a go figure). Both Ford and GM have first-time buyer programs for young buyers with steady jobs, reasonable income ($1500/mo gross or better), and no adverse credit history. No history is fine, just no dings.

It sounds like he's talking about a simple debit/check guarantee card. that should be doable- a smaller institution is more likely to take on a new customer. The larger banks aren't even interested in the normal retail customer unless they're bringing a boatload of business with them.

 

I had the same problem when I was young.

No credit for a loan, so I needed a co-signer.

Now I get so many credit card applications, that they end up in my shredder.

 

I've always gone through a credit union for borrowing. If you never get a stupid crdit card your life will be great. I get my stuff the old fashioned way, save up and pay cash. Mismanaging your credit can cost you thousands of dollars throughout your life. At your age, a long chat with a financial planner would be a very wise investment. I doubt he will recomend you establish a good credit rating via the credit card method!!!!!

 

Your 19 years old and going to college, just left the nest, no income and no assets, no to pay back a loan. Would you loan you money? Sorry if that sounds harsh, just giving food for thought.

Whats wrong with your old bank? Keep that account and the card, and the history. A bank in a college town sees alot of bad debt, that you will ultimatly pay for.

When I moved here I closed an account, got a cashiers check, and tried to open an account at a local bank. They were the same bank - Bank One. The new bank would not let me touch any funds from the cashier check for 7 days. Competiter bank accross the street did.

 

I think the point is being missed by most here. Getting a "check" card (Visa or MC) should have ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with your credit rating. Peter94 is correct....it's just a card tied in to your checking account......no "credit" is given, and you get the convenience of using it like a Visa or MC is you want. Peter, make sure your bank didn't accidentally put in your paperwork as a credit card request....and if they still say "no", demand to see the manager. If they still don't want to issue a "check" card, then I would close that account and run.......don't walk......to a different bank (or better yet, Credit Union), but I think that the threat of leaving would probably do the trick (not that it should ever have gotten to that point anyway). Aside from that, though, all the advice given by the other members reference good credit is spot-on.

 

A checking account and a check card will not build credit because they are buying on cash, not on credit. Get a secured card to start your credit rating.

No offense meant, but "worked hard for 3 years" is a little humorous when it comes to credit. Solid credit is a lifelong discipline.

As to FICO, the scoring factors are published, just not the exact percentages. Observed changes in score due to direct and purposeful changes in accounts by many who have studied them reveal the general weight given to some items. Dept to income ratio, account life, credit used verses credit limit, number of accounts, payment history, employment history, residence history; are all factors.

Only paying your bills on time to increase your credit score can give good score but a great score is a whole different matter. Don't believe me? I watched my very high credit score dive from closing a ultra-high limit credit card (it plunged my available credit to used credit ratio) and again from a simple home move.

Great scores are the difference between qualifying for fake gold cards (limits of a few thousand) and qualifying for real ones (you can buy a small house with it). What's good? Well, that's hard to say exactly, it depends on the lender but low 700s is starting to get good.

750+ and you're doing better than 60% of the people. 800+ and your score is better than 90% of of the population.

I used to work programming credit/banking applications, its really interesting what goes into a lot of this.