Peacefulove

Hello everyone.

I was wondering if anyone can recommend a good credit card for people new to the USA like myself? My husband has added me to his card with Citibank and we also have a joint account there but id like to start building up my own credit and so far have no idea who would be the best to use!

Thanks

BritGuyTN

a bank of america secured credit card

pay $500 up front that you can borrow against

after a while people like target will give you a store card with a tiny limit, then washington mutual

then you get to good cards like citi bank cards in your own name/american express blue credit or their charge cards/unsecured bank of america cards

this is obviously all in my personal opinion - the process take a couple of years

unfortunately the loophole that used to be present regarding piggy-backing on your spouses credit to increase your fico score has or is about to be closed

Elvira

As a new arrival your options are limited. Unlikely you'll get anything other than a secured card for a while.

After that, it depends on what you consider a 'good CC' to be - do you want air miles, cash back or do you actually want to borrow/not pay back the balance...

Check out the US site of the Motley Fool for options.

Britinsac

Yes but eventually you will get so tired of the junkmail offers of CC's pouring into your mailbox daily.....and when you have 8 or 9 you will start to trim back...

ugacrew

Try this site for side by side comparisons of credit card offerings. You can even look up card by type such as air miles, cash back, savings and so forth.

Peacefulove

Thanks for all the replies! Yes ive noticed my husband gets about 10 offers come through in junk mail every day which prompted me to think about getting my own. Id ideally like one where i get reward points for spending. I will be paying the balance of every month as well it will mainly be for my expenses like train fares, lunches that sort of thing, so not looking for a particularly high limit and a high interest doesnt matter either as i will be paying the balance in full!

NC Penguin

You can piggyback on your husband's credit. However, if he doesn't have good credit, don't do it! It'll do more harm than good.

If you don't have a UK issued AMEX credit card, I would recommend getting a department store card to help you with your credit. It worked for me.

Bob

AmEx is the way to go, BoA is the way to avoid...but also any local credit unions would be a good one to snag.

Peacefulove

Thanks for all the advice! Im going to try for blue Amex...they can only say no and if thats the case will look into local credit unions.

Bob

you'd want to look for them within a week or so because multiple credit searches will ding you, but a bunch within a short time frame will only be counted as one ding

BritGuyTN

only with mortgages or car loans...

Peacefulove

well ill be applying for a card tonight, will post the outcome on the forum so hopefully other people in my postion will get an idea if they are wondering as well!

BritGuyTN

i can tell you now that you will get anice rejection message or letter if you apply for amex blue

don;t bother wasting the inquiry that will ding your fledgling score

marriedtothemod

and credit cards...nothing fancy mind, but it'll start you off...

kins

Here's our tale of woe with a Bank of America secured credit card.

We applied for a mortgage with them (which we eventually got) and they suggested we take out a secured credit card to help our credit rating. We said yes, filled in the forms, sent off a $300 cheque.

Waited a few weeks, no sign of the credit card arriving. Phoned them to find out where the card was. Assured it was on its way.

A few more weeks, phoned them, told it had been sent to our old address but they'd cancel that and send one to our new address. Told them we didn't want it any more, please don't send us any more cards (not that any had ever arrived) and please return our $300.

A few more weeks, we phoned them to say still no credit card and where's our cheque for $300.

A few more weeks, got a call from them to ask why we were using our new credit card in Belgium. Of course we'd never received the card. Asked them once again to cancel that card and not to send us any more cards, and refund our $300 immediately. Assured that this would happen straight away.

A day or two later got loads of fraud forms through the post with a letter saying if we don't fill them in and return them we'll be liable for the money spent on the card that we'd never received.

A few days later, a BoE credit card arrived. Phoned to ask why. Assured it was just normal procedure and that the new card had already been cancelled.

Still no $300.

Finally, after several more phone calls, we got a cheque for $300 and an apology.

And by the way, we did take out a mortgage with them, and they *****ed that up so badly that they ended up refunding us our $670 application fee.

Don't touch them with a bargepole.

Once you've been in the country for a short while you'll start getting offers of an unsecured credit card from Capital One. You'll probably get two or three offers a day. We've taken one out, and we're now getting even more pre-approved offers from them.