Rejection

By creditwhore - 24/02/2010 19:13 - United States

Today, I decided to apply for a credit card to help build up my credit rating. It seemed smart since I'm a 24 year-old college graduate. I was rejected for not having a credit history. Being rejected turns out to hurt your credit history. The irony of my predicament is too great for words. FML
I agree, your life sucks 34 651
You deserved it 2 901
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Top comments

idkweird 0

I don't understand this at all. Credit Card companies used to have people on my college campus all the time because, since most of us didn't have a credit history, it was easier to get credit cards. Here's my advice. Open up a secured line of credit with your bank. You give them a certain amount of cash, and they put it on a card for you. That card works like a credit card on your credit score, but you don't get into crazy debt over it. It's prepaid.

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Zwingend 15

Depending on who you're banking with you can get this card that is sort of your training wheels for the future. You put 200$ in an account then they give you a card with a 200$ limit to use. If you use this card correctly they will then give you a full fledged credit card. Look into it, it sucks but in the end it's worth it.

26 1

Comments

tisiphone_fml 0

Why does nobody seem to realize that you can have a credit card and NOT carry a balance? You just spend within your means like you would with cash or check, and then pay the entire balance off at the end of the month. Then the high interest rates are pretty much irrelevant, and you still build credit... I am in my mid-20s, I got my first card at 16, and I have never carried a balance on any of my credit cards in my entire life.

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corme_fml 0

Ditto. I had one and just used it for big purchases to build some credit. I COULD payoff my playstation3 same day with cash.... or I could throw it on my card and then pay for it at the end of the month. They're pretty nice for emergencies like car or medical, too. I don't understand how a lot of people are linking all credit card use with overbearing debt.

1 0
modnar_j 0

Like everything else in the financial world, the way credit rating works can be a bit bizarre. To start, get a card, any card, even if the interest rate is 25 or 30%. But don't use it. Someone doing a credit check can't see what you're using it for, only what the monthly balance is. If that's always $0, it shows that you're not living beyond your means, and will improve your rating. (You might want to use it to pay for something small every so often. Card issuers sometimes cancel accounts that aren't used for several months; it looks like you don't need it, and there's a chance it could be stolen or something and used fraudulently, and that's a PITFA for both them and you to clean up.) Also, for just about anything that requires a credit history, you can usually get it if someone with a good history (e.g., a parent) co-signs with you. That gives the lender assurance that they will be repaid, so they're willing to agree to it.

0 0
aDropOfSunshine 2

Constantly holding a $0 balance will do virtually nothing to improve your credit. To build credit, companies want to see that you can borrow and pay back responsibly, whether it's paid off every month or you pay the minimum due. Credit is also determined by a debt to credit ratio, and I suppose it would be intuitive to think that a $0 balance would raise your credit, but that isn't really how it works. Companies looking at credit don't want to see that you just have a card and never use it, and they don't want to see it maxed out either. They basically want to know that you're good for the money you claim that you'll have in the future (aka credit) and if you have proved that you are responsible, you look like less of a risk to anyone expecting payment from you (banks, landlords, etc.) and more likely to get loans and that kind of thing. Keeping the ratio of debt to credit low is obviously a good idea, but keeping it at $0 all the time and just keeping it in your wallet really won't help much. Anyway OP, as much as it sucks, having good credit does make a lot of life's transactions quite a bit easier (at least in the US). Can it be done without credit? Of course, but it is a bit more difficult.

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katiebee 0

that happened to my fiancé. what u need to do is go to a bank and buy a 1000$ cd. the you'll make a loan against it. it's called a secure u loan it's like traiding money with the bank. you should have a credit score in 4-6 months 

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Cortneysabeast6 0

awww I'm sorry...

1 0
capthavoc123 0

That's why you apply for a card from your bank, and not from a credit card company. If you didn't know such a basic rule like "first credit card comes from your bank", then you really had no business applying for a credit card.

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csantosr79 0

you're 24 AND a college graduate!!! you should have known better.

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kkattt 1

this reminds me of just about every job now a days... they won't hire you unless you've had "expierence"

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corme_fml 0

Sadly that seems to be the case lately. You get experience by starter jobs like bagging, cashiering and paper routes.... and now all those jobs are taken by desperate 40year olds.. :( got to use connections to get jobs and experience... Getting a credit card is not as difficult. You don't HAVE to have money.. but a savings account would probably help. I blame the OPs parents. I was pretty frustrated when I went to look for cars and apartments... prefect budget after high school.. but couldn't get anything because my mom didn't explain the needs of starting some kind of credit line.

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PepperdotNet 2

Be happy this happened. I wish it had happened to me 20 years ago, maybe I wouldn't be a slave to Discover

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SamIsSoaked 0

O.P, banks suck balls. I feel your pain. Im 26, Bsc Hons Com Sci employed software developer and have zero credit history. I got denied a home loan last month coz of this. My country has changed its credit laws to much the same as the USA now, so eventhough i get a pretty decent salary and i have a huge savings investment, coz I have no history they will not loan me money. Its beyond frustrating seeing as how banks give loans to people who clearly cannot afford to repay it. Yesterday I finally decided to take the stupid banks offer of a credit card ++. My personal reason for no credit history -> I dont have money, I do without. its how I was raised. Poor. btw, yes my parents paid for my university education. they saved since the day I was born to afford it. Have I repaid them? yeah, coz I can afford to now.

1 0