Timeline for Ways to establish credit history for international student
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
13 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 14, 2012 at 20:24 | comment | added | f1StudentInUS | @littleadv: NOTE: statement balance != balance reported to CRA. Eg: DCU reports to CRAs your card balance as on end of month, which might not be your statement balance. | |
| Sep 19, 2011 at 4:02 | vote | accept | f1StudentInUS | ||
| Sep 19, 2011 at 4:02 | vote | accept | f1StudentInUS | ||
| Sep 19, 2011 at 4:02 | |||||
| Jul 26, 2011 at 2:17 | comment | added | littleadv | @f1StudentInUs - what prevents you from closing it the next day? Also check their "College Checking" (if your school participates). Bank of the West has a free checking account, ask them what are their fees for the secured credit card. Shop around, it's your money, after all. | |
| Jul 26, 2011 at 2:06 | comment | added | f1StudentInUS | @littleadv, @"Chuck van der Linden": Wells Fargo told me that I need to open up a Checking Account with them first, before I can apply for their secured credit card. This was not a problem except that it has a monthly $5 fee unless I maintain an average daily balance of $1,500, which I cannot during tuition fee payment months. So my only option seems to be the secured loan. I am open to other suggestions! | |
| Jul 17, 2011 at 8:02 | vote | accept | f1StudentInUS | ||
| Sep 19, 2011 at 4:02 | |||||
| Jul 16, 2011 at 7:01 | comment | added | Chuck van der Linden | Second the advice to check around. my first credit card was a secured card from my credit union, secured by a minimum balance on my share (savings) account equal to the credit limit on the card. the fee's were negligable. and yes, accept the answer, click on the empty checkmark you see below the up/down vote items for the answer. (that's something only the person who posted the question can do) | |
| Jul 16, 2011 at 0:29 | comment | added | littleadv | @f1StudentInUs - ignore this. I know plenty of folks here in the Bay area on H1/L1/F1, not one of them was ever rejected because of the status. Just bring your passport to the bank, and you'll be good. | |
| Jul 16, 2011 at 0:09 | comment | added | f1StudentInUS | Thank you for your efforts! I am not able to vote on your answer. The update from secured to regular card has this caveat : "Eligibility is restricted to U.S. citizens and permanent residents with a valid Social Security Number only" - not applicable for me. However, I will speak with them. | |
| Jul 16, 2011 at 0:02 | comment | added | littleadv | @f1StridentInUs - just checked at Wells Fargo - they charge $18 for a secured credit card. wellsfargo.com/credit_cards/secured | |
| Jul 16, 2011 at 0:00 | comment | added | littleadv | @f1StudentInUs - they'll do a credit check, so? The whole point of the secured credit card is that it is for people with no credit or bad credit. They'll want to know which one you are, but why does it bother you? $50 fee is a lot, try to check in other banks or CU's, as I said - the price range is huge. Remember that you'll offset some of the fees with interest on your collateral, so don't for get to ask what the rate would be, it also changes from place to place. | |
| Jul 15, 2011 at 23:36 | comment | added | f1StudentInUS | I have already asked about secured Credit Card from Chase but they told me they would do a credit check anyways. It seems to me that with my thin (non existent?) history (never taken any loans) the credit check would amount to nothing and Chase would turn me down, and all I would have from this is a spot on my history? Chase also charges a $50 fee on their secured Credit Card which is around a 5% interest on a $1k loan. | |
| Jul 15, 2011 at 23:29 | history | answered | littleadv | CC BY-SA 3.0 |