Posted by admin | Posted in More Details | Posted on 14-01-2012
[Best Gas Credit Cards related Question]
I dont have any credit, but i’m trying to get some. If i apply for master card and use only for gas and other small stuff, what is the best card i can get? Please help
Responses below:
It’s not a matter of THE BEST card that will build your credit. It’s a matter of whether you pay your bills or not. If you want credit – make your payment, on time, every month. Better yet – pay MORE than the minimum payment.
As to the card – find one that has a low interest rate, and one that will stay low as long as you make the payments. We have a Capitol One card that does that well. There’s a commercial on TV now for something called “cardlab.com”, or some such, where you can pick the features of your credit card. And if you do a search for “best credit card”, I think there’s a few web sites that list the features of different major cards. You can see them all and compare them to get what you need/want.
If you want to get a masterCard, Chase Platimun MasterCard is a good one. http://bestcreditcardratings.com/mastercard/
If you want a card for gas only, Discover Open road is good.
http://bestcreditcardratings.com/gas-rewards/
It’s how use you that first credit car (gas/dept/visa/etc)….whatever ever the limit is…..never charge more than 30% of the AVAILABLE credit……but obviously never charge more than you can fully pay off each month….
That is the quickest and easiest way to build your score….don’t believe that you ever have to carry a balance….think about it….you pay in full on the 20th of each month…..but your credit card reports on the 19th….so on paper it appears that you ALWAYS carry a balance….
It’s easy to build a positive credit score……it takes discipline to maintain a good score…..
I work in the credit card industry manually reviewing reports to either approve or deny credit to people that apply, so I would have firsthand knowledge of what you’re looking for.
The ideal card would be one with NO annual fee, a 0% introductory and low (10.99%/max) APR, benefits program, and high starting credit limit. If you don’t have much of a credit history, it will be much harder to try to get cards like this. What I would suggest would be to check where you do your banking to see if they offer what’s called a “secured” credit card. These work pretty much the same as a regular card only that a security deposit which is used as collateral is placed upfront to determine the credit limit. For example, if you deposit $300, then you could purchase up to $300, and pay back $300. The deposit is used for collateral only when the account is sent to collections, but if you pay on time, usually after a year it’s given back to you. 2 main benefits to secured cards is that it give you more control over the credit limit by adding to the deposit, and the deposit is sometimes linked to a savings account, which earns interest while you’re building credit, so it’s just not sitting there. The more you add to the deposit, the higher the limit, the better your score will get becuase 30% of your score counts on how much credit you have to what you’re using. 2 more benefits from secured cards is that by you putting up the deposit with your own money, it makes you more disciplined in managing the card, especially since the deposit would be at stake, and it also helps to start up an emergency fund when you get the deposit back later on.
I also want you to be aware of some cards out there that target people that have trouble getting approved for credit, or trying to rebuild their credit. These cards are easy to get, but they’re loaded with hidden fees that are charged which reduce your available credit and leave you with a bill to pay before you even get the card in the mail. Tribute, First Premier, and New Millenium are prime examples of this.
I posted several links to some secured card companies that I think would work out ok.
good luck!