Credit Score: 601 Credit Limit: 400 Age: 35-44

Income On Application: $60

Posted 12/04 2018

I had to rebuild after being 18 and running up 2 credit cards. So years later my father passes away and my life changed over night. All of a sudden, I had to move and my credit score was 570..not nearly enough to even get into an apartment. So I signed up with Experian and got to work paying off 4 medical collections. I had another company knock off 1 30-day late payment from 6 years ago. These actions caused my score to go up about 30 points plus I had a car loan in good standing. I have been with BOA for 2 years now and I have a checking, savings, and business account and none have ever been in the red. It only made sense to start out with my own bank. I talked to a rep at my local branch and he said to wait 60 days until the collections fall off. He also signed me up for there business rewards since i can keep 50,000 in the bank which will give me fantastic cash back rewards when I get the unsecured card. By now my CS was up to 604, the collections had either fallen off or had updated to PAID. So I pulled the trigger with the BOA secured. It took 60 seconds and I was approved. Now, they did pull my Experian and my Equifax which I thought was odd. But whatever..I am very thankful for the chance to prove myself. Days later I applied for the Discover it chrome secured and got approved. My credit score did drop after BOA ran it.. 1 point on Experian and 3 points on Equifax. And Equifax sent me a letter clearly stating some of the drop is because its reported as secured. Those few points are priceless compared to taking care of the card and raising my limit. Any advise I can give... Knock out any old issues..Banks need to see that you don't have a lot of debt in order to extend more credit. I know it can seem like your in between a rock and a hard place but I focused on the collections and one late payment. I also check my CS every single day..Its like a child that needs to be tended to daily!!!

 

Credit Score: 560 Credit Limit: 300 Age: 35-44

Posted 01/19 2018

I have had this card for over 3 years. Here is my experience. I applied when my score was 560. I got approved and deposited $300 to get my $300 limit. Like many here, I used only a fraction of the limit and paid in full every month. However, unlike many here, I did not get any credit limit during the first two years nor any graduation. However, upon the 2 year mark, I got graduated to an unsecured credit card. I noticed it when I was using the ATM and thought I noticed there was a couple of hundred extra bucks in my checking account. When I checked the app and website, I found a return deposit from my secured credit card and a notification that the card was now unsecured. Into the two and a half year mark, my credit limit was increased to $1000. On my third year anniversary with this card, my limit was increased to $3000.

I would have given this card a 5 star but for a couple of things. Firstly, they report as "secured". Secondly, I still had to pay the annual fee even though I have graduated. However, I kicked up a big fuzz and BOA eventually waived the annual fee for the card. They should do that right away and not wait for a call from the customer. Otherwise, this card has been good to me. The app is very easy to use.

 

Credit Score: 580 Credit Limit: 500 Age: 25-34

Posted 01/19 2018

I actually got this card by first applying for one of BOAs' rewards card (cash back I think). However, I was not approved. Instead, they offered me a secured version which required a deposit of $99 for a $500 limit. I guess you could call that a partially secured credit card. I already had a BOA checking account so I could use their app and manage my credit card. Like others have said here, they do report as secured. I have not graduated yet but will try to upgrade if and when it happens.

 

Credit Score: 503 Credit Limit: 300 Age: 35-44

Posted 01/19 2018

I got this card the same time as I got the Capital One secured card. I started with a $300 deposit and limit. BOA's app is better than Cap One (IMO). Monitoring your account and paying with the app was super easy. However, BOA reports as secured while Cap One reports as unsecured. After six months, I got a CLI from Cap One of $200, taking my total limit to $500. After 9 months, I applied for the Cap One quicksilver and was approved for $2000 in limits. After one year, Cap One graduated me and increased the limit for the card to $1000. Meanwhile, my BOA has not had a CLI or even graduated.

 

Credit Score: 500 Credit Limit: 1500 Age: 25-34

Posted 01/17 2018

I am a non-resident alien on a working visa. I came to understand that you need to build a credit history in the US to make your financial life easier. I did some research and applied for the BOA secured credit card because I had opened a checking account with them. I deposited $1500. I made sure I paid the bill in full every month. I use close to $1000 of my available credit every month. On two occasions I carried a balance. After one year and three months, I was told that I had graduated and the card was no unsecured. The $1500 was returned to my checking account. I have also just received a line increase to $2500. Thank you to BOA for helping me build a credit history.

 

Credit Score: 570 Credit Limit: 500 Age: 35-44

Posted 01/17 2018

I have had a checking and savings account with BOA for a few years. One day, I received a mail with their secured credit card 99/500 offer. I decided to go for it to build up my score. I was approved and deposited $99 to get a $500 limit. I called customer service and was told that I would get a review after 12 months for an upgrade to an unsecured card. I used the card for 8 months, paid it off in full every month and decided to just call again to see if they could upgrade me early. To my surprise, I was approved for an upgrade. The $99 was deposited back into my checking account and the new limit on the card was $2000.

Oh - the other thing to mention is that the BOA mobile app is pretty good. You can transfer money to others and also pay your credit card bills.

 

Credit Score: 590 Credit Limit: 300 Age: 25-34

Posted 01/17 2018

I applied for the BOA secured card when my score was 590. I started off with $300 in deposit and credit limit (the lowest). Since I was focused on increasing my score quickly, I kept my utilization rate low. I only charged my netflix and cell phone bills to the card each month. And I paid it off in full as well. After 6 months, my credit limit was increased to $500 without any additional deposit. After 14 months, I found out that I had graduated to an unsecured card and my initial $300 deposit was returned to my checking account.

My score is now 700 with TU and I just refinanced an auto loan.

 

Credit Score: 540 Credit Limit: 500 Age: 45-54

Posted 01/17 2018

I have been a banking customer with BOA for the longest time but never had a credit card from them. I fell on hard times and then got a "pre-approved" mail from them about their secured credit card. I applied and was approved. Had to deposit $99 but got a $500 limit. Since I was a banking customer, I have been using their app and found that you can pay your card through the app as well. After using the card for 13 months, I was notified that I had "graduated" to an unsecured credit card and my limit has been increased to $3000. My score had also increased to 685 within a year or so from 540.

Since then, I have applied and got approved for about 4 other credit cards with similar and higher limits. I have since canceled my BOA secured card because even though I have graduated, I am still paying the annual fee. And all my other cards have no annual fee and I don't see any reason for that since the card has no rewards.

 

Credit Score: 518 Credit Limit: 300 Age: 35-44

Posted 01/17 2018

A few years ago, I lost my job got into financial trouble. My scores obviously tanked. Though I did not file for bankruptcy, I had a couple of collections in my report. I had a couple of rejections when I applied for secured cards from other banks. I was approved for BOA. I put down the minimum $300 deposit to get a $300 credit limit. I managed to graduate to a secured credit card after one year. The only thing I noticed is that they report as "secured" in your credit report. But once I graduated, they did report as unsecured. My deposit was returned promptly as well.

I am grateful to BOA for giving me a chance.

 

Credit Score: 610 Credit Limit: 500 Age: 25-34

Posted 01/17 2018

When I applied for the BOA secured card, I was required to deposit $99 in return for a $500 credit limit (partially secured). When I received the card and the "package", I realized that it also has cash back rewards and was actually a secured version of the 3-2-1 cash rewards card. I was pretty thrilled about it. I used only 20% of the credit (ie $100) every month and made sure I paid off in full. I set up autopay with my BOA checking account and it works like a charm. The app is also very neat and you can monitor both your checking and credit card account through it. I was graduated after 10 months and the annual fee going forward was waived.

One thing I realized was the BOA reports as "secured" in your credit report. And I was one of the lucky ones that had the annual fee waived when I graduated. If you read the forums enough, you would realize that some were not as lucky as I was. I still do not know what criteria you need for them to waive your annual fee.

 

Credit Score: 580 Credit Limit: 300 Age: 25-34

Posted 01/17 2018

Before I applied for this card, I tried Wells Fargo and US Bank and got denied for both their secured credit cards. When I applied for BOA, I did not get my hopes up too high. I got the standard reply that we cannot approve you online but we will mail you within 7 to 10 business days! The next day, I checked my BOA account and found that $300 had been taken a deposit and my credit card number was on the website! So I was approved without them telling me I was!

I was also subscribed to a credit monitoring service at that time (no longer) and got an alert for new accounts on all three bureaus a couple of days later. I noticed that BOA reports as secured. I am actually glad that I got the BOA secured as I could make use of the app (since I had a checking account with them) to pay my bills and monitor both my checking and credit card account.

It has been over a year and I still have not graduated. But I am patient and am pretty sure it will happen sooner or later.

 

Credit Score: 550 Credit Limit: 300 Age: 35-44

Posted 01/16 2018

When I got this card, I decided to just put down the minimum $300 deposit which I took from my BOA checking account. The thing I like about BOA is that the app is very easy to use. You can pay your bills through it. 9 months after I got this card, I decided to close my checking account because of the fees. Once I closed the account, the app stopped working and this was really inconvenient. The app was most useful in paying my bills. Now I have to send a check or pay by phone.

As a comparison, I also have the capital one card and though I do not have checking account with them, I could use their app and in fact, it is much better than BOA's. I wish BOA would not link the ability to use their app to having a checking account with them.

That being said, approval was easy and my credit score did improve from using the card.

 

Credit Score: 570 Credit Limit: 300 Age: 25-34

Posted 01/16 2018

I applied for the BOA secured and was approved. I deposited $300 for a $300 limit. My score was 570 with EX at the time. A couple of months later, I applied and was approved for the Capital One secured. I had to deposit $99 for a $200 deposit. I used both cards and was careful not to go over 30% in utilization and I always paid in full. After 6 months, Capital One increased by limit to $500. Nothing happened for BOA. But after 9 months, I was told that I had graduated and that my new limit would be $1500 and my $300 deposit would be returned.

My scores are now close to 700 and I have been able to get an auto loan, 3 more unsecured no annual fee credit cards and I just managed to get a mortgage approved for $250000. I think the key to improving my score was that I had more than one credit card. If you are building or rebuilding your credit, I would definitely recommend the BOA secured card, but also get another card. For me, Capital One worked out well.