Establishing Credit

[Lica]

My husband is on H1b and I on H4. We are here for over a year now and we are yet to establish credit. We went to the bank we are banking with and we were denied. EVERY THING WE PURCHASE IS done with cash but the problem is getting an instituition, or stores to give us credit so he can start creating a credit history. They all say they cannot find any history, but how can they find history when no one is willing to give us credit so we can start creating one?

Anyone on H4 visa has a credit card? If so please let me know especially in NY.

Thanks

[njverifier]

Originally Posted by Lica

My husband is on H1b and I on H4. We are here for over a year now and we are yet to establish credit. We went to the bank we are banking with and we were denied. EVERY THING WE PURCHASE IS done with cash but the problem is getting an instituition, or stores to give us credit so he can start creating a credit history. They all say they cannot find any history, but how can they find history when no one is willing to give us credit so we can start creating one?

Anyone on H4 visa has a credit card? If so please let me know especially in NY.

Thanks

I know a lot of banks issue secure credit card which is $500 credit. Sometimes they will ask you to make a deposit of $500 in your bank account and make it a collateral. Some of the banks I know are Bank of America, Capital one(this issues secure CC with out any deposit). Most of the credit unions will also issue such cards. Please google for secure credit card... Hope this helps.

[r1r1r1]

If you have a Bank Of America Account, then they will be able to provide you a Secure Credit card, which will help to build the Credit history.

[Lica]

Originally Posted by njverifier

I know a lot of banks issue secure credit card which is $500 credit. Sometimes they will ask you to make a deposit of $500 in your bank account and make it a collateral. Some of the banks I know are Bank of America, Capital one(this issues secure CC with out any deposit). Most of the credit unions will also issue such cards. Please google for secure credit card... Hope this helps.

I tried BOA and we were declined. I will try capital one.
thanks for the info. It helps

[Lica]

Originally Posted by r1r1r1

If you have a Bank Of America Account, then they will be able to provide you a Secure Credit card, which will help to build the Credit history.

thank you for your reply. We tried it already but were declined. I was told to try capital one or a credit union which I will be doing.

[njverifier]

Originally Posted by Lica

I tried BOA and we were declined. I will try capital one.
thanks for the info. It helps

Do you have a BOA account? If not give it another shot at BOA. Try this, open an account with a direct deposit of your husbands salary, if this is not possible try a recurring direct deposit of $250 every month from another bank in which you have an account. I am sure BOA will open an account for you if there is a recurring direct deposit. After you open an account they will ask you to fill up the EFT(electronic fund transfer) form authorizing them to pull the money from your other bank. after all this is completed wait for the first months statement and then try the secured credit card thing.

If you have friends who has an account in a credit union ask him to refer your husband so that you can open an account with them. I know most of the credit unions also issue secured credit card. Example of credit unions: DCU (digital federal credit union), PenFed CU(pentagon federal credit union), genisys credit union.

[Lica]

Originally Posted by njverifier

Do you have a BOA account? If not give it another shot at BOA. Try this, open an account with a direct deposit of your husbands salary, if this is not possible try a recurring direct deposit of $250 every month from another bank in which you have an account. I am sure BOA will open an account for you if there is a recurring direct deposit. After you open an account they will ask you to fill up the EFT(electronic fund transfer) form authorizing them to pull the money from your other bank. after all this is completed wait for the first months statement and then try the secured credit card thing.

If you have friends who has an account in a credit union ask him to refer your husband so that you can open an account with them. I know most of the credit unions also issue secured credit card. Example of credit unions: DCU (digital federal credit union), PenFed CU(pentagon federal credit union), genisys credit union.

APPRECIATE your responses. We are at Chase,which my husband has direct deposit but they do not do secure credit cards. My best bet right now is to try the credit union and I really appreciate some of the names of credit unions. We had a terrible experience with BOA so that will be a no-no for us..Lol

[njverifier]

Originally Posted by Lica

APPRECIATE your responses. We are at Chase,which my husband has direct deposit but they do not do secure credit cards. My best bet right now is to try the credit union and I really appreciate some of the names of credit unions. We had a terrible experience with BOA so that will be a no-no for us..Lol

Chase is one of the worst banks to bank with. BOA is better than chase in many ways. You can always give it a shot. Go to a different branch. It's almost 8 years never had issues with BOA. In fact they kept on improving their services and gave me a lot of privileges(I am still on H1) which I don't see for many GC holders(best example is my sister). Though you may not like them initially you will like them eventually.

On a separate note credit unions are the best. You can always turn to them for loans in the future which they will provide at better rates than commercial banks. But as far as I know you need a referral to open an account with with credit unions.

[MahaBharatGC]

Try Capital One. My wife started on that first time. Only they gave her credit card when applied online to multiple companies.

[Lica]

Originally Posted by MahaBharatGC

Try Capital One. My wife started on that first time. Only they gave her credit card when applied online to multiple companies.

thanks for the advice.