average_joe,
Indeed, I had the public relations lady scheduled back in April to do a podcast.. that was the time when my wife was in the hospital.

She's agreed to do a podcast whenever... so she'll be one of the first on my list.

Monty,

Great and have someone from capital one do a podcast with you.

Cheers

average_joe,
agreed.... the benefit to Capital One secured is that they're easy to acquire.

I hope that they are able to change their card plans soon so that you can switch over when your credit score gets better.

I'll be talking to the public relations officer again soon... I'll bring this up again.

thanks.

Monty,

I believe the method they are working on is not good. If you have their secure card for two years and they decide you’re good enough for a non- secure card; that means they will close the secure card account, which is not good. The major banks are far better because when you do establish credit with them, they will return your deposit and let you to continue using the same card. The fees at home trust are the worst in the industry for a secure card.

Cheers

It is my understanding that Capital One holds on to your deposit until you either cancel the card, or switch over to a new card.

I spoke to the public relations person for Capital One... she mentioned that she's aware that this is a little rigid... supposedly Capital One is working on a new, more flexible card. that allows for transferring to a non-secured card when an individuals credit gets better.

The point of the secured card is to help build your credit.. They allow you to get into a secured credit card for as little as $75 - 300.. as far as I know, this is better than the major banks will do. Capital One will issue a credit card to somebody who has just been discharged from bankrutpcy. Obviously the banks won't touch that kind of person with an unsecured card.

The major banks will do secured credit cards, but you're matching 1-1 security-line of credit.. IE.. in order to get a $500 line of credit, you need to put down $500.... which is out of reach to many people.

Capital One does have its benefits.

/secure-credit-card-info.html

Millie P,

As far as HomeTrust goes, they will help your credit score. I question your statement regarding stigma... I'm sure a person can have a 800 credit score and own a HomeTrust Visa....

I bank with bmo the last three years and I tried recently to get a secure card from them and it’s only available to new immigrants and international students to Canada. I am in the process of opening a new bank account some where else’s because I do not want to deal with a bank in my opinion that discriminates against Canadian citizens. If you’re going to offer a secure card, offer it to everyone or don't offer it at all.

BMO actually does have one but they only give it to international students. Some bank managers have been rumored to make exceptions but I don't see any point in imposing when the other banks all offer one.

I believe CIBC is the best option as they offer a 1:1 deposit to amount of credit. Scotia requires 110% deposit. HSBC requires 300%. Most of the credit unions and regional banks require between 150%-300%.

Citizen's Bank use to offer a good secured card but they ceased to be a deposit taking bank a few months back. For people who live in BC VanCity which was the brick and mortar parent company to Citizen's still offers the card.

Under no circumstances should anyone get the Home Trust or People's Trust. First, everyone knows they are secured cards so anytime you have someone doing a manual underwriting they are going to have a stigma. Second, the fees are insane. I haven't looked recently but they both had a monthly fee regardless of use.

MillieP,

I noticed the vagueness every time I mention returning the security deposit. If they hold on to the deposits, its shows they have assets on their books. I also don't like the fact they do not give you any interest on your security deposit. I have concluded in my research, that Canadians should get a secure card from one of the major banks. The only major bank that does not offer a secure card is bmo.

Cheers

Capital one is very vague about what is required to get the money back. No one I know has ever been able to get them to give any kind of specific answer to how long it takes.

The only way it seems is to threaten to cancel the card. If you get your credit score high enough and then just pay the card off and call them threatening to cancel they returned a $2150 deposit to a friend of mine. I have another friend who also has the $2500 limit card and is planning to do the same thing in four months when his card hits 18 months Both of them though had perfectly clean credit and just needed the secured card because they had no history. They also managed to get unsecured cards from other institutions less than a year after getting the secured Capital One.

I know at four other people who have the $500 limit card and none of them have been given their deposits back. On is over two years the others are all over 18 months but under two years.

Capital One does a soft inquiry every few months so we always assumed that was for the purposes of assessing if they should return the deposit but they have no returned it voluntary to anyone I know. To be honest I don't see why they would. They have the opportunity to make money by lending you your own money. With the cards over $500 the ratio is 1:1 so they take on no risk. It is really a great deal for Capital One. I'd be thrilled to lend people their own money at 18% interest.

Yes, If they were lucky enough to get it back without closing their account.