"Actually that’s not correct, charging to the limit will lower your score, even if you pay off the balance in full."

I guess I should have clarified not to charge the ABSOLUTE maximum but to use a significant portion of the available credit available and pay it in full once the bill is received, not when the bill is "due."

I believe keeping your balance below half of your limit is good for your score and going to your limit can be bad for your score. I have even read that creditors like to see one third of their credit being used, when they apply for credit with them.

"Another thing to do to boost your score is to use the secured card to the limit monthly and pay it off each month...."

Actually that’s not correct, charging to the limit will lower your score, even if you pay off the balance in full.

Here are some useful articles I published a while back:

Tips for great credit

Credit Card Myths

Another thing to do to boost your score is to use the secured card to the limit monthly and pay it off each month. Most people who want to do this just put their groceries on the card then keep the money in their account to pay the card off.

It shows that you can make larger payments monthly rather than someone who only borrows small amounts and/or just makes minimal payments on outstanding credit balances.

Thanks for the info..I'll keep that in mind.

The credit card companies did approve people in the 600's before and they might still, but I heard from people lately you need to be in the 700's.If you try now; it might bring your score down a bit for a while if you get denied. I would stay away from bmo, because I hear people all the time say they are a hard bank to get a card out of. I would also stay away from Cibc for now, because I heard recently they were going to slow down on issuing cards and they might be due to the major write downs they had in the United States. If your going to apply; I would try rbc first, second td and third scotiabank.

Thanks for the advice average joe. I'm just curious if you know what the lowest score you've heard of qualifying for a credit card. Also, is there a specific card I should apply for if/when I hit 700?

If you had a capital one secure card for over a year in good standing; you should be asking for your deposit back and should be able to get one of their unsecure cards. If your score is 660; I would wait till it hits the 700’s due to the recession were in and credit card companies might hesitate to give someone a card with a score under 700.The hardest credit card to get is a bmo mastercard and the others are pretty easy.

Hi,

I am wondering if anyone knows what credit score you require to get an unsecured credit card from one of the Big 5 Banks?

Here's a rundown on my situation. I had poor credit in the past and now have a credit score of 660 (still poor but much better).

I have 1 secured credit card with Capital one with a credit limit of $500 and perfect payment history since February this year. I have no collections on my credit report and my score was a bismal 485 about a year ago. I have deragotory items showing on my report but no lates as of 18 months ago and that loan has since been paid.

My income is roughly $60k a year and I have held this job since April 2003. I have no other outstanding loans/debt and my current CC is paid in full.

I would prefer to have an unsecured CC with a bank. When should I apply and which ones are the easiest to get?

Is my score high enough?

Thanks in advance!