Albert

———–

Hello Albert,

I have been looking into ‘merchandise’ or ‘catalog’ credit cards for some time and I have yet to find one that reports to more than one bureau.  Some don’t report at all.  The fees are pricey, but the advantage would be a guaranteed approval and the credit reference.  Here’s the problem that I see with this offer.

The $10,000 credit line is advertised, but in reality they will likely only offer an initial line of $500 or $1,000 or so.  Additionally, you will find that you immediately have a balance from the catalog company at the outset and continuing fees which, as I’ve stated, are pricey.

The dividing line, however, and why I don’t recommend ‘catalog credit cards’ to the Broken Credit Bloggers is that the ‘best’ catalog credit card I’ve found to date is one that reports to only one credit bureau – Trans Union as I recall.  Since a mortgage lender will require the use of the middle credit score, there is little benefit to having one credit score high and the other two low.  For these reasons and at this time, the Broken Credit Blog gives the thumbs down to the catalog credit card.  Look into secured credit cards.

Thanks for the questions and hope this helps.

Paul