Secured Credit Card in Canada , example?
Moved to canada from the USA. When I asked banks here if they could
issue me a credit card in Canada based on my credit hisory from the US,
the answer has been a consistent NO(I am told that they do not have
access to credit bureau reports from the USA even though Equifax is
present in both countries).
1. Does any one know any bank that could do that?
2. Most of the banks seem to have withdrawn "Secured Credit Card" as a
product. Does any one know any bank that still issues a secured credit
card?
-Generally, only American Express will issue you a credit card based
on non-Canadian credit history, and even then they'll only look at
American Express history. If you never had an AE card, you are out
of luck here.
Try shopping around, particularly in small and/or start-up banks
and credit unions; although the major Canadian banks are pretty
much pertified in their arrogance against the the newcomers, smaller
players tend to be much more reasonable. I'd seen very positive
reports on President's First Choice (a no-frills banking outlet in
Canadian Superstore, which I believe is being run by Scotia Bank)
and on Bank One (a US bank which is/was trying to enter canadian
market). Even so, you might have to try several of those before
you get your credit card ... it sure took me awhile.
-Have you tried any credit unions? They tend to be much more flexible
than banks, also many of them have a product called a MasterCard
account.
They issue you a MasterCard that looks and acts as a regular credit
card, but with no line of credit. You can only spend as much as you
have in your bank account, but it is still handy for things like
renting a car, booking hotel rooms, buying tickets over the phone,
things that absolutely require a credit card.