Posted on: 01-02-05 03:40:10
Thanks, folks.. this is a great help.
Patrick, i need a credit card in Canada to build a credit history "in Canada". I enjoy a good credit history now in U.A.E, but that wont help me in Canada, right?
Thing is, I am planning to live for a couple more years in UAE before shifting permanatly to Canada. So i thought that getting a credit card right now in Canada, and then using it for small purchases over the net would get me a good credit history by the time i am ready to come to Canada. I might go for a small life insurance policy ( is that a good idea?) and pay using this credit card. This way i will have some monthly debits on my card. And i will keep a small deposit at the bank in CAD, which i will us eto pay for the card. (all transactions through net)
Btw, is it important to keep using the card to build a history in Canada? Or can i just get the card and keep it away, and will it automatically build a history?
Thanks again folks!
Quote:No, it won't.
Orginally posted by loveland
Patrick, i need a credit card in Canada to build a credit history "in Canada". I enjoy a good credit history now in U.A.E, but that wont help me in Canada, right?
You are right that you need to build credit history in Canada.
But I think that you will also have to maintain an address in Canada, in addition to the credit card.
Quote:I think you need to keep using it periodically.
Btw, is it important to keep using the card to build a history in Canada? Or can i just get the card and keep it away, and will it automatically build a history?
The banks usually report credit limit, last balance and max balance owed to the credit bureau periodically.
If you don't use it, or use it only once or twice, it won't show regular activity.
When you come back to Canada, and are looking to get credit, other lenders will look at the report and see that you have a secured card and it has not been used much.
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"Mah deah, there is much more money to be made in the destruction of civilization than in building it up."
-- Rhett Butler in "Gone with the Wind"
Quote:
Orginally posted by pratickm
When you come back to Canada, and are looking to get credit, other lenders will look at the report and see that you have a secured card and it has not been used much.
One small correction: other lenders will not be aware this is a secured card. The credit report does not indicate whether a card is secured/ unsecured.
To answer lovelands query: Different lenders evaluate your credit differently. A large bank may want more secure/ established credit history whereas a smaller bank will accept that you have owned a Canadian credit card for 2 years and have not defaulted as sufficient. Your credit score, however, may not increase substantially without consistent usage and payment history. You may want to get a copy of your free credit report (every one is entitled to one free copy per year) to check your history.
Quote:I haven't had a secured card in Canada, but in the US, the credit report did contain the annotation whether the credit card is secured or not.
Orginally posted by Canadian Dream
One small correction: other lenders will not be aware this is a secured card. The credit report does not indicate whether a card is secured/ unsecured.
So the line in the credit report would look like --
Bank Name Credit Limit Currently Owed Maximum owed Type
ABC Bank $xx,xxx $xx,xxxx $xx,xxxx Secured
It may be different with Canadian credit bureaus though.
Worth looking into.
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"Mah deah, there is much more money to be made in the destruction of civilization than in building it up."
-- Rhett Butler in "Gone with the Wind"
Quote:
Orginally posted by pratickm
I haven't had a secured card in Canada, but in the US, the credit report did contain the annotation whether the credit card is secured or not.
I haven't had a secured Credit Card in Canada either so I was extrapolating my US experience.
Quote:
Orginally posted by pratickm
So the line in the credit report would look like --
Bank Name Credit Limit Currently Owed Maximum owed Type
ABC Bank $xx,xxx $xx,xxxx $xx,xxxx Secured
It may be different with Canadian credit bureaus though.
Worth looking into.
Hmmm ... I am looking at my most recent US Credit report and it does not state secured/ unsecured against credit cards. I was always under the opinion that the credit report will not contain this info. I guess the Banks must be reporting this detail to the Credit Bureau and it is upto the individual Credit Bureau whether they want to include the info in your credit report or not.
Just noticed that the list of primary records required by PC Financial mentions PR Card. It takes a little while to get the PR card, right? They dont seem to have anything that i could use to open the account right after landing.
Or am i missing something?
Quote:It may be dependent upon the bank.
Orginally posted by Canadian Dream
Hmmm ... I am looking at my most recent US Credit report and it does not state secured/ unsecured against credit cards. I was always under the opinion that the credit report will not contain this info. I guess the Banks must be reporting this detail to the Credit Bureau and it is upto the individual Credit Bureau whether they want to include the info in your credit report or not.
All banks don't report the same type of info and the formats are different too.
The formats of the 3 credit bureaus are different too.
My earliest credit reports in the US have the "Secured" annotation next to the secured credit card.
Once the bank removed the security deposit requirement, the note also went away from the credit report a couple of months later.
The trouble with having that in there is when other lenders looked at it, they figured that if this other bank gave me a secured loan/credit card, they will also.
It is like the guarantor/co-signer thing - once you get one loan co-signed, all other lenders want to do the same.
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"Mah deah, there is much more money to be made in the destruction of civilization than in building it up."
-- Rhett Butler in "Gone with the Wind"
