Mr Miles, Consultant
@mrmiles42
One way to go from a Capital One secured to unsecured card is applying for a new Capital One credit card that doesn’t require a security deposit. There are also reports of Capital One graduating secured cards to unsecured, but you can’t be sure they’ll make the switch in your case. It doesn’t hurt to ask, though.
If you would like to request a switch, you can call Capital One customer service at 1-800-227-4825. Enter your card number and ask to speak to a representative. Then, ask about your options for graduating to an unsecured card. The longer you’ve been making timely payments, the better your chances will be.
There are a few more points to think about before you take action.
Here’s what to consider before going from a Capital One secured to unsecured card:
- Your two options are applying for a new Capital One card or asking Capital One to graduate your existing card. Neither is a guaranteed success.
- You can ask Capital One to graduate your secured card to unsecured by calling 1-800-227-4825.
- Capital One might offer to graduate your secured card even if you don’t ask. That would mean you’ve been a very responsible cardholder.
- Some users report graduating from Capital One secured to unsecured after anywhere from 8 months to 2 years.
- The more your credit score rises, the better your chances are of getting a new unsecured card or graduating from your secured card. On-time payments are crucial to that.
- Other than the deposit, there’s little difference between a secured card an unsecured card. Both report to the credit bureaus and have the same credit building potential.
- You can increase your Capital One secured credit limit up to $1,000. You can do this by adding more money to your deposit within 80 days of opening the account. Capital One may also increase your limit after you make your first five payments on time.
If you want to go from a Capital One secured to unsecured card, the best thing you can do is make your payments on time and generally using your credit responsibly. Aside from that, it’s mostly a matter of patience. Once your score has improved, you can either try for a new card or ask if Capital One will graduate you.
Ariel Gonzalez, Member
@agonzalez2
I woudn’t even try to apply for a capital one secure one card. They will take your deposit and use it against your credit with the idea if you build good credit with them that they will change it after some time to a unsecure account. Turns out that is a hoax...The card will remain secure for the life of the card no matter how well you do with your credit. I used the card for over a year now with no miss payments. Yes they raised my credit limit after 8 month from 200.00 to 500.00 with 1 of those hundreds being my deposit. When I called to graduate the card they told me they were not autherized to change it now there are any chances of graduating a secure to unsecure. that is just not possible as they mentioned i would have to apply for a new one. And they will not refund your money unless you canel the account. This is the kind of business Capital One does to people who are establishing credit. I will not apply with them for a new card simply for the fact that it will become a new account which is not good for the credit. So in my opinion if you are trying to establish credit ..and looking for secure card do yourself a favor and stay away from capital one.
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Gena @gena23smith
@cadwhiz: Yep, I can confirm this as well. Just called about this. Have had the card since 2013 with a stagnant credit limit, and thought, okay...people say this works, so let's try it. It's a no go. My credit is excellent now, I have another Capital One card with a much higher limit, but still no. Very disappointed in their customer service. I closed the card. I want to close my other Cap One, but that would be too detrimental to my score.
Tristan Thompson @tristant_4
@cadwhiz: I called today 4/27/19 they told me the samething. A few other companies have the same program. I’m with navy federal I spoke with them about opening a unsecured card since one of my bank accounts is with them. I explained to him that I’m looking at buying a house in the next few months and I don’t wanna have a huge ding on my score. He suggested that I get a secured card with them and after 6 months of on time payments they would upgrade it to an unsecured card with a balance of up to 3k. So I’m thinking I might go that direction even though I have a unsecured discover card with a 5k limit. If you can get in with Navy Fed I would do that definitely.
Duke @cadwhiz
Tried to perform a 'card graduation' with my Cap One Secured Platinum card today (4/15/19). The first 3 representatives I spoke with (!) told me that it wasn't something they could do at all, ever; finally, when I spoke with an account supervisor, she told me that the secured/unsecured graduating program "had been placed 'on hold'", and that I "should check back in two months to see if it was available again" (which sounds like a run-around just to get me off the phone). This is my oldest card (just shy of 2 years), so it would be a double-whammy to my credit rating if I (1) cancelled the secured card and (2) applied for an unsecured card, which is what they are suggesting. My secured limit ($551) is too low for me to use that card at all, and now that my credit score is built up over 700, even a $100 purchase uses nearly 20% of that card's credit line... Which in turn hurts my credit rating for the next 2 months, so I guess unless they re-open the program, Cap One won't be getting any more of my money...