Is this credit card a good choice for me...?

I have bad credit... or none, i cant get approved for anything else and dont understand all the red tape! HELP! does anyone have this card? THE ORCHARD BANK CREDIT CARD





200 min security deposit


35 dollar annual fee





Variable Rate Information Your APRs may vary. The rates are determined monthly by adding the Index (described below) and:





6.65% ("Spread") for the Customary APR for credit card purchases.


16.90% ("Spread") for the Cash APR for cash advances, including balance transfers, if applicable, and cash advances made by credit card check.


22.24% ("Spread") for the Default APR.


For each billing cycle, the Index is determined in the month prior to the month in which the billing cycle ends. In that prior month, the highest (U.S.) "Prime Rate" published in the Money Rates Table of The Wall Street Journal is selected (the "Index"). If the Index has changed, the new variable rates will take effect with the billing cycle that ends on or after the first day of the month following the Index change.


Grace Period for Repayment of Balances for Purchases You have 25 days from the date of the periodic statement to avoid a Finance Charge on new credit card purchases, provided you paid your previous balance in full.


Method of Computing Balance for Purchases Average Daily Balance (including new purchases).


Annual Fee $35 per year


Minimum Finance Charge $1.00 for each billing cycle in which a Periodic Finance Charge is payable.


Foreign Transaction Fee Finance Charge 1% of the U.S. dollar amount will apply to transactions made in a foreign currency.





Cash Advance Fee:$5 or 5% on all cash advances, whichever is greater; unless otherwise disclosed. Finance Charges accrue from the date of transaction. Cash advances will be limited. Your cash advance limit is disclosed on your billing statement. Late Payment Fee: The Late Payment Fee will vary based on the amount of your outstanding balance on your Payment Due Date, and will be: $30 if your balance is more than $0 up to and including $1000; or $35 if your balance is greater than $1000. Overlimit Fee: $30. Accessing the full amount or most of your available credit may result in an overlimit fee. Credit Limit Increase (CLI) Fee: If requested and approved, a CLI fee of up to $50% of the CLI may be charged to your Account, depending on your creditworthiness. Closed Account Service Fee: $3.50 per month on closed accounts with a debit balance.





The variable Customary APR will apply to credit card purchases.


The variable Cash APR will apply to cash advances, including balance transfers, if available, and cash advances made by credit card check.


If at any time your Account is subject to the Customary and/or Cash APRs, and you fail to make at least your Minimum Payment in time to be credited to your Account by the Payment Due Date, or your Account exceeds your credit limit, your entire Account balance will increase to the Default APR.


Note: The Orchard Bank Secured MasterCard requires a minimum deposit of $200 for a minimum $200 line of credit. For more information on the Orchard Bank Secured MasterCard, see our Secured Card FAQs.





At our discretion, payments are generally applied to interest, fees, and then principal balances. We apply your payments to lower APR balances before higher APR balances. The application of payments is subject to change at any time, without notice.





IMPORTANT INFORMATION


There is a maximum of two (2) Accounts issued by HSBC Bank Nevada, N.A. per customer.





If within 90 days of your Account open date, you decide you do not want the account, you can call the customer service number provided on the back of your card to cancel. Any fees, if assessed, will be reversed at no cost to you if you have not used the card.





IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT PROCEDURES FOR OPENING A NEW ACCOUNT


To help the government fight the funding of terrorism and money laundering activities, Federal law requires all financial institutions to obtain, verify, and record information that identifies each person who opens an Account. What this means for you: When you open an Account, we will ask you for your name, address, date of birth, and other information that will allow us to identify you. We may also ask to see your driver's license or other identifying documents.





Notice to California Residents:


Except otherwise limited by applicable law, we may provide credit information about your account to our affiliates from time to time. This information may be used to qualify you for other credit offers. Married persons may apply for a separate account.











Notice to New York Residents:


Consumer reports may be requested in connection with the processing of this application and any resulting account. Upon your request, we will inform you of the names and addresses of any consumer reporting agencies which have provided us with such reports.











Notice to Ohio Residents:


The Ohio laws against discrimination require that all creditors make credit equally available to all creditworthy customers, and that credit reporting agencies maintain separate credit histories on each individual upon request. The Ohio Civil Rights Commission administers compliance with the law.











Notice to Married Wisconsin Residents:


No agreement, court order, or individual statement applying to marital property will adversely affect a creditor's interests unless prior to the time credit is granted the creditor is furnished with a copy of the agreement, court order, or statement, or has actual knowledge of the adverse provision. You must indicate your marital status for this application to be processed.











INTEREST RATES AND FINANCE CHARGES








Interest Rates


The APRs on your Account are variable rates and are determined by adding a specified amount ("Spread") to an Index (described below). The APR is divided by 365 and rounded to the next highest hundred thousandth of a percentage point to determine your Daily Periodic Rate. The Daily Periodic Rate is used to determine the amount of Periodic Finance Charges (see Finance Charges).





Monthly Index For each billing cycle, the Index is determined in the month prior to the month in which the billing cycle ends. In that prior month, the highest (U.S.) "Prime Rate" published in the Money Rates table of The Wall Street Journal is selected (the "Index"). If the Index has changed, the new variable rates will take effect with the billing cycle that ends on or after the first day of the month following the Index change.





An increase in the Index will increase your applicable Daily Periodic Rates which may increase the Finance Charge due on your Account and may increase the Minimum Payment and Current Payment Due. Each time any APR changes, we will apply it to any existing balances, excluding any fixed rate Promotional or Introductory APR.





Purchase APR Your variable Customary APR applies to credit card purchases. The Daily Periodic Rate is based on 1/365th of the Index plus 6.65% ("Spread"). For example, for billing cycles ending 5/17/07, the rate of FINANCE CHARGE would have been a Daily Periodic Rate of .04082% (corresponding 14.90% ANNUAL PERCENTAGE RATE). The minimum rate of FINANCE CHARGE is a Daily Periodic Rate of .04082% (corresponding 14.90% ANNUAL PERCENTAGE RATE).





Cash APR Your variable Cash APR applies to cash advances, including balance transfers, if available, and cash advances made by credit card check. The Daily Periodic Rate is based on 1/365th of the Index plus 16.90% ("Spread"). For example, for billing cycles ending 5/17/07, the rate of FINANCE CHARGE would have been a Daily Periodic Rate of .06890% (corresponding 25.15% ANNUAL PERCENTAGE RATE). The minimum rate of FINANCE CHARGE is a Daily Periodic Rate of .05726% (corresponding 20.90% ANNUAL PERCENTAGE RATE).





If at any time your Account is subject to the Customary and/or Cash APRs, and you fail to make at least your Minimum Payment in time to be credited to your Account by the Payment Due Date, or your Account exceeds your credit limit, your entire Account balance will increase to the variable Default APR. At our discretion, your Account may return to the Customary APR after five consecutive months of on-time payments of at least the Current Payment Due, without exceeding your credit limit.





Default APR The Daily Periodic Rate for the variable Default APR is based on 1/365th of the Index plus 22.24% ("Spread"). For example, for billing cycles ending 5/17/07, the rate of FINANCE CHARGE would have been a Daily Periodic Rate of .08353% (corresponding 30.49% ANNUAL PERCENTAGE RATE). The minimum rate of FINANCE CHARGE is a Daily Periodic Rate of .08079% (corresponding 29.49% ANNUAL PERCENTAGE RATE).





Finance Charges





Finance Charges are the total of the greater of (a) Minimum Finance Charge, or (b) periodic Finance Charges, and any applicable (c) Cash Advance Fee Finance Charges, (d) Foreign Transaction Fee Finance Charge, (e) Credit Limit Increase Fee Finance Charge, (f) Closed Account Service Fee Finance Charges, and (g) Processing Fee Finance Charge.





(a) Minimum Finance Charge. A Finance Charge that is assessed in lieu of a lesser periodic Finance Charge in any billing cycle in which a periodic Finance Charge is payable. This fee is $1.00.


(b) Periodic Finance Charges. Periodic Finance Charges are computed by multiplying the Average Daily Balance for each category of transactions shown on your statement (e.g., purchases, balance transfers, cash advances) by the applicable Daily Periodic Rate and then multiplying the result by the number of days in the billing cycle. To calculate the Daily Balances, we take the beginning debit balance for each category of transactions each day, add any new transactions, any previous day's periodic Finance Charges, any assessed fees and charges, and subtract any payments and/or credits. If a debit transaction posts after the beginning of your billing cycle, but the transaction occurred prior to the beginning of your billing cycle, the applicable Daily Balance will be adjusted to include the transaction amount and any previous day's periodic Finance Charges for each day the transaction amount was outstanding prior to the beginning of the current billing cycle. Then, for each transaction category, we add the Daily Balances for the billing cycle together and divide the total by the number of days in the billing cycle. This is the Average Daily Balance for each transaction category. (1) Credit Card Purchases. Periodic Finance Charges begin to accrue on the date of the transaction and continue to accrue until payment in full is credited to your Account. However, there is a 25 day Grace Period on new credit card purchases. That means, if the New Balance shown on your last statement is paid in full by the Payment Due Date for that statement, periodic Finance Charges will not be imposed on new credit card purchases, provided the New Balance for the current billing cycle is paid in full by the Payment Due Date for that billing cycle. If, however, the New Balance is not paid in full by the Payment Due Date for the immediately preceding billing cycle, periodic Finance Charges will be incurred on new credit card purchases (i.e., purchases appearing for the first time in the current cycle) from the date of the transaction and on the previously billed but unpaid credit card purchases form the first day of the current cycle.


(2) Cash Advances (including balance transfer and credit card checks). Periodic Finance Charges begin to accrue on the date of the transaction and continue to accrue until payment in full is credited to your Account. There is no Grace Period on cash advances.


Periodic Finance Charges will be calculated using the Daily Periodic Rate in effect on the statement closing date.


(c) Cash Advance Fee Finance Charges. Cash advances include all advances to get cash over the counter, through an ATM, balance transfers (if available), credit card checks, or other "cash-like" transactions (such as purchasing a money order, traveler's check, casino or betting chip, or a lottery ticket) as determined by us. A Finance Charge will be computed on the amount of each cash advance as of the date of the transaction. The Cash Advance Fee FINANCE CHARGE for all cash advances is 5%, subject to a minimum FINANCE CHARGE of $5, unless otherwise disclosed.


(d) Foreign Transaction Fee Finance Charge. A Foreign Transaction Fee FINANCE CHARGE equal to 1% of the U.S. dollar amount is assessed on transactions made in a foreign currency, as of the transaction date.


(e) Credit Limit Increase Fee Finance Charge. If you request and are approved for a credit limit increase ("CLI"), a CLI Fee FINANCE CHARGE of up to 50% of the CLI may be assessed to your Account, depending on your creditworthiness.


(f) Closed Account Service Fee Finance Charge. A $3.50 per month FINANCE CHARGE is assessed to the Account for each billing cycle whenever that Account is closed with a debit balance.





The application of any Finance Charge other than a periodic Finance Charge may cause the APR on the billing statement on which this Finance Charge first appears to exceed the Nominal APR.





ACCOUNT FEES





Annual Fee/Periodic Membership Fee


Your Account is subject to a $35 Annual Fee for each year your Account is open or closed with a balance. If you close your Account within the first 90 days your Account is open, the Annual Fee is refundable so long as you have not used the Account.





Late Payment Fee


A Late Payment Fee is assessed for each billing cycle in which at least the Minimum Payment, and any amount past due, is not paid in time to be credited to the Account by the Payment Due Date. The Late Payment Fee will vary based on the amount of your outstanding balance on your Payment Due Date, or during the period up to 5 days after your Payment Due Date, as determined by us, and will be: $30 if your balance is more than $0 up to and including $1000; or $35 if your balance is greater than $1000.





Overlimit Fee


An Overlimit Fee is assessed if your Account balance exceeds the applicable credit limit at any time during a billing cycle. We may impose this fee even if we authorize or impose any charges that cause your balance to exceed the credit limit. This fee is $30.





Other Fees and Charges





Returned Payment Fee


A Returned Payment Fee is assessed to your Account each time a payment check, automatic payment deduction, or other payment method is not honored or is returned unsatisfied by the bank or other financial institution. Any payment returned unsatisfied for any reason may be reposted to any type of transaction (i.e. cash advance, purchases, etc.) and Finance Charges may be reinstated back to the payment date at the APR being charged for that transaction. This fee is $30.





Returned Check Fee


A Returned Check Fee is assessed to the Account each time a credit card check, balance transfer check (if available), electronic check or other Account access device is returned unsatisfied by us for any reason. This fee is $30.





Check by Phone


A Check by Phone Fee may be assessed to the Account each time a payment is made by telephone, even if the payment is made by someone other than you. The amount of this fee will be disclosed at the time such payment is requested.





Stop Payment Fee


A Stop Payment Fee is added to the cash advance balance when a payment of a credit card check is stopped at your request. Payment may be stopped on a credit card check by notifying us in writing or by calling us at the telephone number listed on the Account billing statement, so long as such check has not already been processed. A stop payment request must include the check number, payee, amount and date of the credit card check on which payment is to be stopped. If a stop payment is requested by telephone, the call must be confirmed in writing within 14 days. A written stop payment will remain in effect for six months unless renewed in writing. This fee is $29.





Send stop payment requests to P.O. Box 81622, Salinas, CA 93912-1622.





Research Fee


A $7 Research Fee is assessed to the Account for each sales slip copy, $3 for each statement copy, and $10 for each application copy upon request.





ADDITIONAL TERMS





Arbitration


The Cardmember Agreement and Disclosure Statement ("Agreement") that you will receive with your card, if you are approved for credit, provides that certain disputes are subject to binding arbitration. Arbitration replaces the right to go to court, including the right to a jury and the right to participate in a class action or similar proceeding. Please read the "Arbitration" section of the Agreement carefully.





YOUR BILLING RIGHTS


What To Do If There's An Error In Your Bill





YOUR BILLING RIGHTS - KEEP THIS NOTICE FOR FUTURE USE


This notice contains important information about your rights and our responsibilities under the Fair Credit Billing Act.





NOTIFY US IN CASE OF ERRORS OR QUESTIONS ABOUT YOUR BILL


If you think your bill is wrong, or if you need more information about a transaction on your bill, write to us (on a separate sheet) at the address listed on your billing statement. Write us as soon as possible. We must hear from you no later than 60 days after we sent you the first bill on which the error or problem appeared. You can telephone us, but doing so will not preserve your rights.





Please include the following information in your letter:





Your name, account number and signature;


The dollar amount of the suspected error; and


Describe the error and explain, if you can, why you believe there is an error.


If you need more information, describe the item you are not sure about. If you have authorized us to pay your Account bill automatically from your savings or checking account, you can stop the payment on any amount you think is wrong. To stop the payment, your letter must reach us three business days before the automatic payment is scheduled to occur.





YOUR RIGHTS AND OUR RESPONSIBILITIES AFTER WE RECEIVE YOUR WRITTEN NOTICE:


We must acknowledge your letter within 30 days, unless we have corrected the error by then. Within 90 days, we must either correct the error or explain why we believe the bill was correct.





After we receive your letter, we cannot try to collect any amount you question, or report you as delinquent. We can continue to bill you for the amount you question, including Finance Charges, and we can apply any unpaid amount against your Credit Limit. You do not have to pay any questioned amount while we are investigating, but you are still obligated to pay the parts of your bill that are not in question.





If we find that we made a mistake on your bill, you will not have to pay any Finance Charges related to any questioned amount. If we didn't make a mistake, you may have to pay Finance Charges, and you will have to make up any missed payments on the questioned amount. In either case, we will send you a statement of the amount you owe and the date it is due.





If you fail to pay the amount we think you owe, we may report you as delinquent. However, if our explanation does not satisfy you, and you write to us within ten days telling us you still refuse to pay, we must tell anyone we report you to that you have a question about your bill. And, we must tell you the name of anyone we reported you to. Upon settlement of the dispute, we must tell everyone we report you to that the matter has been settled.





If we don't follow these rules, we can't collect the first $50 of the questioned amount, even if your bill was correct.





SPECIAL RULES FOR CREDIT CARD PURCHASES


If you have a problem with the quality of property or services you purchased with a credit card, and you have tried in good faith to correct the problem with the merchant, you may have the right not to pay the remaining amount due on the property or services.





There are two limitations on this right: (a) You must have made the purchase in your home state or if not, within 100 miles of your current mailing address.


(b) The purchase price must have been more than $50.








These limitations do not apply if we own or operate the merchant, or if we mailed you the advertisement for the property or services. HSBC Card Services Inc. and/or HSBC Card Services (II) Inc. provide processing services for HSBC Bank Nevada, N.A. You may write to us at the address shown on your billing statement or HSBC Bank Nevada, N.A., 1111 Town Center Drive, Las Vegas, Nevada 89144.





Orchard Bank, Household MasterCard and HSBC credit cards are issued by HSBC Bank Nevada, N.A. in Las Vegas, Nevada and serviced by its affiliates HSBC Card Services Inc. and/or HSBC Card Services (II) Inc. Not available to those consumers residing outside the United States. Offer void for all existing Household Bank and Orchard Bank MasterCard Cardmembers.











Important Information








To receive, view, and save disclosures and Account Information electronically, you must have a personal computer equipped with Netscape 4.0, Microsoft Explorer 4.0 or AOL 5.0 or later, and either a printer, a hard drive, or other storage device. You must also have a valid email address.


As paperless communication options become available, our cardholders will be able to choose which communications to receive electronically, and which to receive via standard mail. We will notify you in advance of sending such electronic disclosures and Account Information.


You must notify us if your email address changes in order to continue receiving disclosures and Account Information electronically.


You may withdraw your consent to receive disclosures and Account Information electronically at any time. However, if you withdraw your consent, future disclosures and Account Information will be sent via U.S. mail.


You have the option to request any information that we have provided electronically in paper form.


To notify us of your new email address, withdraw your consent, or to request a disclosure or Account Information in paper form, please contact us by calling the phone number on the back of your credit card or write us at Bankcard Services, P.O. Box 80084, Salinas, CA 93912-0084.





Electronic Agreement:





I agree to receive disclosures and other Account Information electronically. I confirm that I have the software and computer equipment that satisfies the requirement above and that I will download or print the disclosures and other card related communications for my records. Additionally, by clicking the YES button, I acknowledge that I am providing my consent to receive electronic communications


Terms and ConditionsAnnual Percentage Rate (APR) for Purchases Variable Customary APR: 14.90%1 will apply.





Minimum Customary APR: 14.90%


Other APR's Variable Cash APR: 25.15%2 (Minimum Cash APR: 20.90%)


Variable Default APR: 30.49% (Minimum Default APR: 29.49%)


Variable Rate Information Your APRs may vary. The rates are determined

Is this credit card a good choice for me...?
Already. No. Things to look for when getting a card include: no annual fee, low FIXED APR. When I turned 18 I obviously didn't have credit either. So I ended up applying everywhere(which is bad for your credit) and eventually just applied to a credit card offer in the mail(When I was 19). It was a Chase card NO annual fee but the APR was a horrible 19.99% FIXED. I was approved for a $200 or $500 credit limit. Then I got a Cap 1 offer in the mail and thought well "Whats in my wallet?" lol so I was approved for that one at $500 for 19.99 FIXED. (The bad thing about Cap 1 is that they DO NOT report your credit limit, so your credit goes off the highest balance you had on the card.) The only reason I settled for those high rates was because I knew I needed to establish credit and eventually I could get the rates down. Then a year later I applied for a rewards card through my credit union and was approved for $500 at 7.9% FIXED!! So that was awesome. Then my boyfriend had to apply for a SONY card and since we like to see who has better credit I did too. Approved for $2000 at a whopping 14.99%(Not something any reasonable person would sign up for unless you are only using it to get the reward points and pay off the balance every month like we do.) Anyway, I am 21 now and the APR on my cards range from 7.9% Fixed to 9.99%Fixed. (Got Both CAP 1 and Chase to lower the APR) Oh and the credit limits are much higher. If you sign up for a crappy APR card just be sure to pay the balance off every month(just like you should with any card no matter the APR) Just be smart with your credit.
Reply:You can try applying for a poor credit credit card or a prepaid credit card, but have lousy aprs and high fees but if you have bad credit you don't have much of a choice.





Sources:


http://www.creditcardassociate...


http://www.creditcardassociate... Report Abuse

Reply:Ask yourself why you need others to make decisions for you. If you can't handle credit... or even finding a suitable credit card on your own, then don't do it.





What would be best for you is to simply pay as you go. Once you have restored your credit and built up some savings then consider getting a credit card.
Reply:Bad credit problem can be caused due to a number of situations. The credit card choices available to bad credit people allow them to rebuild their credit history. Financial products that help bad credit people are prepaid credit cards or debit cards, secured bad credit cards, unsecured bad credit cards.





Prepaid or debit cards:





These are the easiest option available for bad credit people. There are no verifications, no credit checks, no employment requirements, and the approval is instant. All they have to do is to deposit a money and a prepaid card is issued. This card has the borrowing or buying capacity equivalent to the funds deposited. The good thing with prepaid credit card is that it promotes financial discipline. Some prepaid card issuers report to various credit rating agencies, thus it helps in rebuilding your credit history. Apply online at: http://www.credit-card-gallery.com/PrePa...
Reply:i think you can do better. Go to creditcard.com they have a section on all the cards that specialize in bad credit. Read them over and choose what is best for you. If you can improve your credit in the mean time by paying down outstanding debts, or perhaps get on someone elses credit card as an authorized user it would make your life much easier. Avoid paying just the minimum on your outstanding cards.
Reply:It's horrible! ~


The best way to get a credit card, get on a second card of someone that has decent credit, then use it and pay it off every month. Soon you'll get offers for cards of your own. No annual charge, no deposit, none of the rest of that crap.


BUT you have to be responsible. And need to know someone who believes in you.
Reply:Wow, too long to read everything, but my husband got a secured Orchard card.





They are great way to establish credit. This card has boosted his credit to 635 from a 580 in about 6 months, needless to say he also pays his car payment on time. But he has several items in collection (when he allowed his sister to obtain 2 credit cards and 1 personal loan in his name, but she never paid them.) It was hard for his to get any kind of credit cards. So he put down $500.00 and that has been a very good card. It is a HSBC credit card, they are a pretty good bank!
Reply:NO NO NO! I had them when I was trying to rebuild my credit, bad idea.





If I knew then what I know now.....If you are trying to rebuild your credit, get a secured credit card from an actual bank.