Update: We’re republishing this as a lot more people are reporting their secured card unsecuring.
In case you didn’t know, Discover offers a secured card called the Discover it secured card. This is probably the best secured card on the market for a few reasons:
- No annual fee
- Has a good rewards program (1% cash back on all purchases and 5% cash back in rotating categories)
- Free FICO Score
One thing we weren’t sure about was whether this card would unsecure to the regular Discover it card, or if cardholders would need to do a separate application. This is important because if a secured card does not graduate then cardholders would need to cancel the card to get their security deposit back (harming their average age of accounts in the long run and causing another hard credit pull). User oilcan12 from the myFICO forums recently had their secured card graduate to the regular Discover it card. Here are the key details:
- Credit limit remained the same
- Discover did a soft pull on their TransUnion credit report one day before their one year card anniversary
- Account age and history stayed the same
[Read:Â Increase Your Chances Of Receiving The Discover it Secured Card]
It’ll be interesting to see if all cards (with no negative history) graduate, or only select card holders. All in all this is another big positive for Discover’s secured product. Unfortunately it’s not possible to apply for this card directly, you have to apply for the regular Discover it card and if you’re denied you might be offered the secured card. Hopefully Discover plans to allow consumers to apply for this card directly in the future, as this should provide increased competition in the sub-prime credit card market.
Update: Another reader has reported being unsecured, their experiences followed by the letter they received below:
Discover secured card, returned deposit automatically (no request) 20 days before anniversary. I called to request on 25th Phone Rep said there was not even any indication this used to be a secured card. So I checked my mail and here it is.
You can read more about secured credit cards here, or view our best secured cards here.
