Has anyone out there got a Capital One card and is it any good? I am thinking of getting one.?

I had one a few years ago when, it was a basic one and the interest rate was extortionate! Beware - make sure you find out about any hidden charges/fees.

Check out The Money Saving Expert site to make sure you are getting the best credit card for your situation. The site is awesome and full of loads of useful tips.

Personally I had a BAD experience with them - but again; that was with just one of their products - The Base level credit card.

I had one, and had no problems with it. The only reason that I got rid of it was because I had TOO many cards and had to thin out. I would get one from them again.

My boyfriend has one and insists it's rubbish.

DO NOT DO IT!
My son got one and never used it but with all the charges they have put on the account even tho he told them to cancel it makes it he now according to them owes over $3,000.00!

I don't use Caital One because they don't report your credit limit to the 3 credit bureaus, EVEN IF YOU ASK. This can lower your score unless you max out your card once, pay it off, and then use 20% or so of your available credit. (MSN had an article on Capital One hurting people's credit scores... http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Banking/YourCreditRating/WeirdStuffThatHurtsYourCredit.aspx ) I'd suggest getting a secured credit card if you have poor (or no) credit history. I use a MasterCard from my bank/credit union and it's a wonderful tool.

I'd suggest getting a card from your local bank or credit union. (Try to see if you can join a credit union... they tend to have much better customer service and don't rob you blind in fees. Check out www.cuna.org to see if you qualify for one in your area... or, if you have a sibling, parent, spouse, etc. in the military, check out USAA. They have the best car insurance in the nation. I have some friends in the military and they LOVE it.)

In addition to them not reporting credit limits, there is also the fact that they do not do consumer-requested credit line increases. They are my lowest CL by far and will not increase even as my other cards increase automatically.

If you have a good credit score, just go to your Bank for a Visa card. They should offer the very lowest rate. Then pay it every month so you DO NOT pay any interest.

NEVER CHARGE MORE THAN YOU CAN PAY OFF IN ONE MONTH. By not paying it off EVERY MONTH the balance climbs, the payment climbs, you can get further and further behind.

Sometimes they add charges to an unused card. SO BE CAREFUL.

Only allow yourself ONE credit card for emergencies, like car repairs or a medical emergency. This way you should stay out of debt.

Learn about your credit score and how URGENT it is to keep it at near 800 as possible.

From what I gather (from my Dad complaining about the ones he has all the time), they're one of the better of a bad bunch to deal with (the worst being Barclaycard).

However, instead of diving into getting any old Creditcard, I suggest having a check on this site to compare what's available:
http://www.fool.co.uk/credit-cards/credit-cards-comparison.aspx

They also have many good articles on credit cards:
http://www.fool.co.uk/news/archive.aspx?id=466&year=2007
(Including updates on all the latest marketing con tricks & other rip offs by the credit card companies - essential reading)

And one on what to do if you get a little bit carried away using it (the best article online about getting out of debt, in fact): http://www.fool.co.uk/school/2006/sch060104.htm

Only if you can clear the a/c every month. They might advertise a low interest rate but I don't know anyone who benefits from this. There are some tough charges in the event of overspending or late payment.

Don't get one. I had one years ago and it started with a good interest rate , but then it started going up without them notifying me. In the end the rate was extortionate.

I only use it when I absolutly have to. They have a lot of hidden charges.

I HAD one and will not make that mistake again. Capital One was the worst business I have ever done business with.

Please re-consider getting anything that has to do with them. Their customer service sucks and they made many errors on my credit card statements such as charging me TWICE for an item.

Please please please find a different card. Hit up U.S. Bank or a Visa from your local bank. I have Harley Davidson Visa and have had no problems at all.

Good Luck !!

: )

There's PROS and CONS to every credit card / credit card company. Personally, I've heard nothing but negative things about Capital One. Not only that, but their offers aren't nearly as competitive as offers from Chase or Citi. You might want to compare some different options before you apply. There's a great list of cards here:

http://www.asapcreditcard.com/0-apr.html

Hope this helps! Good luck!

Avoid Capital One, especially if you're trying to improve your credit score.

Capital One has one major problem that no one has mentioned yet: it DOES report to the 3 major Credit Reporting Agencies, BUT it does NOT report your credit limit to the 3 CRAs.

[Later editing: Sarah K has reported the same issue while I was still typing, so I've given her a thumb up.]

This lack of reported credit limit leaves the CRAs to use your High Balance that has ever appeared on your account, instead of a credit limit, to calculate your credit utilization.

Credit utilization percentage, which is 30% of your FICO credit score, normally concerns how much of your credit limit you are carrying as a balance. If you have a limit of $2,000 and a balance of $800, you have a utilization percentage of 40%, which equals 100 x ($800/$2000). But Capital One doesn't report your credit limit (for proprietary reasons like competitive advantage), so the CRA must use your High Balance, which appears on the Capital One trade line on your Credit Report.

And don't forget that you really do have a credit limit with Capital One, and if you exceed it, you'll get charged an over-limit fee. They just don't REPORT your limit.

With Capital One, in order not to hurt your FICO credit score, your balance should not exceed 30% of your high balance.

Suppose in a month you charge as much, $603, as you've ever charged in a month. Your balance and your high balance are both $603, so your utilization is calculated as 100% (i.e., completely maxed out!), which is equal to 100 x ($603/$603). A maxed out looking line of credit can lower your FICO credit score.

If your other credit cards have the dreaded Universal Default clause, a drop in your FICO credit score caused by the Cap One card can trip the other CC companies' Universal Default clause even though you pay the others ontime, every time. Once tripped, your interest rates at these other creditors will soar to the Default Rate. So read your Terms and Conditions (i.e., the fine print) of your other CC cards before even thinking of a Cap One card. Even if none of your other CCs has a Universal Default, the Cap One maxed out calculation can lower your FICO credit score all by itself: it's over 30% all by itself.

How to get out of the trap: one month you have to charge a balance to the Cap One cc that is 333% of the highest balance you've ever charged. And this huge charge must be under your Cap One credit limit. And you have to be able to pay off this huge balance to avoid finance charges.

For example: your Cap One highest balance, given your normal behavior, has been $603. You'll need to charge $2,010, which is 333% of $603. (I hope you charge necessities, not useless junk.) If your credit limit is less than $2010, you'll get an over limit fee. But suppose your limit is more than $2,010. By breaking the record of your old high balance, the CRAs use your new high balance, $2,010, in the calculation. And for the month, you're still maxed out at 100%: 100 x ($2010/$2010) = 100%. Now you must pay down at least $1,408 plus your expected finance charges to get your balance down to the safe 30% level of your high balance. And no more purchases until you pay off even more: you still have to make room for new purchases so that your total balance after new purchases will be less than 30% of your high balance, else your FICO score will suffer.

To win the game: On your Cap One cc, only if you pay down that entire $2,010, and stay within your normal purchase and payment behavior of never carrying more than a $603 balance in any one month, will your FICO creedit scores be safe from damage due to too much credit utilization.

Please vote: Did this help?

what's all this about hidden charges. I've been with capital one for 3yrs and never once had a problem with them. i'd recommend then if you'd like to build your credit score inorder to help you get a better card. i wont lie they are not the best if you've got a terrible score and as far as i know the interest is a relatively high 32% apr which works out to be about 2.5% a month i think. having a card from them helped me get a platimun card from another provider within two years and every year since opening both accounts my limits have increased. i'm not saying peopl cant have bad experiences but i've never known of any hidden charges. i read the small print don't know about anyone else. and i'm fully aware of the charges because they inform me (by letter). if you've got a good credit score, then there platinum card does a long interest free period on balance transfers and offers a good to ok rate, depending on your score. what important is you must pay by the date due all the time and if you can pay more. whts more is the money isnt actually yours you must pay it back, so spend wisely

I got one but I couldn't get it housetrained and it kept biting me. I would recommend getting a visa instead, they're far tamer. And don't even get me started about a discover!

Well, at least they have cool commercials.

I've got one. they are good. go for it, if you decide you don't like it you can always cut it up and put it in the bin

DON"T DO IT. My interest with them was 13% and then I got a letter saying that because of the bad economy they were raising my interest rate to 19%. Not because I didn't make a payment just because of the economy. I have cut up that bloody card and have told all my friends and family members to stay away from them. We should really have a global cut up the Capital One cards to send a strong message. They have the right to raise their interest rates but we as consumers have the right to say UP YOURS!

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