OPENING A CREDIT LINE (What to expect)
Mga bisdak, PAHIBALO nalang daan sa mu ari ug Canada.
Importante jud diay ning mag establish ug credit line dayon... just now, nakadawat ko ug letter from GE Money Bank nga na denied ko ug credit card tungod kay "NO CREDIT FILE", meaning, akong record kay zero.... wala pa ko utang... dili sila mag hatag ug credit card kay wala koy utang. weird noh!??
Last night pud, na denied pud ko sa Dell Financial Services... duna sila 12-month 0% interest-free nga laptop/desktop nya ning order ko ug tag $1,400 nga XPS laptop (i7 and 8GB RAM man pud tawn...), but gi decline tungod pud kay wala pud daw ko file.
Wala pa pud ko ning apply ug ubang credit card tungod kay wa ko ika butang sa Employer section, tomorrow pa akong first day of work (excited nako! humana akong 3-months vacation!!!)
Having no utang in pinas is a good thing, but not a good thing diri sa Canada. You need to have "utang" in order to "operate well" diri sa Canada. I can just imagine kung mag kuha nami ug sakyanan or mortgage ug balay, basin ma denied mi... Yes, you can pay in cash, sure no problem, but that's not realistic these days (i.e. $300,000 ng townhouse for example, kinsa gud tawn maka cash ana?)...
Anyways, sa akong case, ako plano, nig Friday nako adto dayon ko sa HSBC to apply for a credit card. Usually 7-10 working days daw. Mas dako daw ug chances nga ma approve ingon ang taga HSBC kay "preferred customer man", duna man mi account sa ila, tapos kahibaw man sila nga newcomer mi. They usually contact the employer as well for background check then give you the credit.
Once duna nako credit card sa HSBC, basin mag loan ko (either cash pud sa HSBC, or go something like a computer/gadget) sa mga dagko nga stores. Even if you have the money daw to buy let's say a computer... pag open nalang daw ug credit sa store, then after a few days, bayar-i dayon. murag buang noh? basta lang daw para mu generate ug good CREDIT SCORE.
no worries for annual fees pud, most credit cards here have no annual fees. they even have cash-back and travel reward (nya mas klaro ning ilang rewards diri, dili parehas sa metro gaisano nga miski 3 years naka sige ug shopping ug tag 3,000-4,000 a month for groceries, imong makuha kay thermos ra!)
I've also applied sa "CapitalOne Secured Mastercard for Newcomers" (google-la ninyo), na approve ko but kailangan ni ug "security deposit" nga i hatag nimo nila $300, then they will give you credit card nga duna credit limit nga $300 pud... in case na imong tablahon, TY pud imong 300, but if mag sige ka ug palit, then bayad dayon nya zero permi imong interest and overdue, then GOOD credit daw na... in a months time maka apply ka ug uban pang creditcard/loan/mortgage pud... kung well established na imong credit score, pwede pud nimong i close ang capitalone nya i-uli nila ang imong security funds... but good luck to that.
alegre pa jud kaayo kay nananwag ko sa customer support sa CapitalOne, bisdak ang naka tubag! murag taga sykes or people support siguro toh. nag yawyaw to sya ug binisaya kay nag lisod ug dokdok sa computer, not knowing nga bisdak pud ko, nag english-english but pag human namo ug istorya kay ingon ko "salamat bai ha", dayon butang linya, na shock siguro to sya! hhehehehe
Anyways, akong strategy karon is to go first with the HSBC credit card then to apply for personal loan nga upto 5000 daw... OTHERWISE mu settle nalang ko sa Capital One then start from there.
Dili pud daw maayo nga mag sige apply apply online or in-store pataka taka lang kay mu lista pud daw na sa imong credit report.
Ang mga stores/credit card institutions mu gamit daw sila ug CREDIT SCORE...
check this page para sample sa isa ka credit report
https://www.econsumer.equifax.ca/ca/main?forward=/view/common/template.jsp&body=/view/product_info/sp_detail.jsp (i-click ang "click to enlarge" para tan-aw mo ug screenshot)
then read this page pud...
http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/oca-bc.nsf/eng/ca02178.html
http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/oca-bc.nsf/eng/ca02179.html
note nga im not endorsing HSBC here, (my wife works for another bank here in Alberta, hehehe), but sample ra ni kay mao ni among depository bank. duna pa daghan diri, notable are
CIBC
Scotiabank
TD
etc...
Hinaot ko nga naka share ko sa akong "almost screwed up" experience, di sa ko mag pataka ug apply unless duna nako isa ka credit card.
so if you ask me, "unsa-on man nimo pag sugod ug credit?", my response will be is to get a credit card from your own bank (where you have your deposits) or do the CapitalOne thing...
I've also research nga pwede pud daw nga diha pa sa pinas mag pa print ka ug credit report. but wa ko mag padayon ug research ani kay dili nako ni option
. hehehe di ko ka-imagine kung unsa ka taas ning bad report. hehehe yabag man ko oi.
Enjoy!