Best bank for Secured to Unsecured card conversion for a Defaulter [Conditions Apply]

[arpipop]

Long story short, had a 20k limit cc from hdfc in '18 that became delinquent (tagged as "willfully defaulted/suit filed") from 3rd month itself to now 40k+ total due to charges, settled it 2 months ago for 20k only (Settled, not closed)... CIBIL shows all the months in red since 2018 to now ofc! Score had gotten to 600 something but post settlement updation in Cibil it's not at 708, Experian and Equifax between 5 to 600 and CRIF at ~450.

Have applied with each bank and gotten rejected obviously so now need a secured card to boost the chances and score more. Confusions:
1. Don't care of reward/cb ratio (why in point 2)
2. Just opened a 1L mab Classic banking savings Max HDFC account (for main usages to possibly get pre-approved offers) and got millennia DC LTF with it so will use that for cb as of now.
Issue: They gave offer for Biz grow (within a week of opening this account) basis my self employment 10L income but just received decline email saying "we issued a credit card earlier to you and the said credit card account is currently suspended due to service/repayment/dormancy related reasons"
3. Can max to max spare 1.25L of FD but don't want as i 'hope' to keep some of it in spare cash (have a lil more extra but still).
4. Got to know from this community that axis HDFC ICICI and SBI could be best fit for the conversion strategy (if not direct conversion at least getting a new unsecured behalf of old one in recent future). Though I'm open to consider Indus, RBL & Yes.

After going through 25+ related posts I had to post this as I need suggestions for the following:

Even tho rewards don't matter, it doesn't have to necessarily be crappy so if u have 2 in mind or more, suggest the best one based on the fact that WHO WILL GIVE ME UNSECURED CC (LINKED OR UNLIKED) IN THE FUTURE WITH HIGHEST PROBABILITY - GIVEN MY PAST CREDIT HISTORY AND NOW CONSISTENT GREAT USAGE OF 30% WITH PREMIUM /FREQUENT ACCOUNT USAGE?
ALSO OPEN TO CONSIDER OPENING 2 IN 50-50 OR 70-30 SPLIT IF THAT IMPROVES MY CHANCES. I WOULD LOVE TO HAVE FK/AIRTEL or SBI CB or HDFC Millennia or APAY icici as unsecured in future. And remember the lower the FD I'd love that but if above requirements need the full money I'm happy to put that too! TIA for the long read and any support... 🙏😇

 

[Anindya98]

Even tho rewards don't matter, it doesn't have to necessarily be crappy so if u have 2 in mind or more, suggest the best one based on the fact that WHO WILL GIVE ME UNSECURED CC (LINKED OR UNLIKED) IN THE FUTURE WITH HIGHEST PROBABILITY - GIVEN MY PAST CREDIT HISTORY AND NOW CONSISTENT GREAT USAGE OF 30% WITH PREMIUM /FREQUENT ACCOUNT USAGE?
ALSO OPEN TO CONSIDER OPENING 2 IN 50-50 OR 70-30 SPLIT IF THAT IMPROVES MY CHANCES. I WOULD LOVE TO HAVE FK/AIRTEL or SBI CB or HDFC Millennia or APAY icici as unsecured in future. And remember the lower the FD I'd love that but if above requirements need the full money I'm happy to put that too! TIA for the long read and any support... 🙏😇

Get a secured card from HDFC with 1L+ FD. As you have Classic Banking with them it will be easier to get unsecured cards. After getting the Secured card limit your usage to under 10% for the first 6 months and boost your score slowly. In between don't apply any new card for unnecessary cibit hit. You have to wait at least a year to get your desired cards.
SBI CB will be the hardest card for you to get based on your track record. Other cards are possible with time and patience.

@arpipop remove the poll most of them will not read the thread

 

[arpipop]

Get a secured card from HDFC with 1L+ FD. As you have Classic Banking with them it will be easier to get unsecured cards. After getting the Secured card limit your usage to under 10% for the first 6 months and boost your score slowly. In between don't apply any new card for unnecessary cibit hit. You have to wait at least a year to get your desired cards.
SBI CB will be the hardest card for you to get based on your track record. Other cards are possible with time and patience.

@arpipop remove the poll most of them will not read the thread

Are you sure not axis or ICICI, given that HDFC has rejected my unsecured card application just today with the old card being delinquent in past as the reason? only asking cz idk about anyone having similar stories here... Do they even give CCs to people having willfully defaulted in the past with their own cards (n not with other banks)?

Also, I thought given the lost post poll could be easier for ppl sorry I'm a noob here 😅 how do I remove it now 🤔

 

[Anindya98]

Are you sure not axis or ICICI, given that HDFC has rejected my unsecured card application just today with the old card being delinquent in past as the reason? only asking cz idk about anyone having similar stories here... Do they even give CCs to people having willfully defaulted in the past with their own cards (n not with other banks)?

In case of ICICI then you have to open a premium account for faster processing or get a 10K/25K MAB account open a FD of 1L and you will get the Platinum Chip card.

Also, I thought given the lost post poll could be easier for ppl sorry I'm a noob here 😅 how do I remove it now 🤔

Mod @BVC @vaibhav111 can help you regarding these

 

[arpipop]

In case of ICICI then you have to open a premium account for faster processing or get a 10K/25K MAB account open a FD of 1L and you will get the Platinum Chip card.

Mod @BVC @vaibhav111 can help you regarding these

So... definitely not HDFC as of now - told my story to the personal banker assigned to my Classic account and she spoke to the CC guy in head branch of our city. Guy said it's like 0.5% chance for me to get a card (I may get pre-approved offers by just doing txns on the account too, no need of the FD) but not sure of the application getting approved since he doesn't know anyone with that sorta luck YET. Also, the FD CC isn't really a chance improver as there's a delinquent card alr.

2 questions...
If I still get the hdfc millennia with 1L limit on fd, can I get apay or axis unsec card easier in 6-9 months? Bcz when applied unsecured cc with axis few weeks back for fiancee, the doc/kyc collection team said if no salary slip, need cc statement and i asked if secured CC would work and she said only if it's above 1L limit. HDFC i won't care then. So yeah, should I still opt for hdfc cc for now with millennia given the better rewards than ICICI platinum? Based on what the lady said, they'll accept secure card statement for axis if it's 1l above - who'd axis prefer for c2c more HDFC OR ICICI?

OR should I get the ICICI one (i can't get a premium account with them cz alr have a salary account from 8 yrs ago that's somehow a forever 0 mab acc and I don't want to f that as it's my main account for nps ulip etc). So given that I'll just keep this normal ICICI account with plat. card 1L, would I get apay easily? Is the risk worth losing cb in the meantime? i can only get one so hdfc or icici?

Thanks in advance for any assistance you can give. I want to do one asap but so confused due to my history and scared if this 'putting all my eggs in one basket' might go to waste! Ik it's never a 100% approval surity but I'm hoping for the best chance I could get at improving my future...

 

[Anindya98]

If I still get the hdfc millennia with 1L limit on fd, can I get apay or axis unsec card easier in 6-9 months? Bcz when applied unsecured cc with axis few weeks back for fiancee, the doc/kyc collection team said if no salary slip, need cc statement and i asked if secured CC would work and she said only if it's above 1L limit. HDFC i won't care then. So yeah, should I still opt for hdfc cc for now with millennia given the better rewards than ICICI platinum? Based on what the lady said, they'll accept secure card statement for axis if it's 1l above - who'd axis prefer for c2c more HDFC OR ICICI?

HDFC Millenia will be more rewarding and for C2C the existing card must be 1Yr old.

OR should I get the ICICI one (i can't get a premium account with them cz alr have a salary account from 8 yrs ago that's somehow a forever 0 mab acc and I don't want to f that as it's my main account for nps ulip etc). So given that I'll just keep this normal ICICI account with plat. card 1L, would I get apay easily? Is the risk worth losing cb in the meantime? i can only get one so hdfc or icici?

If you have a Salary Account in ICICI ask them for a Coral Visa LTF or Paid, and you can easily get an Apay card afterward. Else get the Platinum Card Secure or Unsecured after that get the Apay shared with the FD Limit.

 

[arpipop]

C2C the existing card must be 1Yr old.

I didn't know that, thanks! I guess given the situation my best bet is c2c only. I'll anyways have to wait a year to apply cz all the recent Reds in each calendar month of Cibil won't help while applying anytime soon either.

If you have a Salary Account in ICICI ask them for a Coral Visa LTF or Paid, and you can easily get an Apay card afterward. Else get the Platinum Card Secure or Unsecured after that get the Apay shared with the FD Limit.

It used to get salary like 8 years back, currently out only holds 3 to 5k each month for auto pay of insurances and stuff and then bill rest of the month. Best i can do is to probably increase a few transactions a month but that's it for this amount to me since I have better accounts and all.


So would you conclude getting secured 1)millennia for APay/FK/Ace in the future via c2c or should I stick to 2)platinum ICICI for easier APay approval (possible shared limit) @Anindya98 ?
My first choice would be APay so...