I looked to this savings account credit card because I was an irresponsible young adult and ruined my credit from the get-go. My husband had quite a good relationship with this company so I gave them a go. I didn't read the fine print enough to realize that there was a $35 annual fee and only came to the knowledge after 4 years of membership (Obviously my mistake for not doing my due diligence). It was upsetting that it costs me $35 a year to help pay their company bills when they already had $200 of my money to let me use their company to build credit. I feel used and taken advantage of. The biggest push of my emotions came because I was preapproved for an actual credit card for 10x the amount of the credit limit I was given by Orchard. How can a company I have no standing with offer me such a large amount of money when the company that's had my business for 4 years with no issues/late payments/account discrepencies hasn't even tried or offered to bump my credit limit? And then, while I'm closing my account, I instruct the Orchard account specialist to rectify my account balance and send me the remaining money so that I would no longer need to hassle with this card. But, in true "I'm not paying attention and don't give a crud enough to make this easy on you" attitude, I receive a check for the entire amount of my original deposit when setting up my account. Now I have to take extra steps and trips to my bank and Orchards website to rectify my account so they don't urinate all over the credit score I turned to them to help me with! I am furious beyond communication!!!!!!!!!!

Received card when credit score was low. With payments made on time, credit increased from $300 to $1,300 dollars. Want to increase credit, however, do not know the criteria used to increase the credit limit.
Called to have interest rate decreased, and was given the run around. I will try one more time and if not successful will try to open another account with another credit card company.

I supposed "Orchard Bank" is better than most of the greasy, barrel-skimming lot of card issuers. Some have the cojones to levy a suite of new cardholder fees that add up to $200 *and* tack on an insane 29.99% interest rate. If you are meticulous and cautious -- something that would've prevented you from being a potential "Orchard Bank" customer in the first place -- they are possibly worth a look. We've had our OB MasterCard for nearly two years now and they have increased our credit line from $300 to $900 in that time (without request), but we're unusual in that we run up our limit to the maximum every month and pay it in full every month as well -- intentionally to establish a good record and gain access to more frequent CLI's. We eat their $30 fee almost every month, but that is partially our fault. We went over by $8 last month and got hit with $60 in fees, which we hate but it's as much our fault as it is theirs. You'd think that the record we've established would incur a little clemency, but OB will have none of that "good business" stuff.

In closing, I would recommend what others have. Save $1,000 in cash, deposit it with Bank of America or another widely-known secured card issuer and get your "real" credit card that way. This would also establish you as having "rounded the corner" when it comes to your ability to control yourself. It was likely your wreckless disregard for debt that got you into this mess in the first place. Good credit doesn't come by doing the same thing and hoping for a different result. You have to change your LIFESTYLE behavior, or you'll be doomed to suck from the teet of creditors desperate enough to issue you a credit card with a $300 limit.

I got this card with a $300 limit to help me rebuild my credit, which I thoroughly destroyed during college. I was finally in a position to pay my past debts and knew I needed to get credit of some sort to start a new record of responsibility. This card did just that for me. I had no issues with paying my bill, and I was very careful not to use very much of my credit line to show that I was responsible with credit. After having the card for approximately 7 months I was able to get a credit card through my bank with a $1500 credit limit and a Capital One card with a $3500 credit limit. Both of these had no fee, so when my anniversary date started to roll around I called to ask if HSBC would remove the annual fee or close the account? They were nice enough about it, and said there was nothing they could do, but they could close the account. I agreed. Five minutes after hanging up I got a call from and Orchard Bank rep that I was preapproved for their super extra-duper platinum no fee card. I declined.

A couple of weeks later I get an email that my bill is ready to be viewed online. I was confused as I had just closed the account and it had a zero balance, so I checked it out and they had left the account open and charged me the $79 annual fee. I called again and they said they had no record of me calling before to close the account. After a LOT of negotiating, the customer service rep agreed to close the account and said that I wouldn't be responsible for the annual fee. But then, a couple of weeks later I get another email that my payment was due soon and that I should go online and pay it. I called them again and they gave me a lot of hassle about the account not being closed before the anniversary date, and that I would have to pay the fee. There was a LOT more negotiating, and in the end I didn't have to pay the fee, and there was no negative reporting to my credit reports - which is what most worried me. So, while the card was helpful and I probably couldn't have accomplished as much as I did without it, I found it to be stressful to deal with their customer service reps.

AND, I can say, don't expect them to give you a large credit limit, or to increase your credit limit, or to be understanding to you in any way. I firmly believe that they are counting on you to continue your bad practices with credit to their benefit. You probably shouldn't apply for this card unless you're serious about changing the way you deal with credit.

The Orchard Bank credit card is a no-frills way of getting back in the credit game without burying yourself. I don't love it, but I didn't hate it either. I had this card for close to 4 years, and I STILL had the initial $300 credit limit, simply because I was late ONCE... 2 years ago (and it was just 3 days). Since then I have used the card only for very small purchases. On the website is a link to request an increase, but it's useless. Hit it and you get a message that says call customer service. When you call customer service they advise you there is a fee (it used to be $25), and there is no guarantee how much you'll get. It could be as little as $50.

Although some are complaining about the website, it has improved greatly since it was first put up. In fact, it has one of the faster payment links around. Once you set-up your payment account info, you give it a couple of clicks and confirm the amount you want to pay, and off it goes. The whole process is less than 3 minutes once you get it set-up and have used it a couple of times.

This card is definitely a good way to get back on the map credit wise at a competitive interest rate (compared to the other guys offering rebuilding services). However, don't expect anything from HSBC/Orchard. When I told them I was cancelling because I was tired of paying a high interest rate and not being rewarded with an increase for my long term loyalty and being a good customer, they did nothing to keep me. I even went so far as to ask THEM if they could offer me an increase without a fee or a lower interest rate, and they kindly apologized and said no.

I guess you can say that they are doing their job, as they do help people get back on track. Although, it's a small credit line to begin with, it's better than nothing when you are trying to get started again. Best of all and important to remember... there is no deposit required. This has a heavy bearing, I'm sure, on why they do things the way they do, and to protect their financial interests.