After few months of being in the US as new immigrants, we decided to take the bull by the horns and finally get ourselves credit cards, to get a credit score and start improving it.
My readers already know how I feel about debt, so we don’t really need to take any loans right now. Yet, even renting is an issue, if you have no credit score, hence our sudden interest in credit cards.
I didn’t qualify for an unsecured credit card, as my income online is still so-so and I don’t have a paycheck every month, so the next step was to look for a secured credit card that I’d fund with my own money and start increasing the credit score.
From all possible banks, I finally settled with Capital One and visited a branch to sign up. Since the entire process took 3 weeks to finish and I was new to all this, I had no idea how to activate Capital One credit cards and start my credit score improvement.
Getting Approved for the Capital One Credit Card
It was a straightforward process: I went to a branch, submitted the paperwork, presented my SSN and then was told to wait for a response. In under 2 weeks I got a response and had to fund my secured credit card.
I paid $500, although it is possible to fund it with less money. But I wanted to start from a decent credit limit and build upwards from that.
After 2 more weeks I received the credit card itself and was ready to start using it.
Activate Capital One Credit Card
For few days it appeared to be easier said than done. I tried to activate online and failed, as the page didn’t load correctly. Not interested in spending minutes talking with the support, I decided to also try the app.
Weird enough, it worked like a charm. I just installed the app on my phone, submit all my details and then my card was active.
Of course, I did pay a visit to Trader Joe’s to make sure it works, carrying some cash as well, in the case it wasn’t yet active.
On the Capital One website, there is more info’ about how to activate the credit card:
How to activate your new card
To activate your new card, you have to be enrolled in online banking. Have your card handy, too. You’ll need to enter the 3-digit security code on the back to activate it.
If you already have a Capital One credit card
You’ll need to link your new credit card account to your existing one. Just follow the directions under Consolidate Your Accounts.
Once you’ve linked your credit card accounts, you can activate your new card.
Find out more about the process.
3 Ways to Activate Your Capital One Credit Card
- Log into to your Capital One online account (as mentioned before, you need to enroll first). If you already have the account, just log in.
- With the Capital One mobile app for iOS or Android. Even if I don’t use online banking on my phone (I have a 5 year old), the app does work wonders. You can use just to activate and then, if you are like me, stay with the website option and disable the app afterwards.
- Call: 1-800-227-4825
This should help you activate Capita One credit cards. Which method do you like better?
