BiggerPockets

Yes and no.

1. Credit scores are a number used to predict how you will handle credit given past behavior. Certain events will drag down or push up a credit score. Many of the negative ones will stick for a while so they are not easy to counteract once they are on the report.

2. If you open secured accounts I am assuming you mean a situation where you deposit cash and then get a loan secured by the cash (or a credit card). The value is limited if the bank does not report. The value is limited if there are no regular payments. A series of payments over a number of months says more than a 1 off payment wiping out the loan.

3. Your credit might be great. More activity might not help and it can reduce your credit score for a period. Your credit might be crap and the key factors might be events that are still going to keep your score low.

4. If you lack trade lines (number of open accounts and hopefully ones in good standing) then having a few more accounts will work. Figure that you need 5 accounts. Best is to have 5 that are 3 years old or older.

5. Bad is to have accounts recently closed. A term loan that has come to the end of its term is OK. If a lot of accounts are closed all at once (somewhat like you are proposing) then it will look like the lenders pulled your credit because they know something bad about your ability to pay.

Bottom line.

You can actively work your credit to make it better. If there are negatives focus on having them legally removed. If you just lack credit borrowing to establish credit comes at a cost but it will pay dividends.

John Corey

Here are a couple of options. You said that you were going to 2 banks and opening secured accounts so you must have some cash at your disposal. Here are a few suggestions...
***Tip alert***Let's say that you have $2000 at your disposal and you have either online access or there is a Bank of American and a CB&T banks in your town. First, follow this post tactic... go to Commercail Bank and Trust (CB&T) in your town. Deposit $1500 in a savings account. Now use the $1500 to purchase 3 $500 CDs, that's a certificate of deposit, not the new Danity Kane CD. You have to do multiples, and the only way this would show negative on your credit reports would be if you pulled out/sold the CDs before they matured. Don't even think about it, let them sit. Get the best rate that suites you, I recommend a 6-12 months rate. Now with your 3 CDs, go to the loan officer and get a loan in the amount of $1400. The minimum loan amount is $1000 with CB&T. With the loan money, DO NOT SPEND IT, deposit it back into the original account. Set up your auto debit for your loan on this account. In 60 days, you will get positive remarks all around on your credit. You would now have...
1 open savings account, 3 CDs that will mature in 6-12 months with interest (if you you get the 6 month rate, you will get a check around the 7th month, after the CDs have matured, deposit this into the same account to take care of a payment). 1 good standing loan account, and 4 accounts that will report to your credit report in a positive way from 1 bank. Repeat the CD process for as long as you would like. As they mature, try different banks, just be advised that $500 is the cheapest, most start at $1000.
Now go to Bank of America. They offer a secured credit card for as little as $300. Go to the bank and open another savings account for $500. Now use the money just deposited to get the Bank of America secured credit card. The card reports as unsecured, not secured. As soon as the card is obtained, take out $166 from the card. That is 1/3 of the available credit. Deposit the money that you have taken out and Immediately set up auto-debit payments of $50 for 3 months, regardless of how much you are charging on the credit card during these 3 months.
Now you have a total of
2 open savings account, 1 credit card reporting as unsecured, and 3 CDs
Legally and Technically, I cant quote how many points this will give you, but those people that I have that have tried this method gain a minimum of 100 points in 90 days on the scores, that's if your paying all of your other bills on time and nothing else negative pops up.