19 y/o college student needs help deciding what to do next

[Ewing3]

I am a 19 y/o student, and the only things on my credit report are a car loan with my dad (started at 27K, currently at 15K) and a chase freedom in my name alone. I have had the car loan since February 2013 & the Freedom since October 2013. I have perfect payment history on both, and keep my utilization below 10% on the cc, currently around 6%. Credit Karma & Credit Sesame both have my score at 698.

My annual income is about $12K. Chase has recently raised my limit from $500 to $1000, but it hasn't reported yet because my statement closes in a couple weeks. My next step is that I wanted to pick up a second credit card. I wanted to get an Amex, preferably the new everyday card or one of the blue cards, but idk if I'd actually get approved. The other option I was considering was applying for the Discover IT for students card, and then applying for an amex in December so that I can have a 2014 MSD. Also, CK claims I have 10 hard inquiries but my experian only shows 3 & they're all older than 6 months.

What should I do & is there something I should be doing that I haven't considered?

EDIT: Checked my experian score, it's a 720.

[AeroKrix]

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@Ewing3 wrote:

I am a 19 y/o student, and the only things on my credit report are a car loan with my dad (started at 27K, currently at 15K) and a chase freedom in my name alone. I have had the car loan since February 2013 & the Freedom since October 2013. I have perfect payment history on both, and keep my utilization below 10% on the cc, currently around 6%. Credit Karma & Credit Sesame both have my score at 698.

My annual income is about $12K. Chase has recently raised my limit from $500 to $1000, but it hasn't reported yet because my statement closes in a couple weeks. My next step is that I wanted to pick up a second credit card. I wanted to get an Amex, preferably the new everyday card or one of the blue cards, but idk if I'd actually get approved. The other option I was considering was applying for the Discover IT for students card, and then applying for an amex in December so that I can have a 2014 MSD. Also, CK claims I have 10 hard inquiries but my experian only shows 3 & they're all older than 6 months.

What should I do & is there something I should be doing that I haven't considered?

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It looks like you are doing everything right to keep your credit score healthy. But, through no fault of your own, prime lender need to see stable revolving payment history. This means they need to see more credit cards with a strong payment history. Otherwise, a main reason for decline is "insufficient revolving credit history." Although you are just starting out, do a little research on student credit cards. Don't take credit scores as the main determining factor on whether or not to apply for a card, since there are many factors involved in calculating that score. Really look into how successful people were with limited revolving trade lines when applying for a card of your choice.

one recommendation is going through a CU. They are relatively more lenient with insufficient revolving history as opposed to prime lenders. But, I've seen success stories of people being approved for AMEX as their sexond or even first cards... but YMMV. AMEX does really look into your income as a factor as well.

i reconed NFCU for a higher limit than the $8000 they initially approved me for, and the only reason I was declined for my requested $10k was because of my low income. I guess $45k/yr is too low for $10k. Then again, I just opened the account.

one advice would be the secured card route.

[gdale6]

CK is based off of TU not EX.. Discount both scores you have mentioned they are both FAKOs only FICOs matter and are seen by lenders. Personally I would go for the Discover It and the AMEX later.

[DerekD]

Find out your experian score... I'm 19 and have both the Blue cash everyday and amex everyday card.. With your history I think you can get approved. I had a 734 experian score when I got approved.

[-Wade-]

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@gdale6 wrote:

CK is based off of TU not EX.. Discount both scores you have mentioned they are both FAKOs only FICOs matter and are seen by lenders. Personally I would go for the Discover It and the AMEX later.

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+ 1 on this

[DerekD]

That's why I said find out you experian score. Both amexs I got experian was pulled.

[Creditaddict]

I would apply for both the new Amex everyday and the discover it but not the student version!

[Ewing3]

I just did that right now on the Experian site and my Experian Plus score is currently at a 720. That was quite the pleasant surprise haha

[gh17]

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@Creditaddict wrote:

I would apply for both the new Amex everyday and the discover it but not the student version!

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curious, what's wrong with the student version?  i got the citi forward as a student, 4000 limit at the time which was a very large portion of my annual income, and it had all the normal rewards, no annual fee.  it's my probably my favorite card now.  i have no idea what distinguished the student version from the regular verson aside from maybe stricter limits or easier approval with low income.  what's the difference with the discover card?

[Ewing3]

Yea, I figured my biggest weakness right now is my lack of history. It just sucks that there's nothing we can do about that except just wait for time to pass and keep doing what we do.

As far as secured cards go, I'm not particularly interested in going that route. I also can't go the CU route because I bank with chase and I already took advantage of that with the Freedom card. If all else fails, I'll probably just become an AU on my dad's amex gold and let that report for a few months.