Bank of America

[Anonymous]

Hi everyone, love the forum, I've learned a lot about the FICO system. I'm new to the US and have only had a CC with BoA for 7 months. Just did an online CLI and went from 3000 to my requested 7500 (only did a soft inquiry). Maybe I should've went for more. I've sure been impressed with BoA. At first I wished I could've transfered my credit history from back home, but building up a credit history here has been easier than I'd thought.

[Anonymous]

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Canuck wrote:
Hi everyone, love the forum, I've learned a lot about the FICO system. I'm new to the US and have only had a CC with BoA for 7 months. Just did an online CLI and went from 3000 to my requested 7500 (only did a soft inquiry). Maybe I should've went for more. I've sure been impressed with BoA. At first I wished I could've transfered my credit history from back home, but building up a credit history here has been easier than I'd thought.

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Welcome Canuck! 

Sounds like you're on the right track.  As you probably know 6 mo. is the magic time for getting your initial FICO score, so if you're keeping your balance low and paying on time all the time - you should be able to build a nice history *very* quickly. 

If you don't mind my asking - where are you from originally, and what are the credit 'rules' there?

[RobertEG]

Hi Canuck!  CLIs seem like the instant way to lower %util, but keep one thing at the center of your FICO forehead  Keeping balances low is far better than getting CLs high.

Low balances keep %util high, and also minimize the chance, upon bad times, of late payments, which will destroy you FICO score quicker than anything.  CLs are secondary to account balances.

[smallfry]

If I were a betting man I would say Mr. Canuck is from North of the Border. Eh?

[Anonymous]

No doubt about it! Canada it is. Vancouver to be more specific. We always pay off balances in full. Haven't paid interest on a CC in my life and never a day late. Wife on the other hand.... good thing I pay the bills. The big thing I learned here is that you have to pay off the balance before the statement is printed. We use credit for most purchases for the points and now I pay off the balance a few days before the statement prints, leaving a few dollars to show some utilization. In Canada we don't really use a FICO score. I believe it exists in some form, but isn't as heavily weighted. Credit history is what the banks will look at mostly. One more thing, if anyone reads this that is new to the country. BoA will use your foreign credit history when applying for credit. Just make sure you talk to the credit specialist, not the regular customer service reps. We were able to get 2 cards with an initial $2500 CL. After 6 months up go the CLs. Nice being able to avoid going the secured CC route. No other bank we talked to would touch us. Even capital one, with us having had $30,000 in credit with them in Canada, wouldn't use our Canadian credit history here. Oh well, I always thought most Americans just considered Canada the 51st state. (just kidding)

[smallfry]

You couldn't use the Canadian Cap One card down here? That's beat they wouldn't transfer the history.

[Anonymous]

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smallfry wrote: You couldn't use the Canadian Cap One card down here? That's beat they wouldn't transfer the history.

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Ya I could use the my Canadian Capital One card here, but that wouldn't help build any credit history here. Anyways, for tax reasons, we had to cancel all our Canadian accounts. If we sever all financial ties with Canada, we don't have to pay any Canadian income tax on income earned in the US. And if anyone doesn't know about the taxes up north, you want to avoid them. Love Canada and will always consider it home, but the taxes and cost of living are very high.

[smallfry]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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smallfry wrote: You couldn't use the Canadian Cap One card down here? That's beat they wouldn't transfer the history.

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Ya I could use the my Canadian Capital One card here, but that wouldn't help build any credit history here. Anyways, for tax reasons, we had to cancel all our Canadian accounts. If we sever all financial ties with Canada, we don't have to pay any Canadian income tax on income earned in the US. And if anyone doesn't know about the taxes up north, you want to avoid them. Love Canada and will always consider it home, but the taxes and cost of living are very high.

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Amazing what a bull market in natural resources will do huh? Vancouver is real high I understand. Crazy building in the oil sands areas too I hear.

[Anonymous]

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Amazing what a bull market in natural resources will do huh? Vancouver is real high I understand. Crazy building in the oil sands areas too I hear.

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Ya, Vancouver would fall somewhere between San Fran and New York with regards to cost of living. With the US housing bust, the forest industry has really slowed down and that has had some effected on the west, but you're right the oil sands and natural gas have really picked up the slack. The next big boom will be fresh water exports to the southwest US. Although that's probably a few decades away.

[rom828]

Fretless,

How did you go about the increases?  At activation, all at once, several requests, by phone or on line??! 

What number did you call if you asked by phone?  Did they do the CLIS w/soft inqs since your card was new?

DH just got approved for $5600 and we want to increase CL,  so that's why all the questions!  His FICOs are TU 717  EQ 681  EX 682. 

Thanks!