Booted from the 700 Club. Advice? 4 months to CSP app

[pizzadude]

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@tinuviel wrote:

Can you explain this further? I thought charge cards are not factored into utilization because balance should always be $0 due to requirement to PIF every statement?

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I believe that this is the point that pizadude is making. The balance may report, but it's not factored into your utilization, for the reason that you describe. For example, I use my Amex for most of my monthly spending and I pay after the statement cuts. Thus, the balance reports, but FICO doesn't factor it in.

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Thanks Tinuvel     !  That's exactly what I was trying to say ~ Charge Cards give you the option of paying after the statement without incurring a utilization hit.

[Revelate]

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@navigatethis12 wrote:

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@FrugalRican wrote:

If you PIF after the statement date, you'll have a balance reporting.

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This is why I think utilisation needs to be changed. Just because a balance reports does not mean the person can not or has not paid it off.

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FICO's only one part of the puzzle, and income is absolutely another.  Even maxxed credit cards for someone who only has $1K in available credit, and makes on the order of 10K per month, isn't going to be viewed as a serious risk.

Also since payments are reported, they can see whether you're PIFing or not, and that's a really easy thing to recon anyway.  "Oh, letting balances show up on my credit report is a bad thing?  I had no idea!"

That's actually pretty fair too for anyone not familiar with the information on this forum.

[SwiftTone]

I see I see. I've never knew that about charge cards! Isn't this only in newer FICO models? Anyways, I don't think it'll benefit me much as I pay most of my balance mid cycle because looking at a big balance freaks me out lol So, should I be dropped as an AU? Is it really helping me?? Also, should I app for CSP + Zync + BCE at the same time? I've read that when you app with AMEX for charge card and revolver at the same time, it's just 1 HP. And if Zync's AF is waived for the first year, I don't see any negatives? I think after BCE I'll be done for a while.

[pizzadude]

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@SwiftTone wrote:
I see I see. I've never knew that about charge cards! Isn't this only in newer FICO models? Anyways, I don't think it'll benefit me much as I pay most of my balance mid cycle because looking at a big balance freaks me out lol So, should I be dropped as an AU? Is it really helping me?? Also, should I app for CSP + Zync + BCE at the same time? I've read that when you app with AMEX for charge card and revolver at the same time, it's just 1 HP. And if Zync's AF is waived for the first year, I don't see any negatives? I think after BCE I'll be done for a while.

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I've never knew that about charge cards! Isn't this only in newer FICO models?    All of the FICO scoring models except the TU98 model sold here will ignore the balance of charge cards.

I've read that when you app with AMEX for charge card and revolver at the same time, it's just 1 HP    YMMV on this ~ sometimes people who apply and are approved for multiple cards on the same day will only incur one hard pull, but it is not a certainty.  

[SwiftTone]

Thanks Pizzadude what are the PC rules with AMEX charge cards. I know you can't PC to anything with ZYNC. Could I PC from Gold to BCE before the first AF is due? Thanks everyone!!

[pizzadude]

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@SwiftTone wrote:
Thanks Pizzadude what are the PC rules with AMEX charge cards. I know you can't PC to anything with ZYNC. Could I PC from Gold to BCE before the first AF is due? Thanks everyone!!

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Usually you can switch between charge cards except for ZYNC......Green, Gold, Gold PR and Platinum with no issues, other than an increased fee.   

The BCE and BCP are revolving cards and unfortunately you cannot PC between a charge card and a revolving card. 

[SwiftTone]

Signed up for Score Watch last week and got an alert today that my EQ FICO went from 699 to 711. I didn't pull report off SW but from another site, I calculated that my utilization went from 15% down to 8%. Woot woot!

So question, what type of FICO increase could I expect if I lowered my utilization down to 1-2%? Or is this as good as it gets??

Thanks guys

[Mailak]

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@SwiftTone wrote:
Signed up for Score Watch last week and got an alert today that my EQ FICO went from 699 to 711. I didn't pull report off SW but from another site, I calculated that my utilization went from 15% down to 8%. Woot woot!

So question, what type of FICO increase could I expect if I lowered my utilization down to 1-2%? Or is this as good as it gets??

Thanks guys

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It will likely be customized for your particular credit profile. There probably exist a band of percent utilization for which you would have the same score.

My own experience was that once it came down below 9% there was not any change in score. However, when utilization dropped to 0%, score went down a couple of points. You could probably play around a bit for a couple of months and see what maximizes yours.

[SwiftTone]

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@Mailak wrote:

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@SwiftTone wrote:
Signed up for Score Watch last week and got an alert today that my EQ FICO went from 699 to 711. I didn't pull report off SW but from another site, I calculated that my utilization went from 15% down to 8%. Woot woot!

So question, what type of FICO increase could I expect if I lowered my utilization down to 1-2%? Or is this as good as it gets??

Thanks guys

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It will likely be customized for your particular credit profile. There probably exist a band of percent utilization for which you would have the same score.

My own experience was that once it came down below 9% there was not any change in score. However, when utilization dropped to 0%, score went down a couple of points. You could probably play around a bit for a couple of months and see what maximizes yours.

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Thanks, I do remember reading this.

I sent a GW letter to Toyota regarding 9 late payments in 2009. Hoping for a "huge" score increase if they do decided to GW delete those lates. Hoping that since I was a employee of a Toyota dealership, they will take care of it!! Micro-managing balaces is getting old