GEMB Accounts

[rmonoson]

I've read a lot on these forums (I'm a newbie here) and I have a about 6 GEMB accounts... I never thought anything of it, but from what I have read... they are considered "bad"... is this true? Am I missing something? Should I get rid of them?

My scores are NOT good due to a BK that was discharged back in May 2002, but since then (for obvious reasons) getting credit has been difficult.  GEMB accounts are all I can seem to get.

What is GEMB, and why are they bad?

Thanks in advance.

Regards,

Robert
Jax,Fl.

[haulingthescoreup]

It's probably my posts you've been reading, sorry. The accounts are not bad, it's just that the customer service frequently (not always) is awful. I was talking to a Lowe's employee (used to work at Home Depot) who said that they have problems with their contractors being able to charge materials, because their payments are slow to post.

I wouldn't get rid of them, just be very careful to hang on to your statements, payment records, etc., and if a problem occurs, stay on top of it until it's resolved. One poster here said it took 2 years for them to resolve an Old Navy account, and his scores were affected until it was finally fixed.

Didn't mean to rattle you, I apologize!

[Anonymous]

hauling is right. I have dillards card with GEMB and I made a payment over a week

ago and it is still not posted yet.

I am not using that card anymore.

[jackg]

rmonoson,

GEMB (General Electric Money Bank) credit card accounts are not "bad" in my opinion. I have 1 and haven't had a problem. Perhaps what you are referring to is that they are considered sub-prime and not one of the "good" cards.

I don't know anything about your credit circumstances BUT, if your BK was discharged in 2002 and you haven't had any problems since them, you are likely under estimating your credit standing. You should be able to get a variety of CC's to begin your rebuilding efforts with.

[rmonoson]

Thanks to all for their posts.  I am really trying to take an objective look at my current FICO situation, and try to identify any way to improve.  Yes, I had a BK that was discharged back in May of 2002. Since then, I have has NO slow pays, a multitudeof credit accounts opened for various reasons in the 6 years, all of them paid to 0, or are still open.  I have a large mortgage ($3445) and a 2 mortgage on top of that (additional $650 for a pool), some small student loans which are deferred, 2 auto finance account (1 pmt for me & one for my wife - both at 10% interest) and 2 credit cards (one wuth a CL of  $450 which sits at $200 bal. and the other at a CL for $1850 which sits at $1000.) All payments made on time.

My FICO across the board is: TR = 583, EQ = 631, and EX = 606.

I don't know what else to do.  I make all my payments on time, granted I have a large house pmt, and some revolving credit debt, but I also have been blessed with a wonderful salary to make my payments. 

What am I doing wrong?  Is there something I should do?  The info on my report is accurate, my scores are horrid.

humble regards,

Robert
Jax, Fl.

[Anonymous]

Yes I agree GEMB is very slow in posting payments.  We have two accounts thru GEMB our sams club card and our fifth wheel note.  Ive noticed that is takes 3 or 4 days with online payment to post.  When I send our fifth wheel payment in i have to mail it as they have no online.  I make a reg payment and a principal payment each mth, have to write two checks.  The reg payment always post abt 1 week before the principal payment even though I mail them both at the same time.  Tks Vicki

[jackg]

Hi Robert,

One thing I can talk about wiyh you is "UTILIZATION". I don't know if you are familiar with it or not but here goes. The idea is that for one type of credit you have, revolving credit that includes credit card and in most cases lines of credit, a credit limit assigned to each one. For example you said you have 2 CC's, one has a CL of $450 and you are using $200 of it, so for that card your "utilization" is about 45%. Get It. So when FICO looks at your CR it looks at the utilization for each of your cards and the total utilization of all cards and they score that appropiately. And when you look at the pie chart that FICO publishes about what's in your FICO score the section named "Amounts used" or utilization it accounts for 30% of your overall score. I think this is an area that you can fix quickly and you will see a jump in your score if you can get below 10%. You said you have 2 credit cards with a total CL of $2300 of which you are using $1200. All you have to do here is payoff $1000 and you'll be a winner.

FYI the auto loans are "Installment loans" and  you must pay on time, that's all you can do. Same with the 2 mortgages.

I really hope this helps you and good luck!

[haulingthescoreup]

Step 1: have you read this yet?:

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/fico/board/message?board.id=ficoscoring&thread.id=2654

I'm not one of those who can see the big picture in analyzing your credit, but here are a couple of things: first of all, installment debt doesn't really hurt that much, as long as it's paid on time. I have read that FICO likes seeing some installment balances under 50%, but I don't know how much impact that has, or indeed, how accurate it is. So don't get distracted if people start telling you pay this off or that off.

Your big gap appears to be in revolving credit/ CC's. Two cards, with pretty low limits, one over 50% utilization, and the other near 50%. Those need to be reporting at under 5% or under 10% for maximum zing. So that means let under $20-40 or less report on the little card, and under $45-90 or less report on the other. You can use it more than that if you need, but don't let more report each month. Util is 30% of your score, and since you have a good income, that should be easy for you to do.

You need to get another card with a decent CL that will grow with you. I can't keep track of which cards are good with which scores, but you might want to start a new thread titled something like "need advice on good CC's to help scores improve", and you'll be drowned in advice. I hope that you or your wife wouldn't be offended by a Hooter's CC--it seems to be the new amazing rebuilding card with good credit limits. Who knew??

As long as you can pay off your cards each month, I wouldn't get mad about CC offers with high APR's. Just avoid annual fee cards, and ask people which cards will either grow with you or are easily converted to better cards as your scores improve.

That's just a start from my pretty limited pool of knowledge. Good luck!

[indyhotmama]

I was in JCPenney on 10/27, I spent $52 on my JCPenney card. After my purchase, I immediately made a $40 CASH payment at the same register. I logged onto my account a couple of days later and it shows my payment but it is not reflected in my available credit. I called them to ask why, the CSR told me that the payment will not be available until 11/16. Huh?!?!?!? I asked why, she said they sometimes hold payments. Just doesn't make sense.

[Anonymous]

indy, that's why I now NEVER pay on my cc at a Penny's store. It says in the terms of agreement that making a payment AT a store can take up to 10-15 days to post properly.

I HAD a Sam's Club cc through GEMb, and made the horrible mistake of paying my bill at the register. The payment sat in the accounting office of the store for 5 full days before sent in to GEMb. That caused me a late payment fee, which I refused to pay.

GEMb, closed my account and charged off that $16.00 late fee, and was on my credit report, until last September when I explained the situation to them(debt recovery dept. I have the # if anyone needs it), and they deleted the baddie off the acct.

I think they are like any other ccc. Get on their bad side and they can make that card a nightmare for you. Pay WELL in advance, or even PIF, and you will be rewarded. I started with a Penny's card last year at this time with $300 cl. Today the cl stands at $1,500.