Happy day!!! FICO jumped big time...which card should I try for????

[Anonymous]

Hi folks!  Been lurking here for a few months, and I've been monitoring my score on Equifax's website (I realize now that it isn't a FICO), and it has been hovering around 630 for the last few months.  Originally it was down at 535 about a year and a half ago.  I have one public record that will fall off in October ($1100 paid judgment to Discover), $8k in student loans that I am paying on every month, and three very small collection accounts that have been paid off and were all between 2006 and 2008.  It has been a few months since I started paying on my student loans again, and I took out two credit cards in May last year: Cap 1 ($300 original CL, now $500) and Orchard Bank ($300 CL).  I was thinking since I'm coming up on my annual fee for Orchard Bank I would sign up for another card and cancel.  Trouble was, my score had only moved up about 30 points since my approval for the Cap 1.  So I pulled the trigger on a real FICO from here at Myfico.com, and BOOM 686!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Question now is, which card do I have the best chance of getting approved for?  Capital One Venture, Chase Freedom, and Amex are some common ones you guys have.  According to my report I have only one recent inquiry affecting my score.  I need to get an auto loan very soon, so keep this in mind when dispensing your advice.  Can't wait to hear your responses!

[webhopper]

If I were you I would go with Amex Zync

If you go for Freedom, you may be able to get it with recon, but the old judgement may hurt you

If you apply for both, do the Chase card first since they are inquiry sensitive.

[Anonymous]

With 686 any visa sig/mc world/amex revolver may be out of question. A few have slipped in with scores below 700 and you may have a chance at recon but if it was me I wouldnt apply for the 3 types above just yet.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the advice webhopper!  There was a time when I never thought I would be approved for anything ever again.

Even better than all this, I had a physical today and my blood pressure, pulse, and cholesterol are all back to normal levels from being slightly elevated.  Of all of life's numbers, these are more important than credit scores.  Not that you guys care

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

With 686 any visa sig/mc world/amex revolver may be out of question. A few have slipped in with scores below 700 and you may have a chance at recon but if it was me I wouldnt apply for the 3 types above just yet.

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Thanks for the advice TannerK - I'd much rather shoot for a lesser card than get denied for a better one.  What do you mean by revolver?  Is this the Amex charge cards (i.e not credit cards)?  I've been on this site for awhile and sometimes I still feel like you guys speak in code

[webhopper]

The zync is a charge card....  My EX FICO was 693 when I applied for my AMEX and Chase card (I know this from my mortgage process, closed on a house in Jan)

I got my zync and amazon visa in Feb 12, with tons of inq.s related to the mortgage processing.  I had to do a recon with Chase, and they confirmed that these were mortgage inquiries, instead of Credit card application inquiries.  I have a judgement satisfied from 2007 that is reporting, and two collections from 2009 reporting, other than that I have a really thick credit file with a lot of accounts that are paid in full, always paid on time. I do have a 90 day late on a credit card from 2006 as well.  My credit file lists 39 tradelines and an AAoA of 6.5 yrs. my oldest account is 13.5 yrs

I would definately try for Chase and Amex, as they both pulled EX, and your file is very similar to mine...

If it helps anything, my EX Plus score was 727

The Amex Zync requires you to pay all of your charges in full by the due date... great for spending flexibility and for keeping you out of debt

[Anonymous]

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@webhopper wrote:

The zync is a charge card....  My EX FICO was 693 when I applied for AMEX (I know this from my mortgage process, closed on a house in Jan)

I got my zync in Feb 12, with tons of inq.s related to the mortgage processing.  I have a judgement satisfied from 2007 that is reporting, and two collections from 2009 reporting, other than that I have a really thick credit file with a lot of accounts that are paid in full, always paid on time. I do have a 90 day late on a credit card from 2006 as well.  My credit file lists 39 tradelines and an AAoA of 6.5 yrs. my oldest account is 13.5 yrs

I would definately try for Chase and Amex, as they both pulled EX, and your file is very similar to mine...

If it helps anything, my EX Plus score was 727

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The score I got today was from TU.  Is there any reason why I should pay to see another one, or just go ahead and apply for those two?

[webhopper]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@webhopper wrote:

The zync is a charge card....  My EX FICO was 693 when I applied for AMEX (I know this from my mortgage process, closed on a house in Jan)

I got my zync in Feb 12, with tons of inq.s related to the mortgage processing.  I have a judgement satisfied from 2007 that is reporting, and two collections from 2009 reporting, other than that I have a really thick credit file with a lot of accounts that are paid in full, always paid on time. I do have a 90 day late on a credit card from 2006 as well.  My credit file lists 39 tradelines and an AAoA of 6.5 yrs. my oldest account is 13.5 yrs

I would definately try for Chase and Amex, as they both pulled EX, and your file is very similar to mine...

If it helps anything, my EX Plus score was 727

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The score I got today was from TU.  Is there any reason why I should pay to see another one, or just go ahead and apply for those two?

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You may want to make sure there are no surprises on your EX file...  you can get your free annual copy of Experian report at annualcreditreport.com

[Anonymous]

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@webhopper wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@webhopper wrote:

The zync is a charge card....  My EX FICO was 693 when I applied for AMEX (I know this from my mortgage process, closed on a house in Jan)

I got my zync in Feb 12, with tons of inq.s related to the mortgage processing.  I have a judgement satisfied from 2007 that is reporting, and two collections from 2009 reporting, other than that I have a really thick credit file with a lot of accounts that are paid in full, always paid on time. I do have a 90 day late on a credit card from 2006 as well.  My credit file lists 39 tradelines and an AAoA of 6.5 yrs. my oldest account is 13.5 yrs

I would definately try for Chase and Amex, as they both pulled EX, and your file is very similar to mine...

If it helps anything, my EX Plus score was 727

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The score I got today was from TU.  Is there any reason why I should pay to see another one, or just go ahead and apply for those two?

---

You may want to make sure there are no surprises on your EX file...  you can get your free annual copy of Experian report at annualcreditreport.com

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Just checked EX Vantage score....653.  Major bummer.  Does the previous advice still stand, or should I hold off?

[webhopper]

Why the big score difference? I would find out if there are errors in your EX report and file a dispute if they are reporting something inaccurate, hopefully your score will improve if there are errors that shouldn't be there. Hold off on those two cards for now until you take care of your EX report