Store Cards Utilization / Credit Pull

[Bsong]

Hi All!,

Over the weekend, I went to a few departments stores and applied for credit.

1. Sleep Number (GE money) Approved for $3k 

2. Living Spaces (Ge money)  Approved for $3k 

Before making a purchase on any of these cards I had a few questions that Im sure you guys can help me with....

1. I wanted to know if store cards count towards overall utilization? And would it affect me negatively if I decided to max out a store card since they are offering 3 years of no interest from Living Spaces. 

2. Since both cards are offered by GE is that only one inquiry? or does each store pull an inquiry of their own? Reason I ask is I just received the notification this morning, and only see 1 new inquiry from GE. 

Thanks!

[madmann26]

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@Bsong wrote:

Hi All!,

Over the weekend, I went to a few departments stores and applied for credit.

1. Sleep Number (GE money) Approved for $3k 

2. Living Spaces (Ge money)  Approved for $3k 

Before making a purchase on any of these cards I had a few questions that Im sure you guys can help me with....

1. I wanted to know if store cards count towards overall utilization? And would it affect me negatively if I decided to max out a store card since they are offering 3 years of no interest from Living Spaces. 

2. Since both cards are offered by GE is that only one inquiry? or does each store pull an inquiry of their own? Reason I ask is I just received the notification this morning, and only see 1 new inquiry from GE. 

Thanks!

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1. Yes, it's treated like any other CC. And yes, if you max it out, you'll take a hit score wise for it. No interest for 3 years is irrevelant.

2. Nope, it is 2 inquiries. There'll be another one.

[user5387]

Both overall utilization and utilization per card affect your score, so if you max out a single card, there will be a negative impact.  Beyond the score hit, there may be a risk of AA from other creditors.

If you have 0% financing, you may not care about this.

[Bsong]

Thanks for your replies... 

I guess I wont be using either cards then ....

Becuase the mattress I want from Sleep Number is over $5k and the mattress I want from Living Spaces is $4k. The different I was going to just put on my everyday credit card.   

What happens if I dont use these cards? Will they automatically be closed? Should I just close it before it even starts reporting? Now I feel like Ive just waisted 2 HP on cards that I will never use... 

[09Lexie]

You can ask them to remove the TLs - some have been successful in getting the whole thing removed.

[CodyAB31]

This is just me, but if you get a good 0% financing deal, take it and dont worry about what it does to your credit score, unless you plan on applying for new credit.  Get it paid off and your score will recover.  I mean really, what good is a high credit score when you arent using it to obtain new credit or favorable interest rates?  Youre passing up a 0% financing offer for nothing....unless, like I said, youre trying to obtain new credit in some form.  Thats just the way I see it though, im sure others have different opinions and experiences.

[swpopham]

That's my thoughts too just Call ge and have them up the limit. We did it on both lowes and walmart when we got them

[Bsong]

Thanks again for all your replies!

Today, I ran my credit directly with Experian (free annual report) and only see 1 pull from GE CAPITAL but the two tradelines (charge cards) are already reported (THAT IS THE FASTEST A NEW TRADE LINE HAS REPORTED FOR ME) ... I will call GE Capital and see if they will raise the limit on the living spaces card since they offer more choices on furniture vs sleep number. 

Do you guys happen to know the backdoor number? I would use the "BACKDOOR" sticky but I see there is a couple of numbers associated when it comes to GE (GE Money and Credit Solutions) 

[09Lexie]

It's usually a hp for CLI on their furniture cards.

[zerobacan]

1 866-419-4096 that is their furniture division and yep it will be another HP...