Which cards to target after 6 months of credit history?

[espnjunkie]

So hypothetically if I charged 499.00 of my 500.00 limit and immediately paid it off before the statement cut then that would be my utilization for the month that is reported?

[MarineVietVet]

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@espnjunkie wrote:

If that's the case it's kind of rediculous. You should not be punished for paying ahead and have to report a balance to build credit. Some months I let a small amount report, so if my balances are averaged across months I have probably a 5 or 6% utilization. Hope the zero balance doesn't count against me

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It does seem backwards but that's the system right now.

But remember that reporting a balance does not mean ever paying interest. You can have just $1 report and that's enough to show activity. Then just pay that $1 (or whatever the statement balance happens to be) before the due date.

From a BK years ago to:
EX - 3/11 pulled by lender- 835, EQ - 2/11-816, TU - 2/11-782

"Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they've made a difference. The Marines don't have that problem".

[MarineVietVet]

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@espnjunkie wrote:

So hypothetically if I charged 499.00 of my 500.00 limit and immediately paid it off before the statement cut then that would be my utilization for the month that is reported?

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For most cards whatever the balance reported on your statement is the amount used to calculate utilization for that month.

From a BK years ago to:
EX - 3/11 pulled by lender- 835, EQ - 2/11-816, TU - 2/11-782

"Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they've made a difference. The Marines don't have that problem".

[Anonymous]

Yes... you should be good to go with ZYNC and Forward.

My daughter, a college student with a good part time job,  got both at 6 months as well as a Discover More. She had to call the recon line for the Forward and More card. The Zync was instant approval. She also obtained a store card with VS at same time. 

I also think you should let a small balance report. I have a JTV card that I had 6 month interest free financing on. I paid it off before the 6 months and the card is still not reporting 2 months later. 

Companies do like to see some utility report. It is usually better than Zero. When you are under 10%, it shows that you can manage credit. 

[espnjunkie]

Hmmm thanks for the advice, I did not know that letting a balance of zero report could actually 'hurt' you so to speak. I'm not too worried and will try to let a tiny bit report each month for now. If I have to recon for any of my applications I could always send them copies of my monthly statements and show that I in fact put a grand through the card a month but just kept making sure to pay in full several times a month. I know that Capital One does not really design their starter/rebuilder cards to graduate, but it would be nice if they took into account that I always pay on time, in full, and can clearly handle a much higher limit than they are giving me. While a 250.00 cli to 750.00 is something at least, it's crazy that they don't offer a more significant limit increase. Theycould probably keep more customers with them if they offered more generous limits instead of having everyone bail within a year.

[espnjunkie]

Did your daughter just have one credit card before applying in six months like me? How similar was the situation?

[castlefox]

When I applied for that Citi Forward card I had some student loans that I had been paying down for like two years but they declined to give me credit because I did not have any current revolving credit. (I had a department store  CC closed on me due to lack of use)

If I were you I would first apply for that Zync card so you would be able to back date to 2012 years later if you wanted to and then apply for a CU card b/c of their generally lower APR rates and highter credit lines.  My first real CC came from a credit union and they gave me 1,000 to start and then bumped it up to 2,000 in 6months. 

You can check your credit report for the 3 agencies every year.  https://www.annualcreditreport.com/cra/index.jsp    You could check on there later to see whatever balance they are reporting for whatever month.  

[espnjunkie]

Zync is my primary target right now. I want to get a foot in the door with AMEX and continue to build up my credit. The NPSL seems a bit confusing though, especially early on with the Zync. Without a limit provided how do you know how much you can spend per month without risking an embarrassing decline? I understand how they use your normal monthly spending as a guide, but what if you have one month with higher than normal spending for whatever reason? To be declined would be frustrating.

[Anonymous]

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@espnjunkie wrote:

Did your daughter just have one credit card before applying in six months like me? How similar was the situation?

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Yes...my daughter only had the Capital One Student Journey. They started her with 500 CL and is now at a 750 CL even though she no longer uses that card.

Not sure if I mentioned it...she also got Discover More at 6 months. 

She applied for the Discover More Student, but since she is at a community college, they would not approve her for that. The rep ended up giving her a regular More card with a 1000 CL.

This all happened last year. Cap1 in February. However,I recall she already had credit scores at 4 months. She applied for Zync and was approved. I am pretty sure that was around 4-5 months. She waited for AMEX to show up on her credit report, then at 6 months got More, Forward and VS.

Since her first CL was only $500 at the time with CAP1, I told her to only charge one thing, no more than $40 to keep her util under 10%, and let it report every month.

She now has 11 months history (only 5 months average age of accounts due to the extra cards), but she just applied for a prime credit card with AMEX (Hilton), and was approved! This should help her AAoA a bit. Keep in mind she primarily used her Zync card since she was approved. She is student so she does not charge a lot. Her Hilton card has not arrived yet. I don't know what her CL is, but I will ask her when she gets it so you have some idea when the time comes for you to apply for a credit product from AMEX after building history with them.

Everything has to age now. 

[dalebb]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@espnjunkie wrote:

Did your daughter just have one credit card before applying in six months like me? How similar was the situation?

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Yes...my daughter only had the Capital One Student Journey. They started her with 500 CL and is now at a 750 CL even though she no longer uses that card.

Not sure if I mentioned it...she also got Discover More at 6 months. 

She applied for the Discover More Student, but since she is at a community college, they would not approve her for that. The rep ended up giving her a regular More card with a 1000 CL.

This all happened last year. Cap1 in February. However,I recall she already had credit scores at 4 months. She applied for Zync and was approved. I am pretty sure that was around 4-5 months. She waited for AMEX to show up on her credit report, then at 6 months got More, Forward and VS.

Since her first CL was only $500 at the time with CAP1, I told her to only charge one thing, no more than $40 to keep her util under 10%, and let it report every month.

She now has 11 months history (only 5 months average age of accounts due to the extra cards), but she just applied for a prime credit card with AMEX (Hilton), and was approved! This should help her AAoA a bit. Keep in mind she primarily used her Zync card since she was approved. She is student so she does not charge a lot. Her Hilton card has not arrived yet. I don't know what her CL is, but I will ask her when she gets it so you have some idea when the time comes for you to apply for a credit product from AMEX after building history with them.

Everything has to age now. 

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ur such a good mom