just applied for joint cardmember on chase explorer- should i wait to apply for my own card?

[Anonymous]

Hey everyone, thank you for all the posts in the last year. My EX has jumped almost 200 points from 520 to 710 in my credit journey, a lot of thanks to this forum.

So here is my delima:

I have no credit cards and just sent in an application to be a joint cardmember on my bf's Chase Explorer.

Should I wait for them to pull my account and approve/deny me the joint cardmembership, or go ahead and try to apply for my own card with maybe capital one (i am pre qualified for a platinum card). Would that hinder getting qualified for the joint?

I also need to buy a new car really soon. I have saved a downpayment of $5000, I think that adding the cc would boost my credit scores as I have no CC history and my bf has huge limit and perfect payments, under 30% utilization.

Any advice on how I should play this hand would be great! thanks everyone! I really appreciate this community.

EX:  no idea

TU:  663

EQ: 710

[Revelate]

Even assuming you get approved on the joint account, you should go get another 1-2 cards on your own regardless.

That said, how soon are we talking for auto loan?  If we're talking in the next month, it's a wash (it'll be a negative either on your auto loan or on your future credit cards) and probably a benefit to simply wait; however, if we're talking 3-6 month timeframe, I'd make the applications now and get the new accounts aging immediately.

[jcx808]

You could be added as an authorized user instead of a joint account holder.  I'm not sure how FICO scores affect AU, but you should be able to gain the credit history of the of the card as a AU.  Plus as an AU you don't need to apply, I'm never heard of anyone getting denied for an AU on a card.

[Anonymous]

update: I applied and got a capital 1 platinum card (2K), and got authorized as a joint card user on the explorer and had that limit increased by $4000. Soon as the accounts hit on my credit report, it should raise it significantly since I have no CC tradelines currently, and then apply for my autoloan ( i should be in the prime). After that, garden for a long time!

[tntexans72]

The new capital 1 card with hit ur Aaoa once it report. That's going to drop ur score. I don't think u need those cards to report to get an auto loan. $5k deposit is significant if it's at least 25% down.