Seeking advice on finding <2% APR personal loan, solely to improve my 780 credit score.

[Anonymous]

I am VERY GRATEFUL for any USEFUL advice that is shared with me, but please don't waste our time with responses like lendingtree.com or vague responses like contact a(n unamed) credit union. Please only respond if you have a fairly certain detailed method, that someone with excellent credit, is likely to acquire the type of loan that I describe. No, my bank, Wells Fargo isn't likely to be the answer.

I've seen rates lower than 2%, usually for auto refinance, with little or no fees, and seek to find similar terms on a personal loan.
My current savings can be held in an account until I pay off the loan, provided that the loan is marked as a standard personal loan, not a collateral loan.

At the age of 44, I have just recently begun to really understand and focus on my credit score, and need to show something other than credit cards on my credit report, without actually purchasing anything (I'm not in the market to buy a car or a house etc, until I retire in Hawaii a few years from now). I consider myself no risk, and would like to show as big a personal loan as possible for as little time as possible (I'm assuming 3 months), while maximizing the positive impact on my credit score and keeping the actual cost (fees, interest, etc) under $100.

Here are my statistics. (As I've said, my sole purpose for this loan is to improve my score, without spending any more in fees or interest than necessary.)

Credit score: 780 (it was 749 a few months ago, according to CreditKarma.com.)
Credit history: 20+ years
Number of late payments: 0
Bank account balance: $20,000.00 +
Total credit card limits: $78,000.00
Total credit card balance: $10,000.00 (A few months ago I transferred all debts to a no interest / no transfer fee card, and purposely avoided paying it off yet.)
Annual income: $52,000+
Monthly obligations other than basic living expenses like food etc: $0

Again, MANY THANKS to those who share knowledge I have yet been unable to find.

[cluelessoregonguy]

I plan to do a savings secured personal loan through a place like DCU. DCU rate is 3.5% it seems so something like $5000 for 1 year could cost like $175 in interest per year and be a pretty solid monthly payment...almost like buying a car lol. I think you can shove it in a CD with a ridiculous rate though and offset the cost of the interest. I'll probably shoot for a 1 year term as I think that will show plenty on manual reviews.

Your score looks pretty solid already so it will be interesting to see if it does much. If all your CC debt is on a single card then paying that card down to under 5% and leaving your overall utility at about 1% could get you a decent boost. Could be more than adding an installment loan. The loan may even lose you a couple of points and slowly gain as you pay it off...then drop your score again once it's paid. I'm not sure exactly as my credit report is thin and pretty fragile. Could be that a thicker report reacts differently.

Should also mention that if your ficos are over 760 you're probably already getting the best rates for everything.

[Anonymous]

Thank you OregonGuy!

I just came across a moderator named fused, and read on his experience with closed installment loans, and it appears that the installment loan may in fact hurt me once it's paid off. It was my understanding that a score could be improved by a variety of loans as opposed to just a single type, but apparently there is something screwy with their method (like this is any suprise) when a completed loan is worse for your score than one that is still open to default and a drain on one's finances. As usual, those in charge prove to be idiots!

Thanks for the idea of the CD to offset a higher interest rate. I'll keep that thought in mind!!

I do realize that an 800 score is unlikely to serve me any better than a 760 score. It has more to do with achieving a goal, which probably just got worse tonight because fused had apparently reached a perfect 850 score until his installment loan closed and dropped it by 30 points! The senselessness of it can make you want to grab two hands of hair and scream arrrgggh!!! hehehe

Best wishes

[cluelessoregonguy]

Totally understand on the 800 thing. I might shoot for the 800 club someday myself. Once reading my AAoA doesn't send credit analysts into fits of laughter.