Pay down student loan to help score?

[honky]

I was declined AMEX the other week and one of the reasons listed is my student loan owed vs borrowed being too high.  I currently owe less than $2000 and have the means to pay it off.  Would that help improve my score by having a $0 balance on my only revolving loan?  I was under the impression that only CC util affected FICO scoreing, but perhaps I was wrong. . .

[MarineVietVet]

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@honky wrote:

I was declined AMEX the other week and one of the reasons listed is my student loan owed vs borrowed being too high.  I currently owe less than $2000 and have the means to pay it off.  Would that help improve my score by having a $0 balance on my only revolving loan?  I was under the impression that only CC util affected FICO scoreing, but perhaps I was wrong. . .

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Installment loan utilization is a very small part of scoring but it's so small as to be almost non-existent.

If you have the money to pay off this loan without depleting any savings then I would do so.

Paying down/paying off debt as fast as possible is always my #1 priority.

[honky]

I agree with paying down all debt.  Until my recent adventures here, Ive always paid cash so as not to hold debt.  Obviously that didnt mesh very well with credit score. 

The only reason I havent paid it down is because it is my only reporting installment loan and I wanted to make sure it reports as long as posible.  Though I am sure to have something else within the 10 next 10 years to keep my mix of credit.  My interest rate is insanely low because of a 2-year special for federal loans.  I believe it is 2.4%

[marty56]

PIF the student loan.  Never a good idea to incure any debt for FICO score purpose.  if you can gain a CC as the result even better, especialy if you can gain a good CC card out of it and don;t have any good cards already. 

[honky]

 I definitely do not have any prime cards.  Not sure if this will help me obtain one, but it cannot hurt.  Thanks for the advice.

[MarineVietVet]

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@honky wrote:

I agree with paying down all debt.  Until my recent adventures here, Ive always paid cash so as not to hold debt.  Obviously that didnt mesh very well with credit score. 

The only reason I havent paid it down is because it is my only reporting installment loan and I wanted to make sure it reports as long as posible.  Though I am sure to have something else within the 10 next 10 years to keep my mix of credit.  My interest rate is insanely low because of a 2-year special for federal loans.  I believe it is 2.4%

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Closed accounts are still counted as part of your credit mix although open, active accounts are weighed a bit more heavily.

[hateAshbury]

I could be wrong, but I bet some species of FICO "likes" to see debt, and a mixture of debt -- home mortgage, some plastic, student loans -- at that. Of course, high scorers must handle debt well, and the score penalty is severe for those who go delinquent or charge off.

[bridgetkaryn]

I know it isn't an AMEX but you hould be able to get a discover or Chase Freedom without issue... You can check to see if you can get pre-approved on Discover as well... Its a soft pull until you decide to fully apply...

[honky]

I am showing 1% util on 4 of 5 revoilving accounts right now.  They have been paid, but not updated.  Also, I successfully gw'd my student loan to remove a 90-late from November, but it is still showing.  I have 2 previous 90-lates from 2008 which will probably stay for the long haul.

I think I need to wait to app for anything until that all updates.  Hopefully I will get a score increase, but at the very least it will help if I have to do a manual recon.