Possible Score Increase?

[Anonymous]

I'm sitting around 650 across the board, but was just approved for 2 credit cards through PenFed with a total of 21,500 between the cards.  PenFed Platinum Rewards Visa Signature (16K) and PenFed Promise (5.5K).  I have a lot of inquiries, over the past year and I keep my utilization at or around 20% (before these accounts)  Think I will see a significant score boost once these credit lines report?  Hoping to be above 720 soon so I can get the Amex ED Preferred which will hopefully be my go to for everything. 

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I'm sitting around 650 across the board, but was just approved for 2 credit cards through PenFed with a total of 21,500 between the cards.  PenFed Platinum Rewards Visa Signature (16K) and PenFed Promise (5.5K).  I have a lot of inquiries, over the past year and I keep my utilization at or around 20% (before these accounts)  Think I will see a significant score boost once these credit lines report?  Hoping to be above 720 soon so I can get the Amex ED Preferred which will hopefully be my go to for everything. 

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Not a huge amount of points to be gained under 20% UTI. Whats your overall profile look like?

[Anonymous]

I've been rebuilding.  Had two charged off fraudulent accounts removed (finally) over the last month.  Noticed about 70-100 point increase with those.  Oldest line of credit is my student loans (7 years) and my Cap1 Secured card (325 from 2011).  I have a Barclays Arrival ($500) from 2013, Cap1 QS (1500 from 2013) and a card from my local credit union that I begged and begged for (2K from 2013).  I recently financed a car through my CU as well (16.5K at 5.9%). 2 charge offs from 2013 are the only baddies I have other than a boat load of inquiries. 

[Anonymous]

If penfed stepped up and approved you for those amounts with that score. Why not use those cards and build a relationship with them. I have 2 Amex cards and can't stand Amex. Lowest limits I have by far. They are hard to deal with in my opinion.

[Anonymous]

Might be able to refi that auto thru capone for a lower rate

[Anonymous]

Valid point.  I had anticipated getting the Amex and using it solely for the rewards program.  I'm planning on travelling quite a bit over the nexxt few years and the versitility of the points is pretty nice. However, the rewards through PenFed seem decent as well. Mostly, I'm looking for the score increase for mortgage qualification within the next year. 

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I've been rebuilding.  Had two charged off fraudulent accounts removed (finally) over the last month.  Noticed about 70-100 point increase with those.  Oldest line of credit is my student loans (7 years) and my Cap1 Secured card (325 from 2011).  I have a Barclays Arrival ($500) from 2013, Cap1 QS (1500 from 2013) and a card from my local credit union that I begged and begged for (2K from 2013).  I recently financed a car through my CU as well (16.5K at 5.9%). 2 charge offs from 2013 are the only baddies I have other than a boat load of inquiries. 

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The two new cards may lower your AAoA quite a bit, and offset gains from UTI improvement. I would stand pat for now, and just try to get the limits on your Cap One and Barclays cards raised, while preparing for the mortgage app. You should see score increases as your AAoA comes back up, and your balances get paid down.

[Anonymous]

Good plan.  I was just thinking that because the limits on these two cards are insanely high compared to the other accounts in my profile that it might offset any negative and only produce a positive change.  But all these scoring systems are finiky and vary from creditor to creditor.  

Thanks for the advice!

[RonM21]

Those are good amounts for the scores you have. I don't think it would get you as many points as you're hoping for though. But you will get some.