Trying to reach a FICO of 700+ obtain another CC or hold off?

[Insoc]

I have been rebuilding my credit since filing BK Chapter 7 in 2013, the BK discharged the same year.  I have since rebuilt my credit, obtained three credit cards, though not great APRs they have helped and my CL for two of them have increased.  I am carrying some debt but all will be paid off by the end of the month.

Current FICO 8 Scores:

EQ 662

TU 651

EXP 668

No other debts other than two car leases and some medical bills I"m still paying on, less than $2,000 total.  

I also obtained a $3K loan from Lending Tree for a move that I paid off in less than a year, it was high APR so I moved to pay it off ASAP.  I'm prequalifed for another loan and more money, but don't need a loan.

I have not been receiving a lot of credit card offers, I got the usual bad ones but they stopped, most recently I have been getting ones from Barclay's saying I'm "Pre-Selected" which does not make me feel too confident to apply.

My question is, should I pass up trying to obtain more credit  in the form of a CC at his point if I would like to reach 700 in the next year?  Although I never had an AMEX Card, but had no problems getting one through work (Company Card), I'm wonder if it's worth applying for the Amex Everyday Card or Barclays?  I also don't know if my FICO score alone will go past 700 if I have 0 debt, seems they like seeing debt as my credit score fluctuates based on it.

Back to the main reason I want to get 700 or higher in the next year or so, is due to the fact the one leased car is due to go back in a year and a 1/2, looking forward I"m planning on not leasing again and want to finace and obtain the best rate.

I read that for Auto loans they use FICO Auto Score 8 which is:

EQ 662

TU 651

EXP 676

I have had good auto loan and lease history, no late payments or repos since 2007.

[MrsCHX]

At ~650 scores you're still rebuilding. I believe AMEX pretty exclusively pulls EX and Barclays TU. What's keeping you in the mid 600s? The medical bills, are they collections? You mentioned balances on the cards. What is your utilization on each and overall?

[Insoc]

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@MrsCHX wrote:
At ~650 scores you're still rebuilding. I believe AMEX pretty exclusively pulls EX and Barclays TU. What's keeping you in the mid 600s? The medical bills, are they collections? You mentioned balances on the cards. What is your utilization on each and overall?

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I have been carrying debt for sometime on my cards, so utilization is higher than it should be, I have since got a new job in the last year with higher income and moved, so my expenses are easier to handle hence allowing me to pay off my debts and lower my utilization, I paid off my Merrick and Amazon Card, but did not see much of a jump, maybe 10 points or so.  Cap 1 will be paid off this month.  Also thought the Lending Tree loan of $3K that I paid off in less than a year (was a 3 year loan with high APR), would have helped raise my score but it hasn't made much of a dent since I paid it off.

My BK is showing on my CR, only been 4 years, along with 3 cards (2 from Discover and 1 from Cap 1) as a negative marks that were included in my BK, one shows collections prior to when I filed BK and had a job loss making me unable to pay prior to filing.

Medicial bills are not in collections, nothing shows and I'm still paying monthly.  

Current utilization with the three credit cards is too high, currently 61%.  I plan to have this down to 0 to 5% the end of this month.  I just read that paying them off doesn't always help.  Just wondering if applying for a another CC after I pay down my debt to 0, will raise my score or not by increasing my available credit?  

[MrsCHX]

I was stuck at 630 ish on TU. I'm  using TU because the other bureaus have a couple of other marks (SL lates, a collection on EQ) that aren't on TU. My overall util was 58% and I had 5 cards maxed out. 

End of January through today my TU is up to 680 and util is 17%. Every time a card updated reduced utilization or increased limit, I got a bump. My overall util will be 3% once eveything reports (3 cards still show maxed until their statements print this  month). I'm guessing I"ll bump over 700 on TU.

I don't know where you read paying them doesn't help. I'm sure on any site that you check your scores on, it mentions your utilization as a negative factor, right?? 

What people reference is not having every card report $0. People mention having all but 1 card report a $0 balance and have that remaining card report single digit utilization.  idk if you should app for another card...

What cards do you have? What are their current balances? Current credit limits?

[Insoc]

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@MrsCHX wrote:

I was stuck at 630 ish on TU. I'm  using TU because the other bureaus have a couple of other marks (SL lates, a collection on EQ) that aren't on TU. My overall util was 58% and I had 5 cards maxed out. 

End of January through today my TU is up to 680 and util is 17%. Every time a card updated reduced utilization or increased limit, I got a bump. My overall util will be 3% once eveything reports (3 cards still show maxed until their statements print this  month). I'm guessing I"ll bump over 700 on TU.

I don't know where you read paying them doesn't help. I'm sure on any site that you check your scores on, it mentions your utilization as a negative factor, right?? 

What people reference is not having every card report $0. People mention having all but 1 card report a $0 balance and have that remaining card report single digit utilization.  idk if you should app for another card...

What cards do you have? What are their current balances? Current credit limits?

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I have the myFICO 3 Score Monthly Credit Monitoring, but I see some variation on the score, my Merrick Bank CC provides a FICO 8 Bankcard Score which is TU 645, which is way lower than FICO is showing which is 653, which FICO states is used for Credit Card Lending.  I did just get a CLI with Merrick, a few hundred $.

I read on a forum somewhere that paying down debt, often can drop your score vs carrying some debt.  I don't get it either, but I had a $500 Care Credit CC that I never used, account was closed after 1 year due to no activity.  

I'll probably wait till I get 0% utilization the end of this month, see how my scores go up in a month, then maybe attempt another CC, I want to try Amex but I'm fearful I'll get rejected due to my BK only being 4 years old.  I never burned them, read they blacklist due to that and as stated did get a Amex Corporate Card through work, had to provide my SS but didn't see any pulls, but read a few stories of people being rejected due to previous poor history with them, even if their employer backed the CL.

[MrsCHX]

An 8 point difference isn't really "way lower". I wouldn't consider that a true discrepancy.

[Insoc]

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@MrsCHX wrote:
An 8 point difference isn't really "way lower". I wouldn't consider that a true discrepancy.

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Perhaps so, but I'd expect a higher jump in 3 months of paying it off, it went down 2 points was 547.