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11 month or 1 year, does it really make a difference?

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Anonymous
Not applicable

11 month or 1 year, does it really make a difference?

Okay, so I currently have a CC that is 11 months ago (shows opened 7/1/2011), and my biling period closes on the 19th, so my balance is reported to the CRAs on the 20th (usually).  My question is, does having a card open for 11 months versus 1 year make a significant difference in FICO scoring?  I heard FICO rounds down, so my AAoA would actually show 0, instead of the .9 years, is this true?

 

I'm going to be applying for 2 new CCs (only have 1 at the moment, and it's my only line of credit), and I'm wondering if I should give it another month so it shows up as 1 year on all my reports before applying for anything.  Will waiting the extra month give my FICO scores a boost?

 

Here is where I currently sit:

 

EQ - one revolving account (never late, 11 mo. old), and 1 inquiry (6/5/11) Score: unknown

 

TU - one revolving account (never late, 11 mo. old), and 1 inquiry (6/28/11) Score: 698 (6/7/12 from myFICO.com)

 

EX - one revolving account (never late, 11 mo. old), and 1 inquiry (6/5/11) Score: unknown

 

Util is showing 8% for all 3 as well for my CC.

 

I suppose waiting an extra month would also make it so I wouldn't have any inquiries in the past year, which would probably also boost my score some.

 

Any insight or advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks!

Message 1 of 18
17 REPLIES 17
sunshine7157
Regular Contributor

Re: 11 month or 1 year, does it really make a difference?


@Anonymous wrote:

Okay, so I currently have a CC that is 11 months ago (shows opened 7/1/2011), and my biling period closes on the 19th, so my balance is reported to the CRAs on the 20th (usually).  My question is, does having a card open for 11 months versus 1 year make a significant difference in FICO scoring?  I heard FICO rounds down, so my AAoA would actually show 0, instead of the .9 years, is this true?

 

I'm going to be applying for 2 new CCs (only have 1 at the moment, and it's my only line of credit), and I'm wondering if I should give it another month so it shows up as 1 year on all my reports before applying for anything.  Will waiting the extra month give my FICO scores a boost?

 

Here is where I currently sit:

 

EQ - one revolving account (never late, 11 mo. old), and 1 inquiry (6/5/11) Score: unknown

 

TU - one revolving account (never late, 11 mo. old), and 1 inquiry (6/28/11) Score: 698 (6/7/12 from myFICO.com)

 

EX - one revolving account (never late, 11 mo. old), and 1 inquiry (6/5/11) Score: unknown

 

Util is showing 8% for all 3 as well for my CC.

 

I suppose waiting an extra month would also make it so I wouldn't have any inquiries in the past year, which would probably also boost my score some.

 

Any insight or advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks!


Believe it or not, yes that one month can make a pretty big difference. I'd wait that month. Keep in mind that once your new accounts are no longer considered 'new' in addition to the inquiries no longer factoring into your score, you just might see a pretty nice jump in score. Not only will that aid in your approval(s), but will also impact the credit line(s) you may be given. IMHO, wait for it..... Also, see if you can get your util to <5% just to give yourself that extra cushion. My score rises when I'm under 5%.

Message 2 of 18
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: 11 month or 1 year, does it really make a difference?


@sunshine7157 wrote:
Believe it or not, yes that one month can make a pretty big difference. I'd wait that month. Keep in mind that once your new accounts are no longer considered 'new' in addition to the inquiries no longer factoring into your score, you just might see a pretty nice jump in score. Not only will that aid in your approval(s), but will also impact the credit line(s) you may be given. IMHO, wait for it..... Also, see if you can get your util to <5% just to give yourself that extra cushion. My score rises when I'm under 5%.


Thanks for the reply.

 

Yeah, what I plan on doing is getting like 1 or 2% util on my CC, which will report next month, which will also report the history as 1 year.  So overall, I'll have no recent inquiries, no new accounts, util under 5%, and no baddies (never had any anyways).  I'm hoping it will give me a signifcant boost, which would be great.

Message 3 of 18
sunshine7157
Regular Contributor

Re: 11 month or 1 year, does it really make a difference?

Yeah. Let us know when you find out. I expect a pretty decent bump in your score. Great job!

Message 4 of 18
sunshine7157
Regular Contributor

Re: 11 month or 1 year, does it really make a difference?


@sunshine7157 wrote:

Yeah. Let us know when you find out. I expect a pretty decent bump in your score. Great job!


I would also suggest trying to get a credit limit increase on the cc you already have, but only if it can be done without a hard inquiry (and that depends on the cc). But if you can pull that off it would report at the higher line next time it reports & that also tends to influence future credit lines.

Message 5 of 18
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: 11 month or 1 year, does it really make a difference?


@sunshine7157 wrote:

@sunshine7157 wrote:

Yeah. Let us know when you find out. I expect a pretty decent bump in your score. Great job!


I would also suggest trying to get a credit limit increase on the cc you already have, but only if it can be done without a hard inquiry (and that depends on the cc). But if you can pull that off it would report at the higher line next time it reports & that also tends to influence future credit lines.


Yeah, I'll probably be contacting my CCC tomorrow to see about a CLI.  I used their chat support today, and they said there is a good chance it wouldn't have ot be a HP, so I'll call in tomorrow to actually request it, and they'll let me know whether or not it will require a HP before they actually submit the request.

 

I'm assuming I have a good chance at getting a decent increase considering I've been with them almost a year now, always PIF, never late, and I've never requested a CLI thus far.

 

I'll let you know.

Message 6 of 18
OhioCPA
Frequent Contributor

Re: 11 month or 1 year, does it really make a difference?


@Anonymous wrote:

I heard FICO rounds down, so my AAoA would actually show 0, instead of the .9 years, is this true?

 


FICO does round down for AAoA with the minimum being one year.  Thus, your AAoA won't change for at least another year.

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Message 7 of 18
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: 11 month or 1 year, does it really make a difference?


@OhioCPA wrote:

@Anonymous wrote:

I heard FICO rounds down, so my AAoA would actually show 0, instead of the .9 years, is this true?

 


FICO does round down for AAoA with the minimum being one year.  Thus, your AAoA won't change for at least another year.


How is that possible?  You're saying that someone with a credit history of 1 month, and someone with a credit history of 1 year, 11 months would have the same score if we were basing it on AAoA alone?

Message 8 of 18
DaveSignal
Valued Contributor

Re: 11 month or 1 year, does it really make a difference?


@Anonymous wrote:

@OhioCPA wrote:

@Anonymous wrote:

I heard FICO rounds down, so my AAoA would actually show 0, instead of the .9 years, is this true?

 


FICO does round down for AAoA with the minimum being one year.  Thus, your AAoA won't change for at least another year.


How is that possible?  You're saying that someone with a credit history of 1 month, and someone with a credit history of 1 year, 11 months would have the same score if we were basing it on AAoA alone?


If the banker is right, then on AAoA alone, yes, but that is not the only factor that comes into play by waiting another month.  You will get points for not having new accounts or inquries in the last year which is a whole diferent scoring factor.

 

But you will probably get points also for having a second or third positive revolving account if you open them.

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Message 9 of 18
MarineVietVet
Moderator Emeritus

Re: 11 month or 1 year, does it really make a difference?


@Anonymous wrote:

@OhioCPA wrote:

@Anonymous wrote:

I heard FICO rounds down, so my AAoA would actually show 0, instead of the .9 years, is this true?

 


FICO does round down for AAoA with the minimum being one year.  Thus, your AAoA won't change for at least another year.


How is that possible?  You're saying that someone with a credit history of 1 month, and someone with a credit history of 1 year, 11 months would have the same score if we were basing it on AAoA alone?


It's built into the system that you can't (for scoring purposes) have an AAoA of less than one year. And since AAoA is rounded down then yes a history of one month and a history of one year, 11 months is scored the same.

Message 10 of 18
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