Hi, This is my first post; thank you everyone in advance for any help, and apologies if anything here seems like a silly question. I recently paid off all my credit cards and I want to get my score as high as possible - I would really appreciate any help or guidance on how I can further improve my score; I'm hoping to get it past 750 eventually!
Stats
Late 20's (no idea if that is a factor), salary of 85k, Pay Rent @ 2k per month, lived in the USA for four years in July (now a greencard holder - maybe my very low CL's were due to me not being a permanent resident when I first joined).
- Recent Enquiries - 4
- New Accounts - 1
- On Time Payments -94%
February
- Chase Slate - Three Years - $800 CL
- Capital One Platinum - Two Years - $600 CL (2 accidental late payments of 30 days, that were corrected)
- Credit One Visa - 1 year $350 CL (2 accidental late payments of 30 days, that were corrected)
February Scores - Balance $1750 total - 100 % utilization
- Transunion 530 (Creditwise)
- Fico 493
March - Paid off All of the Above to Zero Balance
- Applied and approved for Chase Freedom Unlimited -$5000 CL
March Scores - Zero Balance 3% utilization
- Transunion 604 (Creditwise) - Chase Freedom has yet to show up in report (total credit limit showing at $1750)
- Fico 620 - Chase Freedom has yet to show up in report (total credit limit showing at $1750)
Background
For the past three years, I've made the mistake of my cards being maxed out, and only paying the minimum each month; I won't be doing that any more! It took me some time to understand the American Credit system - I'm an immigrant but America is now my home! That's also the reason I started with such low limits.
I requested my full Transunion report and realised they had been negatively reporting me for having my balance so close to the limit (I was doing the same with Chase though it didn't show up as a negative account in there - maybe because there has never been any late payments with Chase?). Also, a "serious deliquency" shows on my Fico and I think that is just Capital One reporting me negatively - I've checked the report and there is nothing showing as outstanding, unpaid or disputed.
NB - I really regret the late payments of such small amounts and they were accidental; I've written goodwill letters to Capital One and CreditOne but don't have high hopes of getting these reversed....
Current Situation
No balances on any of the cards, I'm using my Freedom up to about $1500 this month and paying it in full, which I plan to do ongoing.
Advice?
What should I do next to improve my score?
- I'm hesitant to try my luck with any other applications at the moment (I tried to get CapitalOne to increase my limit which they refused but they promise that they don't pull any reports or affect credit score when they check).
- I'm thinking of using this Freedom Card and paying it off each month
- I would like to try apply for the Chase Sapphire Preferred in about 6 months as Chase seem to have been kind to me and it seems like they give higher starting limits for that card.
- I promise never to make a late payment again! I had no idea how serious they were in the USA - and they were so low ($25) I'm furious at myself for forgetting!! I always auto-pay the minimums now.
- Where do you think I can get my score to in 6 months or a year? I'm worried that it's going to be static for years given my longest card is only three years...
Thanks so much everyone!
