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Flexible spending credit card

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NhanNguyen
Established Member

Flexible spending credit card

I got BOA flexible spending credit card.they never report CL. My question is:

If I carry balance so how much my score normally drop?

Message 1 of 12
11 REPLIES 11
jsucool76
Super Contributor

Re: Flexible spending credit card

Basically...consider any balance you carry just like you would in any other card. The only difference is, you have no additional "Available Credit" from this card to count into your utilization. 

 

One thing I have heard you can do is report a high balance on it one month to get a good "High Balance" on your reports, and under a manual review, some UWs may use this as your limit. 

Message 2 of 12
llecs
Moderator Emeritus

Re: Flexible spending credit card

I wouldn't be too concerned. It's my understanding that if there's no CL reported, then newer versions of your FICO won't even factor it into utilization. There might be an issue on the TU98 version on here, but the TU versions used most, along with EQ and EX, will ignore it. The only two considerations to think about are the number of TLs reporting a balance and overall balance totals.

 

Message 3 of 12
TrishN
Established Contributor

Re: Flexible spending credit card

Is it better t downgrade for them to report credit limit? 

10/2012 Started with 588 EQ Fico score and 20+ CA and CO
1750$ total CL
10/2013 in 700 Club
Personal :Total CL 196K
Business : Total CL 200K
Business LOC : 1M
Garden From 10/13/2013
Message 4 of 12
jsucool76
Super Contributor

Re: Flexible spending credit card


@TrishN wrote:

Is it better t downgrade for them to report credit limit? 


I would say no. The benefits of a visa sig/ world MC imho are worth it. Plus the NPSL feature of your card comes in handy sometimes. 

Message 5 of 12
HiLine
Blogger

Re: Flexible spending credit card

Having a Visa signature will not help your utilization unless you intentionally stack a high balance for once. However, a Visa signature is a very reputable card. Under manual review, underwriters know that the limit on the card is at least 5,000, and that the credit quality of the borrower is at least very good.

Message 6 of 12
Revelate
Moderator Emeritus

Re: Flexible spending credit card


@llecs wrote:

I wouldn't be too concerned. It's my understanding that if there's no CL reported, then newer versions of your FICO won't even factor it into utilization. There might be an issue on the TU98 version on here, but the TU versions used most, along with EQ and EX, will ignore it. The only two considerations to think about are the number of TLs reporting a balance and overall balance totals.

 


Could you enlighten me what the source is on that?  The common non-counting for utilization is on charge cards which are term one-month under FICO '04 / '08, not FSA's to my knowledge; the traditional method of scoring any sort of FSA was high balance vs. current balance is my understanding of it (and admittedly it might have changed) which lead to the old wisdom of simply running one's entire financial life through the card while keeping the money you would've paid in either cash or payments in a slush fund... and then writing the check (or electronic funds transfer these days) for the balance on the card when it's close to max.

 

Edit: I suppose that's easily testable by anyone with access to a newer FICO model by simply letting a large amount report for any given month and seeing whether it made a difference or not.

 




        
Message 7 of 12
llecs
Moderator Emeritus

Re: Flexible spending credit card

I figured it would be like an Amex charge, where a balances shows but no CL. Only TU98 factored that in. Certainly could be wrong though.

 

OP, you can always cross-check with your FICO report if util is listed as a pos/neg reason.

Message 8 of 12
vanillabean
Valued Contributor

Re: Flexible spending credit card


@llecs wrote:

It's my understanding that if there's no CL reported, then newer versions of your FICO won't even factor it into utilization.


 

I have a card, also Bank of America, whose Largest past balance is reported and whose Credit limit is not. The Account type is Revolving, and the Descriptions field says Flexible spending credit card. The Ratio of your revolving balances to your credit limits in a myFICO report shows that EQ uses that card for util.

A balance increase on that card for that report made the overall util go up from 2% to 14%, while the score decreased by only 3 points. But perhaps it's not the actual FICO formula commenting on the util, maybe it's simply a parallel layer of educational guesses which may include stuff such as the score simulator.

That jump in util by the way crosses the often suggested cutoffs of 9% and 10% (and much more, including the 0% baseline and other zero stuff), which given the few points supports that something else is going on. So it would appear that OP's question is far from easy to answer.

Message 9 of 12
youngman1234
Established Contributor

Re: Flexible spending credit card

How does the NPSL feature work with BOA I got a cash rewards sig card 10k limit, will it allow me charge 20k if I pay in full the 10k I'm over limit ???
Message 10 of 12
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