topic Re: One more Amex 3X CLI question..... in Credit Card Applications

One more Amex 3X CLI question.....

Anonymous — Mon, 22 Dec 2014 19:24:58 GMT

Hi Everybody. Grateful to be here and I have a few questions about Amex 3X CLI.

As a proud new member since the 16th, I've been trying for figure the best way to go about this. I was approved for $8500 and this is my highest limit to date after cleaning up the wreckage of really poor credit. In the process of rebuilding nearly two years ago, I bought a secured Cap 1 for $300. Used and paid it over and over again, then applied for store cards, and other unsecured cards. I now have about 30K available credit and I'm actually blown away and really excited about it. I'm very proud of myself, but my main question is this: Should I close the secured card and get the $300 back, or just keep it open? If I do close it, should I wait till AFTER the 61 days with AMEX? Does it even matter?

The next question I have been reading mixed results all over this forum. Should I pay my balance before they cut the statement or after? Usually, with all my other cards, I just pay them as I see them. I'm kind of obsessed with it and I find it relaxing......sort of like a hobby. However, I'll pay any way I can to insure the CLI. I realize there are no guarantees, but anyone's own experience will be helpful.

Really, though, I think closing the Cap 1 secured card is my most burning question.

I realize this can be a tired subject, so please forgive the redundancy.

This forum is awesome and I wouldn't have achieved what I've achieved without the knowledge of you good people. Thank you so much!

Re: One more Amex 3X CLI question.....

FinStar — Mon, 22 Dec 2014 19:27:08 GMT

There's a great wealth of information on the following thread which can answer some of your specific questions:

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Card-Applications/The-Definitive-Amex-3X-CLI-Guide/td-p/1811071

Re: One more Amex 3X CLI question.....

Anonymous — Mon, 22 Dec 2014 19:44:26 GMT

That guide is awesome, thanks. However (and maybe I'm missing something), it doesn't address the question of closing the secured account.

I will keep researching.

Thanks!

Re: One more Amex 3X CLI question.....

Anonymous — Mon, 22 Dec 2014 19:53:45 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
That guide is awesome, thanks. However (and maybe I'm missing something), it doesn't address the question of closing the secured account.

I will keep researching.

Thanks!

In my opinion, if the secured card doesn't have an AF, then keep it. If it does, close it.

It sounds like you have a fairly thin credit profile still, and the secured card is your oldest or nearly oldest revolving account. Unless and until you have a clear reason to close it, sock drawer it and let it age, at least, until it has two full years of good payment history attached to it, which is all thats reflected on your reports.

After you close it, it will still help your AAoA for 10 years.

Re: One more Amex 3X CLI question.....

Chris679 — Mon, 22 Dec 2014 23:42:28 GMT

Personally I would close it if they will not unsecure the card. If you are asking if that will affect your CLI from Amex I would not worry about that at all. Also feel free to pay your balances whenever you want to, on time of course.

Re: One more Amex 3X CLI question.....

taxi818 — Tue, 23 Dec 2014 02:32:07 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
That guide is awesome, thanks. However (and maybe I'm missing something), it doesn't address the question of closing the secured account.

I will keep researching.

Thanks!

It depends. So what you're saying you have 300 on cap one card. In most cases. Cap one cards are only partially secured. So most will have about 150 or less invested Imo it's worth leaving that chump change on the card and lwttheyears grow your score even further. I have a 1k secure cap 1. But only 149 dollars of my own money. That little cash won't help me at all. So I leave the card open But. Ymmv.

Re: One more Amex 3X CLI question.....

compassion101 — Tue, 23 Dec 2014 07:52:26 GMT

Close the card. There's better use for your $300

Personally I wouldn't request the amex 61 day increase esp. if it is your biggest limit by far. But I know many here would so gl if you do

Re: One more Amex 3X CLI question.....

Anonymous — Tue, 23 Dec 2014 10:50:12 GMT

Thanks for the input!

I should have been more clear. The CL on the Cap 1 is $750, of which $300 is mine. I think I'll call them today and see if they'll do a PC without a HP. Not sure if that's possible, but I'm going to try. Couldn't hurt.

I have a the Discover It with 4K and a Freedom with $6500 (auto bump after 60 days from $4000), so the $8500 isn't a huge leap. Maybe I exaggerated "by far" a bit.

Thanks again folks.

Re: One more Amex 3X CLI question.....

taxi818 — Tue, 23 Dec 2014 11:53:02 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Thanks for the input!

I should have been more clear. The CL on the Cap 1 is $750, of which $300 is mine. I think I'll call them today and see if they'll do a PC without a HP. Not sure if that's possible, but I'm going to try. Couldn't hurt.

I have a the Discover It with 4K and a Freedom with $6500 (auto bump after 60 days from $4000), so the $8500 isn't a huge leap. Maybe I exaggerated "by far" a bit.

Thanks again folks.

Yes it would hurt. But they don't PC secured. In that case. Just close and re app for no secured. Which they will be happy to do. I'm actually surprised how generous cap one has become over the last year. Is that your ony cap one? Or do you have another ?

Re: One more Amex 3X CLI question.....

Anonymous — Tue, 23 Dec 2014 12:43:22 GMT

Thanks. That makes poerfect sense.

No, I have no other Cap 1. I got that to build my credit and I have to say it worked very well. I used the heck out of it and PIF every month and they bumped me up to $750 after about 8 months or so, to my surprise.

I can't remember if there's an AF. At the time I got a FP card and dumped that joke about 6 months ago. Anyway, I'm calling to see if there is a fee. If so, I'm going to 86 it. If not, I'll keep in the drawer.

I'm addicted to the credit game and I never want to loose again.

Re: One more Amex 3X CLI question.....

taxi818 — Tue, 23 Dec 2014 12:47:20 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Thanks. That makes poerfect sense.

No, I have no other Cap 1. I got that to build my credit and I have to say it worked very well. I used the heck out of it and PIF every month and they bumped me up to $750 after about 8 months or so, to my surprise.

I can't remember if there's an AF. At the time I got a FP card and dumped that joke about 6 months ago. Anyway, I'm calling to see if there is a fee. If so, I'm going to 86 it. If not, I'll keep in the drawer.

I'm addicted to the credit game and I never want to loose again.

Good luck. Well because they gave me second card with 3500. I kept the secured. I just charge a donut or two. It's dies have 29 AF on secured. But other card. No AF. I'm showing my loyalty

Re: One more Amex 3X CLI question.....

Anonymous — Tue, 23 Dec 2014 12:55:15 GMT

Thanks you.

(Excuse my loose/lose typo)

Re: One more Amex 3X CLI question.....

takeshi74 — Tue, 23 Dec 2014 13:20:32 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Should I close the secured card and get the $300 back, or just keep it open? If I do close it, should I wait till AFTER the 61 days with AMEX? Does it even matter?

Probably doesn't matter as AmEx bases their decision on their most recent SP for you. Should is for you to determine using the information in the Closing Credit Cards thread (linked in the Helpful Threads sticky) and your needs/wants.

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/fico/board/message?board.id=creditcard&thread.id=117125&jump=true

$300 probably won't have much impact if you have $30K total. You can calculate utilization before and after closure to aid you in your decision making.

For scoring purposes at least 2-3 cards are recommended in your mix of credit. If you have 2-3 other cards aside form the secured cards then it's not really needed for this purpose.

Always consider your sources. Keep in mind that myFICO'ers tend to follow the "keep it open if no AF" mantra. However, you need to decide based on your own criteria.

EDIT: Sorry, didn't see that the limit on that card is acutally $750 until later. It's losing the $750 in available credit and not the $300 deposit that would impact utilization when closing the card.

@Anonymous wrote:
Should I pay my balance before they cut the statement or after?

If you want feedback you need to clarify exactly what you're looking to do. The general advice is don't exceed 30% utilization. For optimal scoring purposes (i.e. when applying for new credit, CLI's, etc) let only one balance report at 10% or less. The specific approach you want to take is up to you to determine and you may want to track the effects on your scoring to aid you in your decision making as we can't tell you how many points you stand to gain or if the gain is neglible or if you'll find it worth the effort. Some seem to find joy in squeezing out every possible point every month and fret when a balance posts on a card that wasn't inteded to post a balance or when a card posts a higher balance than intended. Some don't want the hassle. You have to figure out where your management style falls and that will give you your answer.

@compassion101 wrote:
Personally I wouldn't request the amex 61 day increase

I don't see any reason to not request one. As pointed out in the 3X CLI Guide the decision is based on an SP so an HP is not incurred whether approved, counteroffered or denied. If too much is requested a counteroffer will be made if the requstor qualifies for a CLI. If AmEx needs to verify income they will request a 4506-T. If one doesn't want to deal with the 4506-T then one doesn't have to follow through with it and simply loses the CLI.

All that said, one could have other reasons that would weigh in as well.

Re: One more Amex 3X CLI question.....

Anonymous — Tue, 23 Dec 2014 13:10:16 GMT

Great link, t

Re: One more Amex 3X CLI question.....

taxi818 — Tue, 23 Dec 2014 13:54:29 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Great link, t

It's foes not hurt to request. As stated above. If approved. You will stop any utilization issues.

Re: One more Amex 3X CLI question.....

aav — Wed, 24 Dec 2014 02:51:00 GMT

If the cap 1 Is the oldest account on your credit report, I wouldn't close it until after applying for the cli. You've had the cap 1 open 2 years.. How long after did you pck up the other secured ones? What is your aaoa? Dropping your oldest acct could cause your credit history to appear shorter, which may harm your credit score. Even though Amex uses internal scoring, I would play it on the safe side. That's just me. I like to have things lined up a certain way before applying for a CLI or new card.

Re: One more Amex 3X CLI question.....

Anonymous — Wed, 11 Feb 2015 14:48:31 GMT

I just decided to kepp it open. It's not costing me anything, so who cares I say.

Tomorrow is day 61. $8500 limit. Used roughly $1500 each month and paid throughout the month. Balance is 60 bucks I think right now and I'll pay that today.

So tomorrow when I get up at 5am, I'm going for 25K! Not too shabby if I get it. Hell, I couldn't buy a postage stamp 2 years ago.

Re: One more Amex 3X CLI question.....

Anonymous — Wed, 11 Feb 2015 14:50:21 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I just decided to kepp it open. It's not costing me anything, so who cares I say.

Tomorrow is day 61. $8500 limit. Used roughly $1500 each month and paid throughout the month. Balance is 60 bucks I think right now and I'll pay that today.

So tomorrow when I get up at 5am, I'm going for 25K! Not too shabby if I get it. Hell, I couldn't buy a postage stamp 2 years ago.

$24,990

Re: One more Amex 3X CLI question.....

Anonymous — Wed, 11 Feb 2015 14:52:11 GMT

Ha! Now I'm worried! Maybe I should do $24500. I really don't want to screw this up!

Re: One more Amex 3X CLI question.....

Anonymous — Wed, 11 Feb 2015 14:54:31 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Ha! Now I'm worried! Maybe I should do $24500. I really don't want to screw this up!

I did $24,000 to keep safe.