topic Re: Decreased my Utilization from 98% to 70% - Should I wait to Apply for Chase Slate, or Apply Now? in Credit Card Applications

Decreased my Utilization from 80% to 60% - Should I wait to Apply for Chase Slate, or Apply Now?

leo222 — Sat, 19 Oct 2019 18:27:45 GMT

Hello,

Due to many factors, I haven't been in the best place financially in recent years. Lately, though, I've started making money again - I completely paid off my smallest card (AMEX), and, of the other two cards that I have balances/debt with, I paid about 30% of the balance of the highest balance (and highest APR) card. Overall, my utilization should have dropped from 98% to 70% (Edit: 80% to 60%)

Now, mind you, I have made these payments in the past 1-2 weeks, and they have not reflected in my credit scores yet - My score has not changed, as I checked it before the payments, and right now. I really want to apply to Chase Slate and/or Barclay's Card, because of the 0 balance transfer fees. My strategy was/is to pay a good chunk of my debt, allow my score to improve, and then to apply for a balance transfer, to finish off the rest (or as much of it as possible).

So again, I'm wondering if I should wait a month for my credit card companies to report the new balances, so my score will improve, or to apply right away?

Update: I downloaded my credit report after I started this thread, and the 98% util that I initially posted was incorrect. I had some accounts without debt/balances that I had not taken account of. It was/is closer to 80%, and my new credit utilization will about 60%, maybe even slightly lower.

Re: Decreased my Utilization from 98% to 70% - Should I wait to Apply for Chase Slate, or Apply Now?

RSX — Fri, 18 Oct 2019 18:40:42 GMT

I would wait until they appear.

it shouldn't be much longer to wait, and you want the best chance at the BT.

Re: Decreased my Utilization from 98% to 70% - Should I wait to Apply for Chase Slate, or Apply Now?

Remedios — Fri, 18 Oct 2019 18:41:08 GMT

@leo222 wrote:
Hello,

Due to many factors, I haven't been in the best spot financially. Lately, I have started making some money - I completely paid off my smallest card (AMEX), and, of the other two cards that I have balances/debt with, I paid about 30% of the balance of the highest balance (and highest APR) card. Overall, my utilization should have dropped from 98% to 70%.

Now, mind you, I have made these payments in the past 1-2 weeks, and they have not reflected in my credit scores yet - My score has not changed, as I checked it before the payments, and right now. I really want to apply to Chase Slate and/or Barclay's Card, because of the 0 balance transfer fees. My strategy was/is to pay a good chunk of my debt, allow my score to improve, and then to apply for a balance transfer, to finish off the rest (or as much of it as possible).

So again, I'm wondering if I should wait a month for my credit card companies to report the new balances, so my score will improve, or to apply right away?

Thanks!

You have to wait, because if CRAs have not updated yet, your improvement is not visible to lenders.

However, 70% utilization is still very high, especially if you have maxed out cards. I suggest you try and bring it down even further if you want to improve your odds of getting approved.

Re: Decreased my Utilization from 98% to 70% - Should I wait to Apply for Chase Slate, or Apply Now?

randomguy1 — Fri, 18 Oct 2019 18:59:21 GMT

You need to look up your actual FICO scores. With that utilization, there's a good chance you denied. If you get approved, they could grant you a very small cl which will be useless for BT.

and yes wait for them to report.

Re: Decreased my Utilization from 98% to 70% - Should I wait to Apply for Chase Slate, or Apply Now?

leo222 — Fri, 18 Oct 2019 19:12:07 GMT

Thanks - Yeah I'll need to check my actual FICO score and utilization percentage. I just checked Discover's online FICO Scorecard, and they have my revolving utilization at 77% (instead of 98%). Sorry, still a bit new to this.

Re: Decreased my Utilization from 98% to 70% - Should I wait to Apply for Chase Slate, or Apply Now?

CreditCuriosity — Fri, 18 Oct 2019 19:21:44 GMT

90% is considered a max card. I would try to get to 50ish% util then apply for a 0% card for best chances and limit if possible as 70% as echoed above is still very high and likely to scare some lenders

Re: Decreased my Utilization from 98% to 70% - Should I wait to Apply for Chase Slate, or Apply Now?

Anonymous — Fri, 18 Oct 2019 19:38:09 GMT

@randomguy1 wrote:
... If you get approved, they could grant you a very small cl which will be useless for BT ...

ditto

Re: Decreased my Utilization from 98% to 70% - Should I wait to Apply for Chase Slate, or Apply Now?

CreditInspired — Fri, 18 Oct 2019 20:51:51 GMT

Hi OP and welcome

Personally, I wouldn't even attempt to apply for a Chase or any other CC with your UT, even though you've lowered it. As others have said, it's still too high.

So that's your aggregate UT, what is your UT on each of your CCs. This should be your goal before applying for new CCs or even CLIs. Work on getting your aggregate UT to <28.9. And if you have any individual CCs with high UT, work on getting those to <8.9%.

GL2U

Re: Decreased my Utilization from 98% to 70% - Should I wait to Apply for Chase Slate, or Apply Now?

Anonymous — Fri, 18 Oct 2019 21:38:13 GMT

@CreditInspired wrote:
Hi OP and welcome

Personally, I wouldn't even attempt to apply for a Chase or any other CC with your UT, even though you've lowered it. As others have said, it's still too high.

So that's your aggregate UT, what is your UT on each of your CCs. This should be your goal before applying for new CCs or even CLIs. Work on getting your aggregate UT to <28.9. And if you have any individual CCs with high UT, work on getting those to <8.9%.

GL2U

Think you have the bolded portion of your comment reversed.

Re: Decreased my Utilization from 98% to 70% - Should I wait to Apply for Chase Slate, or Apply Now?

Girlzilla88 — Fri, 18 Oct 2019 22:55:13 GMT

No I agree with them under 30% with individual under 8.9 but Ideally if they could get 8.9% across the board that would be LOVELY!

Re: Decreased my Utilization from 98% to 70% - Should I wait to Apply for Chase Slate, or Apply Now?

Remedios — Fri, 18 Oct 2019 23:00:40 GMT

@Girlzilla88 wrote:
No I agree with them under 30% with individual under 8.9 but Ideally if they could get 8.9% across the board that would be LOVELY!

@Girlzilla88 if individual cards are under 9%, how can aggregate exceed that?

Unless we're doing quantum equations here, it's not happening.

Math, yo. Math.

Re: Decreased my Utilization from 98% to 70% - Should I wait to Apply for Chase Slate, or Apply Now?

Girlzilla88 — Fri, 18 Oct 2019 23:03:06 GMT

Isn't aggregate the total .....so if individual was 8.9 or less depending on how many cards the total could be 30% or less am I missing something?! LOL

Re: Decreased my Utilization from 98% to 70% - Should I wait to Apply for Chase Slate, or Apply Now?

Anonymous — Fri, 18 Oct 2019 23:11:38 GMT

@Girlzilla88 wrote:
Isn't aggregate the total .....so if individual was 8.9 or less depending on how many cards the total could be 30% or less am I missing something?! LOL

Yes, you're missing something. Utilization is caculated as a percentage of total available credit; its not an additive operation. So if your individual card utilizations are below 8.9% it is mathematically impossible for aggregate utilization to be 28.9%.

I'd also want to point out that there's no 8.9% utilization breakpoint for individual card utilization.

Re: Decreased my Utilization from 98% to 70% - Should I wait to Apply for Chase Slate, or Apply Now?

Remedios — Fri, 18 Oct 2019 23:12:10 GMT

@Girlzilla88 wrote:
Isn't aggregate the total .....so if individual was 8.9 or less depending on how many cards the total could be 30% or less am I missing something?! LOL

You're missing something. You dont add up individual utilization percentages to determine aggregate utilization.

Re: Decreased my Utilization from 98% to 70% - Should I wait to Apply for Chase Slate, or Apply Now?

Girlzilla88 — Fri, 18 Oct 2019 23:18:18 GMT

LOLOLOL I'm so confused now ROFL sooooo I know it won't say 8.9 obviously lol but if it was one card 8 one card 2 one card 5 one card 8 that would be under 30%?! Or are you referring to because they include car and home and things like that so the Utilization would be different (obviously higher?!)

Re: Decreased my Utilization from 98% to 70% - Should I wait to Apply for Chase Slate, or Apply Now?

Remedios — Fri, 18 Oct 2019 23:25:26 GMT

@Girlzilla88 wrote:
LOLOLOL I'm so confused now ROFL sooooo I know it won't say 8.9 obviously lol but if it was one card 8 one card 2 one card 5 one card 8 that would be under 30%?! Or are you referring to because they include car and home and things like that so the Utilization would be different (obviously higher?!)

"The only winning move is not to play." A strange game. The only winning move is not to play. How about a nice game of chess?" ~ Star Wars Strike Back

Re: Decreased my Utilization from 98% to 70% - Should I wait to Apply for Chase Slate, or Apply Now?

Anonymous — Fri, 18 Oct 2019 23:25:49 GMT

Out of all the Banks that would approve someone at 70% utilization, I very much doubt Chase is one. Best to get it down further, though even 50% might e too uch for Chase to consider. If you plan to BT most of you're CC dept, Discover might.

Re: Decreased my Utilization from 98% to 70% - Should I wait to Apply for Chase Slate, or Apply Now?

K-in-Boston — Sat, 19 Oct 2019 00:24:07 GMT

@Girlzilla88 wrote:
LOLOLOL I'm so confused now ROFL sooooo I know it won't say 8.9 obviously lol but if it was one card 8 one card 2 one card 5 one card 8 that would be under 30%?! Or are you referring to because they include car and home and things like that so the Utilization would be different (obviously higher?!)

The individual percentages don't matter when calculating overall utilization. That is calculated by adding up all of your total revolving balances and dividing it by your total credit lines. So the 8%, 2%, 5%, and 8% you mention mean nothing for this calculation since we do not know what those numbers are and how they relate to each other. But if we add some credit lines and balances here, this is how it would look:

	Balance	Limit	Utilization
Card A	800	10,000	8.00%
Card B	20	1000	2.00%
Card C	25	500	5.00%
Card D	48	600	8.00%
Overall	893	12,100	7.38%

---

As far as the Chase app goes, with 70% overall utilization it is very unlikely that an approval would happen in most circumstances.

Re: Decreased my Utilization from 98% to 70% - Should I wait to Apply for Chase Slate, or Apply Now?

Girlzilla88 — Sat, 19 Oct 2019 00:25:33 GMT

Oooooh Lovely Ok yes thank you that makes a lot more sense seeing it that way! <3

Re: Decreased my Utilization from 98% to 70% - Should I wait to Apply for Chase Slate, or Apply Now?

Remedios — Sat, 19 Oct 2019 00:30:30 GMT

@Girlzilla88 wrote:
Oooooh Lovely Ok yes thank you that makes a lot more sense seeing it that way! <3

Quick quiz @Girlzilla88

What's your aggregate utilization right now?

Answer quickly or the puppy pays!