topic Re: Help me choose my next credit card.... in Credit Card Applications

Help me choose my next credit card....

Anonymous — Mon, 18 May 2020 06:00:59 GMT

I'm looking into applying for a new card. My priorities, in order, are:

1) no annual fee

2) 0 balance transfer fee, 6-18 months 0 APR (introductory rates/promotions)

3) best chance at high balance

4) some form of rewards

Would be nice if there was pre-approval/soft pull but not mandatory. Also, if anyone knows what the best Fico score to use as a general guideline for applying for new credit cards is id appeciate it.

Re: Help me choose my next credit card....

M_Smart007 — Mon, 18 May 2020 06:11:19 GMT

Discover IT or IT miles?

Re: Help me choose my next credit card....

Clegga — Mon, 18 May 2020 08:16:32 GMT

Discover It is pretty great, 2% cash back first year. I was approved for the student version without any credit history as my first card, so it's probably not hard to get with scores over 700. You can get pre-approval offers through experian's free account.

Re: Help me choose my next credit card....

elixerin — Mon, 18 May 2020 14:23:56 GMT

BT no fee is gonna be Amex ED, Chase Slate which i dont think is available currently, Bank AmeriCard from BofA, Suntrust has a no BT-fee card but its a 3.25% APR over 36 month offer so not exactly 0

Then theres CU's, they are usually the best for BT's or CA's

BT's with some sort of rewards will usually have the 3-5% fee and are p much everywhere

Re: Help me choose my next credit card....

PutThatMoneyOnTheTable — Mon, 18 May 2020 14:28:15 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I'm looking into applying for a new card. My priorities, in order, are:

1) no annual fee
2) 0 balance transfer fee, 6-18 months 0 APR (introductory rates/promotions)
3) best chance at high balance
4) some form of rewards

Would be nice if there was pre-approval/soft pull but not mandatory. Also, if anyone knows what the best Fico score to use as a general guideline for applying for new credit cards is id appeciate it.

BB&T has soft pull approval if you are pre-approved but I'm not sure it fits the bill based on your other 4 criteria.

Re: Help me choose my next credit card....

Shooting-For-800 — Mon, 18 May 2020 16:02:06 GMT

QuickSilver or SavorOne?

Re: Help me choose my next credit card....

Anonymous — Mon, 18 May 2020 16:15:48 GMT

how would i check for pre-approval?

a new credit card with no hard inquiry would be outstanding

Re: Help me choose my next credit card....

M_Smart007 — Mon, 18 May 2020 16:40:25 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
how would i check for pre-approval?

a new credit card with no hard inquiry would be outstanding

Lenders look more at new accounts than inquiries.

Re: Help me choose my next credit card....

Harvey26 — Tue, 19 May 2020 01:10:13 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
how would i check for pre-approval?

a new credit card with no hard inquiry would be outstanding

https://www.bbt.com/offers/checkOffers

Re: Help me choose my next credit card....

Anonymous — Tue, 19 May 2020 02:00:15 GMT

@Harvey26 wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
how would i check for pre-approval?

a new credit card with no hard inquiry would be outstanding
https://www.bbt.com/offers/checkOffers

I guess since i live in MA i cant get a pre appoval offer??

Re: Help me choose my next credit card....

coldfusion — Tue, 19 May 2020 11:46:52 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@Harvey26 wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
how would i check for pre-approval?

a new credit card with no hard inquiry would be outstanding
https://www.bbt.com/offers/checkOffers
I guess since i live in MA i cant get a pre appoval offer??

BB&T is a regional bank that employs geofencing, and Massachusetts is outside of their geofence. No soup for you.

More relevant to you is that if you're still planning on applying for a mortgage within the next 12 months the last thing you should be doing is applying for other credit products.

I just saw in another thread your comment about your having a CARES forbearance annotation on your/your wife's credit reports. You definitely shouldn't be applying for additional credit right now.

Re: Help me choose my next credit card....

Anonymous — Tue, 19 May 2020 12:13:01 GMT

How are the starting lines on the BB&T card.

Is it on par with the big banks.

Re: Help me choose my next credit card....

Anonymous — Tue, 19 May 2020 13:26:35 GMT

ITs more for after a mortgage. planning ahead.

do you think the student loan note about forebearance will be an issue? in other threads the general opinion seemed to be that it wont effect the scores

Re: Help me choose my next credit card....

coldfusion — Tue, 19 May 2020 20:28:36 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
ITs more for after a mortgage. planning ahead.

do you think the student loan note about forebearance will be an issue? in other threads the general opinion seemed to be that it wont effect the scores

It's up to each individual lender to determine for themselves if and how a forbearance annotation skews their assessment of an applicant's creditworthiness. In some ways it's not unlike collecting a number of HPs within a few days while applying for car loans - FICO 8 will for scoring purposes consider all of them as a single HP but an issuer can at their discretion choose to consider them individually.

The higher priority right now is that if considering applying for a mortgage within the next 12 months you should not be applying for additional credit until after the house closing.

Re: Help me choose my next credit card....

Anonymous — Tue, 19 May 2020 20:53:43 GMT

@coldfusion wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
ITs more for after a mortgage. planning ahead.

do you think the student loan note about forebearance will be an issue? in other threads the general opinion seemed to be that it wont effect the scores
It's up to each individual lender to determine for themselves if and how a forbearance annotation skews their assessment of an applicant's creditworthiness. In some ways it's not unlike collecting a number of HPs within a few days while applying for car loans - FICO 8 will for scoring purposes consider all of them as a single HP but an issuer can at their discretion choose to consider them individually.

The higher priority right now is that if considering applying for a mortgage within the next 12 months you should not be applying for additional credit until after the house closing.

Yup, for sure. from other threads i learned not to do anything thats adds a line of credit or does a hard pull.

i was also told i should apply for a new credit line after the mortgage goes through as it may effect my score and ability to do so. so trying to do the research on that now.

it seems crazy that remark could hold so much weight... i guess i should have done more digging at the time, but it seemed like a no brainer to take that 3 months of student loan payments with 0 itnerest forberance and put it into 29% APR debt and pay down balances when balances are all that stands in the way of me and getting to 760 middle score.

i mean to me thats just a sound financial decision not a financial hardship. if i knew they would have put in that remark i would have paused and thought about it but i never considered that afterr talking to them they said it wouldnt be reported as a negative or hurt my credit score.

would i get a chance to explain that to the underwriter?

Re: Help me choose my next credit card....

credit_is_crack — Thu, 21 May 2020 05:33:04 GMT

It sounds like what you posted about and what you're trying to accomplish are not the same.

if the intent is to drive scores up for a mortgage, I would not apply for a new card (unless you don't plan to buy a house for at least a year). The other posts are correct, adding a card won't impact your score too much if you have a dense profile, but lenders aren't looking at score impact as much as the credit seeking behavior.

Mortgage scores are heavily impacted with recent activity (inquiries and new accounts), but the new account will cause more damage than the inquiry.

Moving a balance to a 0% card is a good decision at the surface, but if your limit barely covers the debt then you'll destroy your score with that high utilization being reported.

looking for a good card - plenty of options. Trying to figure out how to increase home buying power - do not transfer those balances over. Credit card debt "scores" differently than installment loan debt.

maybe rephrase the inquiry and intent in the mortgage section and you'll get some better insight from the higher visibility