topic Re: Taking the plunge... in Credit Card Applications

Taking the plunge...

Anonymous — Tue, 21 Apr 2015 19:12:20 GMT

I've wanted to apply for the USBank Cash+ card for some time. My phone bill is about $500 per month so the 5% is too much for me to pass up. Think I'm going to go ahead and app, but want some feedback before I do so.

A quick rundown of my profile:

- I applied a little over a month ago for the Discover It card. Pulled Equifax and gave me an $11,500 line.

- Only have one other credit card that I've had for about 10 years and never use.

- Had a late payment on my record 1 year and 1 month ago. Have had 6 late payments in total on my profile [for shame].

- Have $14,000 in college loans. A car loan with about $400 left on it. Pretty much my only loans.

- Pay my cards off every two weeks to keep utilization next to zero.

- Current scores are 710 TU, 722 EX and not sure about EQ's score, didn't read it on my Discover acceptance letter, but they are resending me the letter so I can have the month-old score [waiting for letter before I apply].

Give me a prediction of my chances. Help me either make a great or horrible decision.

Re: Taking the plunge...

barthooper — Tue, 21 Apr 2015 19:55:08 GMT

I can't provide anything as far as approval odds go, but it should be noted that for optimal scoring, you should have one card reporting a small balance. Having 0% overall utilization is slightly worse for FICO scoring.

Re: Taking the plunge...

Anonymous — Tue, 21 Apr 2015 20:07:13 GMT

I was not aware of that. So utilization should be, what 5% or so? I always thought paying off your cards each month was the way to go.

Re: Taking the plunge...

barthooper — Tue, 21 Apr 2015 20:10:58 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I was not aware of that. So utilization should be, what 5% or so? I always thought paying off your cards each month was the way to go.

The lower the better apparently, even 1%, but just on one card. You get dinged a bit for having the credit and not using any of it. Keep in mind that utilization history is not considered and it changes month to month as the card companies report to the bureaus, so this fine tuning really only benefits you when you're about to go app for new credit.

Edit: Let it report on the statement but pay before the due date so you don't pay interest on the balance.

Re: Taking the plunge...

jamesdwi — Tue, 21 Apr 2015 20:15:07 GMT

I do hear they approve 95% of all 850 fico applicants....

Re: Taking the plunge...

Anonymous — Tue, 21 Apr 2015 20:24:36 GMT

Is it that hard to get?

I met an NPR reporter last week that had the card. She just graduated from grad school and makes peanuts, but does have a USBank checking account. Unfortunately my state does not have USBank.