topic Re: Recently Married in Credit Card Applications

Recently Married

Anonymous — Wed, 29 Jul 2015 15:31:52 GMT

First actuall post on the board, but have been reading for a few months now. I recently got married and I'm really needing to know the best route to go for applying for a credit card in both our names. I have a two myself that I got in college (silly decision). Discover IT card with a CL of 1500 and a capital one card with a limit of 2000. Both are around 75% utilization. My wife has a card that her parents put in her name but she doesn't have access to with a CL of 15,000 that only has utilization of 17%. I know the best thing to do would just to pay mine down, but is there a card that we could get a approved for that i could transfer the balances of mine to? My credit score is 671 and her is 750. Thanks guys.

Re: Recently Married

Anonymous — Wed, 29 Jul 2015 15:20:40 GMT

Congrats on your marriage!

Re: Recently Married

OmarGB9 — Wed, 29 Jul 2015 16:25:40 GMT

What do you mean she doesn't have access to it even though it's in her name?

As for your question, you (or her, preferably) could go for a Chase Slate. Purely a BT card with a free FICO score. If you/her have no baddies, good income, and less than 5 accounts in the past 2 years you should be in good shape.

Re: Recently Married

ojefferyo — Wed, 29 Jul 2015 17:00:40 GMT

@OmarGB9 wrote:
What do you mean she doesn't have access to it even though it's in her name?

As for your question, you (or her, preferably) could go for a Chase Slate. Purely a BT card with a free FICO score. If you/her have no baddies, good income, and less than 5 accounts in the past 2 years you should be in good shape.

I think he means that her parents put her on as an AU but never gave her the actual card

Re: Recently Married

Anonymous — Wed, 29 Jul 2015 17:04:51 GMT

@ojefferyo wrote:
@OmarGB9 wrote:
What do you mean she doesn't have access to it even though it's in her name?

As for your question, you (or her, preferably) could go for a Chase Slate. Purely a BT card with a free FICO score. If you/her have no baddies, good income, and less than 5 accounts in the past 2 years you should be in good shape.
I think he means that her parents put her on as an AU but never gave her the actual card

Correct.

Thanks for the input.

Re: Recently Married

newhis — Wed, 29 Jul 2015 17:35:02 GMT

I read that sometimes Amex and Discover can give a card to someone with only AU history.

Check Amex pre-qual site (for her), she may get a card.

Your util is hurting you, don't app right now for a card on your name. When you get your util down to 25% then check the pre-qual sites, you may have to wait a month or so for them to update the SP they used to get you an offer, because sometimes they use SPs from a few weeks ago. Good luck.

Re: Recently Married

Anonymous — Wed, 29 Jul 2015 18:30:22 GMT

@newhis wrote:
I read that sometimes Amex and Discover can give a card to someone with only AU history.

Check Amex pre-qual site (for her), she may get a card.

Your util is hurting you, don't app right now for a card on your name. When you get your util down to 25% then check the pre-qual sites, you may have to wait a month or so for them to update the SP they used to get you an offer, because sometimes they use SPs from a few weeks ago. Good luck.

Yea she was pre-qualed for several cards at Amex. We will prolly go this route. Thanks.

Re: Recently Married

newhis — Wed, 29 Jul 2015 20:07:40 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Yea she was pre-qualed for several cards at Amex. We will prolly go this route. Thanks.

Go with ED or BCE, they are no AF and can grow 3X each time. My ED was 2K in January this year and now is 15K. Don't know if they have BT offers or if she can use her card to pay your debt, I don't have experience on BT yet.

She can add you as AU and if the limit is good it will help with your util. Good luck.

Re: Recently Married

Anonymous — Wed, 29 Jul 2015 20:23:06 GMT

@newhis wrote:
I read that sometimes Amex and Discover can give a card to someone with only AU history.

Check Amex pre-qual site (for her), she may get a card.

Your util is hurting you, don't app right now for a card on your name. When you get your util down to 25% then check the pre-qual sites, you may have to wait a month or so for them to update the SP they used to get you an offer, because sometimes they use SPs from a few weeks ago. Good luck.

I got my Discover prequal and approval with 3 six month old au accounts.

Re: Recently Married

Anonymous — Wed, 29 Jul 2015 20:36:19 GMT

What I would do is get your wife some accounts and keep the balances under 15%.Have her get her au card from her parents and app for a Macy's Am Ex in store. Try Am Ex ED. Capital One will ignore the au account and probably give her $300-$500.

On your accounts I would not charge on them anymore and pay $100-$150 per month on each card until you can get their combined balances below $900, then app for credit.

Re: Recently Married

Anonymous — Wed, 29 Jul 2015 22:42:46 GMT

Would it effect the CL we get having me as AI listed on the app rather than just waiting til afterwards to add me?

Re: Recently Married

Anonymous — Thu, 30 Jul 2015 00:27:10 GMT

You could be an au on any card your wife gets approved for after she gets the card. You may not want to do that on every card. You can do better if you each get your own credit. That way you keep your utilization separated.

I don't know your disposable income situation but if you can't afford $300 a month to put on both your cards for the next 5 months you really can't afford any new debt.

Re: Recently Married

Anonymous — Thu, 30 Jul 2015 00:32:16 GMT

It won't affect your credit limit if you apply jointly and most lenders don't do joint apps.

You are in good shape if you just knock those 2 balances down and focus on building your wife A FEW accounts that the odds are in her favor of being approved for, and DO NOT charge them up like your cards.

Re: Recently Married

UncleB — Fri, 31 Jul 2015 03:07:06 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
It won't affect your credit limit if you apply jointly and most lenders don't do joint apps.

You are in good shape if you just knock those 2 balances down and focus on building your wife A FEW accounts that the odds are in her favor of being approved for, and DO NOT charge them up like your cards.

The only lender I'm familiar with that allows a true joint application is Discover, but I believe that's only offered as an option if an applicant doens't qualify on his/her own. You might be able to find some lesser-known issuers that still offer a true 'joint' application, but most well-known lenders only allow one name per application (with the option to get an additional card(s) for authorized users)

However, while you might only be able to list one name on the application, you can generally show 'household' income, which could be inclusive of both you and your wife, possibly improving your chances of approval and/or of a higher starting credit line.