topic Re: Subprime vs. Prime in Credit Cards

Subprime vs. Prime

Anonymous — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 08:27:26 GMT

I've been reading alot on the forums about subprime and prime credit cards. What's the differences between each? Which one do I want? Is one better than the other?

How do I know if my cc's are subprime or prime? I currently have a US Bank student Visa and a WaMu MC (not student).

Message Edited by freelancer on 10-04-2007 01:27 AM

Re: Subprime vs. Prime

Anonymous — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 12:32:37 GMT

I think the board finally came to the conclusion that Subprime vs Prime is in the eye of the holder.

Interest rates, CL, terms, rewards,

You have a card from WAMU that would generally considered prime.

I guess the best example is that my AMEX has a higher APR and a lower CL than several of my other cards.

Conclusion: There are Prime Issuers that have sub-prime terms and there are sub-prime issuers with Prime terms.

I hope I have provided enough confusion to answer you question.

Re: Subprime vs. Prime

Anonymous — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 15:09:27 GMT

I consider a subprime card is any card I can get by just applying for it. I consider a prime card, one that I'll never get even with wearing the new dress I just bought when I go to apply for it.

Seriously, I know with my scores, I'll not get a Discover, AMEX, Chase or any other major bank card(unless it's secured...a whole different issue)

On the other hand, I know I'll get a subprime card like: Cap1, First Premier, Juniper, Orchard, and other similar one's just by applying for it.

TU: 676
EXP: 665
EQ: 633

Re: Subprime vs. Prime

future — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 16:46:08 GMT

Sylviatob wrote:
I consider a subprime card is any card I can get by just applying for it. I consider a prime card, one that I'll never get even with wearing the new dress I just bought when I go to apply for it.

Seriously, I know with my scores, I'll not get a Discover, AMEX, Chase or any other major bank card(unless it's secured...a whole different issue)

On the other hand, I know I'll get a subprime card like: Cap1, First Premier, Juniper, Orchard, and other similar one's just by applying for it.

TU: 676
EXP: 665
EQ: 633

with those scores you can get amex and few other cc. as long as you dont have a bk on record, you will get a amex. also those are pretty decent scores you can also get a citi or chase as well. good luck!! you will be in the 700 club before you no it

Re: Subprime vs. Prime

Anonymous — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 18:19:51 GMT

do you think amex blue is possible to get with credit scores over 700 and no bks..

Re: Subprime vs. Prime

Anonymous — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 19:21:35 GMT

thanks future, for your kind words. Perhaps a few prime bank cards but no further, as I have a lot of old baddies(late 30days) on my accounts from years ago. And fatal baddies in public records.(tax liens that I'm taking care of as much as possible).

Re: Subprime vs. Prime

fused — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 20:06:43 GMT

tony3 wrote:

do you think amex blue is possible to get with credit scores over 700 and no bks..

YES! Your scores alone will get an approval.

Re: Subprime vs. Prime

Anonymous — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 08:07:21 GMT

Do each AMEX card have it's own credit requirements? In other words, is there a difference between the score requirements for the Blue or Clear?

Re: Subprime vs. Prime

ficonovice — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 13:51:11 GMT

I'm confused. My scores are pretty decent

EQ: 693

TU: 664

EX: 669

but I have high utilization (this month it should dip to around 75%). I have 17K in total credit card lines. I have 2 30 day late payments from 2 yrs ago and everything else is pristine.

If I apply, are the scores alone good enough for approval, or do you think I'd be denied due to high utilization?

Thanks.

Re: Subprime vs. Prime

Anonymous — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 13:57:06 GMT

ficonovice wrote:

I'm confused. My scores are pretty decent

EQ: 693

TU: 664

EX: 669

but I have high utilization (this month it should dip to around 75%). I have 17K in total credit card lines. I have 2 30 day late payments from 2 yrs ago and everything else is pristine.

If I apply, are the scores alone good enough for approval, or do you think I'd be denied due to high utilization?

Thanks.

Some issuers will definitely deny based on high utilization alone. With your scores, you should get a nice boost from bringing that factor under control.

Message Edited by Brammy on 10-05-2007 09:57 AM

Re: Subprime vs. Prime

Anonymous — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 14:20:23 GMT

Even though you have scores that will get approval-

I would get that UTL under 50% - this way you will get better terms.

Re: Subprime vs. Prime

Anonymous — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 23:45:34 GMT

Agreed, get util down as low as possible.

Re: Subprime vs. Prime

Anonymous — Sat, 06 Oct 2007 08:09:48 GMT

When you say "get util down as much as possible," how would one go about doing that?

For example, one of my CC's statement dates ends on the 28th (roughly). Supposedly, my CC reports to the bureaus on the 30th of each month. If I were to pay in full by the 28th, and not use the card for two (three) more days, my util would be 0%. Correct? But isn't it recommended to have a small balance on the card anyways? How much is enough?

Re: Subprime vs. Prime

haulingthescoreup — Sat, 06 Oct 2007 15:59:55 GMT

Ideal for reporting is under 10% (1-9%). Check your credit reports for the date when they typically post your new balances. Pay your cards down to 1-9% about 5 days before they report, and let them post (check your reports for the new balance if you're an addicted frequent puller like the rest of us.!) Then PIF (pay in full), and start it all over again. Or if you have a lot of cards, alternate them and just let several report each month, always at 9% or less, and the rest are PIF'd and "resting".

I've read that there's another boost for under 5%, but if so, I don't know how dramatic it is. But wow--if you went from 75% to 9%, you should get a huge bump, if there isn't a lot of other stuff going on as well. You'll need to post back in a month with the before-and-afters!

Re: Subprime vs. Prime

smallfry — Sat, 06 Oct 2007 17:41:57 GMT

@haulingthescoreup wrote:
Ideal for reporting is under 10% (1-9%). Check your credit reports for the date when they typically post your new balances. Pay your cards down to 1-9% about 5 days before they report, and let them post (check your reports for the new balance if you're an addicted frequent puller like the rest of us.!) Then PIF (pay in full), and start it all over again. Or if you have a lot of cards, alternate them and just let several report each month, always at 9% or less, and the rest are PIF'd and "resting".

I've read that there's another boost for under 5%, but if so, I don't know how dramatic it is. But wow--if you went from 75% to 9%, you should get a huge bump, if there isn't a lot of other stuff going on as well. You'll need to post back in a month with the before-and-afters!

I don't know about a huge bump. I went from 682-715 when I took utilization from 56% to under 10%.

Re: Subprime vs. Prime

CreditDrama85 — Sat, 06 Oct 2007 17:47:19 GMT

subprime and prime are up to the consumer i guess. i personally am tired of capital one being called subprime. i have high and low cls with cap 1 but all have decent rates.

it is the interest rate NOT the cl that determines whether a product is subprime or prime!

Re: Subprime vs. Prime

haulingthescoreup — Sat, 06 Oct 2007 17:59:37 GMT

smallfry wrote: I don't know about a huge bump. I went from 682-715 when I took utilization from 56% to under 10%.

Huge-ish? ;-) That's true, if you're already starting from the high 600's, it probably won't be that dramatic.

Re: Subprime vs. Prime

Anonymous — Sat, 06 Oct 2007 20:20:12 GMT

@smallfry wrote:

@haulingthescoreup wrote:
Ideal for reporting is under 10% (1-9%). Check your credit reports for the date when they typically post your new balances. Pay your cards down to 1-9% about 5 days before they report, and let them post (check your reports for the new balance if you're an addicted frequent puller like the rest of us.!) Then PIF (pay in full), and start it all over again. Or if you have a lot of cards, alternate them and just let several report each month, always at 9% or less, and the rest are PIF'd and "resting".

I've read that there's another boost for under 5%, but if so, I don't know how dramatic it is. But wow--if you went from 75% to 9%, you should get a huge bump, if there isn't a lot of other stuff going on as well. You'll need to post back in a month with the before-and-afters!

I don't know about a huge bump. I went from 682-715 when I took utilization from 56% to under 10%.

You are lookig at a 30+ point score increas which IMHO is huge especially seeing your prior scores. The only other thing that would result in that big of a jump is removing several lates or a collection account.

That jump took you from the beginning of good credit to 5 points away from the begining of excellent.

Message Edited by Brammy on 10-06-2007 04:20 PM

Re: Subprime vs. Prime

Anonymous — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 09:25:16 GMT

But essentially, in the realm of FICO score calculations, having a subprime or prime card will not have any difference in scoring, correct?

Re: Subprime vs. Prime

haulingthescoreup — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 01:33:44 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
But essentially, in the realm of FICO score calculations, having a subprime or prime card will not have any difference in scoring, correct?

That's what I see from the "here's where you can do better" advice that comes with a FICO score. For FICO, it looks like credit is credit is credit.

I've had comments with FAKO scores tell me that I need ritzier cards, but I ignore them. It's hard to untangle all the advice sometimes!