topic Re: HELP...Applying for new CC's? in Credit Cards

HELP...Applying for new CC's?

Anonymous — Thu, 10 May 2018 12:39:19 GMT

Hello All,

I am looking for opinions for new CC. My wife an I are 3 yr out of a BK13. We have established new credit with a car loan (Ally), refinanced our house, and have 3 CC each. (Cap1 Platinum & Quick Silver, Amex Blue Cash). Our Fico scores are very close ranging from 685 - 735. My scores are better than hers on 1 , but the other 2 she is better. We have had the Cap1 the longest (over 2 years) and the Amex for over 1 year. The weird part is her Credit limit is way higher than mine? Her Cap1 Platinum is $4750, QS is $3500, Amex is $11k, all 3 of mine are $2k each?

I've been getting Discover and Citi pre-qualifier letters in the mail and finally decided to check on it. With Discover-it I got approved for $10k and she got approved for $9k. The next day I tried the Citi Diamond Preferred and got approved for $5500 (she has not applied for this one).

The reason I tried those 2 were the 0% interest Balance Transfer. The Discover-it was 0% interest for 18 months on BT and Citi was 21 months.

Question, since I applied and got approved for 2 CC in 2 days, should I wait before applying for anymore? Chase, NFCU, etc?

What cards do you suggest? Really upset with my Cap1 cards with the small limits.

Re: HELP...Applying for new CC's?

Anonymous — Thu, 10 May 2018 13:02:21 GMT

Congrats on the approvals!

I'd actually wait and not apply for anything else for at least 6 months (preferably 12) to keep inquiries down and not hit your AAOA so hard.

I think it's important for us BK'ers to not look too trigger happy with new accounts. Slow and steady wins the race.

I would go for NFCU or PenFed in a year. I have $50k in credit between the two of them, and I feel like they in particular can be spooked by too much too soon when you apply. I was actually denied for the NFCU Amex and I think it was because the application was premature after a few recent inquiries/approvals. 8 months later PenFed gave me their Amex with a $7k SL.

Re: HELP...Applying for new CC's?

Anonymous — Thu, 10 May 2018 13:09:44 GMT

So OP, you really have 5 CCs then. Your post started with you have 3 CCs then said you were approved for 2 more, so that makes 5 total. Aside from saying you aren't happy with your Capital One limits, you didn't say why you need another card or cards. It sounds more like a want than a need if I'm being honest with you and if that's the case my advice to anyone that already has 3+ cards (which you do) is to not apply for any others. Having more cards unless they are going to yield you better rewards won't do anything for you.

What were your credit scores at the time you were approved for the Cap One cards? If they were low 600's or worse, which it sounds like they may have been based on your BK timeline, they will forever be seen as "starter accounts" by Cap One and won't grow significantly. It doesn't matter if your credit scores are 850 today, as those accounts will always be entry-level.

I would honestly not apply for anything else and just sit tight, letting your accounts age and your BK age.

Re: HELP...Applying for new CC's?

Kforce — Thu, 10 May 2018 14:47:26 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
So OP, you really have 5 CCs then. Your post started with you have 3 CCs then said you were approved for 2 more, so that makes 5 total. Aside from saying you aren't happy with your Capital One limits, you didn't say why you need another card or cards. It sounds more like a want than a need if I'm being honest with you and if that's the case my advice to anyone that already has 3+ cards (which you do) is to not apply for any others. Having more cards unless they are going to yield you better rewards won't do anything for you.

What were your credit scores at the time you were approved for the Cap One cards? If they were low 600's or worse, which it sounds like they may have been based on your BK timeline, they will forever be seen as "starter accounts" by Cap One and won't grow significantly. It doesn't matter if your credit scores are 850 today, as those accounts will always be entry-level.

I would honestly not apply for anything else and just sit tight, letting your accounts age and your BK age.

Re: HELP...Applying for new CC's?

Anonymous — Thu, 10 May 2018 15:20:04 GMT

Sorry, I guess I left some info out. You are right, I will now have 5 CC's. My Cap1 cards were achieved right after BK. My total balance on all 3 cards are about $1500. I plan to do a balance transfer to one of the new cards (Discover or Citi) to take advantage of the O% interest for 18-21 months and close out and cancel both Cap1 cards. Somewhere on this site, not sure where, that when rebuilding, its good to show revolving credit on 3-5 cards? I dont need the cards, I was just following advice I got from someone else who tried this to improve scores. We have jumped almost 200 points since our BK.

So why do I see some with about 15 CC and nearly $600k credit limit? That really nessacery?

Re: HELP...Applying for new CC's?

FinStar — Thu, 10 May 2018 15:35:54 GMT

OP, everyone's goals are different and you can't compare your situation with those others who may have 600K in open credit or 15+ CCs.

There are folks who are high income earners and would likely have the capacity to have that much in available credit (and those who may not), others like the thrill of the chase, most others like maximizing rewards with travel, cashback, etc.

You have to allow time to do its thing to strengthen your profile and scores. Just because you are upset that your limits are ~2K on most of your cards doesn't really mean they won't grow at some point or you have to apply for 5 or 10 more just nilly willy.

Most people try to avoid the pitfall of heading back into trouble or amassing more debt by starting out at a nice and steady pace with rebuilding their credit, especially for those who are post-BK.

Re: HELP...Applying for new CC's?

Anonymous — Thu, 10 May 2018 15:37:23 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:

So why do I see some with about 15 CC and nearly $600k credit limit? That really nessacery?

No, not neccessary at all. You see that here (and similar sites) because a) people here "like" credit cards and will apply for them with a very low threshold for need, and b) a lot of rebuilders here who have kept "toy" cards they got when they started rebuilding, even though they now have much better ones.

IMO, with a very few exceptions, the justifications given for such large collections is largely spurious, but if it doesn't do any harm, then fine.

Re: HELP...Applying for new CC's?

sarge12 — Thu, 10 May 2018 15:49:26 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Sorry, I guess I left some info out. You are right, I will now have 5 CC's. My Cap1 cards were achieved right after BK. My total balance on all 3 cards are about $1500. I plan to do a balance transfer to one of the new cards (Discover or Citi) to take advantage of the O% interest for 18-21 months and close out and cancel both Cap1 cards. Somewhere on this site, not sure where, that when rebuilding, its good to show revolving credit on 3-5 cards? I dont need the cards, I was just following advice I got from someone else who tried this to improve scores. We have jumped almost 200 points since our BK.

So why do I see some with about 15 CC and nearly $600k credit limit? That really nessacery?

I do not know why those who still have BK showing on reports would ever have a lot of cards. I personally have 15+ cards, but most were just to obtain the SUB and also make very low utilization easy. If you have 3 cards and for some irrational reason want to maintain low utilization without really worrying about AZEO all the time, having 15+ cards makes it easy. If you have 15 cards 3 can report a balance without dropping the scores. It only works if you PIF before the due date always to avoid interest. I however have obtained cards gradually and had an 800+ score when applying, so all my cards are premium cards, and most had a 10k+ SL. No way would I have kept applying if I had a BK on the report, a low score, or was being offered only smaller limits...and a 150 dollar SUB or/and high rewards was a must. IMHO, you need to allow your current cards to age to prevent dragging down the AAoA too low, and then add good cards gradually. Also, IMO...the only wise way to use credit cards is PIF first month...every month...till it becomes a habit. Used properly credit cards can be profitable, extend warranties, and provide purchase protection. Use them wrong, and they can ruin your life. The 2 most dangerous items I carry is a loaded gun and unloaded credit cards...I respect the danger of both.

Re: HELP...Applying for new CC's?

Anonymous — Thu, 10 May 2018 17:43:20 GMT

@Anonymous
Sorry, I guess I left some info out. You are right, I will now have 5 CC's. My Cap1 cards were achieved right after BK. My total balance on all 3 cards are about $1500. I plan to do a balance transfer to one of the new cards (Discover or Citi) to take advantage of the O% interest for 18-21 months and close out and cancel both Cap1 cards.

Two things. One, there's no reason to close your Cap One cards, especially if they are your oldest and have no AF you may as well keep them open. Second, are you able to pay off that $1500 in balances today? You mention looking to BT it, which suggests perhaps you are unable to pay it off. Any time I get the feeling that someone may not be able to pay off their current balance(s) in full, I feel the need to strongly advise against applying for additional cards.

Re: HELP...Applying for new CC's?

Anonymous — Thu, 10 May 2018 20:19:59 GMT

Yes, I can pay off my $1500 balance today without putting me in any sort of a bind. I keep keep the balance on there just to show steady on time payments.

My argument with Cap1 was even though I have had it the longest, they have not given much reward in return compared to the new credit limit of my new cards. I used to be totally against CC my whole life, never had one before our BK. After we had to file BK13, I was very hesitant to get one. Our lawyer suggested we get one to rebuid and then I found this site. I was just looking for guidance on the next steps.

Re: HELP...Applying for new CC's?

HeavenOhio — Thu, 10 May 2018 20:22:08 GMT

Three cards will optimize scoring by allowing one to report a positive balance on less than half of his cards. And some say five is better. But there's no rush to get there. And many do fine with only a couple of cards. Building up a positive history over time on existing accounts is the most important thing one can do.

I see another reason not to apply, though. You have a nice year-long sign-up bonus on your new Discover card. You may as well take advantage of that.

Re: HELP...Applying for new CC's?

HeavenOhio — Thu, 10 May 2018 20:23:20 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Yes, I can pay off my $1500 balance today without putting me in any sort of a bind. I keep keep the balance on there just to show steady on time payments.

You can show steady on-time payments by paying in full. There's no reason to pay interest.

Re: HELP...Applying for new CC's?

Anonymous — Thu, 10 May 2018 20:29:33 GMT

This was my thought process when making this post. Is it better to have more CC's to lower the utilization % ? We don't rack a lot of charges on CC anyway, just maintain a small balance and pay on it to show steady payments. We usually charge something and pay on for it for 4-6 months and then pay in full, use another card and do the same. The reason I want to do the Balance Transfer, is the card I currently have a balance on is about to start charging interest. So far we haven't had to pay interest on anything since we transfer to a 0% card for it's introductory period.

Re: HELP...Applying for new CC's?

Anonymous — Thu, 10 May 2018 20:53:00 GMT

If you can pay in full each month, that is generally the best. When you move to 0% APR cards, are you paying a balance transfer fee. That is also a waste of money if not needed.

Re: HELP...Applying for new CC's?

HeavenOhio — Thu, 10 May 2018 21:15:10 GMT

Only do the balance transfer if the fee amounts to less than you anticipate paying in interest. If there's no fee and interest is 0%, then the transfer becomes a no-brainer.

Re: HELP...Applying for new CC's?

Anonymous — Thu, 10 May 2018 21:27:32 GMT

To show on time payments, charge something every month (doesn't have to be big but over $5), let it post to statement to show activity, set CC autopay to pay full statement balance, rinse and repeat. No need to manage it other than making at least one charge a month, certainly no need to pay interest or BT fees, you're over thinking it.

Re: HELP...Applying for new CC's?

Anonymous — Fri, 11 May 2018 06:56:35 GMT

@AnonymousYes, I can pay off my $1500 balance today without putting me in any sort of a bind. I keep keep the balance on there just to show steady on time payments.

Pay it off today then, in full. Your understanding of steady on time payments is a bit off base, as you don't need to carry a balance and pay unnecessary interest in order to accomplish this. Paying unnecessary interest is a waste of money, as is doing a BT and getting hit with a BT fee when you have no reason to do so (since you can pay it off today).

Re: HELP...Applying for new CC's?

HeavenOhio — Fri, 11 May 2018 14:32:47 GMT

@Anonymous, also make sure that you don't miss trailing interest on your following statement, and make sure your grace period is reset. Trailing interest is "leftover" interest that you haven't been billed for yet. It'll be a small amount that appears on your following statement, and because it'll be very small, it'll be easy to pay immediately. Don't use the card again until you see a statement balance of zero.

Or, as an option, you may be able to call the bank and get an amount you can pay that'll cover trailing interest and reset the grace period right now. If you're able to do that, make sure you call the bank again after making your payment to ensure that your grace period is indeed reset.