topic Re: Card Advice in Credit Cards

Card Advice

Anonymous — Wed, 17 Jun 2020 21:23:32 GMT

Hello MF crew! I have a question (or a couple of questions). I'm looking for one more card and wanted some advice. I'm looking to pad utilization a bit until I sell a property i rehabbed.

I have one Discover card just over 1 yr old, and I received a 4k increase from 16.5k to 20.5k. I have a preapproval for another card from them.

I have two NFCU cards with limits of 28k and 30k(recent limit increases from 22k each in last 3 months)

I just opened a PenFed savings account and not sure how I will fair.

AMEX shot me down for a CLI on my lowest card with them 2 months ago, primarily due to low usage on the card.

I have two Chase cards 1-year-old each

DP's as follows as of 6/15:

EQ8 - 763. Inquiries 1/12 - 4/24

EQ9 - 733.

EX8 - 749. Inquiries 3/12 - 7/24

TU8 - 751 Inquiries. 3/12 - 9/24

Income - Over six figures

Utilization - 14%

I've opened (4) cards last year, with (3) of them being over 12 months old. Definitely, don't want to upset Chase:-).

Thanks for any feedback\receoomedations.

I appreciate any feedback

Re: Card Advice

Adkins — Fri, 19 Jun 2020 06:26:05 GMT

I'd try for the Discover. PenFed might be iffy due to new accounts and length of history with them.

Re: Card Advice

CreditInspired — Fri, 19 Jun 2020 10:45:13 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Hello MF crew! I have a question (or a couple of questions). I'm looking for one more card and wanted some advice. I'm looking to pad utilization a bit until I sell a property i rehabbed.
I have one Discover card just over 1 yr old, and I received a 4k increase from 16.5k to 20.5k. I have a preapproval for another card from them.
I have two NFCU cards with limits of 28k and 30k(recent limit increases from 22k each in last 3 months)
I just opened a PenFed savings account and not sure how I will fair.
AMEX shot me down for a CLI on my lowest card with them 2 months ago, primarily due to low usage on the card.
I have two Chase cards 1-year-old each
DP's as follows as of 6/15:
EQ8 - 763. Inquiries 1/12 - 4/24
EQ9 - 733.
EX8 - 749. Inquiries 3/12 - 7/24
TU8 - 751 Inquiries. 3/12 - 9/24
Income - Over six figures
Utilization - 14%

I've opened (4) cards last year, with (3) of them being over 12 months old. Definitely, don't want to upset Chase:-).

Thanks for any feedback\receoomedations.

I appreciate any feedback
I

What is your UT on each card. I ask because I'm trying to reconcile why padding is the motive since you're at UT 14%. Are some cards higher than 28.9%. Could you give us a breakdown on each card's UT? Also, how many cards <6mos old?

Re: Card Advice

Anonymous — Fri, 19 Jun 2020 15:36:49 GMT

Thanks@Adkins!

Re: Card Advice

Anonymous — Fri, 19 Jun 2020 15:54:58 GMT

Good afternoon. The (3) new cards are just over a year and the remains new card is a a year old next month.

Majority of cards are pif every month, except the following:

CSP 17% utilization, balance 2.8k

NFCU Cash REWARDS - 25% balance 6.9k

Discover - 25% balance 5k

AFCU 1 - 27% balance 2.7k
AFCU 2 - 29% balance 3.5k

All other cards either no balance or below 5%. I'd like to do a 0% until I close on the sale of rehab property I mentioned. I figured getting the larger utilized cards down below 10% would further help my score. Also, I've been in the garden for a year(a couple of weeks shy) and figured it might be good to grab a good card.

Discover, NFCU, USAA, Paypal MC all have preapprovals.

Thanks again and let me know if you have any additional questions, or you think I'm crazy for trying to pad my utilization😀

i appreciate the feedback.

Re: Card Advice

Anonymous — Fri, 19 Jun 2020 19:03:46 GMT

If all you're looking to do is pad utilization with a large CL, go with USAA. My two biggest CLs are with NFCU and USAA.

Re: Card Advice

CreditInspired — Fri, 19 Jun 2020 23:04:44 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Good afternoon. The (3) new cards are just over a year and the remains new card is a a year old next month.
Majority of cards are pif every month, except the following:

CSP 17% utilization, balance 2.8k
NFCU Cash REWARDS - 25% balance 6.9k
Discover - 25% balance 5k
AFCU 1 - 27% balance 2.7k
AFCU 2 - 29% balance 3.5k

All other cards either no balance or below 5%. I'd like to do a 0% until I close on the sale of rehab property I mentioned. I figured getting the larger utilized cards down below 10% would further help my score. Also, I've been in the garden for a year(a couple of weeks shy) and figured it might be good to grab a good card.

Discover, NFCU, USAA, Paypal MC all have preapprovals.

Thanks again and let me know if you have any additional questions, or you think I'm crazy for trying to pad my utilization😀

i appreciate the feedback.

IMHO, I don't think you should apply for another card. There are too many cards carrying a balance and too many greater than 8.9%. I believe you would probably be approved, but I fear the CL will not be an amount you hope for, thereby wasting a HP.

Re: Card Advice

Aim_High — Sat, 20 Jun 2020 00:01:28 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I'm looking for one more card and wanted some advice. I'm looking to pad utilization a bit until I sell a property i rehabbed.

@Anonymous based on what I've read so far in the thread, I think you'd be better off not applying for a new card now in the current market conditions and with your other recent new accounts. You didn't give figures on AAoA or AoOA (age of average or oldest accounts) but it sounds like your profile is fairly young, maybe a few years at most? With younger profiles, you need to play it more conservatively and pace your changes to profile. And these are uncertain times. Banks have tightened up on underwriting standards. So I agree with @CreditInspired 's advice that you might be disappointed with any approval.

Instead, here is an option. Have you considered taking advantage of balance transfer offers to balance out your individual card utilization? I played the BT game for awhile when I was carrying some large debts. If you can move part of the debt from different cards to one with a $0 balance, you can accomplish the same thing since you have room to work with. If you do go for a new account, I would definitely consider one with a BT option since it would help your utilization in two ways: by raising your total credit limits as well as opening a door to move some of the debt over at a low rate.

Re: Card Advice

Anonymous — Fri, 19 Jun 2020 23:53:46 GMT

Hi @Aim_High. Thanks for the feedback. My file is actually rather seasoned. My oldest account is 24 years and 6 months. AAoA is 7 years. AoOA is 15+ years.

Also, that was kind of my question - from a BT perspective, what card should I apply for? NFCU cards are my 2 highest limits, with my one Discover card being 20.5k and then my AMEX everyday @20k.

Thanks again for the feedback!

Re: Card Advice

Aim_High — Sat, 20 Jun 2020 00:33:30 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Hi @Aim_High. Thanks for the feedback. My file is actually rather seasoned. My oldest account is 24 years and 6 months. AAoA is 7 years. AoOA is 15+ years.
Also, that was kind of my question - from a BT perspective, what card should I apply for? NFCU cards are my 2 highest limits, with my one Discover card being 20.5k and then my AMEX everyday @20k.
Thanks again for the feedback!

Ah, I gotcha. Yes, after looking at your cards and limits, it would appear to be a little more seasoned than from what I read.

Still, my focus would probably be on utilizing your existing cards to transfer balances instead of opening a new account right now. But a BT offer could also be used on a new account.

Putting it all together, I see:

NFCU Platinum -- 30k
AMEX ED - 20k
AMEX DS - 2.5k
AMEX Optima -- 1.5K
AMEX CM -- 3K
Cap1 QS1 - $3k
Cap1 Platinum - $3500.
Affinity FCU - $12k
Affinity FCU Rewards -- 10k
Affinity FCU LOC - $5k
Lowes -- $10.6K
CFC - $2K
Chase FU - $5.4k
PayPal Credit 10K
Citi 13.5K
NFCU Cash Rewards -- 28.5k. balance 6.9k 25%
Discover IT - $20.5K balance 5k 25%
Chase Sapphire Preferred - $18.4K, balance 2.8K 17%
AFCU 1 - balance 2.7K 27%
AFCU 2 - balance 3.5K 29%

The ones that jump out of this list with me are the two Capital One cards ($6.5K TCL), the CFU ($5.4K CL) and the NFCU Platinum ($30K CL). Capital One and Chase have often given me attractive BT offers. Are you eligible for CLI on Capital One cards or could you combine limits? That could give you $6.5K or better with a BT offer to move some of the debt. Also, the CFU is already at $5.4K. Chase is stingy with CLI and it would be a hard pull, but if you've used the credit line heavily it could be approved. Still, that $5.4K gives you the option to move a little debt as it is. Finally, the Navy Federal Platinum card is an excellent option although they may not be offering 0% interest. Navy doesn't charge BT fees which helps the equation. Your limit is high there and if your interest rate is relatively low, it could be a short term solution.

I think you have good odds on the Discover option if you want a new card, especially as existing customer with preapproval. Don't expect to start at a high limit with them unless you've put heavy spend on your other account. (I had my $50K limit card and they approved me for a second card with only $1K CL last year. I elected to close it immediately instead of trying to make it grow.) If you go with the new Discover card, it currently has the 0% APR for 14 months offer but you wouldn't be able to move any of the Discover debt over to it. But that could go to one of your other cards.